Part of the People

Today was a great day. In fact, today was the best day I have had yet. My day started with a Marae maioha (welcome ceremony) debriefing at 8:30 with Jono and Ria. They briefly explained the structure of the maioha and how it would work.

At 10, all students and mentors met in front of the wharekai to walk over to the Marae together. The Marae was a 10 minute walk from EcoQuest. When getting to the grounds, there was a large picket fence and a main entrance. The only thing I could see over the fence was the main building of the Marae, te wharenui (te fukkanewi). Te wharenui, or carved meeting house of the ancestors, is the most important building within the Marae. The wharenui represents a female's body in structure, with ribbed beams on the inside representing a human rib cage. The tekoteko, or carved figure, on the roof top in front of the house represents the head, and the maihi, or front barge boards, are the arms held out in welcome to visitors. This particular wharenui contained intricate carvings and panels that refer to the whakapapa, or genealogy, of the whakatiwai (fukka-tea-why) iwi (tribe), and to the Māori stories and legends.

Creeping closer and closer to the main entrance gate, the wharenui's size grew drastically. When inside the entrance, we were told to organize and wait until the Māori toa (warrior) arrived. To get organized, all women moved to the front and all men moved to the back (expect Jono and another EcoQuest student who acted as our toa). Then, we arranged ourselves from oldest to youngest and stood four in a row. 20 minutes later, I could hear quick and angered sounds coming from around the corner, almost like a warning. Then I could see the Māori toa. He was an older gentleman with white, long hair pulled back into a ponytail wearing nothing but a green-stoned necklace and a short kilt made of a black and white furry animal. He was holding a wooden stick that seemed to be acting as his weapon. Jumping from side to side, still making angered noises, he was testing our "tribe" to see if we were there to fight or make peace. Placing a woven basket in front of us as a peace offering, he gestured for Sam, our toa, to pick it up. Sam stepped forward, leaned down, picked up the basket, and stepped backwards without turning around all while keeping consistent eye contact with the Māori toa.

The Māori toa then gestured to the group to move forward into the Marae. While walking in, there was a opera-like chant coming from one of the Māori women. She was wearing all black and was chanting a tribal-like sound. In reaction, Ria, our Māori woman, chanted back with a similar tribal-like sound. Supposedly, Ria was greeting the gods on behalf of the land, people, earth and EcoQuest students and mentors. We then walked over to the right-hand side of the courtyard and stood across from the Māori, who sat on the left-hand side. After the chanting was over, we were gestured to sit down. The Māori toa stepped forward and told the story of the three baskets of knowledge and how they were acquired (all in Māori - we learned the stories' significance later on). Next, it was Jono's turn to talk. Jono stood up, stepped forward and began to speak in Māori. Picking up a few words here and there, I understood most of what Jono was saying: something along the lines of asking for the people, the land, the students and the mentors to be welcomed today. After Jono was finished, it was time for the students to present the waiata (ritual song). We stood up and sang Kahikatea. Then, the ritual Māori leader spoke in Māori of how the land and the earth was formed. It was quite moving as he flowed left and right of the courtyard.

The ritual leader then began to speak in English. He explained how happy he was for American students to be at the Marea. He continued to say how proud he was to be able to call us part of his family. At this point, everyone stood up and we walked over to the Māori side and greeted each of the members. For the men, they would give the women a hand shake and a kiss on the cheek. For the women, they would shake your hand and either kiss your cheek or put their forehead to yours and close their eyes. Either was acceptable. At the same time, you would greet the Māori by saying "tenā koe" or "ki ora."

To complete the maioha, both parties were joined to feast. We entered their wharekai, where the women prepared a large variety of delicious food. We ate first and the Māori ate after. Once the Māori were done eating, the 26 students stood up and performed Lean On Me as a gift. To my surprise they sang along.

