I finally have internet access in my flat! I feel like so much has happened in the last 48 hours, and I can't believe that I'm about to try to sum it up in a blog post. But I will do my best, as I know some of you (here's looking at you, Mom) are dying to know what I've been up to. So. I apologize in advance for the ultra long post. I will try to make them a bit more brief in the future.
My flights were all smooth and easy. Even the 12.5 hour one into Auckland wasn't all bad; I watched a couple of movies and even managed to grab a few hours of sleep. We arrived in New Zealand around 5:00 am local time, and then into Christchurch around 9:15. I totally stalked several kids in the San Francisco airport who looked about my age, which turned out to be a great idea, because they were on my program! So seven of us ended up traveling the rest of the way together, which was both helpful and exciting.
Look at this amazing picture I took from the plane!
Ohhhhh, you wanted THIS view...okay :)
This is my room. To the left there is a large closet (Pittman style), and there are drawers under the bed as well.
The view from my bedroom window. Not too shabby, eh?
I am trying to even remember everything that has happened, and it's all a blur. So I will move on to today.
This morning we went through some boring policy stuff (blerg) and then walked into town through the Botanic Gardens. For those who don't know, Christchurch is nicknamed the Garden City, and is known for having some of the most beautiful flowers/gardens in the world. After just a few hours in the garden I can attest to this fact--the flowers are beyond gorgeous. We then walked to a little cafe on the Avon river and had a delicious lunch, followed by a kayaking trip down the river! The Avon is extremely shallow, maybe at most two feet deep, so there are tons of ducks that hang out there. It was amazingly picturesque cruising along the river, although you could tell that we made a bit of a spectacle of ourselves because tourists along the banks were taking pictures of us.
This is the Avon river. What you see is called Punting, which is a gondola-style ride. Not as much fun as kayaking, but lovely scenery.
After the kayaking, our IES Mom, Eunice (who is an adorable woman) sent us on a scavenger hunt through downtown Christchurch. This is when we really began to see how extreme the earthquake damage was. About 30-40% of the buildings have at least some scaffolding on them, and many parts of the city are blocked off altogether. I almost cried when I actually saw the Cathedral--basically an entire half of it is caved in. However, there is also a ton of new life being breathed into the city, so I'm excited to be a part of the new energy and see how things evolve even in the short time I will be here.
Here is the worst of the Cathedral. That whole front side on the right is totally gone. It was really devastating to see in person.
This is me with Sasha (my fellow Gustie) and John, an awesome guy from Ithaca college. This fountain is right outside the Canterbury museum.
When we were walking around the city, we went past a man doing a bunch of street art. Of course this little guy caught my attention immediately. I'm glad to know that Grandma came with me on my trip :)
Some short/fun facts:
-New Zealand has a damaged Ozone layer, so you burn incredibly easily. None of us were really sure how apparent this would be, but it's legit. A ton of people came home fried today, and even though I put on sunscreen (I promise, Mom!), I got pink. It's very common to see people wearing large brimmed hats, and children in primary school wear super stylish hats with neck protectors when they go out for recess.
-Kiwis love to drink juice. On any given menu there will be 10-15 types of juice. They are all delicious (at least the ones that I've sampled), but it's a little thing that's rather different from home.
-The slang here is fantastic. Everyone says "cheers" and "loo" and "sweets" and "trousers" and I'm in love. Pretty much every word that they have that's different is better than what we have in the States.
-Everything here is expensive. A bunch of us ventured out to the market last night, and it was a bit painful. I bought bread, cereal, yogurt, bananas, jam, raisins, and pasta/sauce, and it cost $40. We are all adjusting to inflated prices and trying to cut costs in every way that we can so we have money for all of the fun stuff!
-There are animals everywhere! Because the weather is so nice, and because NZ has a generally active culture, loads of people have dogs. This is awesome, because they just come up to you in the streets and let you pet them! There are also cats that just wander around, and they're all pretty friendly. (Shout out to you, Laurel). It's nice to have friendly things come up and want your attention, even if they are just animals.
This is Sasha with one of the many friendly dogs. This one is a Newfoundland...I can't remember its name at the moment. But it was a cutie.
-New Zealand also has an excellent variety of sweets, the most legendary being a cookie called Tim Tams. They are chocolate covered wafer cookies, and I'm not sure I can put into words how delicious they are. Apparently the thing to do is a "Tim Tam Slam," which involves hollowing them out and using them as a straw with your coffee. I have yet to try it, but I assure you that the cookies on their own are amazing.
Cheers!
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