Such a long day, but it was nice to travel with everyone else. We picked up our luggage for the first time when arriving in LA. Almost all of us realized we had packed WAY too much and had a lot of trouble carrying our stuff throughout the airport. (checking too, because of weight limits).We were in LA for about 7 hours waiting to get on our flight to Fiji. We played cards and ate at a nice, expensive, sit-down restaurant. The flight to Fiji was my first international flight. It was not as bad as I thought and I sat next to a very nice elderly couple (Tom and Pat). Pat bought me a bloody mary for my 22nd birthday since it would be taking place while in the air! We got two meals on the plane, dinner at the beginning and breakfast in the morning. Between that I attempted to sleep. The flight was about 11 hours! Once in Fiji, we took a bus to our hostel. The driver wanted to pack in everyone with all of our luggage as well. There were 12 of us plus the driver, not to mention it was 89 degrees and humid. It was sweltering hot and VERY unsafe to say the least! A suitcase fell on me when the driver had to slam on the breaks! (Fijians are CRAZY drivers) Two of the girls went to get in the front seat and naturally got in on the right side of the car, however, in Fiji that happened to be the driver's seat! That gave us a little comic relief to distract us from the heat! I just can't get over the fact that they drive on the opposite side of the car and the road. I always feel as if we are going to hit the oncoming cars head on. There are tons of stray dogs around that dig through the trash here. There were 6 of them hanging outside of our hostel. The Fijians just ignore them and practically run them over. So different from the US where dogs are domesticated.

All sixteen of us decided to do an island cruise to the island called Lakurii (Spell Check?). It provided transportation to and from the island (bus and boat), lunch, entertainment, and snorkeling. The island was absolutely AMAZING!!! It looked like a picture! J The Island was about 27 acres, but we stayed on one side of it. We went snorkeling twice, first time was in the rain, but a couple hours later the sun was out and we decided to try again since it was included in the package. The lunch was fantastic and at that point we were ready for some food that wasn't from an airplane. The drinks weren't too bad either J My favorite part was watching the Fijians do their tribal dances!! They were awesome and I got video's of a few. We got to roam around and explore a bit too! Overall, it was a great way to be welcomed into Fiji and to celebrate my birthday! J

One downside with our hostel is that when we came back from the island, they notified us that they were having problems with low water pressure and so they had to turn off the water to the entire building. As of now, we have to go next door, to another hostel, and use their showers and sinks. Not terrible, but very inconvenient.

Overall, people are very nice and welcoming. "Bula" means hello and I swear I have been greeted with the phase about 600 times already! Well that's all for now. I FINALLY get to lay down in a bed and sleep. It has been 48 hours since I last got the chance and I'm more than excited to sleep! Cheers! J