My Last Day in Fiji
Posted by admin - 02/07/10 at 01:07:05 pmI’m writing this post at 8am on my last day in Fiji. I’ve already said goodbye to Kuki and Siwa as they both left early in the morning. When I stood on the sea wall, waving goodbye, the hardest part was just saying their names. I yelled “Mode Kuki” and “Mode Siwa” as they both stood up and waved to me. I was in tears and still am just thinking about it. There will be plenty more of those farewells and plenty more tears as I stop by Narikoso and Waisomo. But I think the hardest will be saying goodbye to Joave when I board the plane to Nadi.
I’ll be happy to get back to Dallas, but it pains me to leave this place that I now call home and to leave these people that I now call family.
Here are a few pictures from the lovo last night and of me cleaning the pig.
At The Finish Line
Posted by admin - 17/05/10 at 02:05:23 amAfter getting all of the Sydney tourist crap out of the way, I had to do two last things before going back to Fiji. Scuba dive and sky dive.
The scuba dive was a very disappointing yet essential experience. Until that day, my dive career was solely based in Fiji. The average visibility in Fiji is 20-30 meters with water temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius. The wildlife is very diverse and the corals are beautiful. The dive in Sydney was the complete opposite of Fiji. Cold water, 2 meters visibility, rocks, kelp, no corral, hardly any fish (not like I could see a damn thing anyways!). I took two pictures during the dive, not of fish and coral, but of the person I was following just to show how bad the vis was–nothing worth posting online.
I had a great time at the sky dive the next day. Notable events include lying on my check-in sheet asking if I had gone scuba diving within 24 hours, oops. And also being hung over as all hell on the way to the dive center. I got into the shuttle at 7am only to be greeted by “Pretender” by the Foo Fighters being played at FULL VOLUME. Thanks. Good thing I scarfed down a few hash browns and a sausage McMuffin half way through the hour long trip to Wollongong. Ohya, I can’t forget to mention that I was dangling out of the door for about 30 seconds just before we jumped. The caption for all of these photos are “GET SOME.”
You can see how great views are in the photos. I also got a video for Mom and Dad to watch over and over again of their little baby.
My New Pick Up Line
Posted by admin - 02/05/10 at 05:05:28 pmAccording to Jason, nobody is exactly what they tell you they are in Sydney. This is probably only true late at night in a bar while getting faced. And since I was in just that situtation, I decided to test out my new found professions with a guy from Holland and another from Norway. The first girl we roped in, we told her that we were all down hill skiers from Norway. That didn’t work so well when she told us she was from Sweden, which, for all of you geography buffs, is pretty close to Norway. The second story was that we were all dolphin trainers from South Africa. That one got a few laughs. And finally when I told them I was actually a scuba diver from Fiji, they said to stick to that one. My newest pick up line after this weekend will be that I am a rescue scuba diver from Fiji.
We did the theory stuff on Wednesday/Thursday night and in water training and scenarios on Saturday and Sunday. Compared to Fiji, there was 2 meter visibility (40 in Fiji) and the water was maybe 18 degrees Celcius (30 in Fiji). So it was a bit of a shock at first, but once the scenarios started you had to forget about that crap and focus on saving the victim. A couple of highlights were doing an underwater search for a guy that went to his car. I was pissed after that one. And the second was after I saved a guy and dropped our gear in the ocean to get to shore faster, somebody left my gear/tank floating out there. So we had to do a search and rescue for that as well. All in all, the course was an eye opener to what all can happen out there and how to respond.
Now that the class is over, I can just relax and sight see in Sydney until I go to Fiji next Thursday.
And don’t worry Jeff, I’ll get to do both the sky dive and the booze cruise. I’m also gonna see Iron Man 2 on some huge IMAX screen in Darling Harbour. It’s a bummer that Robin Hood comes out the day I leave.
