Bula Venaka!

Imagine that you just took a 10 hour flight from L.A. to Nadi (pronounced NAN-dee), Fiji. Upon your arrival, what’s the first thing that you would do? Now, multiply that by, well... a lot. Now, you may just have the slightest idea as to how my first weekend in Fiji went.

                "Bula" in Fijian means hello. "Bula venaka" is an especially warm welcome. Needless to say, I think I had the warmest of welcomes in this beautiful country.

                After we landed, Brittany and Lucy, our country directors, picked all 11 of us volunteers up from the airport. Thirteen of us smashed into a 10-seater van (with our luggage!) and we headed to Denarau Beach, home of many of Fiji’s most well-renowned resorts. We ate breakfast on the beach as we watched the sun’s rays glisten and dance across the water. It was beautiful to see the water sparkle like this on the other side of the world, and I was able to enjoy it for all of 10 minutes or so before Lucy, Ben, and I started walking down the road to our next adventure.

                When we were just about to check in for our “Day of Fun” as I now like to call it, we saw this man drive by slowly in a trike… You know, a 5 passenger motorcycle on 3 wheels. We asked for a ride around the block and I think I almost died laughing at the ridiculous-ness of this situation. Then, we ACTUALLY checked in, were dropped off in the middle of a golf course, and, about 2 minutes later, our helicopter flew in to pick us up.

                Allow me to say that again as I’m still pinching myself over this one. A freaking helicopter! We took a 15 minute ride (most of which I was saying something like, "This is unreal!") to another island, called Castaway Island, which only houses a 5-star resort of little huts. There, it was all-inclusive for us to enjoy lunch, snorkeling, paddle boarding, and kayaking. We rotated doing a little of each of them because… well, why wouldn’t we?! The neatest thing is that there are these dark blue starfish all around the water. I kept seeing them and would get excited every single time because they were just so beautiful and unique! 

               After spending hours on the island, we headed back to the helicopter pad and took off again where Aiden, our pilot, decided to do some tricks. I was laugh-screaming (for those of you that have been on a roller coaster with me before – it was kind of like THAT) as he flew us close to the water, then flew straight up, stalled in the air, and we nose-dived back down to a normal helicopter flying height. Total number times that Aiden did this for us during the day because we kept begging him to because it was so scary yet fun? 3. Good news, Mom: I'm still alive! (Video and pictures coming soon!)

The beautiful view of Fijian islands from the helicopter!

                Last night, we stayed in a hostel on the beach and then spent the day today laying out, making coconut bracelets, and playing sand/grass volleyball. (I’m really not sure what to call it as one side was almost all sand and the other side was almost all grass. Josh – Can we play THAT sometime?!) Then, we caught a bus to Suva, which is where we will primarily be doing our volunteer work. I’m SO excited to get started tomorrow!

                In the meantime, some things that I know many of you are wondering/going to ask me:

• No, I didn’t really experience jet lag. Ben and I basically pulled an all-nighter as we flew here so that we could adjust our sleep schedule as quickly as possible. It seems like it worked!
• Our house is honestly fantastic. I’m so grateful to have my own bed, a bathroom that I’m only sharing with three other girls, and wireless internet. I honestly have no idea how our country directors nailed this place!
• Yes, the Yankees are going to win today. I've already told my Dad this. Since I'm 16 hours ahead, my mom thinks (or perhaps just likes to think) that I can predict the future. I'll field any and all questions about your day if you'd like, too.
• Because of this time change, allow it to sink in that I never experienced June 14th, 2013. Since I feel like I missed out, I'm hoping that you can e-mail me something really cool that you did on that day. I apologize for blowing your mind, but at least I'll gain that day back when I have two July 25ths, 2013s (I have no idea how to make dates plural, so I just threw a bunch of "s"'s in there. You're welcome.)
• Lastly, to all the Dad's out there -- allow me to be the first to wish you a Happy Father's Day! I love you, Dad!

                   On that note, it's time for me to go to sleep. Thank you so much for all of your e-mails, support, and prayers. I look forward to continuing to hear from everybody as I begin my volunteer work tomorrow. Until next time... Bula! (It also means "goodbye." What the heck!?)