New Zealand!

I have so much to share (from my last bit of Spain and all through London) but the internet here is charged by megabytes, instead of time, so picture-loading takes a lot of money. I know you are all curious about New Zealand and what's been going on so far, so I thought I'd start here and then work my way back when I can find unlimited internet. Ok? Ok!

First of all- What am I doing here? This is an intensive class through the Comparative History of Ideas program (CHID) exploring the marketing of tourism in New Zealand along with geographical and ethnographic gobbeldygook. We each have to narrow down a focus and create a final project based on that. Mine (I think) is going to be on the accessibility of "experience" based on class (or funds). There are 16 of us, plus our two facilitators, Dave and Annie. We're living and traveling as back-packers do... in hostels, homestays, WWOOF sites and the kindness of strangers. We'll be moving every 5 days or so, making our way down to the south island and everywhere in between.

Yesterday we got our first tour of Auckland. It's a lot like Washington but with more volcanoes and more sunshine. Although, NZ is famous for "four seasons in a day", so the sunshine is intermittent. Auckland is one of the two biggest cities in NZ, although you'd never know it. Maybe it's because we arrived over a holiday weekend, but it's been pretty quiet. I'm excited to get out into the country, actually.

We were guided around town by an instructor from the University, Joe, and his busses of doom. I guess Kiwis (the people) drive like maniacs. I have never been so tossed around! There were seriously a couple of times I though our van was going to roll. Everyone started pulling out their motion-sickness wristbands. I'm so glad that THIS was the one day I had a hangover. (I got a little silly with the girls in the hostel the night before. Bonding, you know. Amber reminded me about the friendly argument I got into about Paris's layout with the guy from Paris. Oh, dear!)

We visited black sandy beaches (volcanic sand) and forests that inspired Avatar's backdrop (the animators are from this area, or so I heard) and then hiked some dunes. The dune part was a highlight... While most of us got down them this way:

One girl, Carissa, decided to roll down, resulting in the most horrible/hilarious roll-smack sounds. There was a collective fear that she'd lose a limb, since her posessions were flying off at record speeds and then the final thud when she landed was painful for us all. She was ok though. We all got a good laugh about that for hours afterwards. She's a bit of a stoner, so everything is suuuuuuupppppeeeeeerrrrr chill for her and she's pretty unfased. Perhaps her body's response to pain isn't as fine-tuned as the rest of us.

(Carissa, the aftermath.)

(Classmates and Joe on our way to lunch)

(A big crater and a little Auckland.)

(Here you can see Dave and Annie (facing us but looking at Joe, our guide). You can also see Liz's hair, which is the best hair in the world.)

I really like everybody. Right now we're all in the honeymoon phase. Everybody loves everybody and is sooooo nice and there's lots of sharing and helpfulness. I'll check back in a month when our periods are all synched and we're at each other's throats. I can't wait. Actually, I should say that I am super excited about our group. There's one other girl who is in her 30's (thank GOD!) and I've connected with a couple of people. There is only one guy in our group, Wilson, and he's already been designated as our resident spider-killer and personal garbage disposal. Lots of great personalities so far. I really do think it's going to be great. I'm still in awe that I get to do this. I'm so glad I came!

We have class today at the University. The neighborhood we're in is a lot like Ballard. I'm chilling at a coffee shop, trying to wake up. This time difference is still getting to me. Most everybody else came from Seattle, so it's a 20-hour time difference for them. Coming from Europe, I'm somewhere in between. My body still wants to be asleep.

Anyway. I better be off! I'll post again soon.