It’s Cold in Sydney
Posted by admin - 29/04/10 at 04:04:59 pmFlying into Sydney on Tuesday, I wanted to jump up and down screaming as loud as possible because I was so excited to be in a big city for the first time in 10 months. But, I refrained in fear of getting choke slammed, hog tied, and arrested as a terrorist. I still yelled a “yee haww!!” in my mind and felt a sense of excitment/unrest/curiosity that only comes from embarking on the complete unknown. I took a minibus to a hostel and as it zig and zagged through downtown, I almost broke my neck looking at all of the different people…mostly trying to find hot girls.
The first day and night were a real eye opener as the crisp cool weather hit me harder than usual. You have to remember that for the last year I have not worn shoes or pants or long sleeve anything. So everyday since I’ve been wearing these pairs of pants, my northface, and shirts that have paint and holes all over them. I can only imagine what the water temp will be like for my scuba diving course on Saturday and Sunday. Don’t worry mom/dad, I will have a thick wet suit.
As for other activities while here, I want to eat a bone in rib eye steak, see the Opera House, go on a booze cruise on a yacht in the harbor, and possibly sky dive.
A Nice Conversation
Posted by admin - 22/03/10 at 02:03:44 amDavid and Jeanie from Tuscon are visiting the resort right now to dive on the Astrolabe Reef. After diving one day, we three took a long walk through the Joe’s garden. During the walk, Jeanie mentioned, out of the blue, that she was learning how to make pottery. Naturally, I told her that was my major in university which opened a flood gate of questions from how to center a piece of clay on the wheel all the way to should she go to a workshop or university class to further her education. She also wanted to see pictures of my work so I sat her down and embarked on a quest that might have left her in the dust, but brought back great memories and rekindled a small flame inside of me. I took her through all four collegiate years of my ceramic work as well as a few multi-colored prints that I am fond of. I explained different techniques to keep her interested and then dove a bit deeper into my thoughts which were too much for her.
The main point of my quasi slide show was a progression from brown pots that reflected typical pottery made by granola eating, tree hugging, earth loving people that live in the woods of western Tennessee. But as I learned to wield the material better, I developed my own voice which is more reflective of MY LIFE–A city boy in love with loud music and bright lights. Bright lights that curve like the cars lights on I-75. Shapes like the right angles on the towers of downtown Dallas. Loud music like the songs blasting all weekend on McKinney Ave. These are the influences that started to show in my work as I sat down and looked from the beginning to the end of my collegiate career. And even now, I can see the same colors when I scuba dive. Neon green, burnt orange, blood red. These colors and shapes are what currently occupies my mind and will be the nexus of my new work when I touch clay again.
The pictures below are only a very small selection to illustrate my work from 2004 to 2008.
The last two pictures are from my senior show in May 2008.
Move from left to right, top to bottom.
Spoiled, Spoiled, Spoiled
Posted by admin - 16/03/10 at 01:03:09 amLast week a new chef came to work at the Resort and since then we have been eating so well it might be illegal. Perfectly cooked fish, chicken, steak, and veggies from the garden all presented like a real live chef would do it! Sure it’s no Bobby Flay, but he’s cooler than the nerd from Good Eats. And since Cyclone Tomas came through Fiji in the last few days, we evacuated the tourist and boarded up the houses. The result is a 5 star hotel big chef cooking for myself, Jason, Joe, and Akesa. All I have to do is come to the kitchen around 6pm, drink a couple of beers, watch Vili cook, then eat as much food as I can stuff in my mouth. MALEKA!
I know I have been slacking on my blog posts, but a quick recap will explain a lot. I took a week and half off to go to Suva and watch TV all day and drink beer all night. After being here for 8 months and working 7 days a week with no time off, I was burnt out and in need of a break. Luckily, Suva provided just what the doctor ordered. But right when I got back, we started back up full swing converting Joe’s old house into a resort bungalow. Moving all of his belongings and the power system. Demolishing part of his bungalow. And rebuilding the living area and the bathroom. We put in a new veranda, lining on the walls, trim around the windows, new floor, new wall panels, huge tile bathroom, sink, toilet, fresh water, and septic tank. We are a few days away from completion with the first occupants coming in on Sunday. Should be a sprint to the finish. So needless to say, I have been tired and going to bed early without much to post on the blog. Keep checking back soon as I have some new videos that I’ll upload in a week or so of some dolphins, 300 chevron barracuda, and the shark feeding I went to in Beqa.