Afterwards, each Māori person introduced themselves formally, in English, to the group. Once they finished, we students went around the room and each of us introduced ourselves and gave a bit of background of why we are interested in studying the environment and how we ended up at EcoQuest and on their land.

As we were leaving the Marae, the Māori toa came out of a building wearing black leather pants and a green leather vest….a much different choice in apparel than his previous necklace and animal skin get-up. He came over to the group and introduced himself as Shane. He is actually a pretty cool person. He talked with us for over a half hour about being connected to our surroundings. About being a world within a world within a world. About being at a different frequency as everything around us and that if we don't understand something, we just haven't understood that frequency yet. About how people are the most important thing in this entire world. About how without women, men wouldn't be anything for all men come from women. He was truly inspiring. Just the way he looked at life made me change my outlook on the past week here in New Zealand.

When we got back to EcoQuest campus, we took some time with Jono to reflect on what just happened. 

At 4pm, all mentors and students gathered at the vans to head into Thames to see the showing of 2 degrees at a local movie theater. 

The movie was incredible. It was actually the first public viewing, so that was pretty special. 2 degrees was made by a New Zealander (she was there to answer questions at the end) who is an activist for going green. She was a very inspirational person to talk too. 

On the drive home from Thames, I, myself, reflected on my day at the Marae. Something that has stuck pretty firmly with me is the idea that when we are born, we are not alone. Between the ants that live underneath your house, the birds that live in your backyard trees and the squirrels that live in your attic, another creature not too far from you was born at the exact same time that you were. As you grow up, so does that other animal. Actually, the animal will most likely grow up faster than you do. So one day you are walking home from the bus that just dropped you off from elementary school and you hear a bird chirping. Your initial reaction is, "birdy" or maybe even "oh can that bird just be quiet." But in fact, that bird is welcoming you home from school just as it has every other day since you started preschool because that bird knows you. The ants under your house know your foots steps. The squirrels in your attic know when your sad or happy or excited. They may even know you better than you know yourself. This is all part of the idea of a world of different frequencies. Every single piece of our natural world lives within its own frequency. All humans are born with a code to understand the frequency at which humans live. But if you simply pass a bird one afternoon hoping for it to be quiet, than you haven't understood that frequency of life quite yet. If you walk down the street consciously stepping on ant hills, then you haven't understood that frequency yet either. So what's my point? All things are connected. Our feet are connected to the ground, which is connected to the river, mountain, earth and all that's on it. We are all connected. Today was just a perfect representation of how connected we can be. Americans and Māori were speaking and reacting to each other as if they have known one another for their entire lives. 

I feel like I'm finally starting to get the EcoQuest glow. The glow that you see in every person that has ever had the pleasure of adventuring to New Zealand and experiencing the Māori culture and Marae. The glow that makes up for loss words when trying to explain the impossible. The glow that others will soon see in me as I arrive back into the States. The glow that is New Zealand.   

Hunua Range

The beeping from my alarm was not welcome this morning. I cannot remember the last time I woke up before 6am (other than for my flight to NZ). Why so early? Today was our first field experience. It was technically suppose to be yesterday but today's weathered looked more promising for hiking. Looking outside, I could attest for this.

Between 6am and 7am was complete chaos in the wharekai. 26 people were trying to eat breakfast, make lunch and clean up all before the mentors arrived with the vans. At 7:15, we were off with 3 vans, 32 people and a whole bunch of field gear. The drive consisted of curvy roads and lots of singing in preparation for the marae tomorrow. The marae is a sacred Māori place of welcoming strangers from all over the world. In order to commit to this welcome ceremony, EcoQuest students were asked to perform a Māori and American song to the Māori people. For our Māori song, we chose Kahikatea, which emphasizes standing tall and together like the native Kahikatea trees. And for the American song, Lean On Me.

