tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45369232065715475202024-02-19T04:52:36.078-08:00Out thereAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-10068855327929620322014-06-21T16:24:00.001-07:002014-06-21T16:24:27.508-07:00StatesideWell, I made it to LAX. Now I'm just sitting enjoying the free wifi and waiting for my flight to Chicago. America feels so foreign, and there's white people EVERYWHERE.<br />
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Saying goodbye in Nadi yesterday was so hard. At least I had one more beautiful day on the beach. I don't even know how to sum up everything right now. I have things to post about the last week, but I feel like now is not the time because I don't want to start crying in the airport again. I'll finish this up later.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-3434702508093060672014-06-13T19:41:00.001-07:002014-06-13T19:41:27.840-07:00"Study" weekI've put off updating this re: study week vacation because it was too beautiful to accurately put into words. I stayed a few nights in Nadi at a dirt cheap backpackers hostel with some friends before heading up to the Yasawas for the real vacation and lost my phone there. Fortunately I had just switched out my Verizon SIM for a Vodafone SIM barely 2 weeks prior, so I can just buy a cheap phone off craigslist when I get home. The thing that upsets me most about it is that I lost all the pictures on my phone and don't have a camera for the rest of my time in Fiji. So, I had to wait until others posted their photos from Waya Lailai to be able to put any on here, thus the delay. I'm still waiting for Matt to put his up (he's got the nicest camera and about 600 pictures from that week, so I'll definitely update again when he does put them online), but at least now I've got something.<br />
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Because the others went to Manta Ray Island before heading off to Waya Lailai, I traveled alone (or so I thought) and met them up there. When I got on the bus to go from the hostel to Port Denarau, though, Bre and Chase and that whole group happened to be taking the ferry the same day, so I ended up having company after all, which was a pleasant surprise. Port Denarau was weird, because I literally had not seen that many white people in 4 months. The ferry was pretty nice though, and it took about 2 hours to get from Nadi to Waya Lailai Island. I got there about 4 hours before the rest of the crew, and the other group on the ferry with me stayed on the boat to keep going towards a different island, but I couldn't even be bothered by that or feel lonely because I had stepped into paradise. White sand, aquamarine ocean as clear as pool water, blue skies, and rows of hammocks under the palm trees calling my name. We stayed for 3 nights/ 4 days and they were some of the best days I could imagine.<br />
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One of the coolest parts is that this particular island is known for having one of the best views in the area from the top of the small mountain. It took us less than an hour to hike up it, and it was indeed breathtaking.<br />
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This is overlooking the resort. I love that you can clearly see the reef from all the way up there.</div>
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We had nearly a 360 view of the surrounding area from the top.</div>
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This is the other side. We thought that island kinda looked like a turtle.</div>
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You can see some of the other islands dotted in the distance</div>
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Rocks and stuff. I can't get over how pretty it all was.</div>
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On top of the world.</div>
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The hike up was pretty cool too, we kept finding these natural branchy archways</div>
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Buuuut being Fiji, it was a pretty sweaty hike and we were happy to reach the top.</div>
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I don't have pictures of the snorkeling yet, although I think somebody did take some. It was incredible though, I FINALLY GOT TO SWIM WITH SHARKS. That was the one thing I really wanted to do while in Fiji more than almost anything else, so I was so happy to do it. One of the staff on the island took us out on the boat to a reef about 15 minutes away to snorkel at where they knew the sharks would be. Mind you, they were just reef sharks, but it was still exhilarating and oddly incredibly serene. They were reef sharks, so they were only about 4-6 feet long and pretty friendly. I immediately could see the truth to the claim that sharks are grossly misunderstood creatures. Yes they are still dangerous, and yes these small sharks still could have taken a decent bite out of me, but they really had no interest in doing so. There were probably around 20 in the area we were at, and being able to swim with that many sharks in their natural habitat was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. Even if I were to post pictures, there is no possible way to convey the beauty of that experience. </div>
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The rest of the time in Waya Lailai was spent snorkeling by the shore, where there were these neat tunnels through the reefs that you could swim through if you took a big enough breath (I also obtained a number of cuts and scrapes doing this - if you didn't know, coral is SHARP), playing drinking games with Germans, Brits, and a French guy (I wasn't drinking though because I was on antibiotics for an infection), and just lazing around on the beach getting our tan on. It was like something out of a dream, and even better because I got to spend it with people I've come to love. </div>
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Going back to Suva was a letdown. I had to spend all of the next day (Sunday) studying for my Literary Criticism exam on Monday (I actually do go to school here too). The exam was to write 2 essays on our choice topics from a list of 10 questions and we were given three hours. I finished mine in a little over two hours, and I think it went okay. The setup for final exams here is kind of stupid though, in my opinion. Rather than having one exam week and taking the tests in the classrooms, they spread it out over 2 weeks, have 2 exam sessions per day, and have 1200 students at a time take their tests in the Vodafone Arena down the road from USP. Being herded like cattle through turnstiles, given a desk number, and sitting in a giant arena with that many other people doesn't exactly help with any test anxiety. But I don't run things, so whatever. I have one more exam this coming Wednesday, then I'm finally done.</div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-41553470783028467682014-05-26T02:00:00.000-07:002014-05-26T02:00:09.813-07:00Everyday life in SuvaAfter looking over my blog, I realize that not only have I been pretty bad about updating it regularly, but I also only seem to update after adventures to exotic, exciting places. Most of my time is spent here in Suva, and I haven't even put my city in the spotlight yet. Granted, Suva is easily the dirtiest part of Fiji and not somewhere I would recommend staying more than a day or two to the average tourist, but it's still my home in this foreign land.<br />
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Today is a pretty good example of an average day that I don't have classes. I woke up, made some eggs, sat on the balcony drinking coffee and reading a book, went for a run (okay maybe that part isn't average for me, but I was feeling motivated today), then met up with Sami and Josh to take a bus into the city. I went to the post office to pick up a package, finally got the Easter package my mama sent godonlyknows how long ago. But hey, new underwear and candy still made me pretty happy a month and a half later! Not being in much of a hurry, we wandered around town for a while and of course hit up the market. I'm going to miss the fresh market so much back in America. So much fresh food that's so cheap. I've made myself learn to cook more dishes over the last few months because it's cheaper and healthier to make meals with food the veggies I pick up there. I would still kill for some Domino's delivered to me though.<br />
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I miss real coffee, but the instant stuff is good when I have it on a sunny balcony</div>
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Tried taking a pano of Little India, ended up smooshing the cars</div>
