fiji was the most amazing, life changing experience of my life and i miss it so so so much.
the people there are so friendly, it's almost scary at first. as soon as i hopped off the plane i was greeted with "bula! bula!" and hugs from people i'd never even seen before, it's just the way fijians are!
looking back on this experience, i've realized that experienced more culture shock when i came back to america then when i first saw fiji. can we all just take a step back and realize how NICE EVERYTHING IS IN AMERICA. the roads aren't bumpy, we can sit on the toilet seats, the houses are sturdy etc. ect.
but coming back, i realized that there is one thing that is nicer in fiji then it is in america.
THE PEOPLE.
i was still on a fiji high when i hopped off the plane at LAX, but the people of america weren't really feeling my vibes.
all my "hello!" 's and smiles were returned with cold blank stares, and i can't even count how many judgmental looks i got after walking in cafe rio in a sulu.
not the beaches, or the sunsets, or the food.
the friendly, happy, yet heartbreakingly poor people.
enough about that... i would love to tell you about every second i spent in fiji, but that would take foooorevvver. so instead, i'll just put a few little snippets from my journal about each day i was in fiji, along with an army of pictures. if you're into stuff like adorable children and drunk sailors and everything in-between, it's worth the read.
DAY -2:
(go
HERE for the crazy backstory)
DAY 1:
+ i was told that when i got the the airport i was to wear my hefy shirt and someone would take me to my hotel... so i didn't ask questions when a random lady came up to me and said in broken english "come with me". maybe 48 hours ago that would have freaked me out, but now, i've learned to just go with it, for better or for worse. HAHA.
+ so i have the whole day to myself at this sketchy resort before my group meets me. so far i've helped the caretaker weed, played on the swing set, learned how to do a front flip from bed to bed, swam, read a book... swam again... ya so maybe i'm running out of ideas now. i never really made a "to-do" list for when i get isolated at a fijian resort.. maybe i'll work on that when i get home. HAHA
-i'm running low on scooby snacks (breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day). sos.
fijian countryside kinda looks like a big pile of cooked spinach.. but in a pretty way.
the villages are so poor it breaks my heart
DAY 2:
+ today was sunday and it was SO FUN, but SO LONG. we're talking 5 hours of church. but it's okay cause it was really interesting. i think it's cool how the church is the same wherever you go, give or take a little cultural influence.. for example the bishopric was wearing leis, all the guys were wearing sulus instead of slacks, the ward sings louder then my whole stake combined and they passed the sacrament barefoot. it's awesome.
+ they use "fiji time"… aka, "who-cares-we'll-do-what-we-want" time. i could get used to this.
some of the cute fijian wardies + maddy
DAY 3:
+ first day on the worksite! when we first got to the village, they did a little ceremony (that no one understood cause it was in fijian lol) that made it ok for us to wear hats, backpacks, and for the girls to wear shorts.. things that are disrespectful otherwise.
+ our foreman's name is "sonny boy". i'll admit it's kinda weird calling a 50 year old man "sonny boy," but i'm not mad.
+ HOLY COW I'M NOT GOOD AT COLD SHOWERS
having a picture of themselves is so new and cool for them
albert. theeee cutest little guy.
not gonna lie, i got clotheslined by clotheslines multiple times, they're everywhere,
so you really have to watch were you're going HAHA
DAY 4:
+ there is a fijian on the village named mark who is in love with a girl in our group. it's pretty hilarious actually. here are some of the "fijian pick up lines" he has used so far:
"there are big ships, little ships, and then there's our relationship" HAHA
"tall trees are hard to climb, but a girl like you is even harder to find" HA
ya, so let's just say he needs to work on his lines a bit.
+ i ate some weird mystery food some hindu people gave me yesterday and i threw up last night.
go figure.
when fijian babies fall asleep on you>
fijian fresh mango
DAY 5:
+ here's the thing.. i'm having a serisouly hard time telling the difference between the little girls and boys here in fiji. i feel bad, but they literally look the same! same tiny fro haircut, same clothes.... whoops.
