Relax and Party

February 26. None of us were ready to wake early this morning. Most of us were tired from the events of last night, but breakfast was at 8am. Although they call this place Beach Comber Resort, it isn’t the typical American resort that most would think of. It’s more of a hostel setting, with strangers sleeping in rooms with other strangers and bathrooms being shared. Yet, since our 14 bed room consisted only of our group, we never had to share a bathroom with anyone. The one difference between hostels and this “resort” is that that they make a surprising effort with the food here. It’s all scrumptious. Omelets, pancakes, bacon, sausages, cassava (which Fiji seems very fond of) and fruit were on the breakfast menu today. After we were full to bursting, we were ready to chill on the beach until noon. The beach was too hot for me and a few other guys so we spent our time in the water, throwing the Frisbee and snorkeling just off the break. Being close to the water with a perfect temperature and great climate is causing me to crave some surfing. If only this beach had a decent break, I would never want to leave.

We planned to go catamaran sailing today, but the wind was nonexistent. Most of the fun activities that are advertised here require some wind to have fun with. There’s parasailing, regular sailing, and windsurfing (which I would love to have tried) and they are all incredibly cheap. The only ones left for us were jet skiing or diving. Both were somewhat out of my price range (jet skiing was $280 for an hour and diving was $200 for a two tank dive) so we contented ourselves with some president, the only thing in the world that makes me outwardly display anger, and B.S. After a couple hours of both, I became bored and left for a nap in the shade. Even in the shade the temperature beats down on your body until you are forced to accept defeat and retreat to your bed.

After an hour of a choppy nap I came back to find the group at the bar. I joined them and found they were recounting the hilarious and embarrassing events of the past month. We spent a good hour before dinner continuously laughing until my throat, stomach, and head were throbbing with pain. It was strange, however, to talk about the past month. It finally made me realize that this trip was coming to an end. I fought back my sadness. I’ll feel that on a later date.

Dinner was the same as last night and happy hour started at 6pm. I watched as the group became wilder with their actions and I was soon forced to act as ridiculous as them. The live band brought out a few fun elimination games tonight. The first dance consisted of Ben, Steren, and I. We had to stop dancing when the music stopped playing. Simple, right? We were eliminated in the first round. With Steren’s infectious upbeat attitude combined with both Ben and Steren’s alcohol influenced actions, I couldn’t stop moving. The second dance comprised of Jade, Andrew, Ben, Brian, Steren, and I. The band would play music and when they stopped playing they would yell out a number. Everybody had to latch onto one another in order to make a group that consisted of that number of people. It was chaos as we shoved and pushed for our partners and, consequentially, there was plenty of face planting and close lining. Surprisingly, I placed third in this competition. It was a fun night, even if it ended in Olivia and I escorting a few people home.

Beach Comber

                February 25. We were all excited to go to Beach Comber Island today. Its diameter is approximately a quarter of a mile, so it’s a tiny island resort. We packed only our backpacks for 2 nights and 3 days. It took about an hour of driving and an hour of boating to get to the island. It was even smaller than I perceived it to be. We pulled up right onto the white beach and jumped from the boat, eager to explore the layout of the beach. The entrance to the resort was 20 feet from the beach and opened into a bar on the left and the dining room on the right. We checked into our room, which thankfully had exactly 14 beds so we didn’t need to share with anyone, and walked over to the notice board to plan out our day’s events. At 2pm there was a free 45 minute snorkel that Caitie, Steran, Andrew, Jade, Ben, and I signed up for and until then we ate lunch in the dining hall. There are 3 free meals a day here and all are buffet style. Consequentially, there was a huge line consisting of all 50 tourists on the island. The meal entailed pita bread, rice, beef curry, pineapple, and cassava (a root that resembled and tasted like a potato). At 2pm we rented masks, snorkels and fins and headed out to the reef with 20 other snorkelers.

                The reef was beautiful with grey, crumbled live rock and an abundance of fire and brain coral. There were many tiny fish with exotic features and colors. Bright blue starfish littered the sea floor and you occasionally caught sight of a moray eel peering curiously at you as you swam by. The reef was about 7 feet from the surface of the water, but after the edge it became somewhere closer to 25 feet. We could swim to the bottom to see stingrays and larger fish, but trying to hold your breath combined with constantly equalizing the pressure made it a cumbersome dive. We collected plenty of unique shells in our allotted time, but all too soon we were called back to the boat to go home.