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Some of the signs in stores make me giggle</div>
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Pineapples are gloriously abundant</div>
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Cream buns are also an obsession of mine. SO GOOD.</div>
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This is only the outside part of the market. The whole thing is huge.</div>
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Shipping area on Suva Harbor.</div>
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I don't know how to make this not sideways on here.</div>
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Sweet chili sauce makes most things better</div>
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My homemade veggie sauce is way better than the stuff in jars</div>
<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-58703234566818768682014-05-25T01:33:00.002-07:002014-05-25T01:36:31.863-07:00Sand and sun to soothe the soulBula! So it's been a while... again.... so I'm just gonna skip over the crappy parts and get to the good stuff.<br />
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I'M FINALLY 21! Very exciting, and I can't think of a better way to have spent the day. Me and a handful of friends who didn't mind missing some Tuesday classes headed out to Uprising mid-morning to spend a couple hours lounging, swimming, and sipping some drinks on the beach. Nothing else really noteworthy about the trip - just a relaxing afternoon with good company. That alone was exactly what I wanted.<br />
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After getting home to get ready to go to dinner, my roommates surprised me with some lovely gifts. One was a box of good beers from New Zealand and Mexico from Rowan (I actually received this in the morning)<br />
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The future English teacher in me really loved the alliteration</div>
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Then Sam and the girls gave me this outfit and tried to get me to wear it downtown. Note the pointy Madonna boobs.<br />
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And I got a ukulele! Further proof that my friends are awesome.<br />
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Dinner turned out really good too. We went to Bad Dog for half price pizza and sangria (their Tuesday special). There were three pizzas though that took nearly an hour to come out, mine included, and even though we didn't even say anything to the wait staff about it, they felt bad and told us that they wouldn't charge us for the late pizzas and brought us out another jug of sangria for free too. And cake! They gave me cake! And it was delicious!<br />
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And they wrote my name in strawberry sauce. So cute.</div>
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Being a Tuesday night, the bars were pretty dead and a lot of people didn't really want to stay out super late. I was still happy that people came out though, and we still had a great night. I did anyway. And I did not throw up once that night or the morning after, so heck yeah.</div>
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This weekend was so cool too. A decent sized group of us headed out to Sigatoka yesterday morning for a camping trip. Sigatoka's main claim to fame is the sand dunes, the same ones Kyle took the UWP group to during our first week. Because Sigatoka is like 2 1/2 hours away, we only had a couple hours of daylight left when we got there, but that was okay because the weather cooperated and it was so much fun out there playing on the giant dunes and in the ocean while we could. Once the sun went down, we built up a giant campfire with driftwood and bamboo that were scattered all over the beach and cooked hobo meals in tin foil in it. Being a remote area, the stars were incredible and it was the beginning (or end?) of a meteor shower too. It was seriously an all around perfect evening. Sleeping on the beach is something everyone should do at least once too. It was sandy and cold (yes, I was cold. It's winter here now - nothing remotely like Wisconsin winters, but it does get kinda chilly at night), but falling asleep looking at the stars and listening to the waves crashing is the most serene thing. Plus, seeing the ocean first thing when you wake up is pretty darn cool. We spent the morning today frolicking in the waves again and just hanging out until it was time to hike out to catch the minibus back.</div>
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Our home for the night</div>
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Taken from our campsite, dunes in the distance</div>
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Beach sleeping: thumbs up</div>
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You can run, jump, tumble, whatever down the dunes and not get hurt.</div>
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It's a workout getting back up, though.</div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-69703145758836729312014-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:002014-05-09T22:22:12.950-07:00Loving lifeBula, blog readers.<br />
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Today was a beautiful day. An email went out last week about a trip to St. Christopher's orphanage, and at the last minute, I decided to sign up. I'm so happy I did. This wasn't a volunteer trip or anything, it was simply to see the orphanage and spend the morning playing with the kids. There were somewhere between 20 and 30 kids housed at St. Christopher's ranging in age from toddlers to 18, and every one of them was beautiful. They loved singing and a few could play guitar, so they greeted and entertained us with songs. They then introduced themselves and each said what they want to be when they grow up. Despite being orphaned, those kids were so happy and full of life with big dreams for their futures. It was very humbling and inspiring to observe and talk to them, and they brought genuine smiles to my face.<br />
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This girl right here is my new friend, Mary. She's 13 years old and will some day be one of the best teachers in Fiji.</div>
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Going back a bit, last weekend was also fantastic. On Thursday, I <b>finally</b> put my scuba certification to good use and went diving. Some people found a deal for $70 FJD for a one tank dive, which is about the cheapest I've heard of here. The diving conditions weren't fantastic; the water was a bit stormy and visibility wasn't at its best, but I still loved every minute of it and thought it was incredible. I'll post pictures/videos as soon as Rowan or Sam sends them to me. We dove down along an enormous coral wall that went down about 100 meters. We only went down about 25-30 meters, but that's still pretty deep. Swimming with all the colorful, strange looking fish was so cool, as well as being able to look up and realize how far in the ocean I was.</div>
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We did the dive in a spot that was a 15 minute boat ride out of Suva Harbor, and the dive shop was based at the yacht club. That weekend happened to be the Suva Jazz and Blues Festival, and the yacht club was one of the three venues around the city that was hosting it. So, when we got back from the dive and got everything put away, we stuck around and got some food while they set up. This means that we effectively skirted the $30 entrance fee and got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset and some really good music from some folksy New Zealand band. </div>
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Two days later, I went with 6 friends to stay at Mango Bay, a backpacker resort about an hour and a half away on the coral coast. It was pretty much like most of the other backpacker places we've been, but it's always good to get out of Suva every now and then, and of course it was gorgeous and so nice to be at the beach. Aside from lounging and swimming, I went kayaking and snorkeling too. It wasn't the most impressive snorkeling I've done, but it was still, as always, a great time. Plus, I saw a sting ray while kayaking! I got way more excited about it than a normal person probably would. I don't know what I'm going to do back home when I can't just get away to gorgeous beaches on the weekends by taking an hour long bus ride.</div>
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<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-67588035238401094582014-04-13T21:18:00.001-07:002014-04-13T21:18:22.686-07:00Hello there, neglected blogI suppose it's about time I post on here before I have even more adventures to tell. Last week was spring break and it was one of the best I've had (of course spring breaks in Kiawah will always be treasured memories -- lookin at you, Becca).<br />
