T-minus 95 days!!! Double Digits! woot woot!
Though I got back from Fiji two weeks ago, I never really blogged about my travels, sometimes, most of the times, photos create a better picture than my words ever could (and they're more visually interesting, obviously!). But I figure Fiji should have more of a post in this adventure blog.
Fiji in one word: green. Everywhere. It rained at least once everyday I was there and it was glorious. It was also humid, hot, and sweaty but who cares when the sound of rain and waves lulls you to sleep.
I arrived on a Friday (leaving on a Wednesday, losing a day in the air) and after 11 hours on a plane and 5 more hours of jet lagged head bobbing on a bus to Suva, I had the moment I had dreamed of for 5 months: getting to hug the love of my life, basically recreating the reunion scene running through a field of flowers in a cheesy romantic comedy (though this setting was the Holiday Inn of Suva, and a bunch of Fijians gave us weird looks for the usually unwarranted display of PDA).
For me the weekend was spent exploring the market, stores, and restaurants of Fiji's capital city (sounds so hunger gamesesque!). For my boyfriend it was a chance to absorb all the air conditioning and warm showers he could before returning to life outside of the city. A vacation for both of us!
During the week, my boyfriend still had to fulfill his Peace Corps duties and go to work each day. I, meanwhile, took advantage of a week without responsibilities and played with my new camera, slept, and read to my heart's content; just happy to have conversations not through a screen and getting to wake up next to him everyday.
The second weekend we went to a backpacker's resort staying in a beachfront bure, enjoying the views of the ocean sunsets, green jungle, and spending way too much money on overpriced menu choices. I had the opportunity to also meet his friends and fellow peace corps volunteers which made me all the more impatient to get my own service started.
I don't go on too many trips as a full-out tourist. Most of the trips I've been on have some sort of purpose to them, so it was nice to have an actual vacation in a vacation destination for the sake of visiting my boyfriend and nothing else. No guilt about whether or not I was making an impact, or doing the right thing, no moral conundrums of international development or sustainability, just travel and visiting.
Now that I'm home, I feel like I've made it over the "hump" of my waiting time. I got my invite in September and almost died with anguish at the thought of having to wait 8 1/2 months to leave for Mozambique. But now, there are less than 4 months left! That seems like an infinitely smaller amount of time, a doable amount of time. Yet, it still feels far away most days.
Fiji in one word: green. Everywhere. It rained at least once everyday I was there and it was glorious. It was also humid, hot, and sweaty but who cares when the sound of rain and waves lulls you to sleep.
I arrived on a Friday (leaving on a Wednesday, losing a day in the air) and after 11 hours on a plane and 5 more hours of jet lagged head bobbing on a bus to Suva, I had the moment I had dreamed of for 5 months: getting to hug the love of my life, basically recreating the reunion scene running through a field of flowers in a cheesy romantic comedy (though this setting was the Holiday Inn of Suva, and a bunch of Fijians gave us weird looks for the usually unwarranted display of PDA).
For me the weekend was spent exploring the market, stores, and restaurants of Fiji's capital city (sounds so hunger gamesesque!). For my boyfriend it was a chance to absorb all the air conditioning and warm showers he could before returning to life outside of the city. A vacation for both of us!
During the week, my boyfriend still had to fulfill his Peace Corps duties and go to work each day. I, meanwhile, took advantage of a week without responsibilities and played with my new camera, slept, and read to my heart's content; just happy to have conversations not through a screen and getting to wake up next to him everyday.
The second weekend we went to a backpacker's resort staying in a beachfront bure, enjoying the views of the ocean sunsets, green jungle, and spending way too much money on overpriced menu choices. I had the opportunity to also meet his friends and fellow peace corps volunteers which made me all the more impatient to get my own service started.
I don't go on too many trips as a full-out tourist. Most of the trips I've been on have some sort of purpose to them, so it was nice to have an actual vacation in a vacation destination for the sake of visiting my boyfriend and nothing else. No guilt about whether or not I was making an impact, or doing the right thing, no moral conundrums of international development or sustainability, just travel and visiting.
Now that I'm home, I feel like I've made it over the "hump" of my waiting time. I got my invite in September and almost died with anguish at the thought of having to wait 8 1/2 months to leave for Mozambique. But now, there are less than 4 months left! That seems like an infinitely smaller amount of time, a doable amount of time. Yet, it still feels far away most days.
But I have the next 4 months to prepare….mentally, physically, emotionally, and materialistically (I mean packing) and plenty of time to become increasingly annoying to everyone who knows me by changing every conversational topic to talk of the Peace Corps.
