Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti

Now I am referred to by Fijians as the girl who can dance. I met a gorgeous man named Rodney, one of Mikes mates, who wants to take me fishing and snorkeling. He is in a local band that plays at the Jean-Michel Cousteau resort. He is talking about singing at a bonfire on the beach, how amazing that would be. Mike and I went to a tiny tiny shack of a place, surrounded by a wooden fence that was falling down. We walked in to the "club."

It was a tiny room with some benches on the wall, and a hole in the wall with a counter where you could buy liquor. We were the only foreigners in the joint. Mike and I got some drinks and hung out. Dancing was hilariously fun. At first I was embarrassed, but lets face it, I didnt have much choice haha. All the guys kept trying to dance with me but I stuck with Rodney who was sober, and not gropey like all the other men in there haha. There was a shoddy disco ball twirling on the ceiling, it was awesome. People looked like they were having so much fun and it was so much fun.

In this place it's about who you are, and who you are with, not what you are wearing or how fancy the club is - and I love it!

A standing white fan blows humid sticky air about a small room in the budget lodge of Savusavu. Two bunk beds fill the small space, their cheap red and yellow paint echoing a childrens market, turned cheap tourist use. There are light fixtures on the ceiling but no lights, loud music blasts from a distance - a mixture of islander and south American. I am wearing a shirt with sleeves and dying in this sticky humid environment. I am thinking how happy Fijians would be if they were less conservative in such sweltering heat, and wondering how much missionary influence has made wearing long sleeves and long pants/skirts in this type of weather a compulsory chore.

We arrived in Savusavu on the island of Venua Levu at about 6 am. Mike and I left Suva on the ship called Suilvan after spending 2 nights in Lautoka with Kiva. We hooked up with another American who Mike knows through the peace corps and split the room, each paying 20$ to stay. Apparently that's a really good deal, and they only got it because they'd stayed there before. I am quickly learning how much bartering helps in Fiji. If you are a tourist or a Valanie (foreigner...sounding it out, have no idea how to spell it) it seems you are shit out of luck as you are going to be taken for all you are worth! Without these guys I'd be clueless as to what I should pay or where I should go, but I still believe that our nationality determines that no matter how affluent we are or become, we will always be ripped off when it comes to cash payments.

Besides our sleeping area which is right when you walk in, we have a small kitchen like room with a sink, and a bathroom with a shower that has a legitimate wooden door instead of a shower door - it's awesome it's like a shower room. I feel like we are hiding in an alley way. I'm so tired from the overnight ferry. I slept on the floor, underneath the table between mike and his friend on the bow of the ship. It was sticky and covered with cigarette butts which seemed to bother everyone but me haha. It was so cold and windy, but sticky at the same time. A solid doona woulda been gold! I hope I did a good job at keeping my skirt dress down so people didn't see my underwear as I slept . Met a girl on the boat who is from the same army base as my room mate carol, knows her, and was her rival in basket ball. What are the chances! Small fucking world ey, no matter where I go, even if I'm on a ship in the middle of the Pacific moving like a snail, I still run into this six degrees of seperation.

Mikes friend brought us the most amazing thing for breakfast. These huge coconut rolls. I hate coconut and I love this thing, it is like my new favourite food!

I am currently flying over the ocean. Vast and blue, it's a gorgeous day. White puffy clouds dot the sky below and leave dark shadows on the beautiful ocean. We just passed over what I assume to be Fraser Island, which was immensely covered in trees, so much in fact that the coastal beaches were the only things visible besides forest. I was unaware it was so uninhabited. Might be a good place to stake out and live.

My stomach is still churning from the stress of driving here. We left on time, but stopped for chocoalate, gas and an ATM. We got on the highway a half and hour late. The M1 was at a standstill after exit 36 and moved between 0-60 kmh. At 730 am we should have been at the airport already but had not even crossed the Brissy river. Dave, my co-pilot remained calm while I freaked out and tried to breath my way out a panick attack. Cursing trucks and consturction I listened to the Beatles and prayed to catch my flight. Dave was so good to me.

We arrived at 8:15 and parked in a bus terminal spot because I could not waste time looking to park. As I was grabbing my bags the bus in front of us moved and exposed us to security. I was so frazzled, poor Dave. An old dude came over completely uncaring of whether or not I was in a hurry and badgered on about us moving the car. I mumbled "yea yea getting bags, he'll move the car." but the guy didn't care. I quickly gave dave a hug, silently cursed the attendant and booked off in to Row 10 where I anxiously awaited my ticket. I got it, noted the 15 minute boarding time, was told to hurry and I ran to the escator. Some Asian woman barked at me"can't go down till fill out green card!!!" and she shoved a customs card in my face - the ones you don't have to fill out until you're at the gate. Shit! I started scribbling people headed down - fuck this I thought. "can I fill it out down there??" "Yes down there." her response had changed...grrr! I rushed down the escalator and to security. The line was short and in a matter of minutes I was at the guard spot.