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Soooo, we started off on our adventure on Saturday morning last week. The whole UWP clan was back together, even Kris and Kyle (the coordinators), and it was nice because we haven't really done anything all together since the beginning. Dylan, Kaci, Alex, Jake, and Josh came with us too, so we had a pretty sizable group. We were supposed to board the minibus at 9:30 sharp, but naturally it ended up coming at almost 11 because the driver had too much to drink the night before and forgot he was hired to drive that day and his brother had to replace him. Typical Fiji, really. Anyway, we didn't even really know for sure where we were going until that morning, but our first destination was <a href="http://www.robinsoncrusoeislandfiji.com/" target="_blank">Robinson Crusoe Island</a>. It's an island that's roughly a square mile, so the resort is the only thing on it, similar to Leleuvia. It's kind of a touristy place, but it was still really fun. The staff all seemed super into their jobs and did a good job of getting everybody to participate in the games and dancing and other silly stuff. We went snorkeling that day too, but most of the coral I saw was dead and there weren't as many fish as in other places. Still though, if my weekend consists of snorkeling in Fiji, I'm not going to complain.<br />
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The island</div>
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After dinner and a Fijian toffee making demonstration (just sugar and coconut shavings in a pan until it caramelizes -- simple but sooo delicious), the staff started their show and it was amazing. They did traditional dances that reminded me that Fijians of the past were fearsome warriors, and did a lot of dances involving machetes and fire. The fire dancing blew my mind, they were all so good at what they did. Later on in the night, one of the dancers even brought out his torch and let us try some of it ourselves on the beach. One of the most impressive things I saw them do was put the torch in their mouth and have fire remaining on their tongue, so I asked him to teach me how. Turns out there's nothing more to it than just sticking a lit torch in your mouth, so of course I tried it anyway. I wish I had a picture of that, I felt like such a badass, even if my tongue did get mildly burnt.<br />
This place was also like Leleuvia in that they turned off the electricity on the island at midnight. A couple of us went out on the beach at midnight to look at the stars without any light pollution, and it was absolutely incredible. I've never seen so many stars, and the Milky Way stood out clear as day. We sat there just stargazing in awe until Jake went to pee in the ocean. Once he had taken care of his business, he called us over but wouldn't tell us why. When we went over and asked what was up, he didn't say anything but kicked at the water and we immediately saw why we had to go over. Turned out the water was full of bio-luminescent plankton, and they glowed when the water was disturbed. So now not only did we have all the stars in the sky, but we had a whole ocean of green "stars" to play with too. We were probably out there for a good hour or so taking in everything and enjoying the beauty of it all, until Carl said to me, "Alex, get out of the water right now." I looked down and lo and behold, there was a big sea snake just inches from my left foot. We didn't know for sure if they were poisonous or not, but I wasn't about to find out, and the safest route is to always just assume that most things in the ocean want to kill you. I found out later that they actually are highly venomous but have small mouths that make it hard to bite much more than fingers or toes. Still though, I don't want to think of what would have happened if Carl hadn't seen it and I had taken another step to the left. That was the point where we all decided to just go to bed.<br />
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This is the snake. Or maybe its brother.</div>
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The next day, we left around noon for our next stop on the trip, Natadola Beach. This is the same beach that we went to our first week in Fiji, the one where Diana got her face messed up by the giant waves. There was talk of surf lessons, but unfortunately the surfing never happened. Still though, the weather was perfect and we had a beautiful day just playing at the beach together. Kris and Kyle arranged for us to stay in some beachside villas, so when the sun went down it was like a big slumber party with all of us.<br />
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Our final destination was to Abaca (pronounced aum-ba-tha because Fijian language doesn't make much sense), which is a village at the base of Mt. Evans, the 4th tallest peak in Fiji (which is saying something since most of Fiji is mountains). We got there a little later than planned (Fiji time) and ended up starting our hike up the mountain around noon. The first half of the hike was out in the open under the noontime Fiji sun, so we were all just dripping sweat. I started struggling, but I didn't want to be the whiner that held the group up. I paid for it though when we took a break. I sat down on a rock to take a drink of water, and suddenly all the colors in the center of my focus started getting very bright and vibrant while the rest of my vision tunneled out to black. I tried just taking deep breaths and not make a big deal of it, but then I realized I was in trouble when Michelle ran over to me and asked if I was okay and her voice sounded distant. I never fully lost consciousness, but I got to the point that apparently I was white as a sheet and my lips turned blue and Kyle had to dump cold water over my head, at which point I gasped and felt like I had suddenly come back to life. After I was "revived" to the point that I could see and hear properly again, Kyle helped me over to a shady spot to lie down for a few minutes and rehydrate. I stayed there for about 15 minutes to make sure I'd be okay to continue while the rest of the group went ahead at my insistence. After that I paced myself a bit more and allowed myself to take breaks when I needed it.<br />
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This sums up my feelings during the ascent</div>
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Fortunately, I was fine the rest of the day and caught up to the rest of the group soon enough. I was a bit embarrassed and felt bad for scaring the others, but in my defense, it was a very difficult hike. Not only was it hot, but it was ridiculously steep and slippery in some spots, and to call what we were on a path is to use the word path loosely. A lot of it was crashing through blade grass and undergrowth or clinging on to tree branches to pull ourselves up. It took over 3 hours, but we finally made it to the summit, and the view made it all (in hindsight) worth it.<br />
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We were in the clouds!</div>
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Almost a mile up</div>
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You can see how sweaty and tired I am, but I did it!</div>
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For the second half of the week, almost everybody I know and hang out with left either on multi-day field trips or up to Taveuni. I spent one day doing nothing other than nap, eat, and read, then went to watch a movie with a friend who was actually still around (Searching for Sugarman is a fascinating documentary, by the way). Then yesterday, I hopped on an early bus to the Beachouse and got there by noon. Sam, Jeremiah, and Dan were already there, so it was a good excuse to get out of Suva for the day. I rented out a surfboard again and gave it another go. Sam helped me and gave me tips again, and I did a lot better! I still got pummeled plenty, but I managed to stand up almost as many times as not, so I was pretty proud of that. Discovering a love of surfing is just reconfirming my belief that I am meant to live near the ocean. Plus I was still out there by the time the sun set, and a surfboard out in the ocean is really the place to watch a sunset.<br />
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-32796720918988320692014-03-23T00:16:00.000-07:002014-03-23T00:18:08.350-07:00Beach bums & nothing moreBula, Americans<br />
