okay, where to begin? well, i finally got to dive!... and it was INCREDIBLE. i only got 11 dives in, which sucks since everyone else got in 30+, but the dives i did do were amazing. i actually should have done more, but of course, once my ear cleared up we got hit with some major waves/wind, which meant aborted dives. so goes the story of my life. i did one dive where we saw 5 stingrays and an enormous puffy pink starfish that looked like a cartoon. i did another dive where we saw 7 white tip sharks and another where we saw 5. we saw turtles, jellyfish, and fish bigger than picabo. i did a dive where we saw a porcupine fish that was about 4 feet long. it was SO cool. i ended up not doing any survey diving... by the time my ear cleared up, i just didn't have time left to get my advanced open water certification, do my in-water fish/species/benthic id tests, get trained in how to do the surveys, and then pass the test to show that i knew how to do the surveys properly. it ended up being okay though because i got to do almost all recreation dives! i did have to miss out on doing a homestay in a nearby village though to get my AOW certification, so that was definitely a bummer. the staff knew though that i was kind of sad i didn't get to do as many dives as the others, so a couple times a staff member would take just me out on a private dive :) the other thing i got to do more than other people was manta boarding. tristan (one of the staff members) had a manta board made that we could tow behind the dive boat. it's basically a piece of wood that you hold on to while being dragged behind the boat. you wear your mask and snorkel and keep your face in the water, looking for new dive sites. the best part is that you can angle the manta board down and go really far underwater. so you're being dragged behind the boat while 10 feet under the surface. it was really cool. then we got to dive some brand new divesites where nobody's been before!
obviously i decided not to stay the extra three weeks. while i miss fiji more than anyone could possibly imagine, i just didn't think i would have to stamina to stay. well, it was more like i wouldn't have the stamina to come home. basically i would stay for three weeks, then come home and have one day to recover before i started work. i'm taking on even more shifts this summer than last summer, which means i'll be out teaching tennis from 8:30 am-8:30 pm monday-thursday and then from 8:30-4:30 on fridays. then i would work those ridiculous hours right up until i left for australia. i do sort of wish i had stayed though. i can't believe i turned down 3 weeks in paradise.
island life was amazing. 2 dives went out every morning... one at 7:30 and one at 10:30. i basically hung out with the people that weren't on the dive or chilled in the hammock in the morning. in the afternoons we either had classroom lectures, watched a movie, helped map the island and surrounding area, snorkeled, walked around at low tide, did laundry or just hung out with each other. most nights were spent stargazing (best stars i've ever seen) or watching movies or talking about life. saturdays were our party nights. there was an island rule that you couldn't have more than 2 beers, 1 drink with hard alcohol, or 5 bowls of kava the night before a dive, so weekday nights were pretty tame. however, sunday was a totally free day so saturday nights were always INSANE. since i wasn't diving i was nominated to be the sole member of the party planning committee. the party i planned was a reverse rubik's cube party. basically, everyone came dressed head to toe in one color. the goal was to exchange clothing/accessories with people and be wearing as many different colors by the end of the night as possible. the twist was that in order to get an article of clothing, you had to partake in a dare of the wearer's choosing. it was pretty entertaining. our first saturday we had an ice breaker party with lots of games, our second saturday we did the reverse rubik's cube party, then we had an anzac day party (it's an australian holiday), then we spent a saturday in levuka, and our last saturday night was a priscilla, queen of the desert party, based on the australian movie about transsexuals. haha. we all went shopping in levuka at a second hand store the week before and bought costumes. the guys got way into it, wearing everything from pink miniskirts, to glitter head to toe, to blue silk camis, to bras stuffed with balloons. oh, and howard, one of the staff members actually wore a thong, which we only know because his white skirt was a tad see through :)
the facilities were sufficient. it took a little getting used to the fact that we only sporadically had electricity and that the water was frequently turned off in an effort to promote conservation. by the end though, you didn't even notice when you were showering by flashlight or worry about the fact that it took 3 days for your ipod to fully charge. in fact, it was actually pretty weird to get back to the capitol and be able to turn on the lights at 2 in the afternoon. the only time water was a problem was when they turned it off while you were in the shower, which definitely happened to me a couple times. at one point, my hair was covered in conditioner, my body was covered in soap, and my legs were covered in shaving cream when all of a sudden the water sputtered to a trickle and then completely turned off. a stupid lady at rei had convinced me to buy this micro-fiber towel before i left... which was great except for the fact that it only covered about 1/4 of my body. so there i was, stuck with no real towel to wrap myself in, covered in soap, and with no water. i had to stand there until i thought i heard someone walk by and then yell at them to find someone to turn the water back on. good times.