When we arrived at the parking lot entrance of the Hunua Range, I couldn't hear a thing but rushing water. Stepping out of the van, I recognized the sound as a large waterfall not 100 feet from us. Itching to explore, the mentors let the students check out the waterfall before heading on the hike. It was beautiful. Rushing water flowed over the top of the ridge and crashed against the sharp rocks at the bottom. There was also a fault line next to the waterfall which we concluded to be the result of volcanic lava. A very cool sight to see, indeed.

After we were all done playing in the waterfall, it was time to get to hiking. Maree split us into two groups. She mentioned that the paths could only fit one person across and that traveling with 32 people would be extremely overwhelming. I was in the group that went up the steep path first. The other group went through the exit and planned to meet us half way. When we first got into the forest, the trees were spectacular. It reminded me of the rainforest from Tarzan. I mean, we were in a subtropic rainforest. So I guess that makes sense. 

My first observation: I could see my breath from all of the moisture in the air. My second observation: It sounded like a tropical rainforest with exotic squawking birds. This was nothing I'd ever experience before. 

Five minutes into the hike, it was time for the group to cross a stream. Knee deep in water, it was practically impossible to avoid getting your socks wet. So the rest of the hike was performed in wet socks and boots. 

Every few hundred feet, Maree and Chris would stop the group to talk about another plant, bird or animal species in the area. After a few hours, I quickly came to find which specie was my favorite: the Panga Palm. It was extremely tall and the palms spread across the canopy like clouds. Stunning. 

Around noon, we had lunch at the dam. Based on where I was sitting, to my right was a dam-infleunced lake and to my left were momma and baby sheep. Seeing lambs will never get old. 

About 3 hours into the trip, we crossed over the other group. The rest of the hike seemed to be down slope, which was a great change of pace from our previous upslope climb. There were some great views of Auckland city and it's surrounding islands during the second half of the hike. 

On the way home from the hike, our vans pulled over 20 minutes from EcoQuest campus. We were driving down a dirt path for some time when we saw a sign: "Miranda Hot Springs." The mentors figured our bodies could use a little TLC after our 12 mile, 6 hour hike and brought us to a natural hot spring. So considerate of them. Comments on the hots spring? Warm. Really warm. And relaxing. 

The rest of the night consisted of making/eating/cleaning dinner and finalizing plans for this weekend. I succumbed to my fellow EcoQuesters and am deciding to go to Auckland this weekend. Our plan is to leave campus Friday and stay two nights in Auckland. There ARE lots of things to do there, like visit New Zealand's newest island and explore the volcanic caves. So I guess I'll still get my adventure. 

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Listening to the rain on my cabin's metal roof made it extremely hard to wake up this morning. I looked outside and it truly was a miserable day.

The students met with mentors and kitchen staff at 8:45am to go over Monday chores; every Monday, students will be assigned a half hour chore. These chores ranged from weeding the garden, to cleaning the vans and to turning the compost bin. This actually seemed like it would be fun, expect for the fact that today, it was raining. 

From 10-11:30, Ric talked of New Zealand ecology. It was amazing to hear how excited he was over this topic. It always makes learning more fun when your professor is passionate about the topic. 

After lecture, Maree came into the wharekai and announced that we would not be camping the night in the Hunua Range due to bad weather. Instead, we were going to go to Waharau Regional Park to acquire mapping skills that would assist in tomorrow's hike in the Hunua Range.

The ride to Waharau Regional Park was cold, wet, and  everyone was tired. The van finally pulled off the curvy road and onto a dirt path. The hills began to roll around the van and I knew we were somewhere special. A few minutes later, we arrived upon an old white building…the welcome center. Next to the welcome center was a fenced in grassy area where we spent the next 3 hours learning and practicing various mapping techniques.

