The First Few Days

A view of "Ba"
A city we visited this afternoon

The Fijian youth group at the Kava ceremony last night
(This was their goodbye song)

Sunset on Friday night, before the Kava ceremony

So, time is moving very quickly here. It is now Saturday, Fiji time, and I have had even more adventures since we began. This isn't your everyday orientation, no sir. Since last posting on Thursday morning, I have done the following:

-Had chicken curry at a gentleman's day club (not what you think)
-Had dinner on a Fijian farm and picked coconuts (yes, we ate them)
-Had two classes in the swimming pool
-Went to a place called Ed's bar, and took over the back room with my new Fiji friends (I dance just as weird in Fiji as in the US)
-Was taken to a suburb of a foreign town, dropped off, and was told to learn about culture
-Saw the beautiful ocean
-Got sunburn on the top of my feet
-Had another class in the pool
-Went to a Fijian Youth group and had too much Kava (look it up)
-Explored a town called Ba, and enjoyed the local fresh vegetable market

It has been quite an adventure. One highlight I will tell you about is getting dropped off in Lautoka, which is the second largest city in Fiji. With the program I am traveling with, everything is experiential. So, one such situation involves getting the whole group of 11 in a van and taking us to a foreign city. We are then dropped off in groups of 2 0r 3 and expected to find our way to the center of town, however we would like while learning about a specific topic. I was the first to go along with Dana, a travel mate of mine. We were dropped off in a suburb, and I was truly lost. Imagine being in a new country for only a few days and then you are expected to talk to complete strangers, learn about the culture, and find your way to lunch and a group meeting on the opposite end of town! Crazy? I thought so too. Did it stop me? No. I immediately asked Mrs. Quiliho if she was serious when she told me to get out of the van. She laughed about me for the rest of the day!

At first, Dana and I were quite frightened. We started a few steps in one direction, aimed a different way, and then decided that we needed a game plan. We walked down the street and met a woman who didn't speak much English. She was waiting for the bus and told us to have a nice day. Then, we had a lovely conversation with an indigenous Fijian waiting for a cab, who told us all about her mission work in New Zeland for the past year. This lasted about 15 minutes. Fijians are SO friendly. She even invited us over to her home. Then, Dana wanted to check out the Morman temple we saw, since she is from Salt Lake City- Morman Capital, USA. The bishop was washing his van, and was extremely helpful and friendly. We talked for about 20 minutes, and then figured at this rate, we were never going to get anywhere. Our walk continued, and we came across and Indian trade show. Dana bought a new purse, and we both had some Kava with the security guard. He was just chillin, and we talked to him about his grandfather moving into Fiji from India about 90 years earlier. He showed us out of the show, and then we found mud. Mud is everywhere in Fiji, because we are in the wet season. Our walk continued.

Eventually after seeing the botanical garden, we found the center of town. What a relief! It was over an hour later than the time we began. I bought a new wallet, and went to an Indian restaurant a woman suggested in the store. More curry. We then went to the Catholic church, just down the street. We were hesitant to go inside, so we introduced ourselves to a woman standing out front, reading the billboard. She was a woman from a village up in the mountains who walks to mass each weekend. She gave us a tour of the church, and took us around back to look at the school. Now, in America, do you ever see schools right on the ocean? Probably not. In Fiji, that's how things are done. This was my first glimpse of the ocean up close! This woman then took us down the street to the beach and told us all about the city. We spent about an hour with her (she wanted more time with us!), but it was time to leave. Fijians are so friendly! They take time out of their day to help anyone, even if it takes an hour. It is important for us to remember to think about the hospitality, and pay it forward to someone else.

Don't talk to stangers. Remember that from elementary school? I guess that is rude in Fiji.

This is an example of what I have been doing, though I have little time to share all of my adventures! Tonight, we are going to a Thai restaurant, before we depart for Suva City tomorrow. I am excited to go to the beach, which is rated #6 in the world, by the way. Some of us are going to go horseback riding along the ocean. I hope the snow is nice in Minnesota (sorry, I have to rub it in!). The weather is great, though it is VERY humid and hot. There is almost always a breeze, since we are on an island.

Keep messages coming! I miss you all at home, so stay in touch.

Austin

I made it!

I finally made it to Fiji. One year of planning, signing papers, writing essays, getting shots- it all paid off! I left on Monday, at about 2:30pm, landed in Phoenix at about 5:00 (mountain time), got on a plane at 6:00, went to Los Angeles, and my adventure officially began. I did not get lost in the LA airport, as I thought I might, but the second I walked into the international terminal, I knew life was about to be different. I checked into Air Pacific, gave them my luggage, and actually met Dana, one of my travel mates just outside before going into security. The whole terminal was under construction, but we did find one little restaurant to eat in. The flight across the Pacific was about 11 hours in total, and I sat next to a woman from Canada. She spoke French Canadian, though my French skills are a bit rusty. I slept off and on for about 4 hours total, and watched movies the other 7 and even an episode of Grey's anatomy. We landed in Nadi (pronounced Nandi), at about 5:00 am, Fiji time on Wednesday. The sun was just rising, and I could already see the natural beauty of the island.

