This past week was an interesting one. It was the week of our free travel where the students are able to decide where they want to stay for the duration of the week. I am still not quite sure how, perhaps we have a little leprechaun following us around, but we were able to reserve an amazingly beautiful house right in front of the beach! Our own little island of paradise. With its beautiful decorations from wooden carvings to the delicate yet creative seashells that lay throughout the house. There was a very convenient lawn sitting right in front of the house alongside the ginormous uneven dirt driveway that seemed to take ages to walk up. From atop our little island of paradise we could see the waves crashing out in the distance far away from the shore, probably due to the coral. We could see the insanely clear blue water that showed the uniquely structured coral that lay at its bed. There were the most amazing sunrises that would flare up the sky with its beauty followed by the indescribable sunsets that just seemed to make everything about the house seem incredible, even the cold wooden toilet seats.
Now even though we were in our birds nest watching the cars zoom by below, we did travel down to the bottom of our never ending driveway to try and catch a ride into the small tourist town of Singatoga or to an incredible resort that we luckily had access to. Everything about Singatoga was designed for tourists from the incredibly high prices, for Fiji, of the markets to the people running around the town trying to sell off their small little items. It was very different compared to Suva and Nadi even though Nadi was a tourist spot as well there was just a different feel to Singatoga that Nadi just didn’t seem to have. The resort was that of a credible hotel such as The Hyatt or The Mariat. There was an amazing pool which just felt incredible since no one in the group has been in a pool for quite some time. Along the side was an astounding concrete water slide. It was loads of fun flying off the end and coming to a halting splash in the warm chlorinated water. With the beating sun glaring down on us while we relaxed on the shore, many students didn’t put on enough sunscreen so they ended up with interesting sunburns in some funny areas. It was probably excruciatingly painful yet the Alleve helped release the pain.
Rebecca, one of the students here, is an amazing cook and took full advantage of the kitchen that our little spot of paradise gave us. It just made the experience even better having some brilliantly planned and crafted homemade goods from chocolate chip cookies to feasting on a huge chocolate cake. The meals were delightful as well, with everything from chicken patties to the amazing last meal which was homemade pizza. Everything that was prepared by our head chief Rebecca and executed by the skillful hands of the other students turned out absolutely amazing.
Throughout the week each and everyone of us was given a challenge to come up with a mission statement of our lives. It would basically be a description of who we are now and what we want from the future. This activity that was posed to all of us was left very open ended that way it truly made us sit down and reflect on our lives and let our creativity soar. Everyone presented a very unique thing whether it be through creative writings, such as a fairy tale that, Ben, one of the students told with extreme enthusiasm, to an abundance of creative drawings or our amazing chief cooking an excellent cake. I personally wrote a very creative and descriptive writing about my past, who I believe I am now, and who I would like to be in the future. Every statement was very unique and equally beautiful. Each one just showed how amazingly creative each member of the group is and how different our lives are compared to one another. Yet, we have all become so close over these few months that we have all even begun to call one another family. It truly gave an interesting insight into who each person was, is, and wants to be. I for one thought it was an excellent activity that pulled the group a little bit closer and it was a great way to reconnect after being separated from one another in the village.
Now just like all great things our time at the house has ended. We left at about 2 am to take a nightly drive to the deserted airport for our flight to Australia. Even though our amazing time at the house has ended, great things are just about to begin. Everything has its beginning and ending, yet something beautiful can come from the rebirth of this hard tragic ending. I know that it was hard for many of the students to say goodbye to our beautiful home for this past week but you always got to look on the bright side right? So here we come Australia, I hope your ready for our mayhem!
— submitted by Tanner