Day 8, 9, 10, and 11 :)

sorry i havent been on the computer much lately i couldnt get on the internet anywhere.

so last saturday day 8 i went on a shopping spree with my home stay family. it was very fun but very costly. haha then rest of the day we didnt do much and we just hungout at the home.

day 9 we got dropped at the katikati college and met back up with our delegation. we stayed at the marae that night and slept there which was pretty cool so that was fun.

day 10 we did a FULL ON day it was kind of like a day camp. we did all types of activies like a high ropes course and broke a board in half karate style. we slept over night there

today we went to the council chamber, a museum, the luges, and a thermal energy park. tonight were staying at a hotel called millenium. im rooming with one of my good friend elaina and another girl destini. it should be fun.

weather has been absolutely terrible, a lot of people are getting sick. including me.. with the stomach flu :(

sorry im not putting much details i have a time limit and i have to head off to dinner. sorry! ill fill you in on all the details when i get home. love and miss everyone very much! hopefully ill be able to go on more often. love. <3

Day 7

we got up this morning and got ready for school... it was really cold and rainy a little bit, it seemed as if we were at home in chicago. mrs megchelse drove me shannon and heidi to the bus stop where we waited for the school bus. we were the first stop and from there we had about a 35 minute bus ride to katikati college. we met up with our whole group at the maori meeting place for first period, where we got a welcoming song and ceremony. the kids showed us how to play traditional maori instruments and such. after that was over me and shannon got to go to the action center where heidi had a volleyball tournament. we got kinda lucky and didnt have to go to class since her tournament was during the school day. even though seeing how the classes our here wouldve been kinda cool. she had four games for the day, and her team only won one game. we stayed there for 2nd and 3rd period then went back to maori meeting place where we had a demonstration on how to use a weapon like instrument. and some of the kids got to try a routine with the guy who did the demonstration. we then went inside the meeting place where we had a hangi. its where the maoris cook the food underground using hot stones. it wasn't that great.. but we all tried it out anyway to be respectful. we stay there until the end of the school day which ended at 305. heidi came and got us, then we went back to the action center because she had basketball practice until 5. shannon and i got to participate in the practice too. it was very fun. mrs megchelse then picked us up then we went home for dinner. we talked and watched their favorite tv programs and such then headed off to bed for the night. it was an interesting day and it was cool to see how the school here works compared to ours at home. we also got to go to the grocery store on the way home which was also neat to see the simple difference. like them calling to cart rack the trolley bay.

oh and we got the devastating news that michael jackson died :(

Day 6

i had to get up at 430 am this morning. we left for the airport right away. once there we all got our seat assignments for our flight to auckland. (nice to know you creeped on my flight mother) we got there safely and it seemed like a pretty short flight. first we met our new delegation manager ryan, and our new bus driver lance. we took a quick pit stop at a mcdonalds close by :) for our lunch. we were on our way to katikati college. once close we stopped one more time so we could all walk across a swing bridge that was over a rocky river. it was pretty cool. we then got back on the coach and finally arrived at katikati which is where we got to met our home stay families. The family that i'm staying with is the Megchelse family. It consists of the mom and dad, a fourteen year old girl named Heidi (turning fifteen in auagust), an eighteen year old boy jonathon, and a twenty year old boy nick. There's also another girl from the program staying with me, her name is shannon. it really helped for her to be with me so i wasnt that nervous. some people had to at the homes by themselves. we got to the house and had a delicious dinner, rice chips that tasted like doritos, and taco like things that we filled with a chili like filling and cheese. we also had the famous new zealand drink called L and P which was good. we took our showers and went to bed quite early because our long day of traveling. we talked with the family for a while though too. it was a pretty long and exhausting day.

