April Fools!

for the entire month? YES.

a low point of my service....

Close Of Service (COS) Conference @ the Pearl!

So this past Saturday afternoon I found myself just lying in a sports bra and underwear doing nothing but sweating. I decided enough was enough and that it was better to sweat with my local friends as opposed to sweating by myself. I went over to my neighbors house (fully clothed) to deliver some Fiji famous peanut brittle that my Uncle Ray sent me! 5 hours later of sitting around, learning swear words in Hindi, and goofy Indian dancing we had a pretty fun time! During this time my friends and I were talking about where I've been for the past month....and this friends is what happened:

APRIL
week 1: mid week, on my way into work, feelin' good and lookin' good, I slip and fall uneventfully in some murky water on the sidewalk. I fracture my right pinky toe and am forced on crutches. This was definitely a low point in my service, mostly because I was having yet another security issue with some half crazy half drunk fijian dude who was harassing me a bit and trying to follow me.
week 2: still on crutches, had some nice raspberries forming underneath my arms.
week3: stayed at my house for just one night then had to head straight to our COS (Close Of Service) Conference which was at a nicer hotel that DID have awesome food. It was kind of a whirlwind of emotions because I kind of just wanted to be home and rest, and I wasn't mentally ready for the Pearl and to be around my whole group. But it turned out to be pretty great and we had a good time in the AIR CONDITIONING! weeeee! but it was a bit of a bummer when I'd go to eat because my stomach bacteria I have was acting up and I couldn't eat as much as I wanted to....maybe that was actually a good thing. ;0)

week 4: went straight from my conference back to my Organization's Annual Convention that happens every year over Easter (over the Public Holiday of course...I was a bit bummed because all my friends were hanging out BUT it turned out it was great I was there). At our table this year I did face painting for the kids for any kind of donation and it was a big hit! At one point I had like 25 kids around me (a bit stressful) and I made enough to buy some plants for the office that I've been wanting to plant here. :0) And to end my week I headed out to the YASAWAS with my friends, Kara and Jewels! The Yasawas are the 'tourist islands' that truly are BEAUTIFUL with some of the bluest water I have ever seen. Hands down. Fiji's treasure trove for sure. As amazing as it was (also with AWESOME food) :0) I wound up getting the flu AGAIN with shivers and the sweats. At my lowest point I had signed up for a massage and by the end I could actually feel blood flowing in my body again and felt MUCH better after that. Kara also wound up getting a bit sick too....she actually fainted during breakfast and we had to carry her to our bure. a bunch of sickies! but luckily we both felt better and were still able to enjoy the amazing island we were on.

NO this is not a swimming pool- OCEAN baby!

Jewels and I on the beach!

Harry Potter anyone!? YES!

On the last morning Kara and I went snorkeling in their AMAZING coral reef and saw a bunch of new fish we'd never seen:
-school of squid! they're AWESOME looking and change colors when you get close
-rare rockmover wrasse: they're tiny, Kara spotted it and kind of float like they're a piece of seaweed
-saw my first boxfish: black with orange spots
-counted 10 giant clams
-stingrays
-2 ft long cornetfish
- really interesting trumpet and filefishies as well!

We were out there giggling like little school girls - So that was my April, hope you guys enjoyed it! :0)