Gästebuch
|
Sabine&Oli
Nov 06.2002 04:19
|
|
|
... so, Oli hat das System hier im Hotel irgendwie geknackt - also sind wir umsonst im Internet und haben Zeit fuer den langen Reisebericht - wenn auch keine Lust zum Tippen,aber naja! Allerdings diesmal auf Englisch, weil sich schon alle beschweren - also...holt euer Woerterbuch aus dem Schrank falls ihr Probleme habt! Bula from Fiji (actually we are in Auckland now!..but the travel report is about Fiji) So guys, finally- a travel report in English as all my English-speaking friend kept complaining! Plus, I am a whole-hearted teacher and knowing that many of my former studentscheck our homepage regularly...this might help to work on their languange skills...kind of long-distance teaching! Be prepared - it'll be a long report this time as I have not written for a long time! I guess we were running on "Fiji Time"! SUMMING UP...... it's hard to believebut we've already been travelling for 2 months now and got used to a lot of things you have to get used to when backpacking such as wearing the same (smelly - well, that actually depends on personal standards and mine are higher than Oli's but we definitely do NOT pull the clean soft Ariel and Lenor washed clothes out of our backpacks that we take out of our wardrobe back home) ... okay, ew got used to wearing these clothes everyday, doing our "laundry" while having a shower, sleeping in dormitories with other people snoring away, we even got used to the constant change of "soft serves" and "banana smoothies" (special thanks to Ben & Jimmy for the these creative expressions - they really describe the problem in a describtive, accurate way!), training these leg muscles when visiting the toilet(check out the pictures, they are self-explanatory), cockroaches, spiders, bedbugs, rats and God knows what - definitely all these nasty creepy things that give you the chills! Even Oli jumps back sometimes! What else...itchy mosquito bites, cold showers, messy hair-styles....you name it! Plus, we learned the DO'S and DONTS - always make sure that the backpack is properly closed as otherwise you will have to carry extra luggage in form of mice, cockroaches, geckos or whatsoever! DO NOT talk to people who seem excessively friendly as they only want your money, DO NOT lie in a hammock underneath a coconut-palm-tree(No.1 -killer in Fiji!)....the whole lot! FIJI...such a great place that we extended our stay. What would you do if you lie on the beach and the locals climb the palms behind you to bring you fresh coconuts and pinneaples, mangos etc. Fijians run on "FIJI TIME" and on "FIJI MODUS" (=very SLOW)and being German this mentality can drive you nuts when you really want to get something done. I guess a German can only cope with this mentality when he is either stoned (as they say: In Fiji you don't drink and drive, you smoke and fly!) or get into the KAVA-Drinking tradition. For those of you who haven't been to Fiji - Kava is a drink made of the root of a strange plant, it makes one pretty sleepy and lethargic! Especially the men drink it all day long, so guess who is doing most of the work? And I wonder why ? Rumour has it that excessive use makes them impotent. Plus, it looks like muddy old dishwater , the taste is actually not as bad as what the stuff looks like. And - to make things worse - the fact that the guy preparing it throws a dirty old rag filled with kava powder in the water and squeezes it with his dirty hands in the bowl.....not the most appealing thought. It definitely put me off big time but Oli got quite into it (of course, because it was for free everywhere!) Well, I had 2 cups which I could not possibly refuse when we visited the CHIEF of the village we stayed at. It's all part of the ceremony - you sit down on the floor with some men from the village and the CHIEF, you give him your present, he prays for you (at least that's what they say!) and then you have to drink Kava, all out of the same bowl - I convinced myself that the stuff is so horrible that no bacteria could survive in it! The first gulp actually numbs your lips and ypour tongue - which helps to get over the bad taste. Anyway, I followed Nina's words of wisdom:" Augen zu und kraeftig schlucken!" So much for the KAVA! TRIP TO BUKUYA We decided to do something off the beaten tourist track and went inland!We took the risk of going with what Fijians call a "carrier" - an old pick-up truck, where the passengers sit o hard benches in the back!, basically used to transport people from remote inland villages to town wherethey sell their home-grown products on the market and go back home in the evening. .....bla bla. We survived this adventurous 3-hour trip on a very bumpy dirt road. At some stages it was pretty scarybut I guess if you do not panic you might be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery and the terrific view over all the Fijian islands! We finally did arrive in Bukuya - a very traditional Fijian village far away from "real life" - no electricity, no telephones, no showers, no nothing! What an experience! We lived i a traditional "Bure" (straw hut) and we were really happy that we had brought our mosquito net to protect us from all the creepy things and there were many! Whatever - again - look at our fotos, they explain more than words! The village itself...beautiful! The [people unbelievably friendly! We went for a walk and I do not know how many hands we shook and how many times we said "BULA" - I guess with all 700 people living there! The worst thing I could do was to take a picture of a child with the digital camera and show him on the display! I mean...thes guys do not know what a telephone is or a