So, after a long time of not entering anything here....I will try to put together where/what I've been doing since LA. Here is the fiji section of my life!
I left LA on Sunday night, exhausted and mildly jetlagged, but mostly from the great tour Maytal gave me. LAX was a very crowded aiprort, and was overwhelming for someone who is already overwhelmed enough! The lines for security were SO LONG, and i really just barely made my flight. by teh time i made it to the gate, i boarded the plane and we took off within 30 minutes!! I was exhausted, and Air Pacific did a nice job entertaining us with lots of movies and food. The woman who sat next to me told me I slept for hte entire night, only waking up when they served us breakfast. Sweet! We arrived to a very hot, sticky fiji, at 5 am, two days later! Customs was a breeze, especially with lots of people siging and playing native music to us as we waited in line. once through, i waited for my bag for an agonizing 45 minutes ( my first introduction to "fiji time"...which basically means slooooow) and then set off to meet my pickup from my hostel. Vera, her name, encouraged me to book a trip on an island off of the main island. Nadi is not very nice and tehre is not much to do there, so i took her advice and got out of there! for $250 fiji dollars i got a return boat trip, and 3 days with all meals included on mana island, about an hour away from Nadi. on mana, i stayed at ratu kini hostel, which housed about 30 people, and there was another hostel next to us, with about 15 people. there was no electricity during the day, and there was little to do except walk, read, tan, sleep, swim, snorkel, drink. it was great. i went snorkelling with 2 danish girls imet, and it was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. we had fires on the beach, late nights drinking 'fiji bitter", laughs, and i met some amazing people from denmark, england, and spain. it was the scariest thing i had done but also the most rewarding thing i have done. as i left for the mainland on thursday afternoon, i saw mana island get smaller and smaller and i felt a sadness in my heart for a very special place.
but....off to australia!