+ so there's this old sailor man named skipper that is staying at the same hotel as us. he's kinda creepy, and most the time he's drunk, but he's a real pal of ours. i'm pretty sure he's just a wasted australian millionaire cause he has a yacht and has been almost everywhere in the entire world, but hey, it's fine.
+ ramesh, our awesome bus driver, went off roading in our sketchy bus so we could get to mcdonalds. it was awesome.
you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore.
our bus that took us evvverywhere
DAY 6:
+ literally the only thing i miss about america is country music and cafe rio. i could stay here forever!
+ HAHA our room is infested with gekos. when we come into room there's always a few hanging out on the walls…it's chill.
well, at least i'm chill with it until i find one in my bed!
i love how colorful fijian money is.. step up your bill game, america.
DAY 7:
+ today we left for our weekend excursion in suva and on the bus ride i was in charge of the aux cord. i'm starting to think that's my calling in life.
HAHA except it only lasted for like 2 hours cause my mix tape was so fire, it literally broke the aux cord. whoops.
+ we stopped at the beach and we found a BLUE STARFISH. and some more sick seashells and hermit crabs, just the usual, ya know.
+ the foreman at the fiji suva temple (currently under construction) gave us the coolest talk. he talked about how we came here expecting to serve and give to the people of fiji, when in reality, they are the ones who will be giving to us. soooo true. fijians are amazing. oh, and then we met with the mission president and his wife and they got me really pumped to serve a mission.. (if that's where my life takes me of course)
+ we went to a fijian farmers market, so that was pretty cool. my favorite fruit that we got was called "towel fruit"... well who knows what it was officially called, that's just what we named it cause the texture of the fruit was like a soggy paper towel.
baby pineapples
i've got a lovely bunch of coconuts (name that movie)
these roots were called "cassava" and they were kinda like stringy potato things that we ate a lot.
+ ramesh lost his phone tonight so we all pitched in to buy him a new one, it broke my heart how frantic he was when he discovered it was missing. phones are really expensive for them. (only like $30 american though) it was cool to be able to do a little act of service like this outside of the main service project we're doing. it's really taught me that service isn't an action, it's a way of life.
DAY 8:
+ i'm still hungover from the stake dance last night. (LOL. read that sentence one more time and you'll understand what i mean) did you know even the fijians know how to whip?
it was hilarious.
+ NET FISHING IS SO COOL. WE CAUGHT A STING RAY!! and a poisonous puffer fish, a colorful crab, and some sword fish, and some other exotic fish. if normal fishing was anything like net fishing, i think i could get really into it.. it was so cool to see all the fish flipping out (literally) in the net as we
reeled walked it in. the stingray was my favorite though, i mean look at those cute polka dots.. who knew mother nature had a fashion sense?
+ i'm addicted to souvenir shopping. it brings me touristy pleasure. <3
the boat we used for net fishing
my cute friend at the beach
i swear, she was like a girl version of tarzan.
did i spend 2 weeks with these guys? yes.
did i survive? you bet i did.
DAY 9:
+ apparently the word "way" is a utah thing.
isn't that way cool?
i thought it was way hilarious.
+ it's hard to focus in church when you keep making eye contact with the adorable kids...
+ we met ramesh's family today! he took us to his house and we drank lemon tea and talked. he's a sweet guy, our bus driver ramesh. walking up to his house, it looked pretty nice compared to the rest of the fijian houses, but once inside you could tell they were really poor. it just made me think... if the houses that look nice are poor on the inside, what are the houses that look poor on the outside like in the inside? it just breaks my heart..
the heartbreaking reality of fiji
DAY 10:
+ i'll never ever stop writing about how adorable the fijian children are, not even when i get home. tonight at FHE the most adorable girl named sala was my little buddy (and hairdresser haha, they love playing with long, straight hair.) .... thinking back, i'm pretty sure she only liked me for my abundance of candy, but i'll take what i can get! i mean, how can you say no to that face?
maddy's cute too i guess
my girl sala adding her touch to my journal
lol @ my notes from sunday
DAY 11:
+ today was very close to the best day of my life... it probably was actually. nothing too spectacular, just another solid day in fiji. working, playing, loving... you know the drill.
