WOW!! What a way to begin a semester!

First, the flight from LAX to Fiji was the longest flight I have ever taken; roughly 11 hours!  I will never complain about a two hour flight again… But the plane was huge and incredible!

We arrived in Fiji around 5 AM and from there rushed through customs to get to the exit and (hopefully) arrive to the ferry on time to get us to the island that we would be staying at for the next 4 days.  At this point I didn’t really know many of students I was traveling with  because my time in LAX was cut a lot shorter than I would have liked. [Thank you issues at the check-in counter…. *sarcasm eye roll*]

Once through the Fijian customs I had to quickly switch around a few belonging in my bags because we could only take a backpack to the island.  Our bigger checked bags were then taken to the Radison Hotel on the mainland, where we would spend our last night in Fiji.

Luckily the entire group arrived at the ferry with just enough time to spare.  Finally, after several plane rides, very little sleep, and tons of airport stress we were all able to relax on our three hour ferry ride to Naviti Island.   This also finally gave us all time to get to know each other.  The scenery wasn’t too bad either:

 Naviti Island –

Once we arrived on Naviti Island we welcomed with chilled refreshments and some Fijian music and song played by the resort staff.

The majority of us were housed in this shared dormitory.              [Great for bonding and REALLY getting to know each other].

 

Our time on the island was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

I can honestly say, that if I ever were to go back it would not be the same unless everyone (all 60) came back with me.  Fiji was a true ice-breaker; 60 strangers that over the course of 4 days on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean became really good friends and thus, life long friendships had been formed.  Here is the entire group before we left the island:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our days on the island were spent enjoying the sun, the beach, the crystal clear water, the view, the food, the people, and the FUN.  Of course, we did have some educational stuff thrown in there as well – but even that too was fun.  I learned so much about the Fijian culture and even a little bit about life in New Zealand from our TEAN directors (Lauren, Kate, and Tommy).

Although there was never anything that was required to attend or participate in, every day there would be an itinerary written out with optional activities that we could participate in.

The only thing “mandatory”  were meal times – but that was mainly because they were scheduled around when the ferry would come in with supplies. For every meal, the resort staff (and occasionally a student) would bang a drum that would be heard all over the island to signify that is was time to eat.  If you missed the meal, you had to wait until the next; however, that was generally not the case as everyone was usually starving from all the activities we were doing!

Here is a list of some of the cool exciting things we did on the island:

• We worked as a team to prepare a traditional Fijian feast the first night.  The fish we ate was HUGE and we cooked it buried beneath the ground!

 

• Husking coconuts and climbing coconut trees.  One day we had a husking coconuts and climbing coconut tree demonstration. After the demonstration of climbing the coconut tree several of the students were allowed to give it a try… of course, no one was quite able to make it to the top.  No one was able to husk the coconuts quite as easily as our guide, Solo, either.  Guess no one is Fijian enough…

       

• Spear throwing competition!  It’s way harder to throw one than I thought! Sadly, I didn’t win but it was still fun!

• Volleyball!  Every afternoon after ‘Tea Time’ a group of us would go out to the volleyball court and play until it was Happy Hour or dinner time; this was usually the best time as the sun was lowering and the sand wasn’t scorching hot.

• Kava Ceremony! Kava, as I came to learn, is very popular across the South Pacific but it’s popularity is particularly large in the Fijian culture and daily life.   There are a few rumors that drinking it will make you hallucinate, but that was not the case (for me anyway).   Kava is a root that is ground up and then strained with water (typically into a large wooden communal bowl).  Generally the Kava ceremony is a symbol of bringing two groups of people together (in this case: us Americans and the Fijians).  Throughout the ceremony there are a lot of words, all in Fijian, and clapping.  As the chief passed around the communal bowl, we were instructed to clap two times and then yell “Bula!” as loud as we could before drinking the Kava.  It is part of the ritual to drink the whole thing at one time. The Kava had the taste of muddy water, and although it didn’t make me hallucinate, it did make my tongue go a little numb.

  

• GAME NIGHT! On game night, our Fijian guide, Solo, created a few games for us to play.  One game was called: King/Queen/Princess/Castle, and was pretty much just like Simon Says.  Each word (e.g., King) stood for a specific action that would have to be performed and as the game continued the commands became quicker to perform.   Once again, this was another great bonding activity that turned out quite comical!  My partner and I made it to the final two!  [Shout out: Mary Kate we rock!]

Another activity we had were hermit crab races.  Some of the staff members ran around the beach grabbing a hermit crab for everyone.  Each crab was marked with a number so that we could keep track of them during the race.  I ended up naming mine Marcus, isn’t he pretty cool?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Hike to the Fijian Village!  On one of the days we hiked to the other side of the island to a local Fijian village where we were once again welcomed with open arms.  At the village we visited the local school (where we each gave a generous donation), the local church, and we went to an open market that the women of the village set up for us.

  

  

  

  

  

   

• Morning sunrise hike! Probably my favorite thing that I did in Fiji was wake up early on the last day and hike to the top of the mountain to witness a gorgeous Fijian sunrise!  I think the pictures can speak for themselves…

 

…Sadly, our time at Botaira Resort on Naviti Island had come to an end.  On our last day our group boarded the ferry and back to the mainland we went.

Throughout our time on the island we were able to pick up a few Fijian phrases, and I’m sure most of us will never forget them.  The three that I will always remember are: Bula (Hello), Vinaka (Thank You), and Sega Na Lega (No Worries).

Back on the mainland-

It was nice to reach the mainland and get to the Radisson Hotel. Finally, all 60 of us didn’t have to share 2 toilets and 2 showers and we were able to get cleaned up and look better than our past beach-bum lives.

Specifically in my case, I was treated like a king!  My roommate and I got stuck in the ‘honey-moon’ suite; which was huge – practically a whole house with a bed big enough for at least 5 people! Too bad we didn’t get to stay there longer than one night but New Zealand was calling our names!  However, before we got our goodnight sleep and left, a group of us hit the pool for a swim!

 

 Some other pictures from Fiji

 

 

Fiji was truly an incredible experience!!  Thank you TEAN for such an amazing start to what I hope will be an incredible semester!

Stay tuned, my New Zealand Adventure is up next!                                                                                                                    – Brad