Bula
So you may be wondering what is going on in Fiji again but alas that is not what this post is about. This post is about looking at life from a different perspective and how it can be just as beautiful as the first perspective. This I have deduced from watching the other side of a sunset. Try it sometime. It is just as beautiful as looking into the sun but no one appreciates it. There are still beautiful colors it just looks different. It is soothing in a way. I think that this can be applied to the rest of life. Some days we take advantage of the beautiful things in life. Maybe we need to turn around and see something different but equally as beautiful. Maybe we just need to turn around and see something different. It doesnt have to be beautiful but it needs to be different. We as people get stuck into a routine and forget to enjoy the little things in life like a sunset or flowers or a childs laugh. We especially as westerners tend to get caught up in daily life and not remember what it is to truly live life. To pay attention to friends and family, to smell the flowers, to cook something great, to just live. Maybe this is the most important thing I have learned in Fiji so far. To just live, to remember that theres more to life than just work and meeting some sort of goal. It is truly the journey that is important. Well this is my wisdom for today moce for now!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Snorkeling vs. Diving
Bula!
Well its been a while since I last updated! Im not going to update on exactly what ive been doing because it would be a long list of mostly homework and some fun adventures along the way if you really want to know e-mail me and ill let you know! What I really wanted to talk about is snorkeling. I have come to absolutely love snorkeling since I have come to Fiji. The freeness of just lazying about the water or being terrified of touching the coral is just amazing. I had only snorkeled one time before coming to Fiji. That was in Puerto Rico. Now all I want to do is get my dive certification so I can get closer to things! I would like to say though snorkeling isnt just fun and games you need to be aware of your surroundings which many times for me becomes very difficult. I get quite caught up in looking at the beautiful coral and gorgeous fish that I have to remember to not get lost or stay out to long so I get stuck at low tide. But alas I survive my snorkeling experiences with only minor injuries and only a few moments of shear terror. Since I have only had minor mishaps with snorkeling I feel that diving would be the logical next step. I am hopefully going to get my dive certification in a few weeks at an island that I have snorkeled at before. I do not know if my moments of shear terror when I dont pay attention to everyone else and end up nearly alone will be more or less. Well soon I will find out if there are too many perils for diving for me to stand or if it is just like snorkeling but better! Well Moce for now!
Well its been a while since I last updated! Im not going to update on exactly what ive been doing because it would be a long list of mostly homework and some fun adventures along the way if you really want to know e-mail me and ill let you know! What I really wanted to talk about is snorkeling. I have come to absolutely love snorkeling since I have come to Fiji. The freeness of just lazying about the water or being terrified of touching the coral is just amazing. I had only snorkeled one time before coming to Fiji. That was in Puerto Rico. Now all I want to do is get my dive certification so I can get closer to things! I would like to say though snorkeling isnt just fun and games you need to be aware of your surroundings which many times for me becomes very difficult. I get quite caught up in looking at the beautiful coral and gorgeous fish that I have to remember to not get lost or stay out to long so I get stuck at low tide. But alas I survive my snorkeling experiences with only minor injuries and only a few moments of shear terror. Since I have only had minor mishaps with snorkeling I feel that diving would be the logical next step. I am hopefully going to get my dive certification in a few weeks at an island that I have snorkeled at before. I do not know if my moments of shear terror when I dont pay attention to everyone else and end up nearly alone will be more or less. Well soon I will find out if there are too many perils for diving for me to stand or if it is just like snorkeling but better! Well Moce for now!
Friday, April 16, 2010
A couple pictures to entice you to read the long post!
Heres a few pictures from my 2 trips that are explained in the next post!

The little girl keeping the flys off our food.

Mmmmm Fijian Food!
Birthday Celebration!

Danny’s Umbrella he found...

Impressive flooding just outside our hotel!
Bounty Island I think…

Mmmm Sunset…

More sunset

Cant get much more picturesque.

The little girl keeping the flys off our food.

Mmmmm Fijian Food!

Birthday Celebration!

Danny’s Umbrella he found...
Impressive flooding just outside our hotel!

Bounty Island I think…

Mmmm Sunset…

More sunset
Cant get much more picturesque.
Update on my life!
Bula!
Wow im half way through my time in Fiji! To those of you who dont want to read a very long post scroll down to the bottom there will be a summary. I have been on 2 trips since the last time I posted. I meant to post between the two so that my post wouldnt be so long but I got busy! The first trip was a trip to Levuka on the island of Ovalau. This was a field trip for 2 classes that I wasnt actually in. I got invited by one of my professors to go with so I decided it would be fun to go. It was really fun. I met a lot of new people who are really awesome. The actual town of Levuka was kind of boring it was a sleepy old town. The reason that we went is because it was the original capitol of Fiji. So it was a history field trip and was quite unorganized. It was the true Fijian way. We did some of the stuff that we were supposed to but most of it they made up along the way. The first day that we got there we were about 4 hours late because of rain and that seemed to be the theme for the weekend. Rain. And a lot of it. Once we actually got to Levuka we had pizza after trudging through the rain and went to begin celebrating Claire’s birthday with everyone! The birthday celebration continued for the rest of the weekend. Once we told the other students that it was Claire’s birthday they planed on thoroughly celebrating it! The second day that we were on the great island of Ovalau we went to a village and had a great lunch made by the ladies in the village. The little girls also helped. They were so cute. They helped by keeping the flies off the food and carrying plates out. We also had a traditional Kava ceremony where we presented a sevusevu(an offering essentially to allow us onto the chiefs land) and drank some kava. The other students were entertained by the fact that the americans had drank kava and by the fact that we liked it for the most part. If I havnt explained kava it is the national drink of Fiji and it tastes and looks a bit like muddy water. The appeal of it is that it is a mild narcotic and that when you drink it you sit around with a bunch of friends or soon to be friends and talk and hang out all night. The taste generally grows on you. So after kava we walked around the village a little and most of us went back and took a nap because well the night before we stayed out way to late! That night we had a dinner of curry and a “quiz” the winners got some granola bars!