Saturday, January 15, 2011

Fiji Me!

Bula!! (hello in Fijian),

We finally made it to Fiji!

The ten-hour flight wasn't as bad as expected.  Nolan and I were exhausted from a long day of travel where we missed our connection in Chicago (resulting in Nolan getting first class on the next flight via standby!?).  I was booked on the next flight but managed to make it onto his and we arrive in LAX with plenty of time to make our Fiji flight.  By the time we got on, we passed out for about 7 hours and woke up to movies and a poor excuse for breakfast.

Everything is island time here, so although we arrived at 5am, we didn't get into our room until 9am.  We took a 3.5 hour nap and woke up to a note from my college friend, Emily, who had flown from Suva where she is working at the UN to visit me for the weekend!! Such an awesome surprise!

So far our days have consisted of lying by the beach (not the nicest beach on Fiji by far, but venturing to another one tomorrow), eating, and trying Kava, a traditional drink that tastes like watered down mud with pepper and is supposed to make you some kind of drunk.  It is in fact ground up pepper plant mixed with water.  The "Kavaholics," a singing group, sang us a welcome song, and then taught us how to drink the Kava.  You clap once, say "Bula!", down it while everyone in the circle says "heeeeeeyyyy!!!", try to wipe the look of disgust off of your face, and then clap three times.  Two bowls of kava made me lose sense of balance and I clung to Nolan as we walked to dinner and had a delicious curry. 

Tonight we're going to practice yoga at sunset on the balcony of the hotel...and tomorrow off to the Coral Coast!

It's so strange to be so far away!! We realized that we are technically only 6 hours behind you folks back home, but a day ahead...if that makes sense.  So, the jetlag isn't horrible.

Lots of love from the other side of the world,
Dimity & Nolan

English- Fijian Dictionary:
  • maca (ma-tha) = empty
  • mace (ma-the) = morning
  • vinaka = thank you
  • bula = hello
  • taki = kava time!

No comments:

Post a Comment