Fiji Day 6

Well today was a great day. I accidentally overslept, which really just means I didn’t wake up at 5:00, someone else’s alarm went off at 5:45 so we all got up then and caught the actual sunrise and had a short quiet time. I am going through Ephesians right now, it has been super powerful to me. Especially in chapter 4 verse 13 through 16. I think next year (2015) I am going to memorize the book of Ephesians. Today was another work day. I started out with Russie out in the field taking down a fence on the corner of the property about 6 posts to allow for an Indian farm who owns about an acre between that part of the creek and the oasis farm. He has decided that he is going to plant some vegetables there, so we were making space for him to get through, after that we re place new posts and reset the barbed wire.  Then we took a short break before going out into the papaya fields to clean things up. All of the holes had been filled with fertilizer and we just picked up the fruit that had fallen and branches that had died. We move them out to prevent insects and mongoose from disturbing the healthy parts of the tree. Then I went over to the other side of the farm house to help with the chicken coop. All of the bases have been set and today we finished most of the frame. After that we had lunch and rested for a little bit before going out to run kids club projects. It was really fun, we played some games with the kids. Duck duck goose, freeze tag, telephone, capture the shoe (capture the flag) then we told Bible stories and acted them out. We did jonah, noah, david and goliath, Jesus walks on water, and Jesus feeds the 5,000. Then at the end the kids did a short song and dance for us that they had learned at church, we the got back for dinner. I sat a talked to Salah for a while then ate the most normal food yet. Sloppy Joes essentially. They had a few bones that you had to make sure not to bite into too hard, but it was good. Then I got in my hammock for a few minutes before the bugs all came out. Then Lydia and I went in the farm house and played a little guitar talk to salah and flora and her two kids. Josh came and played the guitar for a little while too. Then we went back to our rooms I took a shower and started typing this while visiting with the boys. All in all a good day.

Fiji day 5

This mornings sunrise was really different than yesterday. There were almost no clouds so the color changes were not quite as dramatic, but still really pretty. Now we are getting ready to roll out. I saw the box of sandwiches for the day and there have got to be like 80 sandwiches. Got Morgan’s and my gopro batteries all charged up and ready to go. We went out to Scuba Bula Fiji to go scuba diving it was sooooo tight. Had a blast, we did a training and orientation in the pool, then after that we went out on the boat to head out to our dive site. On the way there I used the clamp mount for my GoPro to video us going out to the dive site. I think it turned out really well. They split us up into two groups. While one was diving the other group was snorkeling, my group went first we went down a rope until we got to the bottom, had to repressurize several times to maintain equilibrium. But we got to the bottom and began exploring, I followed my guide and he would show me where to swim and things to look for and video with my gopro. Some of the highlights were a stingray, a giant clam, an anenome, some fish hiding in coral, a moray eel, there was a white tip shark we saw when we got there, but not while diving. Some saw it but I did not and there was a sea turtle that I only saw as it was swimming away. I am not sure what the footage would be like on that. Then after that we came up, it was about 40min under water then we took off our tanks ate some fresh pineapple and coconut , some people drank tea, then the other group started diving and we started snorkeling. It was pretty fun, scuba was definitely way better, but I swam down into a kind of underwater tunnel about 15 feet down swam about 25 feet across and then back up. It was really exciting. The other group saw some baracuddas on their dive which is super cool. Then on the way back I set up my gopro clamped to the boat to video us going back and as I turned on the camera a piece of the go pro mount broke popped it loose and down into the ocean it went… I may or may not have had a panic attack/ had a decent outburst of frustration. I don’t get worked up much, but I was pretty upset about it. They told me that it was about 20 meters deep in that place, but they would try and look for it. 8min and 16sec later (GoPro time) I had my go pro back in my hand. It was amazing, we were moving pretty fast when it fell off and only had a vague idea of where it fell when we circled back, but scuba sam had no problem finding it. As Adam Donyes said “you went from a three year old having a tantrum to a 5 year old on Christmas morning.” The joy in that moment was AMAZING. It was only 8 min and 16 sec in the water. I cant believe they found it that fast, nothing short of a miricle as far as I am concerned. We then returned, I bought him a drink and gave him some money to say thank you. We then returned to the farm and got dressed up in our sulus and bula shirts to go to a village acceptance ceremony. We gave them a root, which is traditional and they met us showed us around the village and gave us permission to climb up the mountain. We have not met the chief yet because he was busy, but it was really neat. Now we have returned and are headed to dinner.