(unfortunately we didnt win) After that it was back to birthday celebrations until late again! This brings us to Saturday the day began with rain again and most of us just slept until lunch. After lunch we went to one of the first schools in Fiji. It is now a boarding school for both boys and girls but in the past it has been many things including a nursing school, training area for missionaries, and a teaching school. At the same time we also saw the tomb of the first bishop of Fiji. The best part of going to the school was that we got to ride in the back of a carrier truck. These are all over Fiji and a re a legitimate form of transportation especially on Ovalau that only has one bus and most people do not have cars. I however had not been on one yet so it was a bunch of fun. Basically we smashed 30 people into an area not a whole lot bigger than the bed of a normal truck that was covered by a tarp like cover. We were also on some of the worst roads I have ever been on. They were not the worst roads in Fiji which is quite disturbing. Saturday night was fun we sat around after dinner and sang songs from all the countries that people were from. One of the American kids Danny decided that it would be a good idea to sing the the thirty point buck song. All the other kids in the class had a great laugh at it and I got a great video of it too! Saturday was an early night because we had church at 8 am the next morning. One of the guys on the trip is a Catholic Father so he did the easter mass. It was different to go to a Catholic mass for easter but it was nice. It wasnt as long as I expected it to be(thank God!) so that was good. It started off being a very nice day after church we climbed up to some waterfalls and went swimming for a while. After I laid around because my knees hurt and it started raining. So a bunch of us hung out in the girls house and drank tea and talked. I would like to point out that pacific islanders like to gossip a bit. It was so funny because all of them would go on about whatever and there never seemed to be a topic that was off limits it was great. The only problem was that by the time we were supposed to have dinner it had rained very hard and flooded. We had to walk through knee deep water in order to get to dinner and the river outside the hotel was very flooded. Right when we got to dinner the electricity went out and we ate by the light of cell phones, candles, and lightning. I was quite excited because I love thunderstorms and there hasnt been one in Fiji since I have been here which I was quite sad about. This did however put a damper on the night(I still thought it was a success). We went back to the girls house in our attempts to stay up all night since we were leaving at 4 am. We sat drank tea and gossiped until the electricity came on around 11:30. Most of us stayed up longer I decided that I did need to sleep for a little while and slept for just a few hours and got on the boat to a bus back to suva the next morning! Thats trip number one.
Trip number two started just 4 test filled days later. We embarked on Friday for Nadi on the other side of the main island after we finally finished our classes for the night. We went to a cool place called the drift in. I recommend for anyone in the Nadi area who is of approximately college age and wanting a really cheap place to stay to stay there. It is not a family place! But it is fun nonetheless. The next morning we embarked bright and early(why do all of my trips seem to happen at early hours in the morning? I need to sleep!) to the Yasawas. Our first stop was a quiet island with a random range of people. It was from retired people to kids our age. It was a good place with some awesome food and a good atmosphere. We also go to go snorkeling and feed sharks(well only one) which was scary and completely awesome at the same time! The best part of snorkeling was watching our guide dive down to spear fish to feed to the other fish and the sharks. He could dive so far down and then so gracefully come back with a fish. At one point he dove down around 25 feet into a cave where we could no longer see him and he came back 30 seconds later with a fish that he lazily brought to the surface. It was pretty impressive. That night they had some very touristy dancing that was supposed to be “culture” it was kind of entertaining. They also had some kava. Which if you read I enjoy. Except we joined the group of locals because at one point in time the other group of tourists began playing simon says and we were not having that while drinking kava. The locals were cool we talked to some people who we will probably meet up with at some time in Suva. The next day we climbed some rocks at one end of the island jumped in the water and swam back(kind of) we got in shallow water and saw some cool animals while cutting ourselves on dead coral. That morning we went to the next island where it was a lot of college aged kids. This place was definitely more of a party place at night but not as much as a place like bounty island. It was fun and had some great views I got some great pictures of the sunset and had some great beach lounging time. The next morning it was raining so we sat around inside until our boat came to take us to our last beach. By this point in time I wasnt feeling good so the rain didnt help. The last resort that we went to was not a place that sees college students very often. There were very few other people there and it was very quiet. They did have fun with us though. They played volleyball(I kept score) and had some fun. It was also a very touristy place with hermit crab races and dancing at night. But they also had a bonfire and kava so it was all good. The next morning we got up for breakfast and went to the cave where blue lagoon was filmed(I have not yet seen this movie so I dont know much). It was very beautiful when we got there. The first cave that you jump into has clear blue water that with a snorkel you can see all the way down. We were led to a place that seemed to be just more rock wall and told that we are going to swim under the wall into another cave. Which we did and it was pitch black and really scary and awesome. The guide that we had had a flash light but generally found it funny to turn off the light. We swam around in the dark for a while and swam back under the rocks into the light where people were climbing the walls and jumping off. I thought that this would be a great plan so I also did it. I climbed about halfway up one part and lost all hand holds that I had and decided that it would be a better plan to just fall back instead of probably hitting my head on the wall and then falling into the deep water. It was still fun to fall into the water but I wish I would have gotten further up it before and been able to jump off. After our excursion to the cave we had to hurry and get our stuff to get back on the boat for a 6 hour boat ride back to Nadi(we were on the last island of the Yasawas). Once we got to Nadi we had pizza and got in a minibus for our 3 1/2 hour ride home. We finally got home and I just went to bed because I was exhausted and not feeling well from the ride. Well those are my 2 recent adventures! Hope all is well where ever you are! I also hope you make it to Fiji!
Moce
Emily
For those of you who didnt want to read that whole thing heres the summary!
Easer weekend-Ovalau-Field trip. Met some awesome new people. There was a lot of rain. Cool cultural experiences. Flooding, Thunderstorm, and no electricity! Early morning.
Spring Break-Yasawas-being a tourist. Went to 3 different islands. Saw a shark. Climbed a bunch of stuff. Jumped of most of said stuff. Went to the cave from the blue lagoon. Spent a lot of time on beaches. Didnt get sun burnt!
