Figi Time

Landing in Nadi Figi, the adventure of always navagating into a new and foriegn place begins the moment you walk out of customs. After the usual money exchange, myself and my 2 temporary traveling companions Carl from Finland, and Melissa from California, found the express bus to Suva, where we spent the night before heading out to Leluvia Island. Suva, home of all the COU activities, was very quiet. We didn't have any problems, except for a taxi that attempted to charge us double, ( we were pre-warned )and someone who attempted to pick pocket Carl. It was so humid that your cloths never dried. Sticky, and they refused to let me into the local water hole because I wore shorts. :( Strange law. Everyone is very friendly, wanting to know your name and where you came from. Saying hello to you as you walked on the other side of the street. From Suva, we took a taxi to Bau Landing to catch a boat that would ferry us out to the small island. No TV, one phone on the island, cold showers. What a life. It was a perfect place to spend time. I got certified to scuba dive, which allowed me to explore a whole new world. Swimmimg through clouds of fish of all sizes and colors, breath taking, stunning coral, large sharks, baracudas. :) Just amazing. Tommy, my German dive instructor was perfect. I was his only student that week, so I got all the attention I needed. Like having my private intructor. :)

At night we often sat around on mats that were spread on the floor, as the locals played thier guitars and sang, Figi style, lots of tuning. :) They drank a local drink called Kava, which when translated into English means, taste like crap. It's made from a root, and leaves your mouth tasting num. I've been meeting lots of people from England. I had a wonderful time diving with a married couple, MArcus and Helen, two doctors traveling back to England after working in Australia. After beating Marus in a card, I experienced the propper way of saying 'you bastered ' which sounds more like, 'you bawsterd' So funny, a popper harassment, good fun. I extended my stay in Figi for 5 days in hopes of doing so more diving, to experience 4 1/2 days of wind and rain. Bummer!

The ride off the island got a little tricky our small boat had engine troubles so we had to turn around, as the water started slipping in because the waves were so big, what fun. Lovely I thought to my self, using the new found word borrowed from my English friends. Back to the island we went to wait for the tide to come back in so we could use a boat that was grounded because of it. Eventually we departed once again, said goodbye to everyone once again and off over the waves we went. Eventually we came to bridge over the river we travelled on, they dumped us off on the bank, and we went up to stand in the rain for an hour waiting for a cab. :( ( Figi Time ) I loved my stay in Figi, and Lelevuia Island.

Highlights:

1. Finally learing to SCUBA dive, discovering a whole new world

2. Doing a GMP meditation on the sand in the moonlight, only to have a crab run across Melissa's towel, and she screamed during the calming phase. :)

3. The new friends from England Finland, Germany, US, Figi, and Israel.

4. Singing at night with the locals, playing guitars and drinking Kava.

5. Cold showers, damp bedding. :):)

unitl next time,

Love,

Dean

I'm getting booted out, closing time , more to come. No worries though, everything is going very well!

Love,

Dean