Wow! It is so hot here! Hot and humid! And rains at least once a day - but never for very long. That will probably be one of the bigger adjustments for me...sweating all the time, yuck!
My flight from Vancouver to LA was uneventful...then I got to the Pacific Air ticket counter...the flight was delayed! My layover was already 5 hours, now it would be 7! Geez, talk about a pain in the ass! Literally! I read an entire book during that time period, and in the end I really didn't like the book, so huge bummer! But the flight from LA to Nadi Fiji was fine, I managed to sleep for part of it, but not very well.
Got off the plane in Nadi and was meant by a staff member of Projects Abroad. She put me and another girl on the bus to Suva - another 4 hours. My butt was not happy with me. Managed to doze for part of the trip though, but my neck started to hurt since I was cramped between two people, one of whom took up most of the three person seat! We were met in Suva by yet another member of Projects and she drove us 45 minutes outside of Suva to Nausori. I got to meet my host family: Joythi and Raj - both of whom are very nice. Joythi has a very bubbly personality and is very friendly. We've already gone on two walks together! And she has shown me around her neighbourhood.
Yesterday, the same member of Projects picked me (and the same girl from the day before) up and took us back to Suva for our orientation. We also got shown around Suva a bit since there is more there than Nausori. Haven't been that active since I still feel light headed and jetlagged from the travelling, crossing the dateline and a general lack of good sleep.
Today was my first day at the girls summer school. It is only a 10 minute walk from the house, perfect! It's a shame though, apparently 45 girls signed up for the summer school, but only 8 are consistently showing up. There are 7 of us volunteering there right now. It's a lot of sitting around and occasionally getting to help out with activities. It will probably be pretty boring for the next few weeks until the regular school is back up and running and I am at the special needs school (which is even closer, only 5 minutes away).
I am probably going to one of the beaches with some of the other volunteers this weekend, since neither Suva or Nausori has beaches! I don't know when I'll get another chance to escape to a nice beach so I figured better just do it now. The next time I might get the chance is when my parents arrive in 4.5 weeks!
Everyone here is super friendly. Everyone you pass in the street says bula, good-morning, how are you, etc. It's really quite lovely.
The food is great too! Maybe a bit too spicy for my liking, but I think I'll get use to it quickly. The fruit! Oh, my the fruit is wonderful! I had passion fruit (the real stuff not from concentrate) for the first time! I realize something too: our Indian food is very westernised!
Well, I should try and get back to the house - it feels like it might rain soon!