computer....beyond their reach! And a digital camera....so, I guess you can imagine the reaction and the consequence! The kid told other kids and within minutes the word had got around that we have this great camera and seriously EVERYONE wanted his/her picture taken, with him/her and his friend, his family, his horse, his house.... and they all wanted to see their picture again and again. Therefore - do not be surprised to see all these smiling happy faces on our homepage - their first encounter with a digital ! MY DAY AT SCHOOL!!!! Yes, I spent a whole day teaching English and Sports to primary school children. That was really cool! The kids are so different to ours andit is amazing how long they can concentrate for and how well-behaved they are i a group. I reckon it's because they have no flash toys (not to mention gameboys, TV or computers - not even a swing or a plastic toy!) - therefore they are used to play together and to interact! After this day I could not walk through the village without all the kids calling out my name, running up... end of peace! But really cute! The few days there were a great expreience but I was glad to leave because there was no shower - only a barrel full of rain water that did not smell all too good and a bucket! And the food...they cooked good meals but...everything was stored on the shelves in the heat, the birds flew into the kitchen to pick from what they could get, we saw lots of rats around...All the people in ythe village were suffering from askin disease, especially the kids! Someone told us it was "scabies" and thsat you can catch iy when you touch someone infected but how can you not touch these kids? Well, we are fine! From Bukuya we went to NAVALA - an even more picturesque village ...check out the pictures! All in all a great experience that made me enjoy a shower and electricity even more once we got back to Nadi! On the way back we met one of the teams of the Eco-Challenge. Have you ever heard about it ? Well, we hadn't either! It's a very tough race including mountain-biking, kayaking, climbing, hiking, swimming ...), 4 on a team, lasts about 7- 9 days and the teams get hardly any sleep and they have to find their way to their final destination passing several checkpoints! Therefore Fiji was very busy with TV teams..will be broadcasted in April! So much for the mainland! | |
|
Elvira und Heribert
Nov 04.2002 18:26
|
|
|
Hallo ihr beiden,es dauert zwar jetzt immer etwas länger bis ihr uns neue Bilder anbietet aber dafür werden sie immer schöner. Traumhaft was ihr da erlebt. Freuen uns heute schon auf die ausführlichen persönlichen Berichte. Wir wünschen euch weiterhin alles Gute und noch viel Spass bei weiterhin bester Gesundheit. | |
|
Franky
Nov 04.2002 17:46
|
|
|
suuuuper fotos von fiji !!! wirklich beneidenswert - obwohl ich weiss wovon ich rede... |
|
Ute
Nov 04.2002 07:07
|
|
| Hallo ihr Lieben, die Bilder sind mal wieder klasse, ich habe sie mir gestern mit Sabines Eltern angeschaut:-) Viel Spass weiterhin und liebe Grüße aus dem regnerischen Taunus | |
|
Sabine & Oli
Nov 03.2002 11:13
|
|
| ...believe it or not - wir haben tatsaechlich Bilder hochgeladen - immerhin die von Mexico! Auf die weiteren Fotos von Fiji muesst ih noch warten, aber ihr muesst ja langsam mit dem Paradies vertraut gemacht werden! Also...viel Spass! | |
|
Sabine & oli
Nov 02.2002 08:11
|
|
|
...well, we are running on Fiji time!!!! That means everything happens really slowly - if it does happen at all.We are in Fiji and liked it so much that we extended our stay! Jaja - wir haben noch nicht mal alle Bilder von Mexico hochgeladen, die von Fiji wollen wir gar nicht erwaehnen... aber wir meinen es gut mit euch.... ews wuerde euch im kalten Deutschland an euren Schreibtischen wahrscheinlich ziemlich schwer fallen, den Anblick von paradiesischen Straenden und zahlreichen Sonnenuntergaengen zu ertragen. Aber wir fliegen morgen nach Neuseeland und haben uns fest vorgenommen dort gleich alle schoenen Fotos hochzuladen - also bereitet euch vor!!! So - wir muessen mal wieder die frischgewaschenen (echte Handwaesche!!!!) und trotzdem wenig frisch riechenden Klamotten in den Rucksack packen und zum Flughafen...Auckland.... bis bald! | |
|
Dany, Aki und Ruth
Nov 01.2002 22:12
|
|
|
|
Hi, Ihr zwei Hübschen! Wie schaut`s? Wir sitzen gerade im wixenden Hausen und mussten an Euch denken. Die letzten 20 Minuten sind wir Euch ein Stück nachgereist. Wir hoffen auf neue Bilder und Nachrichten: Nicht so schreibfaul, Oli!!! So, jetzt machen wir gleich Darmstadt unsicher, Tschüssle und Küssle von uns dreien!!! |
|
Jessica und Pia
Nov 01.2002 17:02
|
|
|
|
Hi Sabine !!! Your pics are incredible fantastic and we really really enjoyed regarding them !! You and Ollie must have a great time , please come back to us next year otherwise we will die in English main class!!..... No , don´t take it literally but we miss you and your English classes.. Mrs Portz´ lessons are nice as well , it makes fun but yours were the best !!! Keep enjoying your time and TAKE CARE OF YOU !! Love from Jessica and Pia |
|
Ute
Oct 31.2002 17:59
|
|
| hallo, na endlich, mal wieder ein paar Bilder:-) und ein Lebenszeichen von euch.Karte habe ich auch bekommen, vielen Dank!!!! Melde mich demnächst wieder per Mail, doch im Moment bin ich etwas im Stress (ist aber arbeitsstress und kein urlaubsstress.-( Tschüssle | |
|
Hannah Endres
Oct 25.2002 14:18
|
|
|
|
Na ihr zwei? Wie gehts so? Hoffe ihr habt euch noch nicht verlaufen.  Hier leuft alles wie immer. Demnächst kommt der nächste Arbeitenschub. Kotz! Naja, das wird schon. Wünsche euch noch gaaanz viel Spaß, und nochmal danke für die vielen Mails. Bis dann, eure Hannah |