bula!
i am back on the mainland in fiji, about to head to my second hospital in 4 days. gooood times.
fiji has been decent so far. the weather is pretty gorgeous and we have a lovely island pretty much all to ourselves. the food in incredible, the view is unbeatable, and the people are fun. it's been pretty interesting to see the group dynamics, as there are people from all walks of life are on this trip. i'm sure you can imagine though that there is definitely drama, as we're on an island that you can walk the perimeter of in about 12 minutes and it's super hot all the time, and people are always low on sleep. add in some bounty rum, and you've got a great show, as i learned saturday night.
one of the highlights of the trip so far has been the fact that we got to meet the future king of fiji! we were personally invited to his island to drink kava (ground pepper roots i think?... it's a narcotic, so your body goes numb after a couple sips. very interesting and quite disgusting tasting, but you can't really say no to the king) and hang with his team. we all dressed up in traditional fijian clothing... the guys were in what were essentially skirts and the girls were in these super unflattering hawaiian print floor length dresses.
the past week on the island has been spent studying, studying, and studying. we've had a bunch of tests on benthic lifeforms and inverts, along with tests on fish ids. everyone is a little stressed, so we'll be glad once the testing is over and we can really start everything.
i, on the other hand, have yet to do much of anything. my ear started hurting as soon as we got to the island, and 3 dives into the week, i went completely deaf in my right ear. the next day, howard (the head of the program) took me on an hour long boat ride to levuka, the nearest semi-large island. it was quite an experience. the "nurses" couldn't figure out how to assemble the little flashlight thing that looks into your ear. and then they realized they didn't have batteries, so howard had to run to the store. there were no doctors in the hospital and 2 of them refused to come in. they tried to prescribe me meds over the phone without a single person looking in my ear. then howard called the doctors and started namedropping and they hustled right in. the female doctor came in wearing a tshirt with a giant wine glass screenprinted onto the front, camo sweatpants and flip flops. after finally figuring out how to piece together the flashlight thingy, they gave me some meds and sent me home. they were going to send me home with ear drops as well, but they couldn't remember where they were kept. good times.
the next day, my other ear started hurting and going deaf.
now i am back in suva, heading to a private hospital. here's hoping they figure it out, as i haven't even been allowed to go swimming or snorkeling. it's a bit depressing watching everyone get kitted up to go diving every morning in the bright turquoise water filled with sharks, turtles, jellies, stingrays and tons of cool fish.
not sure when i'll have internet again, or if i will before i get home. pray my ears heal super fast so i can get back in the water!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
rain rain, go away...
hello from fiji!
it feels like i've already been away from home for ages now, but really i think i've only been here... 2 days? crazy.
the flights were fairly uneventful. the 14 hours of flying felt like nothing compared to the 20 to and from africa. i had a bit of a mishap in LA when i was unaware i had to exit the airport, walk down the curb, and re-enter a terminal 3 buildings later. also, i booked my flight on qantas... but it seems that the flight was actually air pacific, which i didn't realize until after i had waited in a big line at qantas.
i happened to see a guy holding a scuba book in the LA airport and randomly asked him if he happened to be with blue ventures. tom and i ended up on the same flight and then went through customs and caught the shuttle to the hotel together. we waited in the lobby of the hotel for 5 hours before our room was ready. it was the most painful 5 hours ever, as we were sitting in like 90+ degree weather with probably 100% humidity. and we were jetlagged and wanted to sleep. there were a few others from our flight who were in the same boat, so we sat with them and just hung out. that first day was spent lounging around and trying to keep our eyes open. that night, all i wanted to do was sleep, but let me tell you: our hotel was super sketchtastic. as in, i pulled back the blanket to my bed, only to discover a giant hair and a crusted smear of blood. it literally had a big scab in the middle of the pile, implying it hadn't been washed. definitely didn't sleep. at all. i had to stay perfectly still in order to not inadvertantly roll into the puddle of AIDS.
the second day... yesterday? yes, yesterday, we took a 4 hour bus ride to the capitol. we are currently in Suva, Fiji. our accomodations are slightly better, but all 9 of us girls are in one little squished room. yesterday we went for a gorgeous hike through the jungle in the pouring rain to a waterfall and swimming pool. we ended the day with our first real lecture by the staff. "hazardous animals you may encounter." we watched a slideshow of everything we may run into... snails with poisonous darts, the 2nd deadliest snake (sea snake) in the world, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, crown of thorns, lionfish, eels, on and on. i think we probably should have been nervous, but it made most of us even more pumped to get in the water.
