Bula!

As my achy numb body peeled itself off the cushion supporting it for the past 11 hours, I felt so relieved to be at my destination (even if only for a few days). A bunch of the Study Australia students were aboard the plane from LA to Nadi, Fiji, including my roommate, who I met just prior to boarding. I sat next to an Australian dude from Melbourne, who's now residing in Alabama for a few years. He was an engineer for airplanes and helicopters parts (which was ironic, seeing I dated and was engaged to a pilot for a fews years who trained in Alabama). I have made copious trips "down south" and although it's a beautiful place, we chatted about the people there and the "blah-ness" in that area of the country. We exchanged stories and told each other places to visit in our home countries and after chatting (when we probably should've been sleeping), we exchanged info and went our separate ways. Just got a message from him today though... Travelers should ALL have facebook. It's so convenient.
After all the study abroad students met up, we took van taxis to the water and boarded a 3 hour ferry up to Naviti Island. There's a slew of Islands north of Nadi (pronounced Nandi) and we drove by many in the boat. Almost all had no roads on them. Just trails to a local village which pretty much consisted of houses, a church, and a school.
We finally arrived at the Boataira Resort, where the locals met the ferry out in the cove and we all boarded a small boat to take us in to shore. I remember all of us laughing at this little Fijian boy who grabbed the ferry boldly, was speaking TRES quickly in Fijian to another man near the motor of the boat. The little boy seemed so on top of everything. He would spring onto the front of the boat, hold it with the rope while we boarded, then just "chilled" there while we went in.
As we drove through the most vibrant blue water one has ever seen towards the whitest, softest sand, we looked up at the main balcony of the resort and saw a dozen or so natives and realized that they were holding instruments and dancing while singing us a welcome song. Most of the songs in Fijian ALWAYS consisted of the word Bula, which was Hello/hey/hi. It was so pure sounding and joyful.
We jumped off the boat into the shallow water. I had pants on, which became wet after my bound, but it didn't matter at that point because we were all taking in the culture and people. The natives continued to sing while they walked down onto the beach to greet us with fresh juice squeezed from fruit on the island. All of the food we ate at the resort was fresh from the island gardens and farm or ocean!
We all got settled in our bungalows. There were 6 in ours: Nicole and Steph stayed in two beds pushed together, then Em and Allison, and Jeremy and me. The huts were simply thatched roofs with a small porch out front. The shower was outside but surrounded by stone. I felt as if I were in an extra large chimney while I was showering one morning because I could the the palm trees, stars, the moon, the mountain, then some clouds and finally the colors from the sun as it rose during my quiet shower.
The meals were at specific times every day and we all ate together. Never once did we eat inside, and never once did we see rain. We had access to kayaks, snorkeling gear, and many hammocks all along the beach, nestled in the palm trees away from the intense heat, whenever we wished to use them or relax in them.
Because of the time change, I would wake up around 5 every morning (which was AWESOME!) The first morning Steph (my new roomie) and I ventured to the left side of the island where there was this huge black rock we climbed up and took pictures on of the sun rise. The second morning, Jeremy came along and we tried to find a trail that would lead us up to the highest part of the island, so we could watch the sunrise, but we ended up walking through the gardens and onto a path which lead to a Fijian man's house. It was simple with nicknack's all outside strewn around and he was cutting up fruits that he had just picked from the many trees around his yard. He was a grunter (that's what I called him). We weren't sure whether he just couldn't speak English or not, but he seemed blind a bit as well (an aged man). Later we found out he was deaf and dumb and resides there to help fish for the resort etc. He was so proud of his place though. He showed us skulls from animals he had killed (small goats we thought), then even a rusty "bench press" that was homemade out of wood with a simple barbell press. It looked heavy though and he insisted he was strong with his universal gesture for strength (the flexed arm and grunt, then the point to his bench press and then he flexed his arm again ensure we understood, grunted, and laughed as he walked away to his fruit table. Jeremy thought he resembled Baloo, the character from The Jungle Book, so that was what we called him. When I pointed to my chest and said, "Bula, Megan" then pointed to his and gave a curious face he returned with a finger to his chest and rambled off some ridiculously long Fijian name; we had no idea what he said and simply, "Smiled and nodded..." haha
Mornings were great and quite. The last morning Heidi, Joe, Jeremy, and I finally made it to the nighest peak. The pictures can not describe the beauty we saw that morning. Afternoons were lazy... I read one day, then went for a "workout" swim. The water was the saltiest I've ever been in, but the coral reefs that were in the cove were absolutely flourishing with fish and color. Some say the reefs in Fiji provide better snorkeling than the great barrier reef. I'll have to get up there to compare I guess.
We would have lunch then have a few more hours before afternoon tea. Which consisted of tea or coffee and a sweet bread (carrot cake the first day, then banana, and the last day some other sweet type of bread). SO GOOD THOUGH...
Each day after tea, we would all get together with the locals and play volleyball. I didn't know how I'd like it, but it was great fun and we played everyday like that 'til we left. The little Fijian boy from the boat before was the "offical" for volleyball. His booming personality infected each and everyone of us in some shape or form. Whether it was looking up to see him in a tree picking coconuts, or playing around with a soccer ball, or telling us we needed to do a serve over again in volleyball because it was OUT. "Tharee-One... Fuur-Two... Lahst Surve!" His name was Siti (we all called him Steve at first) and he was awesome. When it came time for him to leave (he had to go to the mainland to start school) Sana, Knox, and Sela (older natives) said they couldn't find him because he was hiding under his bed crying because he had so much fun with us and didn't want to go. It was sad to say goodbye to little Siti.