Wow im half way through my time in Fiji! To those of you who dont want to read a very long post scroll down to the bottom there will be a summary. I have been on 2 trips since the last time I posted. I meant to post between the two so that my post wouldnt be so long but I got busy! The first trip was a trip to Levuka on the island of Ovalau. This was a field trip for 2 classes that I wasnt actually in. I got invited by one of my professors to go with so I decided it would be fun to go. It was really fun. I met a lot of new people who are really awesome. The actual town of Levuka was kind of boring it was a sleepy old town. The reason that we went is because it was the original capitol of Fiji. So it was a history field trip and was quite unorganized. It was the true Fijian way. We did some of the stuff that we were supposed to but most of it they made up along the way. The first day that we got there we were about 4 hours late because of rain and that seemed to be the theme for the weekend. Rain. And a lot of it. Once we actually got to Levuka we had pizza after trudging through the rain and went to begin celebrating Claire’s birthday with everyone! The birthday celebration continued for the rest of the weekend. Once we told the other students that it was Claire’s birthday they planed on thoroughly celebrating it! The second day that we were on the great island of Ovalau we went to a village and had a great lunch made by the ladies in the village. The little girls also helped. They were so cute. They helped by keeping the flies off the food and carrying plates out. We also had a traditional Kava ceremony where we presented a sevusevu(an offering essentially to allow us onto the chiefs land) and drank some kava. The other students were entertained by the fact that the americans had drank kava and by the fact that we liked it for the most part. If I havnt explained kava it is the national drink of Fiji and it tastes and looks a bit like muddy water. The appeal of it is that it is a mild narcotic and that when you drink it you sit around with a bunch of friends or soon to be friends and talk and hang out all night. The taste generally grows on you. So after kava we walked around the village a little and most of us went back and took a nap because well the night before we stayed out way to late! That night we had a dinner of curry and a “quiz” the winners got some granola bars!(unfortunately we didnt win) After that it was back to birthday celebrations until late again! This brings us to Saturday the day began with rain again and most of us just slept until lunch. After lunch we went to one of the first schools in Fiji. It is now a boarding school for both boys and girls but in the past it has been many things including a nursing school, training area for missionaries, and a teaching school. At the same time we also saw the tomb of the first bishop of Fiji. The best part of going to the school was that we got to ride in the back of a carrier truck. These are all over Fiji and a re a legitimate form of transportation especially on Ovalau that only has one bus and most people do not have cars. I however had not been on one yet so it was a bunch of fun. Basically we smashed 30 people into an area not a whole lot bigger than the bed of a normal truck that was covered by a tarp like cover. We were also on some of the worst roads I have ever been on. They were not the worst roads in Fiji which is quite disturbing. Saturday night was fun we sat around after dinner and sang songs from all the countries that people were from. One of the American kids Danny decided that it would be a good idea to sing the the thirty point buck song. All the other kids in the class had a great laugh at it and I got a great video of it too! Saturday was an early night because we had church at 8 am the next morning. One of the guys on the trip is a Catholic Father so he did the easter mass. It was different to go to a Catholic mass for easter but it was nice. It wasnt as long as I expected it to be(thank God!) so that was good. It started off being a very nice day after church we climbed up to some waterfalls and went swimming for a while. After I laid around because my knees hurt and it started raining. So a bunch of us hung out in the girls house and drank tea and talked. I would like to point out that pacific islanders like to gossip a bit. It was so funny because all of them would go on about whatever and there never seemed to be a topic that was off limits it was great. The only problem was that by the time we were supposed to have dinner it had rained very hard and flooded. We had to walk through knee deep water in order to get to dinner and the river outside the hotel was very flooded. Right when we got to dinner the electricity went out and we ate by the light of cell phones, candles, and lightning. I was quite excited because I love thunderstorms and there hasnt been one in Fiji since I have been here which I was quite sad about. This did however put a damper on the night(I still thought it was a success). We went back to the girls house in our attempts to stay up all night since we were leaving at 4 am. We sat drank tea and gossiped until the electricity came on around 11:30. Most of us stayed up longer I decided that I did need to sleep for a little while and slept for just a few hours and got on the boat to a bus back to suva the next morning! Thats trip number one.
Trip number two started just 4 test filled days later. We embarked on Friday for Nadi on the other side of the main island after we finally finished our classes for the night. We went to a cool place called the drift in. I recommend for anyone in the Nadi area who is of approximately college age and wanting a really cheap place to stay to stay there. It is not a family place! But it is fun nonetheless. The next morning we embarked bright and early(why do all of my trips seem to happen at early hours in the morning? I need to sleep!) to the Yasawas. Our first stop was a quiet island with a random range of people. It was from retired people to kids our age. It was a good place with some awesome food and a good atmosphere. We also go to go snorkeling and feed sharks(well only one) which was scary and completely awesome at the same time! The best part of snorkeling was watching our guide dive down to spear fish to feed to the other fish and the sharks. He could dive so far down and then so gracefully come back with a fish. At one point he dove down around 25 feet into a cave where we could no longer see him and he came back 30 seconds later with a fish that he lazily brought to the surface. It was pretty impressive. That night they had some very touristy dancing that was supposed to be “culture” it was kind of entertaining. They also had some kava. Which if you read I enjoy. Except we joined the group of locals because at one point in time the other group of tourists began playing simon says and we were not having that while drinking kava. The locals were cool we talked to some people who we will probably meet up with at some time in Suva. The next day we climbed some rocks at one end of the island jumped in the water and swam back(kind of) we got in shallow water and saw some cool animals while cutting ourselves on dead coral. That morning we went to the next island where it was a lot of college aged kids. This place was definitely more of a party place at night but not as much as a place like bounty island. It was fun and had some great views I got some great pictures of the sunset and had some great beach lounging time. The next morning it was raining so we sat around inside until our boat came to take us to our last beach. By this point in time I wasnt feeling good so the rain didnt help. The last resort that we went to was not a place that sees college students very often. There were very few other people there and it was very quiet. They did have fun with us though. They played volleyball(I kept score) and had some fun. It was also a very touristy place with hermit crab races and dancing at night. But they also had a bonfire and kava so it was all good. The next morning we got up for breakfast and went to the cave where blue lagoon was filmed(I have not yet seen this movie so I dont know much). It was very beautiful when we got there. The first cave that you jump into has clear blue water that with a snorkel you can see all the way down. We were led to a place that seemed to be just more rock wall and told that we are going to swim under the wall into another cave. Which we did and it was pitch black and really scary and awesome. The guide that we had had a flash light but generally found it funny to turn off the light. We swam around in the dark for a while and swam back under the rocks into the light where people were climbing the walls and jumping off. I thought that this would be a great plan so I also did it. I climbed about halfway up one part and lost all hand holds that I had and decided that it would be a better plan to just fall back instead of probably hitting my head on the wall and then falling into the deep water. It was still fun to fall into the water but I wish I would have gotten further up it before and been able to jump off. After our excursion to the cave we had to hurry and get our stuff to get back on the boat for a 6 hour boat ride back to Nadi(we were on the last island of the Yasawas). Once we got to Nadi we had pizza and got in a minibus for our 3 1/2 hour ride home. We finally got home and I just went to bed because I was exhausted and not feeling well from the ride. Well those are my 2 recent adventures! Hope all is well where ever you are! I also hope you make it to Fiji!