the group so far is pretty fun. there are 5 girls who are 18-19 taking "gap years," then a few people in their thirties, and another in their forties. we've got people from the UK, sweden, US, ireland and canada. one of the staff members currently with us is from australia. the weird thing is that this is the third time in the past month that i've hung out with people from the UK, US, sweden and australia. it's awesome. there are 2 american girls who are a lot of fun, so i've been hanging out with them a lot.
today we went into town to run some errands. i got a phone (it cost about $14 USD)! so feel free to look up how to text fiji and then text me. my number is +679-740-0124.
i seem to be in a weird transition phase... i keep using some random swahili words and expecting there to not be toilets, but at the same time i keep thinking i'm going to have some of the comforts at home. it has been absolutely pouring rain nonstop and there's currently a cyclone warning for an island near ours, so we're hoping it blows over so we can head to the island tomorrow.
time to go hear a lecture then study study study. our first week is FILLED with tests. fish tests, scientific method tests, scuba tests, etc.
i don't think i'll have access to the internet once we arrive on the island, so i will most likely be signing off for the next 5.5 weeks. text me so i don't get lonely on our isolated island!
i'm going to live the life. sipping on tequila, night after night. dreaming of the moment where everything looks right. a little bit of love goes a long way tonight. would you like to meet me there? we'll be dancing on the sand... --wave
it feels like i've already been away from home for ages now, but really i think i've only been here... 2 days? crazy.
the flights were fairly uneventful. the 14 hours of flying felt like nothing compared to the 20 to and from africa. i had a bit of a mishap in LA when i was unaware i had to exit the airport, walk down the curb, and re-enter a terminal 3 buildings later. also, i booked my flight on qantas... but it seems that the flight was actually air pacific, which i didn't realize until after i had waited in a big line at qantas.
i happened to see a guy holding a scuba book in the LA airport and randomly asked him if he happened to be with blue ventures. tom and i ended up on the same flight and then went through customs and caught the shuttle to the hotel together. we waited in the lobby of the hotel for 5 hours before our room was ready. it was the most painful 5 hours ever, as we were sitting in like 90+ degree weather with probably 100% humidity. and we were jetlagged and wanted to sleep. there were a few others from our flight who were in the same boat, so we sat with them and just hung out. that first day was spent lounging around and trying to keep our eyes open. that night, all i wanted to do was sleep, but let me tell you: our hotel was super sketchtastic. as in, i pulled back the blanket to my bed, only to discover a giant hair and a crusted smear of blood. it literally had a big scab in the middle of the pile, implying it hadn't been washed. definitely didn't sleep. at all. i had to stay perfectly still in order to not inadvertantly roll into the puddle of AIDS.
the second day... yesterday? yes, yesterday, we took a 4 hour bus ride to the capitol. we are currently in Suva, Fiji. our accomodations are slightly better, but all 9 of us girls are in one little squished room. yesterday we went for a gorgeous hike through the jungle in the pouring rain to a waterfall and swimming pool. we ended the day with our first real lecture by the staff. "hazardous animals you may encounter." we watched a slideshow of everything we may run into... snails with poisonous darts, the 2nd deadliest snake (sea snake) in the world, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, crown of thorns, lionfish, eels, on and on. i think we probably should have been nervous, but it made most of us even more pumped to get in the water.
the group so far is pretty fun. there are 5 girls who are 18-19 taking "gap years," then a few people in their thirties, and another in their forties. we've got people from the UK, sweden, US, ireland and canada. one of the staff members currently with us is from australia. the weird thing is that this is the third time in the past month that i've hung out with people from the UK, US, sweden and australia. it's awesome. there are 2 american girls who are a lot of fun, so i've been hanging out with them a lot.
today we went into town to run some errands. i got a phone (it cost about $14 USD)! so feel free to look up how to text fiji and then text me. my number is +679-740-0124.
i seem to be in a weird transition phase... i keep using some random swahili words and expecting there to not be toilets, but at the same time i keep thinking i'm going to have some of the comforts at home. it has been absolutely pouring rain nonstop and there's currently a cyclone warning for an island near ours, so we're hoping it blows over so we can head to the island tomorrow.
time to go hear a lecture then study study study. our first week is FILLED with tests. fish tests, scientific method tests, scuba tests, etc.
i don't think i'll have access to the internet once we arrive on the island, so i will most likely be signing off for the next 5.5 weeks. text me so i don't get lonely on our isolated island!
i'm going to live the life. sipping on tequila, night after night. dreaming of the moment where everything looks right. a little bit of love goes a long way tonight. would you like to meet me there? we'll be dancing on the sand... --wave
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