Fiji: Meeting our Homestay Family

We arrived at University of the South Pacific and were immediately met by our homestay families, which I did not expect. It turns out there are three families, and there would be four, three and two students together. I got lucky and was paired with three other students (Brian, Ethan and Jordan). I was super excited to be living with multiple friends!

Better yet, our homestay family is so sweet. Walter, the husband, is a kind, slightly reserved person who started giving us history about Fiji as soon as we got in his blue Hyundai. His wife, Terri, is hilarious. She is upbeat, warm and does not hold much back. The two of them make a great pair and I am so glad I get to stay under their roof for a few days.

The home we are staying in is the bottom of a two story house. It has an open dining room and living room area, a kitchen, a toilet, a shower (yes, separate), and two bedrooms, plus an extra room between one bedroom and the kitchen.

After some talking with the family, we decided to go to the shopping center to eat and window shop. The center is basically right around the corner from our house and is a two-layer outdoor mall with stores and eateries. The boys bought Fijian flags and we browsed a handful of stores before meeting back up with our “parents” for food.  I settled with Chinese food and had fish stir fry, which was almost too spicy for me to eat.

After dinner, everyone went home besides Jordan and I, who had an unexpected night ahead.