                By 3pm it was too late to do much except lay on the beach and wait for dinner to start. The surrounding beach is different in certain areas, which surprised me because it’s probably only a half a mile stretch at the most. Some parts are gorgeously clean with white sand and no rocks, but others are filled with live rock, which tries to murder your feet as you stride on them. There is also a distinct smell of seaweed constantly being wafted into our room. It is also dangerously hot as well. I’ve had to reapply sunscreen twice already in the past 4 hours. You glisten with sweat in your first 30 minutes of lying there and you’re drenched after another hour. The beach is not meant for human habitation from 11am-2pm.

                Dinner consisted of fish, cassava, and salad. I have recently taken a liking to the fish here, which is surprisingly because I rarely eat fish at home. Dinner was followed by the Bula and a limbo, which I lost miserably. The nightlife here is fantastic and energetic. It is really hard to find time to blog here because there is no internet and I want to make sure I make the most of the last days I have with this fantastic group. I doubt I’ll be able to post the next few days until I get to China. I want to make the most of time I have with my group. I sincerely apologize for making you all wait on these posts, but for those of you who can spare about 30 minutes to catch up on the last few days, you can be sure of some great days ahead.

No More Kava

                February 24. After breakfast today we took a hike into the village where we met the chiefs and had a proper kava ceremony with them. It was a 30 minute walk (in our sarongs) to the village and we had to cross rickety, skinny logs that were makeshift bridges in order to get there. I wasn’t looking forward to a hike today and distracted myself in talking to Olivia.

The high school clique started to fade when we arrived in Queenstown and by now our 2 groups have merged. I have gotten to know Claire, Ariana, and Olivia more than I had and they are all great people. Claire is incredibly confident and is hilarious because of her disregard for what people think of her. Ariana is a down-to-earth girl with a genuine kindness and a dorky, but positively upbeat personality. I have already stated that Olivia is kind, friendly, and a great conversationalist with a slight attitude (which brings a change to the conversation, but never a negative one). Yet, I’ve recently noticed that she is adventurous, relatable, and blunt (she speaks her mind freely and confidently).

                When we finally arrived at the village, we were greeted with enthusiastic “Bulas!” everywhere we walked. The village seemed undeveloped, but pure in its culture. Here, they take nothing for granted. They use every material they can get, which makes their houses look more like squatter-homes. We entered the chief’s home with relief, for it had started to rain during our hike. It was a simple home, but one of the more luxurious ones. It had several couches, mirrors were placed oddly around the room, and there was a curtain that divided part of the room to make a sleeping area. The chiefs were 2 withering, old men who were already sitting in their perspective places for the ceremony. One of the chiefs looked eagerly at us, clearly enjoying our visit, while the other gazed lazily outside, seemingly bored with the events. Before taking our seats around the “Mother Bowl of Kava” we introduced ourselves to the chiefs. They shook our hands, one more energetically than the other, and introduced themselves as we introduced ourselves.

                We sat down and began the ceremony. There wasn’t much difference between the other ceremonies than this one, except the chiefs were served first and were the ones saying “Taki” as we finished our first rounds. The chiefs were relatively quiet throughout the ceremony, only displaying their presence by laughing at a Fijian joke or clapping before someone had drank their kava. The mother bowl was enormous and took several “Taki’s” to finish the kava. I fought back a look of revulsion during my first high tide, but everyone in the group saw right through me and laughed. Then something much worse happened.

                They brought out a bowl roughly the size of a human skull. It replaced the tsunami and was about double its size. Andrew bet me I couldn’t drink a bowl of it. I had to sustain my dignity, for Claire, Olivia, and David had already had one already. I asked for the bowl and Oro’s face broke into a grin. He handed me the bowl and turned to watch (he knew I hated kava). It took about 10 seconds for me to gulp down the entire bowl. It was 10 seconds of repulsion. The bowl was so daunting I had even forgotten to clap and say “Bula!” before I drank, but nobody seemed to mind. Andrew looked impressed, but another ruthless expression crossed his face as he asked me to do another. So, I did another and one more after that because he had bet me again. It was a good thing that the mother bowl was empty at that point, because any more kava and I would have probably thrown up.