After eating lunch at the white welcome center, it was time for a "mapping-related treasure hunt." Rebekah split the 26 of us into 6 groups, each receiving a mentor to answer any questions (my group got John). John handed us the white piece of paper that told us what to do and we were off. Our first task led us into a tree-covered path. It seemed a little creepy but once through the bushes, it was a tropical rainforest. The trees were green and tall but hung to the ground. It was nothing I'd ever seen before. We followed various rivers, streams, sacred areas and paths until we finished every task on our sheet. At the end of the treasure hunt, Rebekah was waiting with our "treasure," also known as yummy New Zealand candy. There were various types of options in her candy jar but I went right for the chocolate covered marshmallow man.

Our drive back from Waharau was just as cold and wet as ever. Will this rain ever go away?

Getting back to campus, we immediately were placed in the wharekai to finish a talk that we would have done around our campfire had we gone camping. The talk ended at 5pm and kitchen crew started on dinner. After dinner, the wharekai became a travel agency with groups of people researching plans for this upcoming weekend. Each group came up with a hypothetical plan and wrote it on the main whiteboard. Once all the groups had their plan on the board, it was time to choose what you wanted to do. There were many choices: travel into Auckland and tour around the various outskirt islands (including New Zealand's youngest volcanic island), camping and hiking in the Coromandel, or my hypothetical plan, a white water rafting and glow worm cave adventure. Everyone decided to sleep on it and choose in the morning. But for me, I really want to go on an adventure this weekend. I hope others do too!

The major factor about choosing what to do this weekend is weather. It is suppose to be cold and raining all weekend long, just as it has been for the past 3 days. Here I am, in my EcoQuest bed. Sad that we were not able to camp tonight, but happy that I have a nice cozy place to sleep in New Zealand. What more could a girl ask for?

Flat Tires

First day off….and it's raining. But that's ok because not waking up until 9am felt like an accomplishment. In terms of meals, days off are a bit different. Steph and Joy left us a list of ingredients and where they were located. The rest was up to us. Everyone decided to pitch in and create various stations: eggs anyway you wanted, juicer from fresh fruit, local bread for toast and oatmeal. As usual, breakfast was delicious.

After breakfast, Mary and I were on a mission to figure out what to do on this rainy day that didn't involve being inside. We found an add for Miranda's Bird Sanctuary that was 10km away from campus and decided to ride bikes there. Rounding up the troops, only two additional students wanted to come. It was raining after all, so I didn't blame the others. After singing out, gathering our gear (helmets and bike locks) and grabbing the bikes, Mary, Erin, Hannah and I were off. Not far from campus, we saw two baby sheep. One had a green collar while the other purple. They were the guard dogs of the house; we could hear them "bahhing" from a mile away. About 3km from campus, we passed the Pink Shop. Apparently, the Pink Shop will act as our mini grocery/convenient store. 5km into the bike ride, there was a "pop." Erin ran over a piece of glass and her rear tire was flat within seconds.

As a group, we decided to head back to campus and save the birds for another, preferably sunnier, day. On the way back, we took a side journey up a hill off of the main road. When we got to the top, the view was incredible. We could see the main street below us, the Firth of Thames and all of Thames across the bay. While itching to explore more, we came across 2 bulls. They weren't so friendly, or photogenic for that matter, so we decided to head back towards campus, briefly stopping at the Pink Shop.

Arriving at campus, the rest of the students were crowding around something. For a moment, I thought something was wrong. Did someone get hurt? An animal? What was it? Then, between one of the students' legs came a baby sheep with a purple collar. Then another with a green collar. These were the same baby sheep that Mary, Erin, Hannah, and I saw on our earlier bike ride.

The caretakers of the sheep were also there. They explained that these sheep were only 6 weeks old, a boy and a girl (not brother and sister) and that they were their pets. The caretakers explained further that they would NOT be eating the sheep or selling them for such purposes. Rather, they would use their wool for clothing when the time was right. I was relieved, for it seems like many of the animals in this area have the purpose of satisfying humans.