The natives sang to us during lunches, tea times, and dinner every day. The harmonies, voices, and overall sound was unforgettable. The first night's meal (Fiji Night!) was rather inedible... I couldn't really put anything down unfortunately, but every other night the food was incredible. Fresh fish, chicken, lamb, pork... you name it. We had the best shrimp kebabs and chicken in tortillas the last night. mmm I miss it kind of now actually...
The best time I had there was the first night when all the villagers came over to the resort dressed in gorgeous attire and did a Fijian song and dance night for us. There were seats they arranged in the middle of a field RIGHT off the beach and the stars were so bright there. And very different from the Northern hemisphere. There are many more stars (whether because there actually are or just because it's in the middle of the Pacific ocean, I don't know). There was one light that shown on the people dancing and singing, but it shut of before and after each song. Then the people would rearrange and dance. There was a female dance, then a male dance (one man was absolutely LOVING the crowd) He was almost insane the way he danced but it was so enticing and interesting everyone ate him up! Then for the last couple songs the men grabbed two girls from the crowd for each arm and the women two guys. All of us were dancing with the natives and laughing! Wow what a good time when I actually think back on it. Then we had one dance where we all made a train and danced around the people singing. Of course we were all laughing so hard because the end of the train was being whipped and thrown everywhere how could we not?! After the song ended, the natives sang us a good night song and we all hit the sack.
The next night we all experienced Kava. It's a drink made from the Kava root being crushed up (which I tried to do, but was a horrible "crusher")... They said it was kinda like a drug drink where it made you feel kinda drunk but tingly and mellow all around. I CONCUR! It was awesome. Tasted like muddy water aka... nasty, but once you acquired a taste for it, it was great. I think I had about 15 coconut cups full... (3 cups is supposed to do the trick). All night though, we all sat in a circle on the porch on the ocean and Kiti and Sana made us Kava (they put it in a bag and then soak it in cold water... kinda like how you make tea). We just passed the cup around and told stories, listened to Chris Brown WAY too much and had a good time.
A couple of us stayed later to have a stronger batch and that for sure did me in. Especially because I finished the Kava out of the big bowl (very strong)... I remember I couldn't see a thing as I tried to stumble back to my hut. Luckily Jeremy was there to tell me to guide me. We rolled in around 1 am.
My last and favorite experience from Fiji was the walk to the village. This is my last story I sware... We walked up an EXTREMELY steep hill (the islands in Fiji have beautiful beaches then in the middle HIGH peaks and ridges along the island). We walked up and over the ridge and ended up on another beach which we walked for at least a mile on. The sun was sweltering there, but I liked it. They said the native do "the walk" sometimes four times a day. We saw fish, ducks... like lake ducks... pigs, this cute little dog who I fell in love with and children... beautiful children were everywhere. And they're so excited to see new people! They were so friendly and always wanted their pictures taken with digital cameras so they could see them right away. I took some goofy ones with these three kids and then one of the boys wanted his picture with this purple gorgeous flower, so I complied with enthusiasm. I felt like Paparazzi in the village... I couldn't stop snapping photos. On Sunday, Knox (the sweetest man I have ever met in my life) brought a bunch of us to the local church. We didn't have the correct clothing, so he let us into his house and his sister Mary (just about the sweetest woman I have ever met) let about 7 of us girls borrow her dresses. They were beautiful. The church service was indescribable. Although it was conducted in Fijian, it didn't matter. The priest's speech was effortless and it was almost as if he were reciting a beautiful poem, which I guess he was... the choir, which Knox was part of and had a solo in, was so in tune and together I could only imagine what they were singing about. I know it had something to do with Jesus though because they kept saying "Hey-zus". I actually almost started crying as I looked out the window and saw a mother holding her couple month old child and then a little boy ran out of his house to get to the church. Everything in Fiji was so peaceful and full of positive energy. It made me feel great there. We also shopped in the village one day and on the way back to the resort, I tried spear fishing! One of the locals was doing it and I really wanted to try so he let me try a few throws... I sucked but it was fun. The last afternoon Sana and Sela took a bunch of us swimming with wild Manta Rays. The group before us never saw any, so it was kind of kit or miss but not only did we see them, I actually put my hand out and held onto a huge 8 foot across one! It didn't really do much but I also only held on for about 5-10 seconds! Scary!! Then we went to, what Sana and Sela said, was one of the best snorkeling places around. It was... so amazing. I saw a reef shark and and followed it for a bit and on the way back to the island we saw a sea turtle! After we got everything together, we said our thank yous and goodbyes to the locals, they sang to us as we left and we took a ferry to the mainland in Nadi, where we stayed in a 5 star resort with a quite intricate pool design. It was gorgeous, but we had an early flight to Sydney, so we ate, looked around and hit the hay hard that night.
In my opinion... everyone should EXPERIENCE Fiji... because there's no traveling there or seeing there. It's an experience of memories made that will never be forgotten. I told the natives I will return to visit and that I will :) Someday soon hopefully...
Vinaka (Thank You) and Moce (Goodnight/Goodbye).