Paradisio

One of the first signs upon walking through the doors of the Uprising Beach Resort is: "its not perfect, its paradise". I don't mean to brag...but it's true. For a few moments, I was worried when I stepped off the plane in Nadi when I was literally covered in sweat. But that quickly changed after spending just a few minutes in the "cross-island" bus tour upon arrival. It was the first time to really get the know the kids in my program. To say the least, I'm now 100% confident it will be a great semester. Yes they may be from all over the United States, but I'm grateful to have the same outlook as all of them in regards to our experience here. There is so much excitement in learning the culture here and we've all already connected through our beginning experiences and our collective open minds.

Freshly cut coconut upon arrival at Uprising Beach Resort

I can't complain that I was greeted with a fresh coconut, and a hibiscus flower, when I arrived at the resort. It may seem silly that we start our experience with a resort stay, but honestly, in terms of dumping 14 american college students in the middle of the third world country, there is some reasoning.

I'm in the middle of what they call a Bridging Cultures program. It's AustraLearn's way of introducing us to the culture in hopes of lessening the chances of culture shock. So while we're being treated with freshly cleaned towels and a beach just outside our villa, we have been interacting with the locals and have already learned several crucial fijian words like "Bula" which is said to everyone anytime you come in contact with them. It translates to a simple hello but means health, life, and happiness to you. The next main word is "Vinaka" which means thank you and then "kere kere" which means please. I'm a Biskaduros, so obviously I needed to know my manners first :)

Yesterday was just an adjust to the jet lag and a good laugh at all the boys who got burnt on the first day. We did have our first orientation session but today was when the real fun started. We traveled ten minutes up the road to the beginning of our "jewel of fiji" tour. We traveled by boat up the river to a legit Fijian village.

Lavenia, our group leader, and Evan and Graham on the beginning of our jewel of fiji tour

The only way to get to the Koro Makawa village as there is no road system

Fiji is beautiful!

We took part in their Kava ceremony, a traditional event that is difficult to express in words. When amongst friends, the kava drink replaces alcohol and is a drink (the kava root is ground and mixed with water) that completely relaxes your full body and mind. In a situation with a visiting "tribe" (like the tour group today), it is a way to express acceptance and welcoming.

(Still working on video quality and uploading!)

We also learned about their daily necessities and even saw them shuck a coconut, cut it open, and cream the meat of it. We enjoyed a lunch with traditional fijian food that included both curry dishes from their Indian descent, coconut dishes from the fijian descent, fruit, rice, vegetables, and juice.

Traditional Fijian food

creaming the coconut

Koro Makawa village pic

Our tour guide, Nem, talking about the Kava plant

The ladies of the village working on their art and weaving

They performed a traditional fijian dance and then sent us on our way to the most amazing adventure I've ever had. We traveled up the river to this gigantic waterfall that was like 150 feet tall. It was so pure and natural, I even jumped off one of the rock cliffs into the water below and climbed underneath the waterfall.

waterfall on the Navua river

I totally could have been on the discovery channel. We then proceeded back down the river on a homemade bamboo raft made from the people of the Koro Makawa village (the village we had originally visited). All in all, it was a great trip...we learned a lot about the fijian people, the fijian culture, and about ourselves as well! I'll post another post at the end of the bridging cultures week, but until then, Bula!