Moce
Emily
For those of you who didnt want to read that whole thing heres the summary!
Easer weekend-Ovalau-Field trip. Met some awesome new people. There was a lot of rain. Cool cultural experiences. Flooding, Thunderstorm, and no electricity! Early morning.
Spring Break-Yasawas-being a tourist. Went to 3 different islands. Saw a shark. Climbed a bunch of stuff. Jumped of most of said stuff. Went to the cave from the blue lagoon. Spent a lot of time on beaches. Didnt get sun burnt!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Beauty all around
Bula!
So I havnt posted in a while! Sorry to those who want to know what my life is like! I have realized that I will never get over the fact that Fiji is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. This weekend we went to a resort and just stayed one night but I couldnt get over how beautiful everything is. I laid on a hammock and had gorgeous views of the ocean and palm trees. The thing is is that this resort is not even the most beautiful place I have been. Everywhere I look there is beauty I look out my flat window and see palm trees, banana trees, mango trees, and all other sorts of beauty. I trek through gardens to get to class. I dont think that I could have picked a better place to study. I havnt really done to much since my last post. Relaxed on some beaches, done some work(I am STUDYING abroad) but that is about all. This weekend im going to one of the other islands though. Its called Ovalau im going to a town called Levuka. So that adventure should be interesting. Well to those of you who are reading see ya soon!
Moce!
So I havnt posted in a while! Sorry to those who want to know what my life is like! I have realized that I will never get over the fact that Fiji is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. This weekend we went to a resort and just stayed one night but I couldnt get over how beautiful everything is. I laid on a hammock and had gorgeous views of the ocean and palm trees. The thing is is that this resort is not even the most beautiful place I have been. Everywhere I look there is beauty I look out my flat window and see palm trees, banana trees, mango trees, and all other sorts of beauty. I trek through gardens to get to class. I dont think that I could have picked a better place to study. I havnt really done to much since my last post. Relaxed on some beaches, done some work(I am STUDYING abroad) but that is about all. This weekend im going to one of the other islands though. Its called Ovalau im going to a town called Levuka. So that adventure should be interesting. Well to those of you who are reading see ya soon!
Moce!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The aftermath
Bula!
Well the cyclone is over and I finally got back to classes today. The cyclone ended up hitting the northern and easter divisions(im in the central division) really hard but mostly missed the western division and had minimal impact on the central division. The storm forced all of us to stay inside from Saturday to Wednesday. We were finally able to leave the gate of our flats on Wednesday and most of us spent the day in town just meandering around because no one wanted to go back to the flats. In our massive amount of spare time that we had while locked in our dungeons of houses we did get to watch several movies. I was happy to see avatar which I had not seen before. I do wish I would have seen it in 3D but it was still good. The time that we spent trying to find something to do was impressive. I have never spent so much time in one place than I did during the cyclone. On the plus side it did make me appreciate how much I love to spend time outside! Well classes are going well and I have a paper to finish so I suppose this is my update for now! Please pray/think about/help if you can the people in northern and eastern Fiji! Here is a story about how to help! http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=142396 Vinaka!
Moce!
Well the cyclone is over and I finally got back to classes today. The cyclone ended up hitting the northern and easter divisions(im in the central division) really hard but mostly missed the western division and had minimal impact on the central division. The storm forced all of us to stay inside from Saturday to Wednesday. We were finally able to leave the gate of our flats on Wednesday and most of us spent the day in town just meandering around because no one wanted to go back to the flats. In our massive amount of spare time that we had while locked in our dungeons of houses we did get to watch several movies. I was happy to see avatar which I had not seen before. I do wish I would have seen it in 3D but it was still good. The time that we spent trying to find something to do was impressive. I have never spent so much time in one place than I did during the cyclone. On the plus side it did make me appreciate how much I love to spend time outside! Well classes are going well and I have a paper to finish so I suppose this is my update for now! Please pray/think about/help if you can the people in northern and eastern Fiji! Here is a story about how to help! http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=142396 Vinaka!
Moce!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Cyclone Tomas
Bula!
So on Friday which was 2 days ago here we were informed that there was a tropical depression that was on its way to Fiji. It is now Sunday and that tropical depression has formed into a category 3 cyclone and has been named Tomas. It still hasnt hit Fiji yet but they are saying that tonight and tomorrow it will be here. The original reports were that it would be here yesterday but it is moving much slower than expected and getting stronger along the way. Now I live in Minnesota and South Dakota so I have no idea how to prepare for a cyclone. Today there was some wind and rain that was pulling our windows open(they wernt locked) and that was before the actual storm has gotten here. I have no idea what it is going to be like. We have been warned that we probably wont have power or water and to prepare by getting water(which we have done). But beyond that I just dont really know what to do. Well I guess thats my update for now. I wanted to post something before I couldnt for a while. Please be praying for the people of Fiji. I will probably be fine in my flat here but others are not as fortunate to have a house made of concrete.
