Saturday, February 09, 2008

Stingray

Why oh why would I call this post stingray? Well let me tell you.

The day began with me waking up FAR, FAR too early in the morning for someone who just flew and was in transit for a ridiculous amount of time!!! 6:30 am...what?!? I dozed for a few hours and then dragged myself out of bed. We chatted as roomies in the living room for a while and Tabitha invited me to go to Goat Island with her and her boyfriend and another Sherry from Canada who is a teacher and her boyfriend. I thought no, I won't go I will be too tired. Tania invited me to go with her to a pool party that night and in the end I opted to go with Tabitha after all because you only live once and it is the end of summer and who knows what the weather will do later on!

So we hopped in the car and drove about an hour and a half outside of Auckland to go to Goat Island and snorkel. The guy at the rentals gave us a deal because we promised to get our gear back in by a certain time so he wouldn't be late for his next job that was somewhere else. It was cheap as!! (as they say here in NZland). So off we went with our wet suits and snorkels. There were tons of fish! It was great. Once while I was off on my own for a wee bit (which made me a bit nervous), I was kicking my fins and low and behold swimming along on the bottom was a STINGRAY!!! It was HUGE and freaky!! So I quickly backed up and watched it float along from a distance.

We then drove back into the city to have gourmet burgers and hit up a chocolate cafe. Yum. I must say that after eating some food I was ready for bed!! I came home and checked the email and hit the hay. I had a choppy, broken up sleep however because it was so hot and muggy!! Today is the same...hot 27 degrees and 100% humidity for sure!

So tonight we're having a community potluck and I will get to meet everyone hereabouts. good stuff.

On another note, I learned that the community area that I am living in is not the best area in regards to safety etc., so please pray. I am not quite sure how to go out for a run around here! So pray. I am glad to be here nonetheless. The more I have chatted with Tania about community living, I think I am here more for the community aspect rather than for teaching. We'll see what God has up his sleeve!

Birthdays and a Home away from Home

I arrived here in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 8th, my birthday. It was 25 degrees celsius and it was a glorious and beautiful day. I was so tired that I left my gray cardigan and Nolan's novel "Scarlet" on the baggage cart after I loaded up the car with all my luggage. Some nice Kiwis flagged us down and told me that I left the sweater in the cart. I ran out of the car bar footed and grabbed the sweater, but failed to see that I had left the book in the cart as well. It's unfortunate because I only had about 1 or 2 chapters left to read until I was finished it. It was also unfortunate because it was a gift from Melanie to Nolan for Christmas. I feel bad, but it was just a book and thankfully not a camera. Things can go missing when you are tired like that after traveling.

The airport as I have discovered is not very far away. While trying to sleep last night I heard very large planes flying overhead and I wished I had better earplugs. Anyhow, Tania drove me "home" to 8 Atawere Rd. in Manukau, Auckland (far right window is my bedroom ). They had prepared a room for me, newly wall papered (floor still somewhat wet from some spilled water), a comfy bed with a down comforter (not sure why down...it's stinkin' hot to sleep with that!), a desk (for homework or procrastinating), and a shelfy thing for clothes and such. Tania also added a bit of a feminine touch by putting some beautiful tropical flowers in

a really cool vase and a welcome card by my bed. Oh and we can't forget the incense set for a lovely smelling room.

In my attempt to stay awake, I unpacked while Tania went to the grocery store to grab some things for dinner. She cooked dinner and she texted the next door neighbours while cooking to tell them that it was my birthday. Thelma and Sam Chapman came over and gave me big hugs of welcome and birthday wishes and stayed to dinner. It was nice and they sang happy birthday to me in Maori. There is a first time for everything. I met the new roomies Tabitha and Kirsten along with other friends who dropped by and shared a Kiwi desert with us for my birthday!! Pavlova...it was yummy, but very sweet.

I lasted until about 9:20pm and then excused myself from the festivities to go to bed. Sleep is always so sweet after such a long trip and I was looking forward to a deep and long sleep. I climbed into bed and was drifting off to sleep when somewhere in my brain I heard knocking on my door. Low and behold it was NOLAN!!!! He called to wish me a happy birthday! I love him sooo much!! It made my day to hear his voice. It made me feel somewhat homesick but it made me feel so much better about being in a new place and sort of by myself. I felt loved even from afar and not so alone. After a short conversation ( I was trying so hard not to fall asleep!) we said goodbye and I slept. Mmmmmm...sweet sleep.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Planes, planes and more planes

As I looked up and realized what the digital words and numbers read, my stomach dropped and I began to sweat. Los Angeles, gate C25, flight 287. Hey, wait a cotton pickin' minute!! My boarding pass says-San Fransisco, gate C25, flight 728!! AND...boarding was technically supposed to be 45 minutes ago. I quickly packed up my lap top (I was actually working on my homework) and quickly made my way to the agent desk to make some panicky inquiries. As I stood at the desk and waited I began to picture the scenario in my head. I must have gotten so wrapped up in my homework that I missed the boarding call and missed my flight!! How could I have missed my flight when they never even opened the glass doors into gate C25!?!? I mean, we were all sitting at a different gate looking through the glass at the gate that our flight was supposed to board from. When I did ask the airline employee I was quickly calmed as he stated that I was in the right spot and I hadn't missed my plane. I was so relieved!! I have to admit I wondered for a moment if God's plans had changed and I needed to stay in Calgary. Things that make you go hmmmm.

Anyhow...So that flight left late and when we landed in San Fransisco, I immediately boarded the next plane to Sydney Australia. Once seated I met my row mate, a girl named Kathleen, but I was to call her Kat. She was going on a 3 week vacation to NZ all on her own! We had some good chats. After eating dinner at what was about 12:30am my time, I took a sleep-eze, felt sick for about an hour and then drifted in and out of sleep for a while. SLEEP!!! I actually slept on a plane!!! It was miraculous!! So by the time I arrived in Sydney, I didn't feel completely like garbage, I still felt mostly human being.