Check out the photo of Cyclone Tomas. Apparently it was a category 4 out of a possible 5. But it moved away from Kadavu as it moved south from Vanua Levu. The only destruction was a couple of a fallen banana trees.
Approximately 75 days until Mom and Dad visit their pride and joy in Fiji.
New Years Fijian Style
Posted by admin - 19/01/10 at 01:01:35 pmFrom the stroke of midnight January 1st to the first day of school, January 25th??, it is open season on all people. That’s right, OPEN SEASON, in that you can run around and throw water on whoever you want. Old people, young people, in the middle people all join in on the fun. Kuki even threw a plastic grocery bag full of water on an old lady as she came out of church right after midnight on the 1st. RUTHLESS! The villagers took pity on Chris and myself because they all thought we didn’t bring a change of clothes to the village. We did, but we didn’t tell them that until the next day.
Here are a few pictures of Petero dumping a huge bucket on my head one morning in front of everyone. Then I tackled Kuki into the sea since I was already soaking wet. Good fun!
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Cyclone Mick
Posted by admin - 15/12/09 at 01:12:47 amWell, since my inbox isn’t overflowing with new email asking if I am still alive, I thought it be best to post a little something to let you know I am still kicking.
Cyclone Mick skirted the Kadavu group to the north around 10:30 pm Monday night. Jason and I were walking around at 8,9,10pm then right at 10:30 it ramped up from 40 knots winds to 80 knot winds.
None of the bungalows or boats were damaged, but reports from the village say that our head cook had her entire house blow away. Roof, walls, floor, everything! Not the best way to celebrate Christmas. Thankfully there are plenty of houses and families to take care of them in the village. There are also spare building supplies here at the Resort that will find their way to Filo’s new house.
Check out these photos from the afternoon just before the big storm and from the morning after. I couldn’t get any footage of the actual storm because (1) it was low tide so the waves were far away from the Resort sea wall and (2) it was pitch black except for the random bursts of lightning and thunder.
The tree pictured below was no match for my endless amount of energy, my chain saw, and my bush knife. But now I’m tired and sore all over.
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My First Cyclone
Posted by admin - 12/12/09 at 09:12:43 pmSaturday night there was an official cyclone warning issued for all islands around Fiji. We’ve been watching the satellite and wind patterns for the last few days. So today we spent the morning boarding up the windows on each bungalow and moved the two boats to a mangrove patch that is very sheltered from the elements.
I’m actually excited and hope a see the real deal. Living in Dallas, I only remember one time when there was a tornado and I went out the front door and could see the sky turn green from the dirt floating around the air. All we see here is plenty rain which is good for the garden as it has been very very very dry and hot the last few weeks. This storm should ramp up tonight, Monday night, and then big time Tuesday morning.
Just to clarify the last post, Sean is not able to make it out to Fiji with Chris this go around. Scheduling with American Airlines apparently requires you to have all signatures from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as majority vote in the House and Senate before they let you use your frequent flier miles.
Missing Home
Posted by admin - 10/12/09 at 03:12:01 amChris and Sean are scheduled to come out to Fiji on December 31st so I thought about posting a few pictures to get some laughs.
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The other day my mind was wandering around Dallas, around Texas. Thinking about friends and good memories from the last few years. A guest mentioned ‘rock climbing’ and it instantly set my mind off on a deep tangent. It made me think of so many different things all centered around this one group of people from SMU. I only wish that I had photos or blog posts or journal entries of such great times, but it had to take some obscure little thing to bring back those memories. It made me very happy to think about home and re instilled my need for a journal, a camera, and a blog to record my life. Because in the end, this record is for ME, not YOU!