Moce for now
So on Friday which was 2 days ago here we were informed that there was a tropical depression that was on its way to Fiji. It is now Sunday and that tropical depression has formed into a category 3 cyclone and has been named Tomas. It still hasnt hit Fiji yet but they are saying that tonight and tomorrow it will be here. The original reports were that it would be here yesterday but it is moving much slower than expected and getting stronger along the way. Now I live in Minnesota and South Dakota so I have no idea how to prepare for a cyclone. Today there was some wind and rain that was pulling our windows open(they wernt locked) and that was before the actual storm has gotten here. I have no idea what it is going to be like. We have been warned that we probably wont have power or water and to prepare by getting water(which we have done). But beyond that I just dont really know what to do. Well I guess thats my update for now. I wanted to post something before I couldnt for a while. Please be praying for the people of Fiji. I will probably be fine in my flat here but others are not as fortunate to have a house made of concrete.
Moce for now
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
to much sun!
Bula!
I just realized I havnt updated everyone in a while. My original plan was to post once a week but well oops its been almost 2 weeks. Ive been pretty busy since the last time I posted. I think I have figured out all of my classes. Well as far as I can. I have most definitely figured out the public transportation system. Yay for not having to drive ever! I got to see Alice in Wonderland. Which strangely enough came out in Fiji before it came out in the States. Fun fact about movies in Fiji, they are super cheap. I can go to a movie get popcorn, pop, and candy for cheaper than the price of a movie at home. Also the theater is nicer than the Detroit Lakes theater. This is why all of us international students have decided that it is a good idea to have a movie night once a week. Last weekend was also quite eventful for us australearners. We went to the rugby tournament on Friday which was really hot but pretty fun. It was really funny to see all of the people hiding behind any shade they could get because the sun is so hot here. On Saturday we decided we should take a trip to Sigatoka and to the sand dunes. Also another really hot place. It was cool though because we were the only ones there. But thats how it is in a lot of places that arent super touristy here. So we stayed over night in Sigatoka(because it is a 3 hour bus ride from Suva) and on Sunday we went to Natadola beach. It was so beautiful! We spent the day swimming, attempting to body surf, building sand castles, and lounging on the beach. Sorry to those of you who picked a cold place to study abroad weekends in Fiji are spent in the sun! The only downside that I have found from all of this sun is that being from Minnesota I have absolutely no tolerance to the sun and get burnt all the time. I try to prevent this but to no avail. I guess its the price I pay for living in paradise. Well thats all I can think of for now! Im sure that if you ask there are many more interesting things I could tell you!
Moce
Emily
I just realized I havnt updated everyone in a while. My original plan was to post once a week but well oops its been almost 2 weeks. Ive been pretty busy since the last time I posted. I think I have figured out all of my classes. Well as far as I can. I have most definitely figured out the public transportation system. Yay for not having to drive ever! I got to see Alice in Wonderland. Which strangely enough came out in Fiji before it came out in the States. Fun fact about movies in Fiji, they are super cheap. I can go to a movie get popcorn, pop, and candy for cheaper than the price of a movie at home. Also the theater is nicer than the Detroit Lakes theater. This is why all of us international students have decided that it is a good idea to have a movie night once a week. Last weekend was also quite eventful for us australearners. We went to the rugby tournament on Friday which was really hot but pretty fun. It was really funny to see all of the people hiding behind any shade they could get because the sun is so hot here. On Saturday we decided we should take a trip to Sigatoka and to the sand dunes. Also another really hot place. It was cool though because we were the only ones there. But thats how it is in a lot of places that arent super touristy here. So we stayed over night in Sigatoka(because it is a 3 hour bus ride from Suva) and on Sunday we went to Natadola beach. It was so beautiful! We spent the day swimming, attempting to body surf, building sand castles, and lounging on the beach. Sorry to those of you who picked a cold place to study abroad weekends in Fiji are spent in the sun! The only downside that I have found from all of this sun is that being from Minnesota I have absolutely no tolerance to the sun and get burnt all the time. I try to prevent this but to no avail. I guess its the price I pay for living in paradise. Well thats all I can think of for now! Im sure that if you ask there are many more interesting things I could tell you!
Moce
Emily
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Classes, Rain, Tsunamis, and friendly people
Bula!
So I was just reading my last post and I apologize to everyone for being so scatter brained while writing it. I have just had so many new experiences that I dont quite know how to write them all down. Well, this last week I had a few less new experiences. Strangely enough Fiji is feeling more and more like home every day and I am getting more and more used to it. I started classes a week ago. Which was interesting. If you have any problems with things being on time, knowing when things are supposed to be, or people being extremely unorganized dont ever come to Fiji. I have found that if something is not working out the people here are completely fine with it. My classes wernt showing up, the places didnt exist, I had no idea where I was going, and it was all around unorganized. However no one seemed very worried with the fact that not even the professors knew where their classes were supposed to be so I decided that it wasnt a problem. The other thing I found strange about the Uni system here is that many of the professors are not Fijian. I have a British man teaching me Fijian, a british woman teaching me history, another woman who im not sure where she is from teaching me politics, and one professor who is Tongan and Samoan who has lived in Fiji for 30 years teaching me history. It is a little strange but it is also interesting to have so much diversity on campus. The diversity however does not stop with the professors. The students are from all over the pacific to so I get even more view points than I could have ever asked for. The only thing that annoys me in class is im always pointed out as the white girl and asked for the American opinion on things. Like im the authority on America. Oh well I guess I will try to be a good ambassador for America as much as possible. This last week I also went to church on Sunday. It was an interesting experience. Church was normal but after we met a man from Canada and his Fijian wife who invited us out for lunch. We found out he is starting a charity here to build homes for people. It was really a different experience for me because in the states someone would not ask us to dinner (much less buy us dinner) within the first five minutes of meeting us. But here that is totally normal. People are very welcoming and want to know about you and want to share about themselves. But in all Fiji is going very well. The tsunami warning here turned out to be nothing. However there has been a substantial amount of rain the last day or so so that has kinda sucked. Oh well! Could be worse. Thats all for today!
