GSL Fiji 2025

Wilson Day 9 + 10   After sleeping in and getting some much-needed rest, we all piled in to the back of a truck and set out for the nearest town, Ba. After about 30 minutes in the car, we arrived at a gas station which was our first opportunity to buy our necessities, which included a lot of peanut butter as well as some chocolate milk, ballons, and toys for our families in Nanuku. Once everything had been purchased, we hit the road again and quickly arrived at the rugby fields in Ba. We were all excited to watch our family members and friends in the games, and some of us even got to suit up and sit on the bench. We all watched as our district’s girls team dominated and continued their undefeated season. In between games we all circled up to show each other magic tricks, play card games like go-fish, and chat about our lives back home. After all the rugby games finished, we went to a market and stocked up on even more snacks that got devoured almost immediately. It was such...

Audrey Day 8                “Go fish! Go fish!” shouted my baby nephew Roni as I lost to my Momo at cards. My Nene was busy arranging the dishes we had woken up at 6:00 to make. Being the only meal of the day that we eat with our host families, breakfast has become a meaningful time to connect with the locals and most students get up early to help prepare. The buffet-style spread can include cooked pumpkin, eggplant and potato curry, freshly baked buns, and always some bread and butter to top it off. A favorite meal among our group is Fijian pancakes ( pani cakes , pronounced pan-ee-cake-ehs), which are cooked in oil to give them a taste more reminiscent of fry bread or sopapillas than the IHOP stacks we’re used to. After my Nene makes a simple dough from flour, sugar, and yeast, I roll it into circles and cut each one into sixths. We lay the pieces in a pan sizzling with oil; after thirty seconds they’ll be ready t...

Early in the morning, when the sun was just starting to peak over the mountains, we awoke to the sound of our families busily preparing for the day. Unlike our typical schedule, which involves a combination of service, classwork, and visiting the boarding school, today was centered around an important event that was happening in the village – the soli. A whole day event, the soli is designed to help fundraise for a community project, in this case a new kitchen for the community center. To prepare for the event, we spent the morning helping our nenes cook dishes for the potluck, the crisp smells of baking bread and cooking fires filling the air as we laughed and bonded with our families. In such a short amount of time, these people have become our second family, making us feel at home while we’re constantly exposed to new and unfamiliar things. What could have easily been a scary and intimidating experience has become one defined by warm smiles, everlasting patience while we ask milli...

Day 6 (24 Jun 2025) Dionnah Today was our 3 rd official day in the village. I have no roosters to wake up to so I was able to hear the sounds of my baby sister’s laughs and cries in the morning. Waking up to the sound of a full house puts me right to sleep so it’s a struggle getting up each morning. So, as I was late I ran up the hill to the community center where I saw my friends waiting for me. I walked in and noticed a soccer ball that was well hidden from the small kids, but it looked as flat as a pancake. I made a note to grab my pump from my house so we can all enjoy it together. Today’s class was about testing the waters, so we got to explore the rivers and other water sources. We hiked up the mountain to the stream and analyzed different aspects like Ph, temperature, how much nitrite or other things. Hiking up the mountain I was accompanied by songs by Justin Biber, or Ed Sheran. Of course, I had the occasional singing along too but listening made the time go by faster. Once w...

Blog 5 Alex Today was our third day in the village, the day when things started to normalize and I started to develop a routine. From using the bathrooms to taking a shower and eating new foods, everything became easier for me today. I still woke up at 4 from the roosters crying outside my window but even then I was able to fall back asleep.  When I first arrived and examined the bathroom and shower situation, I felt nervous because it seemed a lot more intimidating than what I was used to back home, but after using the bathroom and showering today I felt a lot more at ease. The bathroom and shower still have the same basic functions as a shower back home with flush and running water, but are just more exposed. Showering in cold water is also very refreshing after a hot and sweaty day. Doing service outdoors like cleaning or moving dirt to create a foundation for a new church really works up a sweat. Running around with the local children also always tires me out.  I was also ...

Day 4 Abigail We woke up to many different sounds and aromas this morning. Some woke up to the sound of roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing much earlier than sunrise. Others woke up to the smell of delicious curry and Nene (mom’s) sweet singing in the kitchen. And the rest woke up to the beeping sound of alarms. The ones who woke up along with their family helped with preparing breakfast by putting and stirring potatoes in a pot or even swepted and cleaned up around the house. We’re all mostly used to sitting at a table to eat breakfast but here each family sits on the floor of the house and eats breakfast together. During breakfast many of us were asked to pray which is something that families do before every meal. Different families ate different things but some delicious common breakfast food items we had were curry with roti, PB&J, biscuits, banana buns, and eggs. A common drink we had was tea which was actually some of the best tea I ever had. It was SO amazing. I think we could a...

Day 3  Brian We felt the crisp wind of the Fijian breeze rush past us, music blasting in the back of the Toyota land cruiser. The bumpy roads tossed and turned us, as we kept on singing and laughing. After many days of travel, we were going to arrive to the village. I was excited, but also nervous at the prospect of one month away from home.  As we drove up the gravel path, we saw mountains, then rivers, bridges and schools. The van rolled to a halt. Dozens of children and parents gathered around the community center of the village, waving, and smiling. As we got out of the car, we were engulfed by a wave of welcoming smiles and greetings. We went into the community center. Inside there was a painting of the space needle labeled Seattle, next to it was an island labeled Nanuku. On one side of the room sat our circle of Lakeside students. On the other side is a crowd of residents. Two sides that now meet, but would soon forever be joined. One by one our names were called. And t...

After 12 hours in the air, and 7 hours in the airport, we finally arrived in Nadi, Fiji. Immediately after stepping off the plane we could already feel how different it was from where we had come from. The air is humid and filled with moisture, and almost seems thick enough to choke on. Promptly after getting off the plane, and exchanging our useless US money for Fijian Dollars, we found out what Fiji is “all about”. Mr. Beast, the most famous Youtuber of all time, walked no more than 10 yards away from us. While we were all shocked to run into such a famous and rich person, this also reaffirmed a stereotype that we had about Fiji. That it’s where wealthy people go to “get away”. In our minds Fiji just seemed to be this mystical beautiful island with sandy beaches and tropical fruits, a dream vacation spot. At least to me. But this pre-accusative believe was soon removed from my mind, as in just one day I saw so much more of Fiji than I ever pictured. We left our hotel and headed strai...

Pre Trip Days: Our first few days of Pre-Trip were a mix of learning and prep for our GSL trip! For the first few days of our prep we were in the lab and studied things like waterborne illness, Fiji's environment, and issues surrounding lack of water around the world. We all did presentations about sicknesses that stem from dirty water, and did a lot of experiments in the labs. For one we dripped water on a sloped box of sand to simulate the formation of rivers. It was interesting to see how the water carved different paths. For another, we filtered different materials from each other with different methods. The first box had marbles and coins, which we used our hands for, the second had poppy seeds and salt, which we filtered through water, and the third had sand and cloves, which we used a colander for.  In the next few days we focused on the GSL aspect of our trip and learned dances, Fijian language, and more about the culture. We all did presentations about an aspect of Fijian ...