Back in Nadi

I’m back in Nadi and wish I was still at Dolphin Bay Divers Retreat with Viola, Roland, Jone, and everyone else!

Today was one of those days where you do laundry, go to the supermarket and pharmacy, and update your blog. That’s pretty much it. And of course talk to other backpackers – the usual.

And then there’s this guy I met yesterday on the way back from the airport, Colin from Scotland. He seems very nice and treated me to breakfast this morning, and then I saw his tattoos – not any tattoos, no, he has nazi tattoos all over. Weird. He was really nice, but his tattoos were definitely irritating!

Flying to Taveuni for 1 week

Yesterday was one of those days that went by quickly although nothing exciting happened: Back in Nadi, I simply did my laundry, went to the supermarket & ATM, wrote a recommendation letter for a former student, started replying to your emails (sorry, I seem to be backlogged all the time) and ended up chatting with Sonja – a good friend who is traveling in Central America with her boyfriend Christian - on the internet instead. …one of those days that one doesn’t necessarily think of when thinking about traveling, but which are definitley part of traveling if you travel for an extended period of time.

Today I packed my backpack, put some stuff in storage and checked out. Now I’m quickly updating my blog and at 2 pm I’m flying to TAVEUNI, an island in the northeast of the main island here in Fiji. I’ll be staying there for a week to pretty much only go scuba diving   Where I’ll be staying there is not much else to do and that’s why I’m going there: to dive at Somosomo Strait and the Rainbow Reef, hopefully including the famous GREAT WHITE WALL…

http://www.divetheworldfiji.com/taveuni-diving-sites.htm

http://www.taveuniislandfiji.com/guide/rainbow-reef-fiji.cfm

I’ll be staying at Dolphin Bay Divers Retreat and am not sure if I’ll have internet access there…

http://www.dolphinbaydivers.com/

I’ll get back to you by the end of next week before leaving Fiji and heading to New York City (via LA) on March 29.

Back to the roots

I’m back in Dornbirn, the small city in the Austrian Alps where I grew up and also the small city in the Austrian Alps which I left 15 years ago – to then live in Vienna, England, Australia, and eventually New York City. And now that I’m back here in the town where I grew up, I feel like a stranger in a somewhat familiar place…

I went to the supermarket today and it took me forever to pick and buy stuff. I didn’t recognize a lot of the products anymore, I had to read a lot in German and I realized that I am more familiar with American than Austrian products, more familiar with reading in English than in German, etc. I felt almost out of place at a place where I sort of belong.

It’s definitely an experience returning to your hometown/homecountry after having lived abroad for several years!