A strange accented man argued with me about the size of my deodorant, saying he had to confiscate it - I didn't care. "Whatever, do it, it's fine, I don't care." He examined it further an remarked "Oh, 75 grams...that's okay," and waved me through after unneeded shenanigans. After that my bag got scanned at least another two times. Two men examined the screen and mumbled "it disappeared." My stomach churned, my hands shook, I feared a missed flight and thought about how I had no money to rebook, and with an ending student visa I might just be forced to head back to the USA if I didn't get on this plane. As the backpacker hippie chick to my right had all of her luggage unpacked by an officer, another officer handed me my bag.

There's something about anxiety and these situations that makes you feel like everyone must know you could miss your flight, you feel like your fear and anxiety is so transparent they must know, but they definitely don't. That's why you get stuck behind rich Gucci blonds oblivious to the fact that they are taking up the entire walkway, and stopped by guards who are suspicious of herbal clear deodorant without aluminum or parabens.

The hall way to gate 76 A seemed eternal, my legs burned as I passed the shops and realized I woul not be getting Mike the Jack Daniels he requested in return for my ferry ticket. This was my second time departing BNE and both times had me running to a terminal and feeling like a mad woman. I got to the gate and was fine, they hadn't even started boarding! I texted Dave to let him know he was a legend. He was waiting in the airport to make sure I'd have a ride if I missed my flight. Xand and I talked but I was too angious to engage, and now I await ground arrival with a bald Aussie Tattooed man to my right and the quinessential screaming child that every economy seat gets to adore. I am excited to land and see Mike and unwind from the stress of travel. I hope my visa is good, and I hope they don't confiscate my Cadbury Rocky Road chocolate at customs.

Love Jess

see you in fiji!

ps. they ask for your ethnic group if you are a resident of Fiji only, Fijian, Chinese, other Pac islander, Part European, Indian, Rotuman and European.....uhhh why?

Met an amazing pom dude on the plane who seriously had been everywhere in the world. It's so awesome to be on a plane and have someone interesting to talk to who actually wants to talk to you. I felt like I was in a Guy Ritchie film or that recent Rambo flick. Crazy stories about helicopters being shot down, and living the life of an action film. Jungles in the Pacific and Asia, getting stranded on mountains, men being killed or rescued. It was nuts! Now he just works for a mobile phone company and seems to be heading to Fiji to put in phone set ups. His name is Tom Siddle, he gave me his number, but I won't be around the area to catch up again. Shame!

Arrived at Nandi airport, and I couldn't find my mate Mike. I was really confused bout where to go and what to do but Tom showed me the way -not before I bought mike a bottle of promised Whiskey from duty free. As I was looking for Mike a large Fijian woman with a colourful dress and smile asked if I needed help from a center desk, but there was a girl holding a white sign up that said Jess. Because I wasn't expecting it, I must have overlooked it a few times. I went over to her and found out her name was Kiva. She gave me a ride to her house with two aussie blokes who happened to be heading to the same area. I walked out of the airport to be totally blown away by gorgeous mountains and hillsides as well as lush greenery the entire ride to her place.

We sat in the back of their rig with a fake orchid plant. As I watched the gorgeous mountains I learned that Mike was coral farming and could possibly not show up until tomorrow. Got a bit nervous, but these people were mad chill. Mike had told me that he needed to pretend I was his sister so that I could stay in his village. Apparently his village is still very traditional and would not allow me to stay in his bure hut if I were not his wife or relative. I had to reshape my life a bit in order to incorporate that in because I didn't know if that included these folks or was just his villagers. It was so hard to answer questions trying to pretend to be his sister in the things I addressed haha. Little did I know they had no idea Mike was pretending I was his sister, because it didn't affect anything with his Peace Corps mates.

We arrived at Kiva's and there were dogs everywhere! We went into Lautoka with Kiva, where she bought some food. All the stuff in the mart was the same as it is in Aus. The town was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Indo-Fijian people everywhere...not like what I pictured Fiji to be, I felt like I was in India. I had no idea about an Indian population in Fiji, I thought of it purely as Native Fijians. In the market a lot of people were trying to rip me off, but I had Kiva with me to show me the ropes. I listened to Kiva, an American, speak with a fake Fijian accent in order to barter like a local. We went back to her joint, chatted, rested, and then in the evening mike showed up. I was soooo full of hugs for him. Both of us had been far away from home for quite some time, and nowhere near any of our other mates from back home. Went to a hotel to eat dinner -it reminded me a lot of places I see in videos about Africa. Everything had this historic feel to it....the architecture, the ascetics, the people, the clothes, the energy....it all felt like a time warp and I loved it! After dinner we headed back and chilled out with Mike, and then went to bed on the sofa inside Kiva's welcoming Fijian government housing.