The Coral Coast

It's a lovely Sunday night in Fiji... Ang and I are hanging out in the lounge of our flat, listening to music and writing whilst enjoying the breeze from our balcony – a lovely way to end a lovely weekend.

We got back from the Coral Coast a few hours ago... it was was so beautiful! About 30 of us exchange kids got on some buses and headed to a backpackers resort called The Beach House. Our little crew of ten (Ang, Christy, Kevin and I; Johanna, Mara, Kelly, Brendan and Josh from the U.S; and Greg from Germany) spent a night there - just enough time to have some fun in the water and relax on a white sandy beach! It was great – so many activities to take part in and the staff was super friendly. We had the opportunity to learn how to make jewelry from coconuts (Fijians LITERALLY use every inch of a coconut for various things, including food, weapons, accessories, tools, utensils, medicine, baskets, rope, and the list goes on). I made a really neat ring which took two hours of sanding and shaping. By the end of it I was pissed to learn that such rings cost roughly one dollar to buy at tourist shops, despite requiring so much effort to make... not right.

Since Suva doesn't have clean/clear water like most of Fiji, we were all really looking forward to being able to swim in the ocean. I went snorkeling for the first time today and it was absolutely incredible. There is literally a whole other world under the sea and it's a beautiful one! We celebrated Christy's birthday at the Beach House last night. The highlight of the night was sitting on the beach under a ridiculous amount of stars, discussing international development issues, and watching lightning in the distance brighten up the entire sky! So magical.

I'm hoping to get out of Suva as frequently as possible and explore Fiji thoroughly... the Coral Coast shall be the first of many weekend trips =)