It's really hot here.

Oh man, I don't know if you guys are ready for this post. I'm not even ready for it. I may cut it short because I'm really tired and have had one of the longest days of my life today... bear with me.

Okay, so I am now in Australia, but prior to my arrival here, I was in Nadi, Fiji! (Pronounced 'nahn dee') Fiji is i n c r e d i b l e! When you fly in it's just gorgeous. All green and these beautiful mountains and rainforest-y looking farmland below. Plus the fact that Fiji is composed of about 332 separate islands! Holy cow. Nadi is on the main island of Viti Levu. We stayed at the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel, which was lovely. The pool was probably my favorite thing there. It was always the absolute perfect temperature. I think I was in the pool more than I was out of it. Anyways, back to my activities...

So, I fly out of MPLS to LAX, which was an alright flight. To be honest I don't remember much about it except that I cried when I said goodbye to my parents, and it was probably one of the hardest things I've done. So I get to LAX and meet up with the group of girls from UWEC that I traveled with. 12 of us total. The whole thing was madness by the way. If you plan to travel, go in small groups. Our layover in LA was 9 hours. NINE. Terrible. Fortunately we had a little bit of internet so I could skype with my parents one last time before I left the states. We basically hung out all day, because we couldn't check in until a certain time (like 4:30 PM, and our flight was at 9:30 PM or something like that). Then we made it through security, and I called my parents and of course cried some more... I'm really emotional I'm finding out. Then we boarded our gigantic 747 double-decker (we were third row from the back of course..) bound for Fiji. Only we didn't leave for another 2 hours because of technical difficulties. Yea you heard me... stuck on that darn plane for a grand total of 12 hours. It was terrible. I was so uncomfortable. But it was totally worth it for the view we got when we disembarked. Mountains of green I tell ya. GO TO FIJI.

So we got to the resort and pretty much hung out at the pool all day, chilling and getting used to our surroundings. It was a nice first day. The next day we went to the market, which was an experience in itself- shopping and culture! And then to a different resort and used their beach, which was pretty cool. Really nice resort too- I'd love to stay there someday. Ashlee got pooped on by a bird, which was pretty funny, but my favorite part was that the ocean water felt like bathwater. Sooo warm. :)

On our 3rd day, we trekked out to South Sea Island, which was really really cool. We went to a harbor and boarded this big boat which took a ton of people out to their respectful islands for the day. It was the kind of blue water that you only see on TV and in magazines. That magical blue water that just gives you peace when you look at it. That was a good day. I saw a baby shark, and an adolescent- black tip reef sharks I think they were. Plus several sea stars (and a spiny star? Active little bugger..) We went on a semi-submersible and got a tour of the reef which was pretty sweet, and I went sea kayaking- very difficult when tide is coming in and the waves threaten to take you down constantly. :) I'll post my panoramic video soon.

Our last full day (yesterday) we hung out by the pool- in the shade mostly because we got kind of burnt from the island- and just relaxed. It was wonderful. At night the resort has this guy who sits in the corner of the restaurant/bar area and plays guitar and sings. It's all American songs which was funny, but they were good ones. The resort put together a nice big table for all of us because it was our last night, and we all got dressed up for it. Then they had a show that basically showcased all the dance styles of the native Fijians. Plus a fire dance. Intense. We just hung out the rest of that night.

Then we woke up early for our flights to Australia. Since all the UWEC girls were headed to Brisbane and I to Sydney, we were obviously on separate flights. That wasn't very fun. I mean the flight was fine, but afterwards when I landed and started freaking out because I'm by myself in a foreign country I could have used some fellow people around me. Plus the airline almost lost my bag, and I had a 3 hour cab ride to look forward to. In a cab that had no air conditioning. In 97 degree weather. Needless to say, by the time I finally got moved into my apartment and got internet set up, I Skyped my parents and cried about it. Yes, I cried again. Told you I was emotional. Looking back on it, it probably wasn't that bad, but at the time it didn't feel like anything was solvable. I'm still not very keen on my whole situation right now. I'm pretty homesick, so I know this post sounds a bit morbid and all. I don't know if I have air conditioning in my room or not, and I do not have a pillow. Interesting huh? I'm trying to figure out how to get a pillow, and I gotta get my phone figured out too. Urggggg so much to do. I'm tired of running around. Plus I don't know anyone, so I really gotta work on that.

Anyways, here are my updates to people.
Steph- This time I did say 'whew, made it!' when I landed, just for you!
Megan- I have yet to see a toilet down here that does any sort of spinning. They just kind of gush, but I'll keep you updated.
Linds- I had a whole row to myself on the flight from Fiji to Sydney, so that's my equivalent of business class!
Ashlee- I finally downloaded that Who I Am song. Alas!

Shoutouts to all the beautiful people in my life. I miss you guys so much, please keep in touch with me. I need you! :)