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Perhaps you've also noticed the trend of this blog, in which I really only update after the weekend. I didn't mean to do it that way, that's just how it's happened, because not much exciting really goes on during the week. I'm tempted to make a post with pictures and stories of my mundane, everyday activities on a Wednesday or something.<br />
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After our big trip to Leleuvia last weekend, this weekend was much more low key. I didn't have class on Friday, so the weekend started off Thursday night by going out for happy hour with some of the girls in my apartment, which turned into staying out much past happy hour when everybody else decided to hit the town too (sorry, Ma).<br />
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Friday night was just a movie night and hanging out with friends, and I remember now that Ice Cube movies suck. Nothing special, but a lovely night nonetheless.<br />
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Yesterday, though, almost everybody in 10th hall took a trip to the beach. It was a public beach close to Uprising, the resort we stayed at the first week in Fiji. It had nothing on Leleuvia's waters, but it's a beach in Fiji so I'm not going to be the one to complain. The waves broke on shore and were much bigger, and I felt like I was 10 years old on a summer Florida trip again while playing in them. No big activities like surfing or paddling this time, just a day of sun and sand. Maybe a little too much sun and sand though, because by the time I got off the bus and back to the apartment around 5, I headed straight to bed exhausted and with a migraine. I only meant to take a nap, but it ended up being almost 5 hours long, and might have lasted longer if Sami didn't call me asking where I was (they were having a party I forgot about).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsRePJcojpD-NCoQ4d8JfejpaFTCBpV84FOyOkof_551yzf8Mo8RNYqCYg8z8cQNfnv9R3r-AvPKjC1HFOBP4WY3a2AL_C2IQ-1LEJRct9XC12iS4Zyhy_1dOxMHLfv2KkUSM4R8rxDD8/s1600/1510983_10201569323056677_715354202_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsRePJcojpD-NCoQ4d8JfejpaFTCBpV84FOyOkof_551yzf8Mo8RNYqCYg8z8cQNfnv9R3r-AvPKjC1HFOBP4WY3a2AL_C2IQ-1LEJRct9XC12iS4Zyhy_1dOxMHLfv2KkUSM4R8rxDD8/s1600/1510983_10201569323056677_715354202_n.jpg" height="174" width="320" /></a></div>
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In other news, our water is back on! Most of eastern Viti Levu had the water shut off yesterday for maintenance or something around 6 pm, and it didn't come back on until around that time today. I spent the day stinky and in need of a shower, and you wouldn't believe how incredibly disgusting the bathroom got (8 people, 3 toilets that don't flush... you get the picture). Fiji life, I suppose. Things just don't always work here.</div>
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<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-87710506180013757662014-03-18T18:42:00.001-07:002014-03-18T18:42:34.159-07:00A weekend in picsBula, friends and family!<br />
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Well, I think I found heaven on earth this weekend. A dozen friends and myself all took a weekend vacation to Leleuvia Island and it was the most beautiful place I've ever been. I'm really not in the mood to write today, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here we go.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubZc5NfUl8X2AP74__q_M53xOHFYKE9GBZWHGWXz2Ayb-q3IbxsVSAEKRnDRn2uJeqBD2hk0hxDF8laqqfs6t9NZPWnIQBnSoGaj-32fMWMrwJ6KjcRJorMSjyjOttBPIRI1QM6KSEVGs/s1600/IMG_3004+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubZc5NfUl8X2AP74__q_M53xOHFYKE9GBZWHGWXz2Ayb-q3IbxsVSAEKRnDRn2uJeqBD2hk0hxDF8laqqfs6t9NZPWnIQBnSoGaj-32fMWMrwJ6KjcRJorMSjyjOttBPIRI1QM6KSEVGs/s1600/IMG_3004+-+Copy.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
We had to take a 45 minute bus and a 25 minute boat ride to get out there, so this was my first good view of the island.<br />
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Almost there...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZsVQKDZzlMTJgGfZABjsh_4JGmcas2s_GamyhHsMeVOXX2dYc2NpiMXkOq3u0q_zxWT4pMLoE1XY9pTU-AhG9vRY9LZccoBhNLkrJtxzW08DajrrNHop07ba8VREMjFkf8ZPn1Q-Bnoj/s1600/IMG_3009+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZsVQKDZzlMTJgGfZABjsh_4JGmcas2s_GamyhHsMeVOXX2dYc2NpiMXkOq3u0q_zxWT4pMLoE1XY9pTU-AhG9vRY9LZccoBhNLkrJtxzW08DajrrNHop07ba8VREMjFkf8ZPn1Q-Bnoj/s1600/IMG_3009+-+Copy.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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As soon as we got off the boat and onto the dock, we could look down and see coral. The water was so clear it was like glass.</div>
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We divided up and stayed in 3 bures, which are pretty much just huts on the beach with a couple beds thrown in there. They were okay, but the resort cut off electricity at midnight, meaning the fan went off. It was hard to sleep in these because of it, but whatever.</div>
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I still can't get over how gorgeous the water was.</div>
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I stole these pictures from Bre because she has an underwater GoPro camera, but this is what I saw. I spent a good several hours snorkeling this weekend and it was absolutely amazing.</div>
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Sunrise over the beach was pretty sweet too.</div>
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A few hours after we got back on Monday, USP hosted a Holi Festival of Colors. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi" target="_blank">Holi</a> is an Indian holiday to celebrate unity. Food, live Indian music from students, and of course, the colors and dancing were all part of it.</div>
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<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-57143081216347224812014-03-13T22:59:00.003-07:002014-03-13T22:59:58.783-07:00AdjustmentsThings I've gotten surprisingly used to over the last month and a half:<br />
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<li>Sweating</li>
<li>Whole milk</li>
<li>Hardly ever wearing makeup/ doing my hair</li>
<li>Being the only white person in sight</li>
<li>Cold showers (I actually choose this too)</li>
<li>Taking taxis or buses everywhere that's out of walking distance</li>
<li>Hearing conversations in passing and having no clue what they're saying, let alone what language they're saying it in</li>
<li>Suva's tap water</li>
<li>No air conditioning</li>
<li>Hanging my clothes out to dry (no dryer)</li>
<li>Bugs always in the kitchen</li>
<li>Tuna</li>
<li>Being stared at</li>
<li>Construction noises outside the dorms at all hours of the day</li>
<li>Sleeping with only a sheet</li>
<li>Walking in the rain</li>
<li>Fiji time (it's very real - nobody is in a hurry or on time for anything)</li>
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Though I will never get used to the mosquitos. The windows and doors are always open to let in a breeze, so there's no escaping them. I HATE THEM.</div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-15918341445205143572014-03-09T15:08:00.001-07:002014-03-09T15:08:19.999-07:00I live for the weekendsSince we weren't under the threat of cyclones this weekend, it turned out pretty great.<br />
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On Thursday, I decided to join the rowing team here. I had missed the informational meeting, but anybody interested was allowed to come to the first practice to check it out. Many of my friends were also doing it, so we all made the trek down to lower campus where the ocean is, and I'm glad I did. The first practice was just to get acquainted with the paddling styles, the role of each person in the boat, and how to row in sync, but in the future they will be longer and more intense. The coach, Lili, was SO excited to see a pack of girls show up. Apparently for the last two years it has only been her and two other girls on the team and she had been wanting to up the number of female members. Competing in races is optional, but she encouraged us to consider it. Some of the marathon races are up to 18 km, but I think I want to do it anyway. I just need to get working on my shoulders.<br />
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The next day, I had my first "exam" in my ED184 class, which is called something along the lines of Integrating Games and Movement in Education, but is really almost like being back in elementary PE, except that everybody is a lot bigger than 10 year olds. Our exam consisted of our instructor dividing us into groups of 8 and giving us random equipment, and we had to come up with a game using them. The class isn't turning out to be what I expected, and is certainly the easiest class I have, but it's actually really fun.<br />