Day 5

We went to Sigatoka Sand Dunes today. we walked the trails and saw AMAZING views of fiji. we also planted a tree each to help with their reforestation project since some of the park had been burned down by fires in the villages close by. then we were given the choice to take a two hours walk or one in the trails. sorry aunt diane... but i did the one hour walk. it was beautiful, we walked the dunes to the ocean and up some very steep hills. at the shore we were told to grab a stick we found and a shoe thats washed up on shore. once at the end of our walk, we made a little fiji woman with our sticks and tied her to a tree. we gave her a grass skirt and a coconut head in which we decorated. then we headed to the tree of lost soles. which in fact was a tree with all the hanging shoes people have gotten from the beach hanging on it. it was quite comical, but it was cool to see how they're trying to help to keep their beach clean. after everyone was done with the hikes we had lunch, they went and got mcdonalds for everyone. :) we played volleyball and soccer and rugby because some of the school kids from yesterday came with us on our walks today. once finished we stopped at two places where we shopped and got rid of the rest of our fiji money that we had. we got back to the hotel just in time for my most amazing fijian tropical massage EVER. to finish off the night, me and my close friends got dressed up and went outside to take pictures together. so all in all it was a pretty laid back day.
i miss you and love you so very much. ill give you a call soon once im in new zealand

and just to let you know its 3am on thursday here... i got up at 230. and we leave at 430 for the airport to catch our flight to NEW ZEALAND!
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Day 4

Today we went to a local public school. we met all the kids and got into groups of two and each group had three tour guides show them around the school. i had two girls that were 14 and 15 and a little 13 year old boy as my guides. They showed us their gardens and classrooms and such and explained their school system. after viewing the school we went into one big assembly room and they sang to us and welcomed us then we had morning prayer with them. we were sent off to eat our lunch with just our people to people group, but once finished we went with the kids that were our guides to their classes. All our my guides were in the same class so there was no problem there. First off we learn english and it was really cool to see how world wide the language is and such. They even took the time to teach us some of their slang words which was pretty amusing for them and fun for us. then there was math class, we helped them to solve their equations. then the teacher would call a group up to the board and try to solve it but if they got the answer wrong the whole group had to go for a run down the hall and back. we cut classes short for the day and got to go outside and play sports. i played vollleyball with the girls and all of the boys were playing rugby in the field with all the mud puddles. then it started raining.. so we went to the assembly hall and said our goodbyes and exchanged info to keep in touch. we then got on the coach and departed back for the hotel. it was an amazing day and surely one i will never forget with fiji students that i hope to stay in contact with forever.

Day 3

It poured buckets today.. we took our coach to the owner of ours tours house first thing in the morning and had cookies and juice. we then went to the river where we loaded up on our rain gear and life jackets. we took a longboat to the fijian village where we visited today. it was a pretty long boat ride and the fact that it was raining didn't really help out the situation.. We walked to the village once we got off our boats and took a trail there. Before entering we took our hoods off and washed our feet in a bucket the have outside their village hall. the did a welcoming song for us and welcomed us to the homes. we then took a tour around and saw the layout of the town, the village bus, and the schools. we got lucky enough to go into one of the classrooms and visit with the kids. It was sooo fun and i got a lot of cute pictures with them. It then started down pouring even harder and we had to sprint back to the village hall. they then served us lunch and did traditional dance and songs for us. We got up and did dances with them as well. we di the macarana for them too. we then shopped from the ladies for the handicrafts they had made. after we gave them money donations to help fix the schools up and such. we then said our goodbyes and loaded back on the longboats. we were scheduled to go to a waterfall and view it and swim in it but because it rained so much and the river flooded it was said to be too dangerous for us to go so that got cancelled. we got back on our bus and headed back to the hotel for the rest of the day. even though the weather wasnt great it was a very fun day.

BTW, its REALLY hard to get on the internet here so if i drag thats why. sorry.
i love you and miss you! talk to you soon. <3

Day 2

Today we took a yacht to a private Fijian island. we spent there day there relaxing, playing beach volleyball, laying out, and snorkeling. It was very fun and there was also another delegation there that we bonded with, they were from Ohio. From the yacht to the island and from the island back to the yacht we took a glass bottom boat. Me and my very six close friends got one braid in the back of our heads when we got back onto the boat. We were taught how to crack open a coconut and how they did it back in the olden days when they didn't have knives. We also had a dance party too. haha it was fun and we all bonded very well. it was a pretty successful. oh and went we got back to port, we shopped. of course :)