                My mouth felt completely numb as I said goodbye to the chiefs, each giving me an approving smile. I walked out while the others teased if I was even able to walk straight. Surprisingly, it was only my mouth that had become numb and even that wore off within minutes. The walk back was enjoyable enough. Most of us just talked about the ceremony.

When we got back to the farm, it was time for a quick lunch and then off to pack our things. I wasn’t reluctant to leave the farm. It was fun, but I was ready for a proper shower and a day without becoming completely dirty. We said our farewells and jumped into the trucks (I made sure I was in the cushioned truck for a change). We stopped for a while in Nadi where I was able to buy souvenirs for home. Then we rolled back to the eco lodge outside Nadi.

We spent the rest of the day in the pool and showers, happy to cool off and get clean. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, we are going to a beach comber island for our last few days, just as a vacation (not like this entire month hasn’t seemed like a vacation).

Hollow Rafting

February 23. The day before, we finished up the night with another kava ceremony. After a dinner of delicious stir-fry, made by Oro’s mom, and pineapple, the family built a large bonfire. It kept the flies away while we sat in a circle, wearing our sarongs, and kept us warm throughout the ceremony, for the night was surprisingly cool. Oro taught us the finer rules of the ceremony, telling us that men were supposed to sit cross legged, while women sat with their legs to their sides. Lauren, who was a professional at this already, didn’t need telling twice, and helped us when we slipped up in our manners.

                She has already become part of our group. Her cheerful, polite, kind and quiet attitude blend in perfectly. I expected as much. I haven’t met one person this month that I haven’t liked immediately. She has been craving American contact for 3 weeks now, and it has made me become wary of the Gap for Good I will be doing in Thailand. I know I will be able to make friends in the areas where I will be going to, but I don’t know how it will feel to go from a great group of kids, to practically isolation. I do, however, have a group of 3 kids in China. That could be a comfortable transition into the Gap for Good.

                The Fijian culture, in these highlands, is not so far from modern society. They have no electricity and only go out into town once in a while. Yet, they eat cereal and snack foods, love listening to modern music, and have a fond liking of brand name clothing and sports jerseys. The women still must wear sarongs most of the time, and even the girls in our group must wear clothing that covers their shoulders, but they are surprisingly well developed for such an isolated area. They do, however, carry their own water from the river for drinking, bathing, and washing and most of them still hold to their ancestral traditions. Kava is almost their life force here. Almost every Fijian starts drinking it when they are at least 22 and most love the taste, though I don’t see how they can. They also still grow their own tobacco, which their descendants grew and smoked as well. They say it is healthy, but I’m skeptical. The leaf is pure, laced with no chemicals, but they do wrap it in newspaper. Also, smoke entering your lungs is never healthy.

                After the kava ceremony, I felt rude not taking some and could only go for the tsunami, I was ready for a good night’s sleep. We dragged our half numb bodies, filled with warmth from the fire and an abundance of kava root, out from the circle and tried to find our way back to our huts. Stumbling through the doorway, we crawled into our sheets. I was asleep before I hit the bed.

                I woke up naturally the next morning. No alarm clocks, no yelling leaders, and no obnoxious nature noises. It was a blissful experience. Even when I arise undisturbed I am the early riser in the group. The river looked inviting, so I took an early morning bath and brushed my teeth. By the time I climbed the stairs to the surface everybody had awoken and I ready to have breakfast. We had no change in diet, and I was slightly disappointed. I have developed a habit of trying new foods here and would have loved to taste a native and distinct breakfast food.

                Our original plan was to hike to a waterfall today, but due to the overcast weather we changed our schedule. We decided to build a river raft today. We would build it out of bamboo, which we would cut down from the forest, and string which we would cut from a local string plant­­­­. We were given each a machete and trudged off into the wild. We walked for about 10 minutes before stopping at a large bramble of bamboo trees. Oro’s cousins began cutting down the trees, showing us exactly how to cut them safely. We cut down 25 trees, slipping and sliding through the mud because of the downpour of rain. I underestimated the sharpness of the wood and cut my hands several times. We had to lug each tree, which was about 15 feet long, back to the road where we began our hike. It took around three hours until we had all of the wood. The girls, meanwhile, had cut down the string for us and came back with wide trunks of flexible plant. Covered in sweat, water, and blood, we took the materials to the edge of the river, where we would raft down until we came to the farm.

