Bula is one of the few Fijian words I learned. One of our hosts learned a fair amount of the language and culture and was incredibly helpful in answering all of our questions. 'Bula' means 'hello' and also 'life.' What was interesting was when we were in Suva, the east side of the country, everyone speaks softly you can hardly hear them when they great you. When you go to Nadi, the west side, it's more much like "BULA!" they are a bit more boisterous with their greetings. This is just one of the many things I learned while in Fiji. More on that later :)

After our first day of the trip we hit the hay early in hopes to offset jetlag. We probably slept at least 10 hours and awoke well rested on Saturday morning. We were super bummed when saw cloudy sky and rain. Le sigh. What are you supposed to do in the rain?  Our hosts said they wanted to take us for a hike in a nearby park. Figuring it wasn't raining that hard  we thought it would be manageable. So I slipped into some workout gear for the hike thinking it would breathable if it got too hot but also lightweight so upon being rain soaked would not weigh me down.


Top|Target / similar
Leggings| Gap
Shoes| DSW/ similar

This look actually worked perfectly. I was soaked by the time we were done with our three hour hike but I didn't feel water logged. The name of the park was Colo-i-Suva Forest Park. It's a decent sized park with mostly well maintained trails. There were a couple off-shoots that looked a bit scary but  I avoided those. Each trail had some places to stop that ranged from waterfalls, to tables to barbecue pits. Honestly, I would never have used the BBQ pits because they looked a bit sketch, but the idea was cute. We did come across a few Fajians BBQ-ing and they invited us to join them but we politely declined. Turns out they were local Suva police officers hard at work ;) 

The hike was a serious workout. The closest thing to a work out I got the whole trip unfortunately. We hiked up and down hills, over rocks to waterfalls and sometimes on slipper bridges. I think all of us almost fell flat on our faces at least once. Honestly these pictures don't even capture how cool it was. It was so green and lush, with waterfalls at almost every turn. At point we reached the end of a trail our friends had never taken before and wound up in a local village. We culminated our hike by swinging into a pool at the end of a waterfall. Someone put a rope swing on a big tree that hung over the pool at the base of a waterfall. Typically they look for a branch to reach out and grab the rope but they could not locate one. So one of our friends jumped out and grabbed the rope and swung it back for someone else to catch. The boys took turns swinging like Tarzan into the water. Myself and my other friend opted out. She had done it before and just did not want to. I am a little chicken shaped person who prefers her feet firmly planted on the ground. Sue me. But I took pictures and captured some of the magic  moments. Mostly them screaming before they hit the water. Enjoy a few photos from our hike. 








Me rinsing off my dirty shoes.

After the hike our friends had a house party where we got to meet a lot of their local friends. It was great mix of people ranging from local Fijians who were artists and social media mavens to peace corp employees. Their personalities were as varied and vivacious as our hosts. Everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming, asking us questions and comparing cultural differences. Then we played beer pong :) I also learned a new way to play flip cup where it was more individual and super fun. Thank goodness Fijian beer is drinkable. 

For the party I opted for a little romper I bought from Loft a few months ago. The Fijians were digging it and I appreciated it. It was a little chilly so I threw on my long cardigan and added a pop of color with this scarf. The scarf was a gift from our host and could also be worn as a Sulu or a traditional Fijian skirt. Beautiful right?!

All in all a successful second day. Stay tuned on Friday for more details on my trip! I promise each post won't only cover day by day. 



Cardigan| Target
Romper|Loft
Scarf| Gift from our hostess