Fiji Vacation

Bula!! (Fijian greeting)
We could not have asked for a better week in Fiji. Our trip started off a little rough.. something was wrong with the plane's radar something or other, so we ended up being delayed about 4 hours. We did, however get 2 free meals out of it, so in the end it was good :) We arrived in Fiji and were greeted by our hostel's shuttle service. We spent our first and last nights on the main island in Nadi (pronounced Nandi). The morning of the second day we were shuttled from our hostel to catch the Amberley(boat taxi) from Lautoka about 30 minutes from our hostel. We had a 1.5 hour ride to Waya Island--apart from being a little choppy, the views were incredible! We arrived to Octopus resort and were greeted by the staff there with a welcome song and a refreshing glass of some sort of tropical fruit juice :) Each day the resort had different activities that we were welcome to take part of, some were free, others were not.. we stuck to the free ones (: Saturday we mostly just sat on the beach, and in the afternoon we learned how to weave bracelets out of pandanus leaves. Sunday, Mariel and I went to the local village to attend the church service. It was completely in Fijian, but it was still interesting and a good reminder that we all are worshipping the same exact God, just in different ways. The rest of the day we spent on the beach. Monday we rented snorkle gear for 5 fijian dollars and spent a lot of time in the water. There was a reef literally right off the shore- i felt like i was on finding nemo :) Tuesday we went to the village- went on a "tour" participated in a Kava ceremony, and visited the "craft market" the women all come to put out blankets and cover them with things they've made to sell. Great souvenirs! They offered jewelry making in the afternoon but i chose to keep reading. I managed to read 3 books in 4 days. ahhh.. I LOVE VACATION! The final morning we spent soaking up our last bit of sun, before our boat taxi left at 2pm. This was an all inclusive deal, so each day breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at certain times. Sometimes it was buffet and sometimes it was a sit down meal. The food was exceptional and the people there were just SO friendly. About 1/3 of the 340 or so people who live in the nearby village are employed by Octopus resort. The children on the Island go to a boarding school nearby so each Sunday they all pile in to one of the resorts boats and are taken over for the week. We had fresh flowers on our beds each day after the ladies came in to make them. Time really did seem to stand still while we were there. I can't put into words how beautiful it really was an how relaxe we were when we left...

Sidenote-- I'm consiering joining the Amish in light of my camera screen breaking on me while we were there. It seems to me that every piece of technology I have has now broken, so maybe God's trying to tell me something.. :) I was still able to get some good pictures tho! I wish i could share them here, I will try my best.

But for now, let the studying continute!! I already had one final and I have 3 more to go! I have one on Monday, Friday, and the following Thursday--prayers are appreciated! There is a cold front goign through the area right now, so it's back to sweatshirts and mittens, but hopefully our last weeks here will be warm before coming home to the cold! I hope you all have a great week!