Fiji 2024

 Blog post. Before this trip, I had many ideas and assumptions about how this trip would go. Turns out they were all wrong! I thought that the village would be my least favorite part and that I would enjoy it more if it was similar to my lifestyle. However, the thing that I loved about Fiji the most was being dropped into a different part of the world with a totally different lifestyle.  Yesterday was a once-in-a-lifetime experience diving at the most beautiful place on earth that many people dream of exploring, Namena. As Sara, our Ocean Ventures dive master would say, “So beautiful that I almost filled my mask with tears”. Even after returning from that dive to the beautiful resort of Daku, I found myself thinking about the village.  One memory I would like to share is from our first night in the village. One of my roommates, Adela was asleep. My other roommate, Lily, and I were barely awake when we were startled by chickens. Adele woke up as Lily and I were screaming a...

Sending a quick post to let all know we arrived safely in Nadi yesterday. The first group arrived in town around 11:00 am and headed into Nadi town to do some shopping for the group. The second group arrived late afternoon. Unfortunately, the low-pressure system that has been covering the entire country is persisting and our snorkel trip was canceled due to high winds and rain. Given that the current system originated from a weakened cyclone  - everyone has been understanding. We will be heading to Denarau marina for a nice lunch and some shopping today. A ping pong tournament has begun! At Savusavu airport our students could identify the majority of dancers and a few kids in the photo from Vusuratu Village! Rainy trip to Nadi but always fun to be able to see the cockpit area

On our way to Daku Resort we visited a small scale Coffee and Agroforestry Farm in Savusavu. Learning the time and care it takes from planting and coco harvest we all gained a new appreciation for chocolate. Kokomana’s history and vision is certainly inspirational! Their chocolate tasting portion inspires many of us to purchase our very own bars! We are hoping a few of these make it back to friends and family! Learning about the different stages to get from beam to bar by Joelle and later Anna Our arrival at Kokomana’s screened in porch and house cat made us all feel immediately at home! Our favorite part - the chocolate tasting! All but one of the chocolates were dairy free so good for all! Joelle teaching us about the drying and fermenting process

Day 8 of the trip! Our stay in the village has come to end. As we prepared to say our goodbyes to the village of Vusaratu, the children of the village and my peers met in the Vale Levu to say farewell. We shared our favorite memories and expressed our gratitude. Our biggest appreciation is the gratitude we all feel towards Sarah, Matthew and the Ocean Ventures team.Both Sarah and Matthew helped to shape our experience in Vusaratu and guided us through the village homestay experience by introducing us to Fijian customs, and sharing their knowledge of the marine life present in the warm Fijian waters. Their extensive passion and knowledge of the ocean sparked excitement and curiosity in each and everyone of us. The dive experience itself was so enjoyable and professional. Overall our group felt safe and comfortable with Sarah and Matthew as our guides both on land and underwater. Maile We received the gift of a farewell song The team!

 Our apologies on the delays of posting! With all the rain we didn’t have much electricity and cellular. All is well! We are on our way to Namena for our dive. A few tummy issues with the team but everyone is in great spirits! Laura

 So far my Fiji experience has not been what I expected, at all. It has been way better than I envisioned. One of my biggest worries before coming on this trip is that I would be homesick. I have never been away from my family for this long but as soon as I met my host family, I immediately realized I would be alright. They are the kindest and most welcoming people I have ever met. Every time we come home or wake in the morning, they welcome me with a huge smile and make sure I feel at home. My roommates have also made this trip so much more comfortable. Emma, Charlotte and I have become close, like sisters. We have made so many fun memories and have more yet to come. The three of us have become close with our host sister, Susi. Susi is about to turn eighteen, and she reminds me of my own sister - fun, outgoing and has a laugh that makes everyone around her laugh too. We are going to miss her so much. But she has helped me see all the joy in life, and how to cope with hard things....

  We started the day off with scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and the best juice I think I’ve ever had… Tang. Tang is a powdered drink served at mealtime and something I’ve grown to love. After breakfast, Matteo, Dylan and I played Uno in the Valle Levue, the village’s community area where we enjoy spending time together as a group. We spent the time before our first dive preparing for Mailē’s 18th birthday by making head lei and friendship bracelets.     Next, we went on our morning dive with the goal of learning how to survey the reef with an audio visual transect. To do this, we used video cameras to record a specific area while others set out measuring tape along the coral.     After the dive, we were fortunate to visit the local school in the next village over where most of our homestay brothers and sisters had been attending all week. We were greeted by the school administrator who attentively answered our questions.     The school is very small ...

  Emma blog 4 Today was probably the best dive of the whole trip so far. We dove on the outer reef of    Natewa Bay, and it was like we dropped into an aquarium. There were more fish than I’ve seen in my entire life. Perhaps one of my favorite are the adorable anemone fish and the brightly colored damsel fish. Aside from diving, one of my other highlights has been the downtime teaching card games to our host family, hermit crab racing, and taking long leisurely walks on the beach. I have collected more shells than I’ll ever need, but that doesn’t stop me from collecting more! Our dive this afternoon was very eventful, it was raining so hard that we could hear and see the rain from 40 feet underwater. The boat ride back to shore was possibly the only time I’ve been cold this entire trip! Our group has bonded so much. We have gotten very competitive at cards and bracelet making, as well as naming all the animals in the village (shnert and megatron—the village cats). I can’t...