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