I Won't Hesitate

I think it's time for another update, so here goes. Nina and I spent the whole of our long Easter weekend on Venua Levu, the smaller of the main Fijian Islands. We left on Thursday evening with some people we met in Suva and took a twelve hour overnight ferry that ported in Savu Savu, where we'd be staying for our time there. The group was composed of young professionals, many of which own their own businesses here or are in middle management of major companies. Apparently this is a yearly event for them; they choose a destination and get a group together to take a trip. There was plenty of drama over the weekend, but Nina and I managed to stay out of the mix of it. It was actually kind of entertaining to watch, haha! Side note: I feel it's appropriate to say now that despite the drama, I was refreshed to get to spend some time with a large group of people again. It's a bit wearing to spend all your time with only one person. Nina's a fantastic flatmate and friend, but it's nice to have the group dynamic every once in awhile. Plus, y'all know how much of a people-person I am, so I've been proud to say I have lasted this long apart from a large group of friends without going crazy!
The weekend was nice and relaxing and finding things to stay out of the drama wasn't hard to do. Whilst in town, Nina decided to buy a snorkel and I followed suit and purchased one myself. We asked around and heard that a place called Split Rock is a spot with some of the best snorkeling in all of Fiji. Since it was close to our resort we thought we'd walk. Although we were told it was nearby "just another kilometer" became an all too common phrase from the locals we met along the way. After walking about 8k there, we finally reached our destination! Despite our rantings about how long it took us to get there (we weren't expecting a hike and flip-flops weren't exactly the appropriate shoes for the trek), a dip in the ocean was just what we needed cool us down (literally and figuratively). And, though the locals don't have much sense of distance, they know their snorkeling! It was fantastic; like visiting another world! The corals formed deep crevasses you could swim between which made you really feel like you were in the mix even though you're mostly on the surface. I saw some of the most beautiful fish you could imagine in all shapes and sizes and the coral formations were breathtaking alone. Needless to say it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I just wish I had an underwater camera to show it off! We spent the rest of our time wandering around the island, chillin' poolside or on the beach, and taking pictures. Other than that, the rest of the trip was relatively unremarkable. Well, except for one thing...
Mom says coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. I'm not sure where she gets her quotes (by which I'm blessed to hear regularly), but I think there's wisdom in that thought. Sometimes I cannot explain why or how I find myself in crazy-cool situations but it happens nonetheless. Back to the ferry boat ride - About half-way through our trip I somehow found myself sitting on a woven mat with a group of ten or so Fijians, drinking kava and singing songs ranging from Van Morrison to K-Ci and Jojo. They were incredibly talented and remarkably in sync with each other; they gave each song an island feel and the harmonies were unreal. I sang with them, of course, and played a couple songs on the guitar each time they passed it to me. After a few hours of this I felt truly blessed to be singing again and to be with a group of such talented people! I found out that some of them were in a band called 128, that toured around the Pacific and that they were putting on a show in Savu Savu Saturday night. When the guy told me this, it hit me just how surreal the situation was. I was jamming with a well-known Fijian band on a ferry boat travelling between islands in the South Pacific. I should write a book! To top it off, he invited me to come to the concert and sing a song or two with them! A couple nights later I found myself in another surreal situation - I was in front of a couple hundred people singing lead on a cover of Jason Mraz's 'I'm Yours.' I only sang one song but I'll never forget it! After it was all over I kept asking myself how it all happened and thinking 'How did I wind up so lucky?' Probably just coincidence.