Thursday was pretty meh, I just has class and in Kapa Haka we learned a new song! It was actually really cool and it is completely going to be my favorite class without a doubt. On Friday I decided to take the 300-level dance class, just to test it out, and it was the greatest thing ever. Instead of being bored and slightly frustrated at the end of class, I felt refreshed and blissfully happy. We did contact improv and partnering which was awesome. Contact improv is such a good icebreaker, especially because we had our eyes closed, and after about ten minutes of giving your weight to the other person and vice versa, and basically rolling around on the floor, you open your eyes to then meet the person with whom you were doing contact improv with. The guy I partnered with was really creative as well (a little too bossy though) so the partnering sequence we came up with was really cool. After class, I decided I needed to switch into this one. How could I stay in the boring, too-easy class after having such a wonderful experience in this one? So, I talked to both of the professors (one of which teaches the class I was currently enrolled in) about switching in. There would be no schedule conflicts, as the lone conflict would be the dance class I would be dropping. I met with the International Student Coordinator to get a Concession for the class (seriously, I had to do this on the last possible day to switch classes without even getting permission to take the course beforehand) and it all seemed fine. However, it doesn't appear that I got a concession in time, so I might be stuck in the boring dance class. I hope not - even the students seemed like people I would like to befriend more than in 220. Ugh, I hope I can take 320. I would love to not spend an hour each class DOING THE 3-MINUTE WARMUP BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN'T REMEMBER THE COMBINATION/HAVE TO BE REMINDED TO POINT THEIR TOES AND SIT UP STRAIGHT. Not that I have any strong feelings about this or anything.
After all this I went to Devonport! Which is a ten-minute ferry ride from Auckland. It's actually connected to the mainland but you have to go across the bridge and the bus gets expensive here. Also, going by ferry is really pretty. When we got to Devonport we decided to go in search of the beach since it was already about 4pm. We stopped for a short trip up to the top of North Head (one of the many, many giant hills in the Auckland area) which was gorgeous, and then went to the beach. The beach was kind of anticlimactic because the water wasn't actually deep so we couldn't swim without going halfway to Rangitoto - but it was kind of cool because it looked like we were walking on water 100 feet out because it was ankle deep! We wanted to keep wandering around Devonport and go in shops a lot, but everything was closed. It was sad - I hear there are lots of cute shops in Devonport. Maybe I'll have to go back during the day.
Devonport!
there are really cute houses in Devonport
in a tree!
the wonderful part is that the sky is really that blue
and the grass is really that green
the beach where we swam! (sort of)
see? not far from Auckland
the ocean was so still it was glassy
group photo!
After we returned from Devonport I was making dinner and my flatmate was watching tv when suddenly she started shouting about the earthquake and tsunami that was happening in Japan. She kept shouting "this is live, Rachel, LOOK!". We watched in horror as the oil refinery was burning and the live video coverage of the ocean waves flooding people's homes and cars being brought back out to sea. It was scary. New Zealand was under a tsunami warning (like many countries), but I think we're okay now. The highest waves predicted were about 1m anyway. After watching the news for a few hours we decided to go to a pub to watch a rugby game. Well, my flatmate wanted to go watch the rugby game, I just didn't want to sir around and watch American Idol in my flat. I got a Cosmopolitan at the pub (that's what they drink on Sex and the City - it was really good, actually), and tried a sip of a Pina Colada. Yum. We walked back to the flat around midnight and I went to bed straight away. I was SO tired.
Yesterday I got up early and went to the Pasifika Festival! It was so fabulous. There were dance performances, singing/music, shops, food, everything, and unlike the festivals I have been to in the states, it wasn't filled with overpriced and deep-fried food and so many people that you can't breathe. There was so much to see because each country had a village filled with whatever they wanted of music, dance, food, souvenirs, and other things. It really felt like they were raising cultural awareness. At the last village we went to, Tahiti, they speak French so I ordered my éclair in French! It was cool. I really want to go to Tahiti now... oh, and learn Tahitian dance!
villages!
flax bouquet of roses
ice cream. in a pineapple. best thing ever.
beautiful fans!
this was totally candid. I was so in love with this éclair.
After the Pasifika Festival I went to the IES BBQ for some delicious food. I met some of the students who were originally in Christchurch (who I hadn't met yet) which was awesome. AND THEN rugby! The game itself wasn't the most fascinating but I usually don't feel that way about sporting events. Our seats were really good and even though [the team I was apparently rooting for] lost it was still interesting. We also did the wave, which was awesome when it finally got all the way around to us! After the rugby game we took the train back to PSV where we hung out for a while before going to town. Town was pretty fun - other than somehow there was salt dumped on me? Literally, it was covering my scalp and hair and on my clothes and I could taste it.. I am still confused as to how and why that happened. So bizarre.
(rugby game - and this picture isn't even zoomed in. that's how good our seats were)
Today I did some grocery shopping, including going to the French Farmer's Market in Parnell. It was wonderful! I was so tempted to buy olives - maybe next week. Splurge every once in a while, I suppose. I bought sesame seed and kumara (sweet potato) bread for $5, it was pretty good. I went to the normal grocery store too, and that's basically been my day. (I got up at 12:30pm.) Waiheke/Piha didn't happen, but that's okay because Friday and Saturday were really busy. And I just made dinner of garlic shrimp and pasta with my kumara bread! Probably the fanciest thing I've made so far. It's good, I'm learning to cook, and since I'll be in an apartment next year I'll be a semester ahead of learning to cook than I otherwise would be.
WHEW. That was long. With a lot of pictures though! Also, I lost my sunglasses yesterday :( I only brought one pair so this means I have to go buy another pair. I really liked my sunglasses too! I think I left them at the transport center downtown..
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