Despite August 30th's cold and rainy weather, lack of sunshine, and lengthy classroom lectures, it was a great day! Jet lag has finally decided to leave me alone and let me sleep through the night. This was something that I am very excited about!
Breakfast was at normal time, 7:30am. When I got to the kitchen, I noticed a very large bowl of kiwi fruit on the table. Man, if only that was anything else but kiwi. Instead, I grabbed a lemonade. I have yet to try one but everyone else can't stop talking about them. So I tried it. The taste was indescribable. The closest thing I can associate with the taste of a lemonade fruit is freshly squeezed pink lemonade. Even at that, it doesn't quite capture the full effect. All I knew was that I couldn't wait to eat another!
Class began at 9am and did not end until 4pm. We took a break for lunch which was the classic sandwich, salad and humus spread. Delicious as usual. We also took our NZ tea time breaks at 10am and 3pm. Though it was a long day in the classroom, we learned a great deal of amazing facts regarding New Zealand history, people, policy/treaties, and language.
At one point, Jono had all 26 students sit in a circle. He told us that it was time to practice our Māori. Instinctively, we all leaned in to listen closely. Jono explained that this exercise was going to be very "repeat-after-me." Jono continued to say phrase after phrase in Māori. At this point in time, I could catch only a few words here and there. After he was done, Jono explained to us what he had just said and its significance.
Now it was our turn. We had to repeat what Jono just said but make it personal. We started around the room about 5 students to my left. Listening to the other students, I kept practicing what I was going to say in my head. Then it was my turn to speak:
"Tēnā koe. Ko Paige oha. Ko Eric taku Pāpā. Ko Joelle taku Māmā. Ko Patricia taku Māmā."
English: Thank you. Paige is greeted. Eric is my father. Joelle is my mother. Patricia is my mother.
The Māori View: I started by saying thank you. I thanked everyone for letting me speak. I thanked people for listening, for allowing me into their lives and for inviting me into their culture and country. Then, I introduced myself. I greeted myself into my surroundings. I made peace with the land and people. Finally, I showed my ancestry by explaining who my parents are and where I come from.
All of this is called whakapapa (fakka-papa). What I just explained out loud was my connectedness. How I was connected to my current location. How I was connected to everyone around me. How I was connected at home. How I was connected to my ancestors. Whakapapa is one of the most powerful concepts in the Māori culture. And I just said it out loud. Of course I had my stutters and slurs trying to get all of the pronunciations right. But I just connected with the people around me, whether American or Māori. I had just connected to the earth that I stand on and the waters that I swim in. For the first time since I arrived, I was connected to New Zealand.
This still is such an amazing feeling. It truly is a struggle to try and explain this for there is so much that needs to be felt rather than said.
Our cultural lesson ended around 4pm. Mary and I went on our now becoming daily walk to the beach to collect shells and sand dollars. It is still pretty cold (only 42 degrees F) but this was a great break from being in the classroom all day.
After dinner, the 26 of us went downtown to a local pub and celebrated our first week of class with some local brews and games of pool. It became very clear to me how amazing these students were that surrounded me. Yet in the midst of these extraordinary students, all I could think about was this afternoons lesson with Jono of whakapapa.
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