Day 2
By Sarah Keaten and Megan Crumpton

Today we went to the Pearl Beach Resort to go snorkeling and have a beach day. The weather was typical; it rained on and off all day long. Almost everyone chose to go snorkeling. It was an experience! We all expected the water to be cold, but it was surprisingly warm. We went out to a small reef and suited up… it took awhile to get used to breathing out of your mouth while concentrating on keeping salt water out, but once we got used to it, we were all over the place. We saw tons of multicolored fish of all sizes and some surprisingly bright corals. We eventually got up the courage to dive under and watch the coral community. It was so cool to be so close to things we can usually only see in an aquarium. The waves were kind of large because of the weather, and CJ said it best, “I’m getting tossed around like a buoy!” We hopped back on board for a quick rest and grabbed a snack. “Hopping back onboard” was easier said than done! The waves kept knocking us back in the water; luckily there were no casualties. Some of us headed back out to explore some more, while the others either stayed onboard (on the roof to grab some rays) or swam near the boat. We ended our trip around 12:30 and headed back into shore. I don’t think any of us were ready to go in. It was so amazing out there!

Once we were back at the resort, we hung out until lunch. The resort was so awesome! Everything was open, the dining room, sitting room, foyer, bar, everything. There were comfortable places to lounge everywhere, literally. On the second floor there was a hall (again, open to the elements) lined with lounging stations with tables in the middle. For lunch we had Fijian barbecue; steak, fish, or chicken with several different sides and sauces, including pasta with spicy sausage, potato salad (with large chunks of potatoes), and spinach leaf salad with pumpkin and onion. It was all very different, yet good. This whole trip, as our tour guide Dan has told us, is on “Fijian time,” which means that everything is done seemingly in slow motion. We started out being very impatient with Fijian time, but we’re getting pretty good at it now. Everything is so much more laid back here than at home; there’s no rush to do anything!  Getting checks at restaurants, driving anywhere, everything, takes twice as long as at home. After lunch we split up to do various things, including checking email, writing journals, and resting. We had all afternoon to do whatever we wanted, yet it rained all afternoon! Some of us went into the pool and took walks despite the rain. When the time came for us to board the buses and go home, we were all very tired, and some of us had even found places to take naps. Megan Crumpton really took to  going by Fijian time.   She, Sarah, Maggie, and Nikki were the last ones on the bus.  Our bus ride back lasted 45 minutes. When we got back we were all starving so Chris ordered 10 “family size” pizzas. We were very surprised when it arrived and they ended up being 10 personal size pizzas. It was okay though and we were all satisfied after our meal of pizza and sodas. After dinner we all retired to our rooms and relaxed. It was finally time to get some sleep especially Megan who has the biggest bed (there is something really wrong with this picture)!