                The Fijians were already experts at making the rafts and informed us that we would only hinder their work if we tried to help with the actual making of the raft. So, without anything cumbersome to occupy ourselves with, we skipped rocks by the lake and climbed trees to jump down into the water. I, at least, constantly glanced at the progress of the job, however. It was usually to see them stripping the string plant into long, thin strips to make the string or to see the bamboo being pulled together to make the long and skinny raft.

                When it was finally finished, we all jumped onto it, nearly sinking our days’ work. Oro led our group down the river while we pushed each other off and capsized multiple times. It was relaxing and satisfying. Every day is an adventure, whether we are in the car for 8 hours or working to build a crude river raft, always we are having fun and learning something new about everyone. As we floated lazily down the river, Oro’s cousins threw us fresh guava from the surrounding trees. We munched happily for a long while, cherishing the fruit of our labor and the fruits in our hands. The raft came to a halt abruptly and we realized that we were back at the farm.

                The rafts were left on the bank of the river and we climbed up to the top of the cliff towards the farm. Andrew and I nearly sprinted to wolf down our dinner. We hadn’t really realized how much time had passed and how hungry we all were. Breakfast seemed like an age ago. It was, yet again, another delicious meal of rice and veggies (they eat meat very sparingly).We are all satisfied at the moment, except for Andrew who eats like a tank, and we are sitting in the living room. I pray to the man who invented the card game of president, because it has made some potentially boring moments, like the next hour, into some great and fun times.

Rustic

February 22. Yet again I was the early riser this morning. We were driving to Oni's family's farm today, where we would be staying for 3 days and 2 nights. I had to pack everything I needed for that time in my backpack. I left several things behind, including my laptop (I'll just type on my phone) so I don't know exactly when I will be able to post the next few days.

Breakfast was a short affair, entailing porridge with brown sugar. Simple, yet filling. We had to fill up 2 trucks with our group, Ori, the cook, our backpacks, and the food. It made for an uncomfortable 3 hour drive. By the end of it I was gritting my teeth in pain and frustration. When I arose from my temporary prison, I had a golf ball sized lump protruding from my spine.

Ori's family's farm is surrounded by their fields and a river (which is below a cliff), which forms a peninsula around the three buildings that make up the property. Two small huts are for sleeping, while the other larger building is a living area, kitchen, and dining room combined. There is a pathway that leads to the river (because the river is about 50 feet below the farm), but due to the dismal weather, we weren't able to climb down until we built stairs. 

The stairs were crude in structure. We cut through the ground to form the basis of the steps. Then we picked out planks of wood from their firewood pile, in order to reinforce each step. The railings were a bit harder. Large logs were lodged into the ground, as smaller logs were nailed into the large ones. It took the best part of the afternoon to finish the job, but we were pleased signing turnout. The steps weren't only built for our uses, but for Ori's family to use as well. Half the village had turned up to watch our efforts and cheered us on as we finished the job. Afterwards, we were able to swim in the river for a well deserved cool-down.

Staren and I were made a couple Fijian friends while we were swimming around and they asked us to join them in their game of water rugby. At first, I was hesitant. Every male Fijian is well built and tough, but they seemed nice enough and it was also being played in water. So we started the game, playing, at first, with just a large empty coke bottle. As the game progressed, however, more Fijians and guys from our group joined. It soon became a fun, yet ruthless battle for points. I wasn't injured, luckily, but I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time my team had one. The other team jeered at us as we came off the field, ready for a long nap.

I, however, didn't have the luxury to take a nap. I have to write down everything from today because we have a busy night tonight. I'm glad I brought my phone to blog. I doubt it would have been good to lug around my computer in the highlands. As I have guessed, there is no wifi here. I apologize, but I won't be able to post a few days until I get back to town. Thanks for the patience everyone. 