Vinaka
Emily
So I was just reading my last post and I apologize to everyone for being so scatter brained while writing it. I have just had so many new experiences that I dont quite know how to write them all down. Well, this last week I had a few less new experiences. Strangely enough Fiji is feeling more and more like home every day and I am getting more and more used to it. I started classes a week ago. Which was interesting. If you have any problems with things being on time, knowing when things are supposed to be, or people being extremely unorganized dont ever come to Fiji. I have found that if something is not working out the people here are completely fine with it. My classes wernt showing up, the places didnt exist, I had no idea where I was going, and it was all around unorganized. However no one seemed very worried with the fact that not even the professors knew where their classes were supposed to be so I decided that it wasnt a problem. The other thing I found strange about the Uni system here is that many of the professors are not Fijian. I have a British man teaching me Fijian, a british woman teaching me history, another woman who im not sure where she is from teaching me politics, and one professor who is Tongan and Samoan who has lived in Fiji for 30 years teaching me history. It is a little strange but it is also interesting to have so much diversity on campus. The diversity however does not stop with the professors. The students are from all over the pacific to so I get even more view points than I could have ever asked for. The only thing that annoys me in class is im always pointed out as the white girl and asked for the American opinion on things. Like im the authority on America. Oh well I guess I will try to be a good ambassador for America as much as possible. This last week I also went to church on Sunday. It was an interesting experience. Church was normal but after we met a man from Canada and his Fijian wife who invited us out for lunch. We found out he is starting a charity here to build homes for people. It was really a different experience for me because in the states someone would not ask us to dinner (much less buy us dinner) within the first five minutes of meeting us. But here that is totally normal. People are very welcoming and want to know about you and want to share about themselves. But in all Fiji is going very well. The tsunami warning here turned out to be nothing. However there has been a substantial amount of rain the last day or so so that has kinda sucked. Oh well! Could be worse. Thats all for today!
Vinaka
Emily
Sunday, February 21, 2010
New experiences and new classes!
Bula!
So I have had an eventful couple of days since I last wrote! I cant believe that I have been in Fiji for only a week! It has been so awesome. I start classes today and now as I write I am sitting in the classroom for my first class. It only took me about a half hour to finally find it. Strange thing about classes in Fiji if your classes overlap or are at the same time thats just fine you can just go to part of one or go every other time. It is still a very strange concept for me. We are all living in apartments that are on campus that are really nice. They are air conditioned so that is a major plus when it is 90 everyday. We even have housekeepers who come and clean up for us. I think its a little strange but its nice because they are getting paid a living wage and my bed is made everyday. Speaking of a living wage most people make only $7,000 FJD a year. Thats approximately $3500 USD. So many of the people live in poverty which is really hard for me to see because the place I live is very nice. We have done so many great things since we have been in Fiji. Just yesterday we climbed a mountain. Which we were told was only a 1-2 hour hike but was really 3 hours to the top and 1 1/2 hours down. It was really fun though there were some kids who were playing in the river who took us up the mountain and back down. They were making fun of us a lot because we kept slipping and falling. I have also made my first trips to the market. The fruit and veggie market is my favorite because there is so much good food to look at and it is really cheap. For example a pineapple here(which is quite a bit smaller than a pineapple back home) is only $2 FJD which is about $1 USD. I have also noticed that I am stared at all the time because I am one of the very few white people here. We are especially stared at when we are in big groups. Everything here is so new and strange to me I just want to explore it all! Well I suppose I should get ready for class!
Vinaka!
Emily
So I have had an eventful couple of days since I last wrote! I cant believe that I have been in Fiji for only a week! It has been so awesome. I start classes today and now as I write I am sitting in the classroom for my first class. It only took me about a half hour to finally find it. Strange thing about classes in Fiji if your classes overlap or are at the same time thats just fine you can just go to part of one or go every other time. It is still a very strange concept for me. We are all living in apartments that are on campus that are really nice. They are air conditioned so that is a major plus when it is 90 everyday. We even have housekeepers who come and clean up for us. I think its a little strange but its nice because they are getting paid a living wage and my bed is made everyday. Speaking of a living wage most people make only $7,000 FJD a year. Thats approximately $3500 USD. So many of the people live in poverty which is really hard for me to see because the place I live is very nice. We have done so many great things since we have been in Fiji. Just yesterday we climbed a mountain. Which we were told was only a 1-2 hour hike but was really 3 hours to the top and 1 1/2 hours down. It was really fun though there were some kids who were playing in the river who took us up the mountain and back down. They were making fun of us a lot because we kept slipping and falling. I have also made my first trips to the market. The fruit and veggie market is my favorite because there is so much good food to look at and it is really cheap. For example a pineapple here(which is quite a bit smaller than a pineapple back home) is only $2 FJD which is about $1 USD. I have also noticed that I am stared at all the time because I am one of the very few white people here. We are especially stared at when we are in big groups. Everything here is so new and strange to me I just want to explore it all! Well I suppose I should get ready for class!
Vinaka!
Emily
Saturday, February 13, 2010
new places and new faces
Bula!