Fiji Day 4

Today we had our first work day, My roommates and I got up as usual now, 5:00am and watched the sunrise as we chilled in our hammocks, it was nice, the sky was already a little red at 5:00 and progressively changed between purple orange and yellow over the next hour until the sun actually rose. It broke the horizon around 6:00, but it was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. I have a video of the first part and a short time lapse after that. I haven’t got a chance to look at them too much, yet, but I hope they turned out well. Then after breakfast we began work. I was out in the papaya fields with Hillary digging holes to put fertilizer in, it was fun we got to talk and get to know each other a little bit. It got hot very quick though. I got a blister on my thumb from the shovel, so I had to change how I was holding it a little bit. Then Donyes took over for Hillary for a while and I got a chance to talk to him so that was really cool to have that one on one time. At 10:30 we stopped for tea time of course, which we did not actually drink tea, but had some water juice and some fruit. Then it was back to work. The papaya fields only had two rows left so they moved me to a job where I was digging out and leveling an area to pour concrete. This is when I got to have a good conversation with Russie, he is awesome. I want to be like him someday. He is one of the hardest most efficient workers I have ever met, he studied theology in the Solomon Islands, which is pretty legit and then chose to become a part of the island encounters ministry when they started the farm last year. He is the grounds keeper and the backbone of the farm maintenance there. He wife and daughter Auntie Salah and Flora work in the kitchen and couldn’t be sweeter. They have taught me a lot of Fijian words and a little bit about the food and culture. After we were done with the concrete and leveling it was time for lunch, we ate lunch and drank lots of water. We then talked for a little bit and jumped straight back into working. I went out to the field to plant cavacus (sp err) it is kinda like a potatoe anyway, it was pretty hard work. We got to use Cane blades named for their use in the sugar cane fields to cut back the overgrown part of the field to dig up new holes with a pitchfork like tool to plant the seed. It is one of those jobs that is done whenever we have time to squeeze it in. Then my watch beeped at 4:00…which is when I was supposed to be leaving for kids club, so I ran back to my room put on a clean shirt and ran up to get in the car. Lara was running a few minutes late so I was ready before she got there. So then we went over to Wai Loloma house which is a place for women who had to get out of abusive relationship or orphans whose parents couldn’t keep them because of the culture if the baby was out of wedlock, or if there parents died and no willing reletives clamied them. So we played with kids, then I was asked to help change someones tire and it took forever to find all of the tools we needed, but when I did and removed the old tire and everything, the “new” tire they brought me, was old enough that it had a hole in it and the other one they had….same story, just a different tire. So it ended up being a lot of work not to accomplish much, but it was still fun, especially playing with the kids of course. They really didn’t want us to leave, but maybe we will get a chance to go back. Lara’s kids are adorable. She has a 4 year old an 8 year old a 10 year old and a 16 year old. I have spent the most time with the two youngest, but they all seem very nice and sweet. When I was looking for tools to change a tire I found a note from the 8 year old to the 4 year old telling her that she loves her and hopes she has a great day. It was so cute, her little handwriting and everything. We then came back to the farm and ate dinner. Then I finally got to shower felt so good. Now tomorrow we are having a fun day, we are going scuba diving, to a waterfall, zip lines, I think a mud pit. And hot springs, so should be super legit and a great day for the GoPro. Getting up again at 5:00am tomorrow so I will journal again later.