For dinner, the majority of us walked downtown (5km away) to Kaiaua Fisheries, home of New Zealand's famous Fish and Chips. Will everything I eat here be delicious? It was the perfect portion of fish to fried. Walking back was not so fun. It was not only still raining, but it was now dark. While walking back, I remembered what I had read in this morning's paper: "Tomorrow (Monday) northern area targeted by remnants of northern cyclone. Prepare for all weather." So that's where this weather is coming from…

Which reminds me. Tomorrow is our first "field experience," as our mentors call it. Tomorrow afternoon, the 26 of us, along with a few mentors, will head up to the Hunua Range. If the weather is fair, we will be staying over night and heading back into campus on Tuesday. As nice as it has been to relax on campus and adjust to this new land, I am ecstatic about exploring somewhere else tomorrow! Our mentors warned us that this would happen. That we would be craving more, asking better questions, setting higher goals and learning new lessons.

So what did I learn today?
Flat tires are not always bad - they may just prevent you from missing something better than what was planned (like baby sheep).

Not Just Another Land

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.

Te Reo Māori

Nau mai! 

I woke to the morning sunrise in my eyes. Not the worst way to wake up…though, it was only 6:25am. Itching to look outside, I got out of my cozy bed and glanced out of my cabins glass sliding door. The view was truly amazing. The sky was lit with pinks, reds and oranges and there were dark grey clouds. I wanted to stay up longer and watch the sunrise, but the urge was too strong to go back to bed.

My alarm woke me at 7:30am. I quickly brushed my teeth and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. There was a large bowl of fresh citrus fruit, so instinctively I ate an orange as part of my meal.

Classes started today! We covered introductions into what we would be doing and where we would be going for the rest of the semester. It is nice to be back into the familiar setting of a classroom. Ria briefly went over the main focus of the EcoQuest program: to create an environmental that is more sustainable than the last. This was one of the main aspects of this program that made it so unique.

Later in the day, Marie came into the classroom to go over some last minute program policies and how to go about planning weekend adventures. She gave us many pieces of paper that included when our expected breaks would be, how long and where they would be and possible things to do in the area.

Right before 10am, Marie stopped everything we were dong and explained "New Zealand tea time"; everyday at 10am and 3pm the entire country of New Zealand comes to a hault, grabs a cup of tea and socializes with whomever is around them. It was clear this was something that was going to be practiced at EcoQuest.

For several hours after lunch, Jono and Ria taught of single vowels and consonants, pronunciations of words and phrases and numbers in Māori. This was a very repeat-after-me type of deal. It was amazing to hear how quickly everyone was picking up simple phrases, including myself. I found it interesting that the vowels in Māori were the same pronunciations as in Spanish. Taking 6 years of Spanish, this made it easy to begin learning this unfamiliar language.

Our culture lesson ended a few hours before dinner. Mary and I decided that we wanted to go and explore the beach a little more. Knowing how many shells and sand dollars we collected last time, we grabbed our trash bucket from our cabin and brought it with us. 2 hours later, our trash bucket was full and we were talking about how nice it was to have a day that was based on the country that we were in. One of the things I love most about this program is that though I will be learning material related to my major, I will also be learning about the culture that I flew 20 hours to get to. And I can't wait to learn more.

Citrus, chlorine and jaywalking

Today was my first full day in New Zealand (officially). Jet lag did not hit me as much as I expected, but I still woke up around 5am. Tossing and turning, I decided to get out of bed and see what a New Zealand sunrise looked like so I walked down to the beach near my cabin. It was a bit foggy from the morning mist but the sky was still lit in pinks and oranges. This was definitely the most beautiful thing I have seen yet. After sitting on the beach for over an hour, I decided to go back to my cabin; it was a chilly morning of only 45 degrees F and my fingers were numb. 

My alarm rang around 7:30am, letting me know it was time to start the day. I didn't realize I had fallen back to sleep. I sat up, looked at my roommate, Mary, and said "we're in New Zealand." She giggled at the thought, and then we both got up for breakfast. It was still chilly so I made sure to bundle in my long underwear, fleece sweater and pants, and wool socks. 

