Rest

Well, as most of you already know, I got a pretty miserable cold about five days ago, and I've been holed up in Rotorua trying to get better. But here's the update since Raglan:

On my second surf lesson I did finally stand up on a few waves, and it was AWESOME. There's a moment when you catch the right wave, you get into position and feel the perfect balance, and everything's just right. It feels like magic. I can understand why people spend so much time doing it! But honestly, I don't think I'm cut out to be a hard core surfer. Once in a while is fun, but my ears get plugged too easily, and I'm not THAT fond of getting smashed in the face with salt water repeatedly. :-)

Anyway, I woke up on Thursday morning feeling pretty terrible, but I got on the bus and we headed to Maketu by way of the Waitomo Caves. By the time we got to the caves at around 11am I was miserable, with my eyes and nose running constantly and sneezing all the time. Instead of aggravating my mild claustrophobia by heading into damp caves I spent a few hours in a coffee shop drinking ridiculous amounts of herbal tea, which helped a little.

Then on to Maketu (I honestly don't remember much of the bus ride) where we were welcomed on to a Maori marae, which is sacred land with (usually) two buildings on it; a house for eating and cooking, and a house for celebrations and ceremonies and sleeping. We ate a delicious dinner of peas, potatoes, bread stuffing, lamb (I didn't eat it but I heard it was good), and squash. Then we went inside the meeting house and went through the welcoming ceremony, which is quite interesting to behold. Basically, the warriors of the hosting tribe challenge the invading tribe (that would be us) to see whether they come in war or peace. It was super cool.

Afterward they showed us some Maori dances and songs, and they taught the guys the Haka, or war dance, and they taught the girls the Poi, which is another sort of dance. I wasn't too good at it, but it was fun to learn!

Here's our group photo with some of us in Maori clothes!


And then we all got out stuffed mattresses and bedded down on the floor of the meeting house for the night. Despite my being sick as a dog, it was kind of fun to all sleep on the floor in a big room. It felt like old time log cabin days, or living in a long house on the plains.


But I was even more sick when I woke up the next morning, and I knew I couldn't stand another full day on the bus feeling like I did. Plus, who wants to sit on a bus next to someone sneezing and coughing for hours? So I jumped off in Rotorua, got a hotel and settled in to hibernate for a few days, and here I've been ever since!

Rotorua, for those that don't know, is the geothermal capitol of New Zealand, and there are geysers and hot mud pools everywhere, even outside my hotel room window!


So there's nothing to report, really, for the last few days. Just a lot of me, laying in bed, watching tv on the internet (OMG, UNLIMITED INTERNET!), and blowing my nose. I'm feeling a lot better now, though! I'm going to be taking the bus out of Rotorua to Taupo and Whakahoro tomorrow and then after a few days there I'll be getting to Bulls and Palmerston North, where I'll hopefully be picked up for my new job!

Right now, though, I'm feeling kind of homesick. This is partly, I think, because I've had time to think about it, and partly because I'm on that homesick part of the culture shock sine wave, right after the "oh my gosh I can't believe I'm here and everything is so cool!" high. I miss my bed, and my house, and the familiarity of Northfield and having more than five shirts. And my family, of course. But I'm ok, and things will get exciting again, and I'll soon be at my new job (I hope) and then I won't be living out of bags like this.

So, until next time, crew!