Man have I heard that word a lot! I have officially spent my first day in Fiji! It is beautiful! I cant believe that I woke up in paradise and will be for the nest 4 1/2 months! This morning we found a little gecko or some sort of small lizard on our counter it was so cute! But I have already learned a few things about traveling and Fiji. Here are some good and bad things. Asking people in an airport where to go when your plane is late-good. I almost missed my plane from LA to Fiji and the people there helped me find my way very well (even though I had to go all the way across the airport)! Men wearing skirts-good. The men and women in Fiji like to wear sulus so to all of you guys out there it is okay to wear a skirt. Although what I have noticed is that men will wear a formal sulu to work and women will usually wear pants. Its a little strange but oh well! Missing your plane in Fiji-not bad. The group of us who flew togeather from LA all missed our last plane from Nadi so Suva. So instead of waiting for 7 hours in the airport we cached a bus that the airport provided around the island. It was really cool to see the island and it only took 2 1/2 hours so we wernt to late getting to pacific harbor where we are having our culture and adventure program. Roads in Fiji-bad. The roads here are either gravel or very poorly served blacktop. The two main roads on the big island (kings road and queens road) are blacktopped. The use of the roads would be like a four lane highway in the states but the actual condition would be like a back county road that rarely gets repaired. Fried coconut-interesting. Last night we were all hanging out at the resorts resturaunt where most people are at night and our director(Jalyassa) had the cook or someone make us fried coconut. He told us he calls it Fijian popcorn and that is just what it tasted like. It was a little strange because it didnt have the feel of popcorn in your mouth but it had the taste. Trying new things-AWESOME! If you ever go abroad try what the locals have. Dont eat the food that you recognize eat something that sounds strange. For example pineapple pop. It was really good and all the pops and things here are made with real sugar so it is really sweet. Also if you ever find yourself on a tropical island in the South Pacific (AKA Fiji!) the people are amazing and will want to talk and make sure that you are at home. Well, I guess that is all I have today I will write again soon when I have the time! We are going to an island to do some beach stuff today and tomorrow we are going to a village. So we have a busy time ahead of us and I cant wait!
Vinaka!
Emily
Man have I heard that word a lot! I have officially spent my first day in Fiji! It is beautiful! I cant believe that I woke up in paradise and will be for the nest 4 1/2 months! This morning we found a little gecko or some sort of small lizard on our counter it was so cute! But I have already learned a few things about traveling and Fiji. Here are some good and bad things. Asking people in an airport where to go when your plane is late-good. I almost missed my plane from LA to Fiji and the people there helped me find my way very well (even though I had to go all the way across the airport)! Men wearing skirts-good. The men and women in Fiji like to wear sulus so to all of you guys out there it is okay to wear a skirt. Although what I have noticed is that men will wear a formal sulu to work and women will usually wear pants. Its a little strange but oh well! Missing your plane in Fiji-not bad. The group of us who flew togeather from LA all missed our last plane from Nadi so Suva. So instead of waiting for 7 hours in the airport we cached a bus that the airport provided around the island. It was really cool to see the island and it only took 2 1/2 hours so we wernt to late getting to pacific harbor where we are having our culture and adventure program. Roads in Fiji-bad. The roads here are either gravel or very poorly served blacktop. The two main roads on the big island (kings road and queens road) are blacktopped. The use of the roads would be like a four lane highway in the states but the actual condition would be like a back county road that rarely gets repaired. Fried coconut-interesting. Last night we were all hanging out at the resorts resturaunt where most people are at night and our director(Jalyassa) had the cook or someone make us fried coconut. He told us he calls it Fijian popcorn and that is just what it tasted like. It was a little strange because it didnt have the feel of popcorn in your mouth but it had the taste. Trying new things-AWESOME! If you ever go abroad try what the locals have. Dont eat the food that you recognize eat something that sounds strange. For example pineapple pop. It was really good and all the pops and things here are made with real sugar so it is really sweet. Also if you ever find yourself on a tropical island in the South Pacific (AKA Fiji!) the people are amazing and will want to talk and make sure that you are at home. Well, I guess that is all I have today I will write again soon when I have the time! We are going to an island to do some beach stuff today and tomorrow we are going to a village. So we have a busy time ahead of us and I cant wait!
Vinaka!
Emily
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Just a few more days to go!
Bula!
I am right now at home all alone the rest of my family is either at work or at school so I have some time to sit and think. I am leaving for Fiji in just 2 days and it still feels a little unreal I think that it will probably feel that way for a few weeks! But right now Im packing and spending my last few days in the US with my family and some friends. Im not sure what to expect when I get there. I have thoughts about a tropical island and everything being all happy. But I dont think that it will be all perfect. Im sure that I will meet challenges while im there. I dont know what the people will be like but I have read that they are very friendly! I guess right now im just going on what I have read but you know you cant believe everything that you read! So I guess for right now I have to just wait. Not much longer but I have to wait! It will be an adventure nonetheless! I cant wait! I think that many times we get to comfortable in our lives and need to shake it up. Maybe this is my way of shaking up my life. I know I need something different right now and maybe this will be just what the doctor prescribed. Well I guess its goodbye for now! I will try to post from one of the airports along the way!
Vinaka!
Emily
I am right now at home all alone the rest of my family is either at work or at school so I have some time to sit and think. I am leaving for Fiji in just 2 days and it still feels a little unreal I think that it will probably feel that way for a few weeks! But right now Im packing and spending my last few days in the US with my family and some friends. Im not sure what to expect when I get there. I have thoughts about a tropical island and everything being all happy. But I dont think that it will be all perfect. Im sure that I will meet challenges while im there. I dont know what the people will be like but I have read that they are very friendly! I guess right now im just going on what I have read but you know you cant believe everything that you read! So I guess for right now I have to just wait. Not much longer but I have to wait! It will be an adventure nonetheless! I cant wait! I think that many times we get to comfortable in our lives and need to shake it up. Maybe this is my way of shaking up my life. I know I need something different right now and maybe this will be just what the doctor prescribed. Well I guess its goodbye for now! I will try to post from one of the airports along the way!
Vinaka!