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Later on in the evening, a ton of us international kids met up in Ali and Malcolm's apartment for a Flip Coconut tournament. Even all of the Koreans, who are studying here to learn English and usually don't hang around us as much, came out for the event. They're a pretty funny group of people. In case you didn't pick up on it, Flip Coconut is the same thing as the game Flip Cup, except obviously with half-coconut shells. It's way harder because coconuts like to roll, and no two are the same size or shape, so the game is really just a game of chance. Or at least that's what I'm going to keep asserting since our team lost. I blame that on Dan though.<br />
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Saturday was also really fun. There was a huge rugby tournament at the ANZ Stadium right off campus that went all of Friday and Saturday and featured pretty much every team in Fiji, which apparently is a lot (Fijians take their rugby very seriously). I had never been to a rugby game before, but I really enjoyed it. I think I like watching rugby more than football because it's simpler to follow and they don't take a bazillion breaks in play. Each half is 7 minutes, so each game is just about continuous action for 15 minutes and then it's over. It's so intense too, they go all out with their sprints and tackles even in the 100 degree heat. Speaking of heat, myself and Dylan turned out to be the only ones that didn't have the forethought to buy tickets in advance, so when I got to the gate and tried to buy a seat, the lady told me that the stadium was full and I would have to sit on the grassy hill. The view was still okay, but there was no shade anywhere, so the two of us sat frying in the sun while watching the rest of the group enjoying the shade. After about an hour and a half, though, everybody got hungry and crossed the street to McDonald's, which was blessedly air conditioned, and when we got back to the game I managed to make my way into the stands. I just told the security guard I was just heading for the bar,which was inside the stadium gate, then made my way back up the stairs to where everyone else was sitting (there were plenty of open seats too!) After the tournament, I took a much needed nap after being in the blazing sun all day, then we all reconvened to hang out and watch 47 Ronin, which was terrible.<br />
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Yesterday was just what I needed. A handful of us caught the 9:30 bus out to the Beachouse again, just for a day trip. I didn't do surfing or snorkeling again this time (there was a surf competition going on and Matt didn't come this time so I couldn't borrow his snorkel gear), but I still had a wonderful day relaxing at the beach. All I had to pay was bus fare to get out there and I got to spend a day in paradise.<br />
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Speaking of beaches, at the paddling meeting on Thursday, Riccarda and I came up with a plan. Since you obviously have to enter the canoe from the water, you have to walk across the small sandy beach area between the grass and the water. Now, the beach in Suva is nothing like the beach pictures I've been posting. There's a reason we take an hour and a half bus ride to go to the beach. Here, it's so polluted and absolutely filthy. Just covered in garbage that has washed up and accumulated, not to mention all the industrial waste they dump in the harbor. Fiji has a litter problem as it is, and you can really tell there. So, while we were picking our way through the garbage down to the water, we both expressed how sad we thought it was and decided to have a day in which we go down and clean up the beach. Riccarda made a post on facebook to round up a group, and we're planning on going down with rubber gloves and garbage bags tomorrow. A friend of ours, Ronish, is working as a journalist for USP and heard about our plan, so he is going to come along and create a story for the school news to try to spread the word and maybe spread the effort.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-35200448276606107832014-03-03T18:34:00.000-08:002014-03-03T18:34:03.214-08:005 day weekend overDue to some potential natural disasters they were predicting could happen last week, I ended up with a very long weekend. All classes were cancelled on Thursday and Friday, and I never have classes on Mondays. Thursday really did need to be cancelled; all day the rain was torrential and the thunder really meant business. I loved it though. I always really miss thunderstorms during the winter, and stormy days instead of classes are just so relaxing. The sky Wednesday night before it stormed was just crazy too. Close to sunset, the entire sky turned an ominous orange, then purple, then cotton candy pink.<br />
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Friday, though, classes certainly didn't need to be cancelled. The worst was over and it probably rained a total of 25 minutes all day, which is typical for Suva anyway. But hey, I'll take it.</div>
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Nobody really went anywhere special this weekend, since so many people went on our Beachouse vacation last weekend and we can't afford to do that every weekend. Mostly it was just hanging around campus and downtown Suva. During the day on Saturday I went shopping with Taylor and Matt, and we finally hit up the handicrafts market. I didn't actually intend to buy anything, I just wanted to look, but that seemed to work to my advantage. Because it was apparently a slow day there and they were about to close for the day, the vendors all seemed pretty desperate to make a sale and were pushy. I kept telling them no, I just want to check it out, but each time I told them no, they would offer me a better deal on something. Eventually I got one of them down to $5 FJD on a handmade turtle necklace that admittedly I did like, so I broke down and bought it. It's pretty cute though.</div>
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Also, I finally got my Fiji Bitter tank. I feel local.</div>
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Sunday was hot and sunny, so I decided it was a good day to go to the pool. As a pleasant surprise to me, a whole bunch of my friends here had the same thought, so there ended up being a whole big group of us there. One of them, Malcolm, got permission from the pool guy to set up a slackline across the pool. If you don't know, slacklining is basically like tightrope walking, so you can imagine how much fun we had with that. </div>
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Yesterday was another day spent at the pool, because why not. Having an outdoor pool on campus is one of the greatest things and I plan to take advantage of that. Later on in the night, I went over to the apartments across campus where some of the other international students from other programs live. I don't know them as well as my UWP family, but they're all really cool people. We spent most of the night playing Canastas, which is a long card game meant for bigger groups of people like we had. All of us except for the two teaching us were completely lost for a while, but once we got it, it turned out to be pretty fun. I just realized as I typed that how much cards I play here. Cheap and easy entertainment, plus the power goes out at least on a weekly basis.</div>
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I finally took some campus pictures today too! It really is like a jungle. I suppose it is.</div>
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This is the walkway to 10th hall, where I live.</div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-47342007053597906962014-02-27T20:20:00.001-08:002014-02-27T20:20:15.565-08:00Beachouse weekendLet's get a bit more up to date, shall we?<br />
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Last weekend was one of the best weekends I've ever had. We got a group together and stayed <a href="http://www.fijibeachouse.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, and it was just as beautiful as it looks online. Not only did our group of 8 go, but two other groups of international students also came to stay, many of them I vaguely knew. It was awesome getting to know so many of the other study abroad/exchange students, they're all pretty cool people.<br />
