A Day in the Life...

I've had a lot of emails and Facebook messages from people, encouraging me, keeping me informed and just simply wondering what I've been up to. I've been absolutely terrible at writing people back, mainly because I've been so busy since I got here. To those of you who have written to me, thank you. Even your short messages have been great to receive. Please do not stop writing me; I am slowly, but surely writing everyone back. I may be in a different country, a day ahead (depending on where you are reading this) and doing something different, but I still think of you and want to be connected with you.

This week, I thought I'd share what my life is like here- the day to day of my life in Fiji, at DTS. I'm not sure that it is going to make for an interesting or thought provoking read, but it's here for you to read:

Monday through Friday, we have a set schedule and this is when all of our classes occur. Despite the phenomenon of “Fiji time”, we run on time, all the time. Although my life has become more consistent and routine here, I am enjoying it because what we are learning is far from routine. My alarm goes off at 5:50am every morning so I can crawl out of bed to get ready for my morning run and workout. Now, don't be too impressed- my run is more of a jog and the whole run/workout thing only lasts about 45 minutes because it is around 25 degrees Celsius, even at 6 in the morning. I sweat just getting out of bed in the morning, so by the time I'm done this farce of a workout, I look like I've just been swimming (what a delicate flower I am, eh?!). Running here at that time in the morning is interesting too... it's pretty dark at that time and there are very few street lamps, so I will admit I've nearly- literally- ran into some Fijians (who likely saw this white girl glowing in the dark a mile away) and fallen on my arse because of the many, many potholes and uneven sidewalks. Hey, I never claimed to be graceful.

Once I'm home, I make my breakfast, usually eggs and fresh papaya, then head to the shower. Our house doesn't have a great water system, so we frequently run out of water, leaving the bucket bath as our only option. We also use solar water heating so, no sun, no warm water. Let's just say I've given up on smelling good here...

After getting ready and praying/reading my bible, our classes start at 8:30. From 8:30-9:00, we have a worship and/or prayer service, many times focusing on prayer for different countries or ministries in YWAM. At 9:00, our classes begin with an hour and a half lecture, followed by a 30 minute tea time, then back to the lecture for another hour and a half. Every week a new speaker, usually from YWAM, comes to our school to speak on the week's topic. Most of our speakers are from Fiji, New Zealand or Australia, but we do have 1 American and 1 Canadian who are living in Fiji speaking here over the next few weeks. At 12:30, our lectures are finished for the day and lunch is served. Issac, a Fijian and former DTS student, is our cook for the school and I think he is doing a fantastic job. We eat a combination of Fijian, Indian and Western dishes. Food in general is pretty expensive here, but vegetables, meat and dairy seem to be the most expensive. Rice, noodles, and fruit are fairly cheap. Lunches are usually sandwiches or fried rice or soup or roti (that's an Indian bread that you eat with curry, very yummy!). Most of our supper dishes tend to have a rice and a noodle (a lotta carbs!), usually there is a small amount of veggies and meat. And we always end every meal with fresh pineapple, which is found in abundance. There are many days when supper looks a little suspicious, but it is always delicious.

After lunch, we are required to complete some work duties. Every 2 weeks we are assigned a work duty to keep our houses and classroom clean. Dish/meal clean up, dusting, sweeping and mopping, bathrooms, outside work are all a part of these duties. By 3pm, we have some free time until supper is served at 5:30. I usually use this time to catch up on my notes and journal- we are required to keep a weekly journal of everything we've learned during the week and of our relationships with God and others (can I just say that I hate journaling? I really do). I will also try to hop on the internet at this time, because it is the early evening (the day before) back home, so maybe I will be able to catch someone on Facebook or Skype. Once supper is done, we have free time again and I will usually go for a swim to cool off and then read for the rest of the night... which really isn't very long, as bedtime for me here is 9pm! I don't know what has gotten into me, but by 9pm I'm totally knackered! I think that it is a combination of the early mornings, the heat and humidity, and the intense lectures, but maybe I'm just getting old? On Monday nights we might have class if the speaker needs more time with us. On Thursday nights, we host a Community Night, where anyone from the community can come for a night of worship and a short message from the speaker of the week (and always followed by some visiting, tea and yummy treats!). And on Friday nights, it is movie/family night, where we just hang out and have some fun.

The weekends are totally free. So far I haven't left Lautoka yet to explore, but that is going to change this weekend. One weekend, I had to cook supper (we all take turns on the weekends) and the rest of my weekends have been spent relaxing and exploring the city and just getting settled in. I've found a great little coffee shop not far from where I live and that is where I often spend my Saturday mornings, finishing my journal or trying to blog... but mostly I people watch. :) I've been trying out different churches in the area, trying to find a church home while I am here, but so far, no luck. There is one church that I kind of like, but most of the DTS students are going to it, so you know me... I've got to be independent and different, so I'm still searching.

On the "home front", I am no longer sharing a bedroom with anyone- I have a room all to myself! My roommate left to go back home, reportedly to a different DTS there. I'm not sure what she was expecting when she came to Fiji, but she didn't give herself a chance to find it. In all honesty, she really wasn't ready to be here. My mom said to me before I left that she felt sorry for anyone who had to share a bedroom with me because I'm such a picky sleeper... very funny, Mom, but I wasn't the one to drive her away.  :)

And that, my friends, is my life at present, in a nutshell. There's ups and there's downs, but overall there's peace and contentment. I can't say that I am making any lifelong friends here; we are all so different and at different stages of our lives, but the people here are good and just looking for some more Jesus in their lives.

Thanks for reading,

Christy