2/4/14
We arrived in Fiji roughly around 4:30 in the morning- just in time to catch a beautiful sunrise. By “we” I mean our 15-person Globalinks group, which is a program that sends students from the U.S to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. We were greeted by the lovely Lavenia, who is pretty much our mom for the first week we are here. Born and raised in Fiji (now currently residing in Australia) she comes back every semester to help show students around the island and get comfortable at the University of the South Pacific.
Sunrise outside of the airport in Nadi
We all hoped in a bus to head to the Uprising Resort where we spent three days. At first they told us it would take 3 hours, maybe 4. Then they said it could be shorter or longer they weren’t really sure. Truth is they had no idea because everyone on the island runs on “Fiji Time”. After spending a couple days here too I’ve come to realize it is a real thing. Nobody is on time for anything and you can’t trust any time estimates people give you because chances are they are completely wrong. What I’ve noticed though is because of Fiji Time nobody is in a rush to get anywhere, and that’s one of the most relaxing feelings I’ve ever experienced.
The drive to the resort was a bumpy one. We travelled on a road that laid on the outskirts of the island, one lane each direction. During our trip we passed many people (and cows). Every time we would see someone they would shout “Bula! Bula!” while eagerly smiling and waving. Sometimes we would pass through villages where children were on their way to school and they would all hoot and holler in excitement. Fiji is believed to have the nicest people in the world, and it is in fact true. There are not too many places you can find people waving with one hand and holding a machete in the other.
When we arrived at the resort the only thing I could think of is a travel magazine or a Buzzfeed article that maybe talks about “30 places you have to go before you die”. The place was straight out of a brochure. Our rooms were spacious huts tastefully decorated in the interior with mahogany furniture. Out back there was an outdoor shower that made you feel as if you were bathing under a waterfall in the middle of the jungle. The property was of course beachfront. We immediately hoped in the ocean where the water was crystal clear and arguably warmer than a pool. Fish danced around us as we all soaked up the sun and enjoyed the beautiful day. We had only been in the country for about 6 hours and it was barely 11am, and I was already sunburnt.
The following day we travelled by (a sinking) boat up to an inland village where we all were apart of our first Kava Ceremony. Kava is a traditional drink that looks like muddy water and has a bitter after taste of Oragel. The locals drink it every day and night. We only had a few cups during our village trip, but as you drink more, you start to loose feeling in your body. First your mouth (which you can kind of feel on your first cup) then it spreads down to your arms and legs. They call it getting “doped” because after too many, your friend might have to carry you home. The advantages of Kava though is that it is cheap- much cheaper than alcohol- and there is no hangover in the morning. One of the things that disturbed me about our visit though was the clear dominance of men in the village. When we first entered, men and women were segregated so that all the men sat in the front and all the women in the back. Coming from America where women and men are considered equal now in almost all places, it was hard to embrace this even though it is apart of their culture.
The rest of the village trip was spent watching how they cook their food and perform other tasks like opening coconuts and basket weaving with the leaves of the coconut tree. From there we said our goodbyes and headed up river to the waterfalls where we able to swim and jump off the rocks- perfect for such a hot day. On our way back down we were able to shortly travel in a bamboo raft- one that farmers used to take their crops down to the villages. Apparently it takes so long that they load up all their goods and start their travel on Friday night, and then arrive around 9am Saturday morning just in time for the market. The rafts however don’t travel back up river so they let them go and then pay for rides back up. The rafts are about 6×15 feet however only take about 3 hours to make- 2 ½ hours cutting down the bamboo and the other half hour stringing the raft together.
The following day, and last day at the resort, we were invited to test out an event for an Australian Reality T.V show somewhat like survivor. Our first task was to paddle a boat with about eight of us around a buoy about 100 meters out. After that they had us attempt to rig the sail onto it, and we failed miserably. After watching us struggle for a good half hour they finally showed us how to do it.
Later in the day we got to go on a snorkel cruise. This wasn’t quite the same as one that you might go on in Hawaii though. It had rained the night before so the waves were really rough and they all loaded us up on a boat and drove us about 10 minutes out to the middle of the ocean and said “Ok, go swim. The reef is that way.” I’m actually not even sure if there were life jackets on the boat. The reef was beautiful however, and we even saw a shark.
White Tip reef shark
2/9/14
For our first weekend on the island we travelled to Sote village. The village was once home to Levenia and her family, so we were all able to stay in a big pavilion like room that her family owned right next village. Our first day there was exhausting- we started by helping the school plant crops and then running around with the kids playing soccer, volleyball, and duck-duck-goose. Later in the day we went to the river with the kids and ended the evening with dancing and Kava.
The second day was a day of rest (how every Sunday is in Fiji), but we managed to squeeze in a waterfall hike through the jungle. On our final day there we were all excited to join the kids during school hours and help around the classroom. Little did we know that we weren’t helping around the classroom, but instead the teachers for the day. Besides the headmaster, all the teachers left that day to travel into the city. There were only 5 classrooms in the school, and I was placed alone with the oldest group that consisted of 7th and 8th graders. I spent the first half hour nervously thumbing through the workbooks trying to go back and forth between each grade. It’s too bad it took me until college to finally gain respect for substitute teachers.
Overall the village trip was a great one. The entire community was so welcoming and they even called us an extended part of their family. The kids were all so excited to have us and hopefully we will all be able to make a weekend trip back there before the semester is over.
Bula from Abroad 