+ we went to the ocean after work today and i swam in the fijian ocean with maddy for at least an hour. we almost drowned we were laughing so hard… thank goodness i learned how to turn on my back and float when i was a kid HAHAH
doin werk in the village
grace + josh @ teatime
DAY 12:
+ TODAY WAS SO HARD. not like physically hard, but like really really mentally hard.
we had to say goodbye to the village. we played rugby (touch don't worry) and had a feast (we sat on the ground fiji style) and it was all good and fun, but i couldn't stop thinking about how i would have to leave these people soon.
today, the people we had been serving for two weeks were ripped from our reality in a single crushing blow. and as poetic as that sounds, IT REALLY DID HURT.
i had really come to love those people, and knowing that, realistically, i'd never see them again was so hard for me to deal with. there may have been some tears….. but it's ok cause i was most definitely not the only one crying.
oh man, it's only been 3 hours and i miss those guys like crazy already.
+ tonight we had a bonfire and testimony meeting on the beach… it was definitely one of those "this is the way life should be" moments. the church is true. the church is so so true. i'm generally not the kind of person to jump up and preach and praise and such, but after the experiences i've had these past 2 weeks, it's almost hard not to.
miss these kids so much it hurts
we called this little boy "superman" because the first day we came to the village he was wearing a superman shirt.
the name stuck, i don't even know if anyone ever figured out his real name, oops. but isn't he a cutie?
DAY 13:
+ DAY 13?!!?? THIS IS GOING TOO FAST. STOP.
+ today was a fun day spent with the latoka 2nd ward. they're saints. the whole lot of 'em.
we went to a beautiful waterfall and swam and cliff jumped and i even rode a fijian pony bareback.. it was so fun just talking to them and being with them for one last day. ONE LAST DAY?!! i can't believe i just wrote that. i have absolutely no desire to go home. none at all. i love ya family… but i need at least another month here. gosh. i hate this.
saying goodbye to the ward was like saying goodbye to the village all over again: hugs, tears, longer hugs, more tears.
+ i got to talk to tess a lot today and gosh, i just love her. she is a cute fijian lady around 30 and the most amazing example. she
always puts others first, even when she's sick or not doing well herself. while at the waterfall, i got to talk to her about her life and she got talking about how much she loves kids. she has one little girl named matilda, and would love to have more, but it just hasn't really been in the cards for her. if anyone deserves a bus full of children, it's tess, she'd be the most amazing mother.
[if you're reading this and you ever don't know what to fast for on fast sunday, fast for tess
]
best way to dry off your hair...
tears tears tears
if this picture doesn't make you tear up, you have no heart.
DAY 14:
+ today we went to the HOT SPRINGS aka the MUD BATHS aka my childhood dreams come true!
we looked like a bunch of gorillas, a bunch of gorillas that i'm gonna miss really bad in about 14 hours…….. *tear*
+ our hotel is by the airport, so we hear planes a lot. for the past few days, those noisy planes have almost brought me to tears because i knew i'd be on one of those planes soon.
today is that day.
i feel like just yesterday i was dropped off at this strange resort, not knowing what to
do or expect, and as cheesy as it sounds…
i don't feel like i'm going home, i feel like i'm leaving it.
the last supper (tear tear)
DAY 15:
+ technically, this day counts cause we don't get to LAX until one. except technically, this day doesn't exist because we left fiji @ 9 pm on friday and we're gonna get to american @ 1 pm on friday.
time to check time traveling off the bucket list!
+ this weird nonexistent day not the plane has been the most life changing day of my entire life… this entire trip has been, really. but just sitting and thinking on the plane, today hit me like a ton of bricks,
10 tons, really.
the further we flew away from fiji, the more my heart broke. it actually kinda surprised me how much i came to love those people in such a short amount of time. i won't even try to describe my feelings though, or else i'll just seem like an emotional teenage girl…but what's new, really. HA.
but i will give you a 6th grade level summary of my 9849th grade level deep thoughts:
being a nice person is more important than having nice stuff.
THE END.
leana says
PEACE OUT
love you, love fiji.
kjp
p.s.
the fiji video is on it's way... but hey
fiji time, right?