The Tropics of Fiji

February 21. I awoke several times in the middle of the night covered in sweat. It's too hot for human life here. The fourth time this happened I c zosxx hecked my watch, hoping it was a time to wake up. It happened to be 5:30am. That was late enough for me. I did everything I could in that time. I showered, unpacked and repacked, and I took pictures of the landscape. At long last it was 6:30. Time to eat breakfast. It was a basic meal, but much better than the ones we had in New Zealand. Afterwards, we got onto the bus to start our day at the beach.

We arrived an hour later and dragged our feet out to meet the sand (most of us had slept during the ride). Until that time I hadn't noticed that the day was marred by grey clouds. However, it didn't rain once when we were there. We put our belongings down on the sand, but not before brian had ran straight into the water, tossing his towel and shirt carelessly on the sand. Not 10 seconds later did most of our group race after him. The water was bath temperature, with a stench of sulfur palpable throughout the shoreline. We jumped over the waves and played frisbee with Erik and Oni.

30 minutes later, muddy brown horses and foals came striding across the beach, ridden by local Fijians. They stopped directly in front us. "You can ride them if you wish." Ori, in answer to our questioning looks. Excited, we all jumped out of the water. The riders dismounted and handed us the reigns. With help from the owners, we mounted them and were instructed on how to ride. I have ridden before, but it was good to have a refresher course. They started us at a walk, but 5 minutes later we had all broken into a gallop. They horses weren't magnificent, they were obviously bred for labor, not speed. The foals ran alongside us as well. We only had about 20 minutes on the horses until we were back on the bus off to the sand dunes.

I was slightly perplexed as to what the wonders of the sand dunes of Fiji were, but I was excited to hike them either way. We arrived at the tourist center, where there was plenty of history information about Fiji as well as many artifacts pertaining to the dunes. Our guide, Tommy, was a nice enough guy with built legs and a prominent face. While he led us through the wilderness towards the dune, he explained to us the history of the Fijian people. His expression turned from grave to proud and back again during his explanation. When we came to our first dune, after 20 minutes of hiking, we were allowed to race up it and spring back down with enormous leaps. It was good fun, but tiring. Before long many of us were drenched in sweat from the heat and the running. We came to the beach soon after. It was beautiful spot, with white sand and pale blue water (even though it was still overcast). We cooled off with a quick swim, but we couldn't linger because they had warned us of shark attacks in this area. We set off on our hike again, going through the forest and back to the base. We arrived covered in sand and mud, moaning with hunger. We said our farewells to the guide, then pressed on into the town of Nadi.

We only had about 2 hours in town, most of which was spent looking for a place to eat. The group spent the rest of the time exploring the town and buying various souvenirs, while I had to go to the Internet Cafe to post February 20 on the blog.

At 3pm we left the town and went back to base to freshen up. We all showered and were delighted to see that the water pressure had finally been turned up to a usable level. We had no plans for the rest of the day. So we spent our time in the pool, playing billiards and petting the base's dog Boe. There are several kids on the base as well, who are the sons and daughters of the staff. Some are Fijian and some are of Indian decent. Native Fijians and Indians make up about half of the population each, in Nadi. We played with them for a while until we were told that we must prepare for another Fijian ceremony, which wouldn't be complete without cava. I have already put on my sarong and am writing at this moment because I doubt if I'll be able to write after some more cava. I'm starting to really enjoy the experiences that I'm having here, most of which involve the culture of Fiji. I do miss the developed country of New Zealand, but this is a different realm of fun and learning that I could get used to.

Oh the Delicious Kava

February 20. I was supposed to be my room’s wakeup call at 6:30am, but I actually slept through the loud and obnoxious sound that usually wakes me. Apparently everybody else slept through it as well… Yet, I was still blamed for our lateness. Erik yelled at us to get up at 7am (the time we were supposed to be leaving for the airport). We threw our belongings in our bags and raced down to the van. Not surprisingly, we ended up waiting a few stragglers. Staren, Olivia, Claire and I had a brilliant idea to grab a Subway breakfast while we were waiting. It ended up taking about 10 minutes too long. Everybody, yet again, blamed me for being 10 minutes late (instead of blaming the stragglers).

