Hi friends,
I made it!
Although this is only my fifth day in New Zealand, it already seems like I’ve
been here forever. Way back on the second day we were here, we drove to a
nearby town called Thames, and after spending only a few hours away from our
site, when we returned I was already calling it Home Sweet Home.
Today, we went
on an 11 kilometer hike (trust me, I’m not exactly sure how far that is either and
as I’m writing this the wi-fi is down so I can’t even look it up, but I think
around 7 miles), and I had a great chat with two of my teammates (I don’t know
why I’m choosing the word teammates, but it seems right), Charlotte and Rachel.
We were discussing how we’re glad to be with a group of people that shares the
mentality of pursuing your passion in life, rather than scrambling for a job
that will make you the most money…and then went on to say that it’s all about
finding a balance between the two (your passion and making enough money to get
by). Which then led us to feel this extraordinary amount of gratitude for our
parents, who have worked so ridiculously hard their entire lives, doing jobs
they don’t necessarily love, to make enough money for us to have the luxury to pursue paths in life that can
allow us to both live and enjoy
ourselves while we’re at it. So thank you so much, Dad, for getting me to this
beautiful place where I can learn like I’ve never experienced learning before,
and for giving me the chance to focus on more complex and amazing things in
life than just making money. I’d also like to give a huge thanks to the Barger
Leadership Institute for helping finance this trip—I can’t help feeling little
else but amazingly grateful to even be here. Yes, it is still like a dream (but
better). Because of this, I’ve instituted a personal “No Complaining” policy—I
am not allowing myself to complain this semester. About anything. Because really,
it’s not helping anyone, and it’s probably a healthier way of living in the
first place.
The best I can
describe our immediate surroundings is a mix between the California Central
Valley and Hawaii. We’ve got the rolling hills spotted with grazing livestock,
and then this amazing variety of tropical plants and tropical weather, which at
times makes it difficult to remember that I am in fact here to go to school. I
am living with one roommate, Kira, in an almost beach-hut-like one-room cabin.
There were a few shells on the porch when we first arrived, so we of course
have dubbed our home “Shell Cottage.”
The EcoQuest
site is right on the beach, on a bay called the Firth of Thames, and the water
is unbelievably warm. There are also teeny tiny jellyfish, so that adds an
exciting (and shocking—literally) element of fun to the water. The sun really is
pretty brutal here, with that whole missing-ozone-layer thing, but, as I’m sure
to no surprise to some of you, I am already known for being very “diligent”
(aka anal) about the sunscreen (with zinc) and sun hat (with neck flap) use.
Being slathered in multiple coats of sunscreen from head to toe every day, with
the added sweat, dirt, and/or sea water leads to every shower feeling like the
best shower I have taken in my entire life.
The other 25
people in my group are endlessly entertaining, and fascinating, and smart,
which is really great because if they weren’t then it would be a very rough
semester. The instructors all have fantastic New Zealand accents, and even
though the country is very Westernized, it is even more different from America
than I expected. Oh, and lots of little words here and there are different, a
bit like the Brits—they call “z” “zed,” they call it a bum bag instead of a
fanny pack, because “fanny” here means something, er, very different. Okay, it
means vagina. Hopefully my audience is mature enough to handle that I just said
the vagina word.
We’ve been learning
a lot about the Māori (native) culture and language, which is beyond exciting
because I love learning other languages (I’m sure you noticed the title of this
post). Their language has 15 letters, and the “wh” is pronounced like an “f.”
So the town we are in, Whakatiwai, is pronounced “Fuh-ka-tee-why.” Yes, it does sound like an
English expletive but I’m so wordly and cultured that I don’t giggle at that
(anymore). We’ve also been learning a lot about the geological, biological, and
cultural history of New Zealand in general, and getting glimpses into the field
work ahead, which is both terrifying (yes, I am very intimidated by the amount
of knowledge my classmates seem to have on things I feel like I’m stumbling
around in the dark on) and thrilling (I’m so excited to get my hands—and feet,
and socks, and everything—dirty out in the field, and fill up my very own field
journal like a real live scientist). My favorite bird name I’ve learned so far is
the Hihi (pronounced heehee), but after learning about kiwi birds and the
snorting sounds they make, I want more than anything to see one and keep
it as my pig-bird pet and bring it home with me (just kidding, airport
security—I know you’re reading this).
We have a garden
here, which the Sustainable Food Systems major in me is very excited about, and
every day we’ve had salads made fresh from the garden, which the Food Loving
Person in me is very excited about. I also can’t wait to check out some of the
farmer’s markets around here, which sound amazing. Because New Zealand is so
small, it makes conservation and sustainable living practically mandatory—they
must import (a very, very long way) anything they don’t produce themselves,
which makes those imported goods very expensive…which then leads people to
choose more locally-produced goods instead. So clearly, the environmentalist in
me is thrilled to learn about all the challenges and processes and ideas around
sustainability here.
Apologies for
the long post, maybe the next one won’t be as long, but maybe it will, so for
the lazy/time-stressed friends,
TLDR: EVERYTHING
IS MAGICAL AND I’M SO GLAD I’M HERE WITH SALADS AND SUMMER AND SCIENCE
~Peace~
P.s. pictures
coming soon
