Spring to Fiji is Life Changing

The Spring to Fiji program had a great balance of tourism, community service, education, and activities while keeping absolutely every aspect of the trip fun and meaningful. The program leaders were charismatic, helpful, and funny; having them as guides made the trip way more enjoyable. There we about 18 kids on my trip who were divided into two groups with two program leaders each, everyone would do the same things just on a switching schedule. The Rustic Pathways value of inclusiveness made the group dynamic between students completely nonjudgemental and everyone was completely accepting and understanding. I made some of the best friends on that nine day trip because we all came into the situation of being away from familiar surroundings and let our guards down immediately which allowed for us to become very close to each other rather quickly. The other kids on my trip came from all around the world; learning from them about their different cultures, political outlooks, and general perspectives of life enriched the trip for me even further. Every night after all of our different day activities, our group of kids would all hang out together outside the dormitories to share stories and hang out, which was the best way to keep communication with the other half of the group. I went on the trip with the objective of obtaining the community service hours required for my school, without really caring about what kind of work we would be doing. The services we performed were cooking for a women's shelter and a children's home, and constructing a cement walkway to a bathroom in a nearby village. Giving community service always make me feel good about myself, but these services directly impacted people who never failed to show their gratitude. I have never felt a greater reward than the thanks that we got for the services provided in Fiji. The women at the women's shelter were gracious and interesting to talk to, while the kids at the women's shelter were a lot of fun to hang out with; we all played with spare tires, played rugby, and picked flowers to make flower crowns together. As we were leaving, all of the kids were giving us high fives, so in return we gave them our ball for rugby. The kids at the village where we were laying down cement were very sweet and showed us around their houses proudly, showing us the pigs, their bedrooms, and the various things that they liked to do to pass the time. Sharing the experience with them made the service feel more fulfilling since I knew that our work was going to help people that really needed and deserved it more than anything. We all learned a lot about Fijian culture while spending time in the villages and with the people at the women's shelter. Since our program leaders were familiar with the area, they were well informed on Fijian culture, integrating it into our daily routines. Upon arrival, we were all greeted with traditional songs and kava(a root mixed into a drink that is a traditional Fijian delicacy), classic local food, and the cutest dogs on the island! Being immersed in the culture made us all feel completely connected to our surroundings which allowed me to let this trip be a separate experience from anything else I have ever done. Leaving Fiji was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. On the last day of the trip, everyone was in a state of denial, not letting themselves accept that we were actually going to leave. I legitimately asked one of the girls who worked for Rustic Pathways if she could legally adopt me in order to keep me there for just a little bit longer. On the way to the airport we were all singing songs together while simultaneously bawling our eyes out. When we had to say our final goodbyes to our program leaders, I actually started to have a full on melt down and was on the verge of hyperventilating, it got to be so much airport security workers started to look at me weird. I got so attached to those wonderful people, that the thought that I might not ever see them again ripped my heart into a billion pieces. Saying goodbye to the other kids was no easier, with them living all over the world I don't know when I will ever see them again. Once I got home, it was hard to talk about the experience since I really wanted to keep it to myself and not let it be touched or tainted in any way. I have been able to keep in touch with everyone from the trip, even the program leaders, ever since. I would not have done one thing different regarding that entire experience, it is probably the only thing I have no regrets about. Spring to Fiji is definitely worth it.