I made it! We walked off the plane into the open air terminal to a small group of men playing on ukulele-type instruments. I felt like I was in Hawaii again! By the time we were done with customs it was almost 7:00 am. We met the assistant director of the program, with big hugs and even some kisses on the cheeks (everyone is very welcoming). We hopped into a taxi van, and headed off to a resort. To our surprise, we found that we will be staying in Nadi for about a week in a beautiful resort/hotel. I live in a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment fully equipped with a pool just outside the door. Brian is my roommate, and Ariel lives in the other bedroom.

Adventures began the first day as well. We took the bus into Naditown (the town center). Busses here are open-air busses with tarps in case of rain. We wandered for a while and found a big restaurant in the center. I had a bottle of Fiji water (that's the tourist drink here), with a straw. I'm pretty sure that the server though I was the weird one, but that's OK. I had the most delicious fish in the world, which tasted a lot like pulled pork, with a side of Fiji potatoes. They are VERY starchy as Allison and I decided. I think now, even a day later, they are still in my stomach. Then we tried to tip our server, and she made us chase her across the street, right through traffic to a shop. It seems that everyone has a sister or brother who works across the street. We were VERY skeptical, but they made us take off our shoes and have our first Kava ceremony. Kava is a drink from the villages, which has a lot of meaning in the indigenous Fijian villages. I was the chief, since I am the oldest. Kava isn't bad. It makes your tongue a little numb, but not as scary as I thought. The real adventure was when we tried to get back out in the country by our hotel. Nadi was flooded in about 6 feet of water last week, so the roads are a disaster and construction crews are working hard on repairing the damage. Hence, the buses are slow so we decided to walk. Well, in Fiji in rains every afternoon and there was mud everywhere. We walked about two miles, and our legs were completely covered with mud. It was awesome. Group formation? Sounds about right. We tried to stop at McDonald's on the way home for some ice cream, but the machine was broken. BTY- McDonald's smells the same in Fiji. We all went out for delicious pizza and pasta that night for dinner, then I went to Ash Wednesday mass with our program director and a few other participants. We went to an Anglican church, originally put here for British settlers in the 50's. Anglican mass is SO close to catholic mass, because it is just the English version of catholicism, but priests can marry. The church was really small, but the doors along the side opened to palm trees. The local kids ran in and out of the church as they pleased, and a random dog even came to visit. Then we went back to the hotel, and crashed around 9:30.

Today is now Thursday, and adventures are continuing. We went to a Hindu temple this morning with our director, and it was beautiful. The Hindi influence in Fiji is strong, though we learned that cultures to not blend well here. People keep to others like them, and really for the most part do not want anything to do with other people around. Which is all weird, because almost every stranger you pass says "bula" (hello) with a smile. Maybe this could be called Fijian nice.

We were challenged to eat something for lunch that we wouldn't normally eat, so that is next on the agenda. Tonight, we have dinner with a Indo-Fijian family (Fijians who are from Inda) in their home. This is what school is like now. We travel, meet people, debrief and I guess every day will truly be different.

I am taking lots of photos, but I will upload them in a few weeks once we get to the University of the South Pacific. Leave notes or send me a message on facebook!

Bula!
Austin

Packing and Prepping

Bula!

Right now, I am on the 3 week countdown to my departure to Fiji! On Monday, February 3rd, I will be flying out, and am I excited. Also, I am getting a little nervous and scared at the same time. It will be weird to be away from the family and really weird to not see my friends and roommates who I see on a weekly or daily basis. All is well, however.



I have a few things in order already:

-My going away party is on February 13th. I ordered 144 leis to keep with the Fijian theme!!
-Fijian dollars have been ordered from the bank
-I received a wonderful travel pack from my boss at Southwest Community Education, so I can pack all of my clothes.
-I purchased a day pack, actually a Timbuk2. I've been told that this doesn't really fit my personality, but whatever. I LIKE IT!
-Airplane tickets of course have been ordered, but there is still more to do!

Also, to add to the drama, I am trying to get into the University of Hawaii for graduate school. If you haven't heard, I am going to be a teacher, and a masters degree is the best way to go about this for me. MR. WELLMAN!!! Sounds nice, huh? Other than that, it is all about leaving Aaron, Lucas, and Paul (my roommates), and moving all of my junk home. When I say junk, I mean it! 3 years of accumulated garbage will be moving home to mom and dad's house, as well as to grandma and papa's house, because they are wonderful and have an expansive basement in their new home.

If you want to hang, let's do so in the next few weeks. I'd love to see you!