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Saturday was hands-down the best day. Breakfast was provided by the resort, and who doesn't love free food?! One of my roommates here, Sam, is from Australia and is a born and raised surfer girl, so I asked her if she would teach me to surf at some point while we're in Fiji. Turns out the Beachouse does surfboard rentals for only $20 (and they forgot to ever ask me for my money), so after breakfast, I got a board and went out with Sam and the other surfer kids from our clan. We had to paddle wayyy out to get to where the waves were breaking over the reef, and I quickly found out that the paddling doesn't end when you get out there. In fact, it seems like about 90% of surfing is just paddling and waiting for the perfect wave. I managed to stand up on my first try, but it was definitely beginner's luck. They didn't go quite so well after that, but it was no less than I expected. Surfing is hard! After about 2 1/2 hours out there, I finally caught the right wave at the right time and did the right thing and actually rode a wave! I did not expect to manage that on my first day out, so I was pretty excited and proud of myself. We spent a total of about 3 hours out there, and when I finally went in I was so incredibly exhausted (that's 3 straight hours of paddling and being beat up by the ocean!). It was all I could do to go get a big bottle of water (I was so thirsty; I swallowed a lot of salt water and the Fiji sun is hot!) and order a pizza, which I ate almost entirely by myself within 10 minutes of it getting to me.<br />
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Once I recuperated and got my energy levels back up, I went back down to the beach to join in on a game of ultimate frisbee that some of the people from my group and many from the other study abroad groups were playing in the water (it was really shallow for a long ways out). We had so much fun just running through the water and playing together, and I got to meet some new people. It was the perfect idyllic afternoon.<br />
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Later on, I went snorkeling with Sam, Rowan (another Aussie surfer), and Catherine (an adorably hilarious girl from New Zealand), and we went back out towards where we had been surfing. It started off pretty neat with a couple different kinds of fish and some big blue starfish, but then once we got to the reef, it turned incredible. The ocean floor was covered in coral and would abruptly turn into drop-offs 20 feet deep or more every now and then. I saw so many different fish, many of them the beautiful, vibrant tropical colors you would imagine. Words and even photos (yes, there are tons!) could never do justice to the beauty of the reef. We probably spent a good two hours out there just floating around and taking everything in. The pictures are all on Taylor's camera, but I'll try to remember to post some once I get them from her.<br />
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The next day was spent just hanging around and enjoying the laid-back beach life. I needed a rest after how much I did the day before (and how sunburnt I got). We left late afternoon around 6, and coming back to reality was a bit of a let down, but it was so worth it. Staying at the Beachouse was only $35 FJD a night, which is pretty cheap, so I'll definitely be going back there at least one or two more weekends.<br />
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<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-90907723660212458912014-02-20T01:05:00.000-08:002014-02-20T01:05:06.781-08:00YesterdayBula!<br />
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So, yesterday was finally my first day of classes, and oh boy, was it a hectic day. My first class, U.S. in Asia and the Pacific, was at 8 am. Because I still am learning my way through campus, I thought it would be a good idea to leave my room around 7:30 so I'd have some extra time. I was right that it was a good idea, because at 8:10 I still couldn't find the stupid classroom. My schedule was messed up though and this class overlapped with my two others on Wednesdays, so I figured since I was switching out of it anyway it wouldn't hurt to just give up my sweaty and frustrated search. Few things stress me out more than trying to find where I'm going when I don't know where I am.<br />
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My next class, Literary Criticism, was right after at 9 am. This one also took me about 20 minutes to find the classroom, but I actually made it with 5 minutes to spare. Wouldn't you know it though, after all that hard work, the teacher never showed up and we all just left anyway. So far it had been a rough start and I was short on patience.<br />
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My 3rd and supposedly final class of the day was at noon, so I went back to my room to take a short nap before embarking out onto campus again to resume my struggle. One of my roommates, Hazel, who has been at USP for a few semesters now, asked me what building it was in before I left. I told her my schedule said the CRC (I don't even know what it stands for), and her response was, "The CRC? That's the bar!" So I figured this class would be interesting. When I finally got there though (turns out class was just <i>next to </i>the bar), all we did was sign our names and that was it. So, I just spent my entire morning walking around and still had yet to actually sit through a class. I<br />
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I did go to the International office right after though, to switch my history class to another one that would actually work with my schedule. I joined the Colonization of the Pacific class, because it's required of me to take a class relating to Pacific history or culture while I'm here. I had only missed one so far because they met on Tuesday, but the next class was at 4 that afternoon, which meant my day of "classes" wasn't over yet. This one I had a much easier time finding, and it turns out that most of the people in my program are also in that class, so I actually had some familiar faces.<br />
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<br />Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-92138157616212202782014-02-17T19:57:00.000-08:002014-02-17T19:57:12.953-08:00Catching upAll right, time to finally get up to date with this thing.<br />
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I left off last time with the village stay. After the village, we went to a resort in Pacific Harbour called the Uprising where we again stayed in a hostel for 2 nights.The first day, Kris took us on another adventure, called the Jewel of Fiji day trip. We took a bus over to the home base of the tour where we piled into 2 boats and took off to another village up the river. There, we were welcomed with a full kava ceremony while the men of the village did a traditional warrior dance in full grass skirt getups and everything, then the women sang a song and did a dance as well. Then they started taking us by the hand and having us join in on the dancing, which was hot and sweaty and pretty fun. Once our group was properly welcomed to the village, we all sat down on the mat to eat, and the food was all pretty much the same as the first village. Later on while the women were cleaning up from lunch, some other women started laying out various jewelry and souvenirs. The money all went back to the village, so I felt almost obligated to buy something, so I got this pretty leather bracelet with a turquoise turtle on it for $5.<br />
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Our guide in the village also showed us around, letting us watch the women weave mats, teaching us how to open a coconut in 6 seconds (very impressive actually), and taking us to the preschool, where the kids sang us some songs. It was so adorable, I'll have to upload the video on here later. We only stayed in this village for a couple hours, then it was off in the boats again. About half an hour upriver was a small path going through the jungle. It was about a 4 minute hike before we got to an absolutely gorgeous waterfall. There was a pool at the bottom of it that was perfect for swimming, and the water was so clear and refreshing. It was incredible. Definitely my idea of paradise.<br />
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The days following weren't so good. The day after our day tour was pretty much just open for us to hang around the beach and pool at the resort. I had started to feel sick on the boat ride back from the waterfall, and really went down hard the next day. Body aches, fever, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat; you name it, I probably had it. This continued on for about a week too. After our two nights at the Uprising, we finally made our way over to Suva to get checked into our dorms. The others all went to another waterfall with a rope swing after putting their stuff away, but I unfortunately stayed back and slept instead. I went to the doctor after 5 days of this and she said it was probably from the food/water in the village.<br />