Emily
Monday, January 25, 2010
Lessons Learned and Lessons to be Learned
So I am leaving augie in just a few days to go home for just 2 weeks then im off to Fiji. I place that as I learn more about I realize just how little I know. I am nervous excited and just plain giddy about leaving for a place that I know so little about. This may seem strange to those who have never been thrown into something that they dont understand and dont know what to expect but I love those situations. This reminds me a bit about the time I went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. It is to date the furthest I have been away from my family which wasnt a big deal because I was with my church including 2 of my best friends Rachael and Travis. However, what I didnt know going into this trip was that I would be going to a drug and alcohol rehab center for men over the age of 18 and that Rachael and Travis wouldnt be going with me. I was told this after I was in Puerto Rico and was all settled in to the place that I would call home for the week. I was terrified. I didnt know what these guys would be like. I didnt know if they would be dangerous. I didnt know if they would even speak english very well. But im so glad that I did it. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The men there were amazing. Most of them were there because they got on the wrong path at some point in time and now they wanted to fix it. It taught me to not judge a person before I got to know them. It taught me the simple things in my life that I take for granted can be so important. Like when we bought them a microwave, some popcorn, and some candy. When they wanted microwave popcorn they were making it in a toaster oven. It cost my group a few dollars each for these men to be so happy about something as simple as a microwave. Or how one of the men, they called him freckles, he cooked for use every day. He didnt know much english but he did find out that one of our leaders was on the atkins diet. He saved the leftover fish so that it would fit into her diet the next day. He wanted to make sure the she had something to eat and didnt have to bring her own with. I felt so inadequate for the things that I did there. We did some painting and cleaning but what was more important was the guys. They taught me some spanish and made me realize how great my life is. They cared about me and I think that is what was important. Im putting some pictures up of these men they were amazing and what I learned from them was more important than any microwave. So I guess what im saying is that im glad I dont know anyone who has been to Fiji to give me a perspective. I will learn something for myself and I cant wait.
Jon and Me. He was an amazing person
The whole group with the Puerto Rican flag that the guys all signed and gave to us.
This is of the guys after we gave them the microwave. The one kissing it is Freckles.
Jon and Me. He was an amazing person
The whole group with the Puerto Rican flag that the guys all signed and gave to us.
This is of the guys after we gave them the microwave. The one kissing it is Freckles.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
a revelation about the world
Bula(hello)!
Right now I am sitting in my dorm room during j-term and thinking about life. I just got done watching an amazing documentary about the TED conference which I had never heard of before(thank you netflix!). The TED conference brings togeather some of the greatest minds in the world to tackle some of the greatest issues in the world today. It made me think about my life and how I want to make the world better. This blog entry was originally going to be about my trip with my family. It was going to be about the places we went and the things we saw. All of which were valuable in their own sense. However, now I look at this trip and see something different. Yes I see the orange picking, a trip to an amazing zoo, a view of a city from over 1,000 feet but I see something different too. I see a possibility for my life and the lives of people around me. So to start, the day that I went home for break I challenged my mother to turn off the tv and computer for the few days before christmas that I would be home. She replied with “I dont want to.” With much arguing we did not turn off the tv. Now you may say how is this even close to relevant to my trip and any possibility for my life? Well its because I wanted to connect with people again. I wanted to slow down and see the world. Not watch it go by like it does so many days. I tried to do that on this vacation with my family. But what I learned is that most people dont take the time to see the world. They may stop once in a while and watch something of interest, like the giant pandas, but it seems that we dont pay attention to what we see. I was told many times during the 10 days that I spent with my family “Emily hurry up we have more stuff to do.” Each time I was told this I thought “isnt what we are doing right now important too?” What I really mean by this is that its more important to see not watch the things in front of us. Yes I want to watch everything but that isnt going to make me a better person. It is just going to drive me crazy. So how this whole crazy rambling of mine ties into my life and yes I do have a point. I want to listen, see, live, and understand the world around me. Not watch, hear, get through, and know the world around me. How am I going to do this? Im not sure yet but I think it involves listening to peoples stories. Truly seeing a place. Living as others do and just paying attention to the world. So what I want now is to listen to your story. Tell me anything! A good time. A bad time. Something Strange. Something Amazing. But tell a story. Its the only way that people can know each other. Its the only way we can make the world into what it is supposed to be. I think I can change the world. I think everyone can change the world. But if we hear the stories of others we can change the world in a way that will be better for everyone.
Vinaka(thank you)
Right now I am sitting in my dorm room during j-term and thinking about life. I just got done watching an amazing documentary about the TED conference which I had never heard of before(thank you netflix!). The TED conference brings togeather some of the greatest minds in the world to tackle some of the greatest issues in the world today. It made me think about my life and how I want to make the world better. This blog entry was originally going to be about my trip with my family. It was going to be about the places we went and the things we saw. All of which were valuable in their own sense. However, now I look at this trip and see something different. Yes I see the orange picking, a trip to an amazing zoo, a view of a city from over 1,000 feet but I see something different too. I see a possibility for my life and the lives of people around me. So to start, the day that I went home for break I challenged my mother to turn off the tv and computer for the few days before christmas that I would be home. She replied with “I dont want to.” With much arguing we did not turn off the tv. Now you may say how is this even close to relevant to my trip and any possibility for my life? Well its because I wanted to connect with people again. I wanted to slow down and see the world. Not watch it go by like it does so many days. I tried to do that on this vacation with my family. But what I learned is that most people dont take the time to see the world. They may stop once in a while and watch something of interest, like the giant pandas, but it seems that we dont pay attention to what we see. I was told many times during the 10 days that I spent with my family “Emily hurry up we have more stuff to do.” Each time I was told this I thought “isnt what we are doing right now important too?” What I really mean by this is that its more important to see not watch the things in front of us. Yes I want to watch everything but that isnt going to make me a better person. It is just going to drive me crazy. So how this whole crazy rambling of mine ties into my life and yes I do have a point. I want to listen, see, live, and understand the world around me. Not watch, hear, get through, and know the world around me. How am I going to do this? Im not sure yet but I think it involves listening to peoples stories. Truly seeing a place. Living as others do and just paying attention to the world. So what I want now is to listen to your story. Tell me anything! A good time. A bad time. Something Strange. Something Amazing. But tell a story. Its the only way that people can know each other. Its the only way we can make the world into what it is supposed to be. I think I can change the world. I think everyone can change the world. But if we hear the stories of others we can change the world in a way that will be better for everyone.
Vinaka(thank you)
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