Fiji: Leaving our Homestay

I cannot believe we had to say goodbye to Walter and Terri today. They have been such a generous homestay for us and I genuinely believe I am so lucky to have met them. Between cooking us breakfast and dinner, letting us set up their Wi-Fi box, doing our laundry and driving us virtually anywhere we wanted to go, Walter and Terri spoiled me, Jordan, Ethan and Brian. Before we left, Terri and Walter thanked us for choosing Fiji, choosing them and being such well behaved children. I really do not know why they thanked us, as they were so gracious during our whole stay. They let us know that we would always have a place to visit in Fiji.

We embarked on our cross-country road trip back to Nadi after getting dropped off at USP. After two hours of driving along the shore and past villages, we stopped at a beach resort for lunch. Despite the rain, this actually ended up being a fun time, as we played pool, ping pong and walked along the coral-filled beach looking for shells. The water was not for swimming; the ocean broke off shore onto a barrier that separated the salt water from the fresh river water. The river water was flowing off the land into the still, shallow crystal clear pool that reached the barrier.

There were many great things for lunch, including burgers, quesadillas and pizza. Although I wanted one of those, I saw a traditional Fijian dish and got that because I felt like it would be beneficial to try a dish original to the island. It was called Kokoda and consists of sliced wahoo ceviche style in lemon, lime tomato, red onion and a coconut cream sauce. It was a bit spicy, but I was fine as long as I only ate the fish.

We headed back to the Trans International and of course had nothing to do besides keep each other company and use our phones on the Wi-Fi that is only located in the lobby. For dinner, I had pan-fried lamb in a sweet pineapple sauce, which had a flavorful taste.

I am trying to understand how our time in Fiji is almost over. I spent a small amount of time in the classroom, but I truly believe I learned more than I ever thought possible during my stay here through living with my homestay family.