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Enough of the negatives though; I'm better now and thankful for that. I've settled in nicely to my dorm, if you can even call it that. They're really just apartments. I live in 10th hall, which is made up of 6 different buildings. Each building has 3 floors, and each floor is it's own apartment with 8 small single bedrooms. All of the buildings are connected, and the windows and doors are virtually always open to let in some air (unfortunately the halls aren't air conditioned), so it's very open and free for us to roam about and go to other apartments if we want, although boys aren't allowed in the girls' buildings.<br />
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Campus is beautiful. I need to go around and take pictures of it, but there's so many exotic trees and plants everywhere. I'm slowly learning my way around here. It's kind of confusing, and much to my dismay, there are more hills on this campus than at UWP. I figure it's good for me though. At least that's what I tell myself as I sweat buckets on my way to and from my room.<br />
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I'm learning the ropes, settling into my new home and lifestyle, but I'd be lying if I said I don't get homesick. I miss everybody back home, and I miss my American conveniences. But then I look at where I am and remember how incredibly lucky I am to be here.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-914638331091057752014-02-14T23:11:00.000-08:002014-02-14T23:30:47.831-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Sorry for the distinct lack of posts here. I finally managed to configure everything and get internet on my laptop though, so hopefully this can become more regular. I wrote this post last weekend in a word doc, and I'll fill in what's happened since then later.</b></div>
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Bula everybody!</div>
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Eventually I will get around to updating this blog more regularly, but we have been so busy and many parts of Fiji do not have internet access. So, I suppose I'll start with last Friday's stories. </div>
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After a big breakfast of delicious fruits and breads, Kyle drove us about half an hour away to a friend's house, right past where we went ziplining, where we were greeted by somewhere around 20 horses. With varying levels of enthusiasm, myself probably the most excited, we were each put on a horse and led to a big, grassy, oval track and set free to get to know our horses. Of course for me that meant seeing how fast I could get around the track. Once we were acquainted and all ready, we set out across the river and through some sugar cane fields. The people who owned the horses are trying to make a business of doing trail rides to supplement their income from the sugar cane, but I think they have some work to do with actually clearing out some trails, because at some points, our horses were pretty much just crashing through the crops while we all ducked our heads and tried to get scraped up as little as possible. But after nearly an hour of riding, we finally made it to our destination, which turned out to be a mud bath "spa". Yes, I took a mud bath, and yes, there are plenty of pictures that I will upload later. It was weird and gross, but it was fun because we were all together and it did kind of feel good in a weird way. The people who ran the place had us wash off in the hot springs after. As awesome as hot springs are, I think it would have been nicer if it wasn't 90 degrees outside. The whole experience was worth it though.<br />
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Once we finished up with the horses and mud bathing, we went back to the farm where we got to see how a traditional lovo dinner is made, which was fascinating. First, they dug a pit to build a fire in and put rocks over it and waited until the rocks were good and hot. While the rocks were heating, they made leaf wraps and put a mixture of thickened coconut milk, onion, and something else in the leaves, then wrapped that up in tin foil. The other part of the meal was chicken, and the way it was prepared was so cool. They prepared 5 chickens for us, and what they did was take the whole chicken, set it on the middle of a huge coconut leaf, and the braid around the chickens until they were secured in the leaf. They then put the coconut leaves holding the chickens and the foil wraps of the leaf mixture on top of the hot rocks, covered it all in huge banana leaves, then covered that in burlap. This is to trap all the heat in, and the coconut leaves and tin foil were to assure that the rocks didn't scorch the food. After an hour and a half, it was all ready. They told us that they make meals that way every Sunday, or for special guests like us. I can't imagine doing all that work for one meal every week. </div>
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The next day, we woke up early to pack up all of our bags and leave the apartment we were staying in. Kyle drove us to a beach about 45 minutes away to frolic and play for a couple hours. It was gorgeous, but a mishap with the waves put a bit of a damper on the frolicking. Taylor, Matt, and I rode in a separate truck to the beach (it's hard to fit 11 people plus Kyle and his kids in one vehicle) and as we were walking along the beach towards where the others were already swimming, we could see the waves suddenly getting bigger and more violent. Next thing we see is Diana walking back towards the shore and some others helping her, then when she turned a bit we saw why. The whole right side of her face was covered in blood. Apparently the wave took her down and scraped her along the sandy bottom. Once she got cleaned up, we could tell that it wasn't quite as bad as it looked, but she still had to miss out on the village trip later that day because of it. So, lesson learned. Be careful in the ocean. She's a trooper though and had a sense of humor about it, so the day still turned out okay.<br />
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After a few hours at the beach, we got dressed in the appropriate clothes and left for the village. We were greeted with a big lunch already set up in the dining house. Now, I suppose I have to explain a few things about village life. Each small village in Fiji is made up of one clan, which is many families that all seem to be related in one way or another. However, the entire clan is like one big family, to the point that while I was there, I had no idea who most of the kids belonged to or who was who's brother or sister. Each family has their own house, which in all honesty, isn't usually much more than a glorified shack. The houses have very little furniture, too. The house I stayed in had a kitchen table and beds and dressers in the bedrooms. The living room was entirely empty except for a tv where the men watched rugby. Speaking of which, gender roles are prominent there. Women are not allowed to have their shoulders or knees showing, cannot groom their hair or have it down in front of the men, and they generally do most of the work. In fact, I really didn't see the men do much else but lounge, drink kava, and watch rugby while I was there. In addition to the gender role customs, there were also several others that we had to be mindful of during our stay. For example, touching somebody else's head is considered very offensive. You are also supposed to avoid being higher up than others (don't stand while they are sitting), but if you had to, like when you walk past people sitting down, you have to bow down slightly and say chilo, which is basically asking for a pardon. Also, there is the custom of kirikiri, whcih means I had to be careful not to compliment things the villagers owned, because they would then be basically obligated to give it to me. It works the other way too, but thankfully they didn't do that to me. </div>
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Anyway, the arrival lunch. Like I said, it was in the dining house, which is basically just an empty, one room building in the middle of the village. All eating is done on the floor in the villages, they just set up a long table cloth in the middle of the room. I'm not even going to try to describe everything I ate while I was there, because half the time I really didn't even know what the heck was on my plate. Most of it was pretty good though. The two things that seemed to be at every meal, though, were white rice and cassava. Cassava is very popular in Fiji because it is easy to grow and it is filling. You eat the starchy root of the cassava plant, which at first I thought was a marijuana plant because they look alarmingly similar, and it tastes kinda sorta like a potato.</div>