This morning was different than the last. Unlike yesterday when EcoQuest chef, Steph, cooked our breakfast for us, we made it our selves. There were lots of options: oatmeal, various cereals, fresh fruit, toast, and eggs. Everything tasted so fresh, especially the citrus fruit. 

Going back to the cabin to get ready for the day, I heard a bell ding multiple times. I looked outside and one of our field leaders, Rebecca, was on the porch of our classroom, also known as the wharekai (fuddah-kai), waving us over. When all 26 students accumulated on the porch, Rebecca informed us that the sound of the bell meant it was time to meet at the wharekai. The other leaders joined the group and talked about our schedule for the day. 

After breakfast, we went over hard policies for the program, such as alcohol, guests, and weekend travel. Everything was fairly common-sense based. Then we split into two groups. The first went with Steph to talk about kitchen chores that we were assigned twice a month over the course of the semester. The other went with the program director, Ria, to talk about the garden and the food we would be eating. The kitchen chores were fairly familiar: help prepare the meals and do the dishes. Check. Heading into the garden was less familiar. We first looked at what was in the garden, which for now mainly contains Swiss chard, lettuce, broccoli and collie flower. Then we looked around the campus and identified countless trees: banana, lime, lemon, lemonade, pineapple guava, red and yellow cherry, almond, grapefruit, tangelo, peach, plum, south american tomatoe, apricot, and my personal favorite, blood orange!! Ria continued to explain to us where we would be getting our food. Most of our fruit would be right from our own trees. So that is pretty cool. We would also be using all vegetables in the garden. Meat and dairy products came from a local farm less than a kilometer from campus. Coco and peanut butter is imported from Australia. In other words, we were eating primarily organic! This is why everything tastes so good!  

Lunch was delicious!! It was still only 47 degrees F and Steph had made us vegetable soup with fresh rolls. The soup was warm and tasty and took the edge off of the morning chill. After lunch, one of our field leaders, Marie, instructed us to grab everything we would need for going into town along with a bathing suit and towel. First thought: it is so cold, why are we swimming?

Heading back to my cabin, I grabbed my wallet, bathing suit, towel, and water bottle and put it in my backpack. The bell dinged and we all met in front of the wharekai. Marie then explained that we were going into Thames, the closest city to Kaiaua, where we could go shopping and grab last minute things we needed. She also mentioned that before we went into the city, we were going to a local swimming pool to get "swim tested" of 200m. I suppose the leaders wanted to see how strong of swimmers we were.  

This was one of the most spectacular drives I have ever been on. Spectacular but confusing. I keep forgetting that the Kiwis drive on the opposite side than us Americans. The scenery was like nothing I've ever experienced. On the shallow sides of the van, there were fenced plots of the greenest grass. Inside the plots were either cows, calves, alpacas, goats, or sheep. And not just a few of them. We are talking about plots 100m apart with 30+ individuals in each. Further in the distance were either rolling green hills or pointy tall mountains. Breathtaking. 

45 minutes later, we arrived at the swimming pool where each of us swam 200m without struggle. The only struggle was walking around Thames with wet hair. When we got into the city, our leaders told students that we had an hour and a half. Immediately, we all took off into different directions to explore the city. I, personally, went into 3 thrift shops, where I picked up a cozy blue flannel, a book store, and post office, where I grabbed some stamps and post cards. 

The drive back was just as amazing as the drive there. When we got back to campus, we became trained in the climbing wall and slack line safety procedures. We were then given our notebooks and a few maps of New Zealand and hostels for weekend trips. 

Delicious dinner was served! Chicken with thinned gravy, roasted potatoes and pumpkin, collie flower, broccoli, and green beans. 

After dinner, I took a stroll around campus. Just taking everything in. Everything that we did today. Everything that we did to get here. Everything that it took to get into this program. I do miss my family in the states, but I can honestly say that it's starting to feel like my home away from home.