Fiji Day 3

Today I got up early to see the sunrise. It was a little cloudy so it didn’t turn out that well on video but looked pretty cool. I then ate a lot of breakfast, hard boiled eggs are pretty good. Then we went into Nadi and shopped around for a few minutes. I hung with Lydia and Hannah most of the day, then we went to this café and ate lunch and watched the superbowl. It started at 11:00 haha time change probs. Seahawks destroyed the broncos. Then we went down to the beach again, I went on a walk with Lydia down the beach looking for seashells sand dollars and stuff. When we got down to the end of the beach there was a ramp and a small plane with puntoons on the bottom for taking off on the water, they would fly people around to look at the mountains and stuff it was super cool. There is also a island not too far off that apparently is one of those super crystal blue water beaches. I am not sure if we are going to have an opportunity to go there, but we are going to a really clear water beach in a couple days. Pastor Neil came and talked to us about his ministry with the hindu people of Fiji, he was raised Hindu and converted to Christianity through his brother. He explained how the family is so connected that they would be disowned either directly or indirectly shunned by the community. It was a really neat story.

Fiji Day 2

 Now I am getting ready to go to breakfast and then church, so today should be an awesome day. Burns still hurt a little, but I have put some aloe on them. Church was pretty cool, it was called revival. We met the pastors and church staff there were about 4 of them, and about 25 in the congregation. When they realized that we did not speak Fijian they tried to accommodate us and had some of the service in English. I am learning some of the Fijian words and etiquette. One of the harder ones is that you do not wear sunglasses while talking to people, and the Fijian sun is strong. The rest of the we just chilled, Sundays we don’t really have much activities apparently. Tomorrow is superbowl Monday so we are going into town to watch it and do some shopping ect.

Fiji Day 2

 Now I am getting ready to go to breakfast and then church, so today should be an awesome day. Burns still hurt a little, but I have put some aloe on them. Church was pretty cool, it was called revival. We met the pastors and church staff there were about 4 of them, and about 25 in the congregation. When they realized that we did not speak Fijian they tried to accommodate us and had some of the service in English. I am learning some of the Fijian words and etiquette. One of the harder ones is that you do not wear sunglasses while talking to people, and the Fijian sun is strong. The rest of the we just chilled, Sundays we don’t really have much activities apparently. Tomorrow is superbowl Monday so we are going into town to watch it and do some shopping ect.

Fiji Travel/Day 1

Well I made it to Fiji, has been pretty awesome so far. Things were a little crazy trying to get my passport the morning of my flight, but sure enough I made it. Got my passport at about 10:00am and was on my 12:00 flight out that afternoon. We then were on 3 different planes. I was always sitting in an area with Kelsey josh Hannah Morgan. So that was fun. Then we got to Houston switched planes there, it was a quick switch, we kinda had to run through the airport. So this was a decently long flight 4.5 hours of something to LA, really nice plane though. Very comfortable, goo movies to watch. I watched the new wolverine movie and I watched after earth, but I kinda started falling asleep towards the end. Had some panda express in the LA airport so that was pretty legit. Orange chicken of course. They didn’t have the alacarte option so I ordered a triple entrée like a boss. Then we were on a 12 hour flight to FIJI! WHAT WHAT! Long flight but totally worth it. We got to the airport, got some money converted to FJD then loaded up in some vans and headed out to the farm. Apparently there has been a ton of rain in the past week especially on Wednesday. Which halted the final work on our dorms, so our dorms are kinda still under construction while we are in them. one of the girls rooms went to stay at one of the missionaries house Laura. We went to the beach and just chilled for a couple hours. I put some suncreen on but my back still got decently burned, so I am going to be mindful of that for the next few days and wear a shirt more. The beach was fun though, the food here is pretty good. It is a lot of fruits and some bread. Last night we had a chicken soup for dinner. The locals here that I have met so far are really nice. The people who work here in the kitchen and stuff have told me a lot about the island area. We are in the valley along side a decently large mountain range so that is pretty neat. I and some others expressed interest in doing some climbing maybe on our second day. After lunch I went down to the creek to explore, it was a little difficult to get over there because the vegetation is very overgrown. But once I got down by the water and could see where the cows came through to get to the creek. I ended up knee deep in mud at one point which was pretty funny. But I washed off in the creek and then climbed a big “rain tree” and chilled there, read my bible until heading back a little bit before dinner.