Bula! Fiji!

Well I'm drawing near my last week in Kiwiland and it's really freaking me out... I am SO excited to get home, see my friends and family, and be in warm weather, but I'm definitely going to miss it here. We realize that more and more every day.

So last week was my much-anticipated trip to FIJI! I went with an AUT friend, Brianna, and we met my friend Katie from USC (who's studying in Sydney this semester) there. It was really just an ideal trip for us on a budget. We were there for 5 days, stayed in 3 different hostels, all on the main island. People recommend seeing the other islands, but it's expensive to get around and all we really cared about was lying on the beach! The hostels and resorts we stayed at were all pretty nice, with free kayaking and cheap massages and other activities. We spent most of our time lying by the pool, reading, and listening to music.

As I said, we were on an EXTREME budget. Our first full day there, we walked to a "shopping center" - which was really a little convenience store, Fiji-style, and bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter that we thought would get us through the trip.... but as soon as we got home, Brianna opened the bread to find little ants crawling all over it. GROSS, and sad realization that we'd stooped that far. Food at the hostels was relatively expensive, for Fiji prices, but we shared a lot of meals and made it work. Bree also sat down with a crafty guy at the hostel who showed her how to make a hat, purse, fan, and other random items out of palm leaves - all of which she got to keep for free!

Overall it was just a really relaxing week, and we got some nice tans :) Then back to Auckland where it was 40s and raining to start studying for finals! I had my international business exam this morning, and my nutrition exam is tomorrow. Today's went fairly well, and I feel better about nutrition... then this semester of SCHOOL will be over! We're going down to Wellington on Friday for the week to see an All Blacks rugby game, celebrate Brianna's birthday, visit a winery, and say goodbye to this beautiful country... be home soon!