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After lunch, we went back to the house I was staying in to watch the Fiji rugby team play against Argentina (rugby is a huge deal here) and drink kava (which is also a huge deal here). Kava is the traditional drink of Fiji, and it is basically a ground up root that is then made into a sort of tea in a huge bowl, then drunk out of a half coconut shell and is very mildly narcotic. Now, it might be the traditional drink, but I'm pretty sure nobody really enjoys the taste of kava. It looks like dirty water and kind of tastes like it too. It tastes like bitter dirt and makes your tongue kind of numb. It's weird and hard to describe, but there you go. Whenever an outsider goes to visit a village, they must present a gift of kava to the clan to be welcomed in and again to be blessed to leave. It is also considered somewhat rude to turn down kava when offered, so it's something I just have to get used to. </div>
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We sat around relaxing, watching rugby, and drinking kava until dinner, which was another feast, then left to go to the sand dunes nearby. When they told me sand dunes, I was not expecting what I saw. The dunes were huge! Super cool.<br />
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-67246154631043375322014-02-06T13:25:00.002-08:002014-02-06T13:25:36.850-08:00Bula from Nadi!I made it! I've only been in Fiji for 2 days now, but each day has felt like at least three. Where to start....<br />
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I met Taylor at LAX because we were on the same flight together. It was good to have somebody in the same boat as me and to not have to travel alone. The flight was 11 hours, but we slept through most of it. We touched down in Nadi around 4 am (keep in mind I'm 18 hours ahead here), but by the time we got through customs, baggage claim, etc, we got to the hostel around 6. We met up with Sami, who arrived a day before us, as well as a girl from Quebec that Sami had met on the plane. We mostly spent the day on the beach hanging around in hammocks and getting to know each other.<br />
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At one point, some guy came around riding bareback on a horse and leading another. I went up to him and asked if I could have a ride. He tried to charge me for an hour long ride with the proper tack and a saddle (turns out he has a "business doing this), but after some sweet talking and bargaining he let me and Taylor take them for a bareback ride down the beach for $5 (in American money that's less than $3). I finally got to ride a horse in the ocean! I'd always wanted to do that and I got to after less than 12 hours in the country, so I consider that a good start to the trip. Later on in the day, Sami and I rented out the kayaks that the hotel had. There were two kayaks and they were free to take out, but I guess you get what you [don't] pay for because there was only one paddle. The boats were only meant for one person, but we decided to give it a try with both of us anyway. It was a colossal failure, because they really were only meant for ONE person, but we had so much fun trying anyway. Falling out of a boat multiple times and sitting on each other's laps to try to make it work is certainly one way to bond with another person.<br />
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Yesterday was even more amazing. The rest of the group (there's 11 of us total) came in early like we did, and we met up with them and Kyle, the on-site coordinator, at 5:30 am. It's funny to think I just met these people only yesterday morning; I already consider these awesome people to be my friends.<br />
Anyway, after we met up, we dropped our bags off in the rented apartment we're staying in, then went over to Kyle's house to meet his family and eat breakfast. Kyle only lives 2 blocks from where we're staying, and he and his wife are some of the nicest people I've met. Plus they have 3 adorable little kids that I immediately fell in love with. Seriously, I want to take them home with me. Anywho, breakfast was incredible and there was so. much. food. Fruit here is abundant and delicious, and I could definitely get used to eating it every morning. This was the first time we all got to sit down and talk and get to know each other too. Because none of us really knew what was in store for the next 10 days before we get to USP, I tried asking Kyle what we were doing. The only response I could get was "adventure", and though it was frustrating, he certainly wasn't lying. The first thing we did was go into the city to exchange money and buy our local cell phones and sulus, which is like a big wrap skirt or dress (they're only about $4 in U.S. money and they're so light and comfy; I definitely found my new wardrobe for the next 5 months). On that note, my phone is a prepaid deal and I am able to call the U.S. for only 20 cents a minute, which for some reason is cheaper than making local calls. Go figure. Also, I can send texts for 25 cents each, so I'll be sending texts somewhat sparingly, but I can receive them free! (hint, hint)<br />
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Before we left the city, we got lunch at this tiny little open-aired Indian restaurant where we got various curried meats and some other foods I'd never heard of. Everything was delicious, except for the pickled starfruit. I was brave and tried it, but it was weird. I also learned that you have to be careful eating the meat here, because it's fresh to the point that there are still bones stuck in here and there.<br />
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After our city visit, we got to find out what our surprise adventure of the day was. WE WENT ZIPLINING. It was so cool! We went on the mountains nicknamed the Sleeping Giant, because that's what it looks like from a distance. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. Once we finished the zipline, all of us were dripping in sweat, so we jumped in the river. Literally, too, because there was a big rock to jump off of into a deep pool in the river. There was also a natural 'waterslide' in the rocks that went into another deep pool. Again, I can't even begin to convey how beautiful it all was. It was a perfect day all around.<br />
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We had an hour long break after that, then it was off to a Chinese restaurant in town. Again, I wasn't sure what everything was, but it was all so good and I left just stuffed. After dinner, most of us caught our second wind and spent the rest of the evening playing cards and just talking and hanging out with each other. It's amazing how close we all have gotten already. I can't remember laughing so much in one day.<br />
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Today's a new adventure. I don't know what it is yet (again), but after yesterday, I trust that Kyle has something good up his sleeve. I've got plenty of pictures of our adventures yesterday and the day before, but no camera cord at the moment, so those will come later.<br />
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Peace and love to you all!Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-56219124155671890802014-02-03T11:11:00.003-08:002014-02-03T11:11:58.441-08:00Waking up in CaliHello everybody! I've got a lot of family and friends back home wanting updates throughout my trip, so I figure this is the easiest way to share with all of you.<br />
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After some tearful goodbyes, I finally shipped out yesterday. I landed in Los Angeles around 4, and thankfully the flights were pretty uneventful. It's so nice to be out of the snow and bitter cold! I went for a morning run today just because I could and laughed when I noticed all the LA natives wearing their jackets.<br />
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My last view of Wisconsin for a while</div>
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Aaaaand the view from my hotel window. </div>
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Notice the visible temperature difference and just imagine me smiling.</div>
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Today's the day I finally fly out to Fiji after months and months of anticipation. Hopefully all goes well! I will try to update this blog fairly frequently, but I will probably be pretty busy these first few days.<br />
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Love you all! Wish me luck!Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4536923206571547520.post-83310246862967216652014-02-02T17:09:00.001-08:002014-02-02T17:09:21.180-08:00TestingAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06093154172450278398noreply@blogger.com0