i was in a little wooden box with a tin roof with 2 roommates. the 6 of us uni girls were placed in one house with 2 rooms (there was a thin piece of wood separating us... but there was no real point in it being there, as we could hear everything that went on in the other room and there were gaps at the top so you could see the others), about the size of my first dorm room. they were pretty basic, but it didn't matter since we were only in there to sleep. we learned to battle hoards of red ants, jumping spiders the size of an open hand, and mozzies carrying dengue fever. it's weird being home now and in enclosed spaces. the restaurant on the island was a thatched roof over an open air area, as was the bar. even the bathrooms were basically just ceilings. i think we all had a bit of a panic attack when we got back to the capitol and found ourselves in enclosed spaces. we all got especially antsy when we got on the airplane and realized that we had to go 11 hours with no view of the ocean.
the food was really good, but not all too healthy. it included a lot of white bread, white rice and fried... everything. a typical day of food would be: breakfast-2 pieces of white bread and a homemade doughnut. lunch-a bowl of white rice, 1/3 of a banana, fried vegetables. dinner-a bowl of white rice, potato/carrot curry and a bowl of soup. french fries were also served regularly. because it was pretty much all carbs and it came in teeny portions (try cooking for everyone on the island in a kitchen the size of... a tiny room), everyone was always hungry. people would legitimately fight over food and the people who finished first would watch everyone still eating like a hawk, determined to take any leftovers. i was pretty convinced that all the fried food and carbs were causing me to gain weight, but i actually lost just over 10 pounds. that may be due to the fact that i was tapering off of my graves disease meds while i was there, but hey, i'll take it! the guys dropped heaps of weight... some of them were struggling to keep their pants up by the end of the trip.
the people were great great GREAT. well, most of them. the people i got along best with were a 28 year old guy from the UK (petey), a 19 year old girl from seattle (tamara... who may transfer to macalester this fall!!!), an 18 year old girl from asheville (leah), a 30 year old guy from the UK (duncan), and an 18 year old girl from the UK (georgie). there were some people who definitely got along better than others, but for the most part, everyone got along pretty well. it was hard because everyone was always hot, sleep deprived, and craving 10 minutes of alone time, which was pretty hard to come by. i already miss a lot of the people. in fact, i missed them by the time i made it through security in LA. 7 of us flew together (we all got into the same exit row! what are the chances??), then split up once we got off the plane. i re-checked in (but not before missing my connecting flight) and was immediately looking around for people to talk to. i got so used to giving a running commentary on my life and the people's around me to the others that suddenly i didn't know how to go more than 15 minutes without conversing to one of like 20 people. the last like 48 hours of the trip, i think i spent maybe... 6? hours apart from petey... and those 6 hours were spent sleeping, so it was weird to suddenly be alone. the cool thing about the island is that it is also a tiny backpacker's resort, so anytime someone would come check in, we'd get to know them pretty well. i met a girl from brisbane, some other guys from australia, and a guy named mark from sydney, who i ended up hanging out with when we got back to Suva at the end of the trip. one of the best parts about traveling the past few months is that i've met people from all over the world. i'm super excited for new year's this year because i'm hosting a fiji reunion at my cabin! we talked about doing a reunion and then realized that everyone either lived in a dorm room, a 1 room flat, or at home with their parents. so i suggested my cabin. i gave them ample warning on weather conditions in january in minnesota :) seeing as how much i miss everyone now, i can only imagine the state i'll be in by january!
so, longest post ever, but i was sort of slacking while i was away. despite the world's most persistent ear infection, the past 6 weeks were hands down the best 6 of my life. add in the time in africa and the past 3 months have made me the happiest girl EVER! :) all of my friends are graduating right now, which was hard for about 45 seconds and then i remember, "i just spent a month in africa, 6 weeks in fiji and i'm about to move to australia for the next 2 or 3 years." really? how upset can i be? loving my life.
ps-i just bought my ticket yesterday for australia! i leave july 16. so much to do before i go, but i'm so excited. scuba diving in fiji certainly helped me get in the mood for some marine biology. and by the way, there's a mad sale on tickets to sydney at the moment. if you leave after july 20, you can get tickets for under $500. that's right. $500. i expect visitors!