The drive wasn’t a long one. It was gloomy, yet exciting to say goodbye to New Zealand. I watched the landscape on the way to the airport, soaking in as much as I could before we arrived. As we unloaded our bags from the car, we were split into 2 groups. Claire, David, Ben, Jade and I were flying Air Pacific, while the others had connecting flights from Christchurch to Auckland and then on to Fiji.

My half got our tickets and headed to the gate. Little did we know that our flight had been delayed by 2 hours. While the others shopped (in order to kill time), I bought a combined book of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which was the answer to all my prayers. It’s over 1100 pages, and looks as daunting as a dictionary, but it will undoubtedly keep me occupied for some time. We ate lunch and settled down at the airline lounge. Finally, it was time to board the plane. As soon as it took off, I crashed. I slept for the entire 4 hours and only awoke when the plane roughly landed in Nandi Airport.

We were immediately greeted by singing and dancing locals and, after an hour through customs, we met up with our other half. Elise drove us to the Rustic Pathways base in Nandi, which is much more comfortable than the hostels we have lived in. We were warmly welcomed by the base members and one other Rustic student, Lauren. She is here for 5 weeks on a Gap for Good, which is what I will be doing in Thailand.

 The culture shock was such a blow to me. On the way to the base I noticed how undeveloped this country is compared to New Zealand, and I wondered how I could transition to this lifestyle. I found that it wasn’t hard however; you just need to get used to little or no bath water and develop a fondness for trying new things.

We ate dinner, which consisted of rice, savory vegetables, and ripe pineapple. Then the staff announced that they would be preforming a Fijian welcome ceremony shortly. We were handed sarongs and taught what to say and how to behave during the ceremony. I was already sweating bullets in my jeans and I wasn’t eager to put on another piece of clothing.

When we all had our sarongs on, we sat in a circle for the ceremony. The head of the group, Oni, had a large bowl in front of him. He explained to us that we would be drinking cava in order to immerge ourselves Fijian culture. Cava is a root, grown on this island (Veti Levu), which calms the mind and body and makes your mouth go numb. To start making the cava, Oni took a substance, which looked oddly like dirt, and poured it into a strip of cloth. He poured water over the cloth, while Indae, his assistant, kneaded the dirt inside of it. It produced a muddy brown liquid, which Oni promised would taste like chicken soup. I was eager to give it a try after that statement. Oni grabbed a large bowl and dipped it into the cava. Indae clapped 3 times as he did this. Before Oni drank he said “Bulla!” (Which means hello/welcome) and chugged the cava. Then Indae clapped 3 times again. We were obviously supposed to follow suit.

There were 4 types of bowls that you could drink out of. The tsunami, the largest bowl, high tide, about the size of a cup, low tide, half a cup, and pussy, which is the smallest bowl. No one was foolish enough to go for the smallest bowl and, out of respect for their culture, most of us chose the tsunami. When it came to me I said “Bulla!” and drank deeply. I almost gagged from the taste. It was like eating dirt off the ground. I pretended to enjoy the drink as I handed it back to Oni. He smiled with a toothless mouth and I tried to smile back, but my lips were numb from the drink.

When everyone was finished Oni yelled “Taki!” My first thought was thank god, it’s over. As I was standing up to leave, however, I caught sight of Oni handing out the bowls again. I grimaced as Indae explained that Taki meant “Again!” The second tsunami made my tongue go limb. After the fourth there seemed to be a dull throb coming from my arms. I was about to throw up from the taste and I doubt that I could have drank another one. Before Oni could yell “Taki!” Elise jumped up and stated that we were all very tired after our long journey and needed a rest. I have never been fonder of a person than at that moment. Oni opened his arms wide and put on an understanding smile. He named us all honorary Fijian visitors and sent us off to bed with his unwavering grin.

 We were led to our villas afterwards. Most of us are peeling off the clothes from our bodies before we take showers. I had to immediately write this down because it was the first real cultural experience I have had in ages. Even though it was an experience I hope to never encounter again, it excited me to learn more about a culture, which is what I set out to do during these 4 months. I wish I could write more about today, but my hands are slipping from the keys even now. The cava was more powerful than I expected.

You can look forward to some different, but no less exciting, blogs in the next 8 days. Please keep posting any comments, feedback, or questions that you may have. They are what keep me typing, even when my body is slowly becoming numb and useless.