Back on the Farm

So it was so nice to be back in Palmerston North with Kevin, Noeline and Thomas ( And reunited with my darling Bippy) They are just so sweet and relaxed; really chill folks to hang out with, and we also have some great discussions. Though traveling around on the South Island has been great, I did not get the chance to stay with families (though I tried) and really, I missed that type of interaction. I am a people person and being with families is just really a special thing for me. On the South I spent most of my social life around hostels, which also is really interesting, meeting travelers and people that own hostels, I also greatly appreciate that but truth be told I wanted something a bit for familiar and just seeing Noeline at the bus stop was really nice. Though I have not known them for long, I feel that in that short time, they do know me a bit more than most of the people I come across, I have a history with them, though brief, it is nice to have that feeling of having a history with people.

I am now in Taupo and will stay with Ngahuia, she is the young woman I met at the WOMAD concert a while ago; I will hang out with her for a few nights then I will head back to Te Teko and stay with Zandra for a night. I want to stay longer but I am headed away from this lovely country, and going to New Caldonia on Tuesday. There I also plan to stay with families (through couchsurfing...so wish me luck) and to attempt to learn some francais. I will be there for about 3 weeks.

Kayaking!!!!!

So I love kayaking! I went on a really nice relaxing kayaking journey for about 6 hours at Abel Tasman Park near Nelson. At the beginning of the trip I was with a kayak partner from Holland who was really sweet, an 18 year old. When I told him my age he said "wow you are twice my age plus a year" hee hee....funny, but then I had to switch kayaks in the water (meaning I had to balance fairly well---it was touch and go for a while there:) Why? you may ask, because the guide thought it better if I was in his kayak. I guess I was just either, really bad at paddling, too relaxed or too chatty, and well, after I got into his kayak...seems he really wanted to chat :) so, he had me switch into the front seat where you work less. So I didn't mind, I had been the captain of the other kayak while sitting in the back. See, in the back you actually control the rudder and you also paddle--a bit too involved for me. So I was happy about the move into his kayak with him in the back bing the captain. And he got to coach me on paddling technique which I really needed. And well this guide and I had an interesting talk about relationships. The talks with him were the catalyst for some of the talks with my roomies at the Palace hostel. He was really funny and flattering, I ought to add:). I am chuckling now just thinking about it. He had some wild stories that I just can't share over the internet....funny stuff...but back to the kayaking, the seals are rockstars, can I be a seal in my next life, and in particular, a seal at Abel Tasman, they are on the top of the food chain:) Check them out, just chillin in the sun...sounds nice....but what have I got to complain about, I am kinda a seal once in a while.

Bippy and I, soon to be reunited:)

So I am back in Picton staying at Tombstone hostel, right near the cemetery. I went swimming in a lovely bay and had a nice little hike. People thought I was crazy for swimming this time of year, but in the US the water is usually freezing so the water here seemed warmer than what i had been swimming in in Seattle. And the hostel is nice with large grounds and a clean hot tub. It is also a great spot with a real mattress so I sleep very well. Tomorrow I head out to Wellington and will be staying on the dairy farm for a night or 2. I will be reunited with Bippy. I have missed my little doll. And Noeline has been great about keeping me in the loop of Bippy's various adventures. Bippy went to school with Noeline (she is a teacher) and made a new friend. She is learning guitar, so she can entertain me on those long bus rides. But she did pick up the habit of smoking a pipe, which I do worry about. And she even wrote me a get well card when I was sick. Noeline was so sweet to email me Bippy updates while we were apart. Yes it will be nice to be reunited :) and also it will be really great to see Kevin, Thomas and Noeline, they made me feel so at home and that is really important when one is on the road for a while:)

Palace Talks

So I did end up back in Nelson after 5 days in Christchurch. Though I really loved my stay at Trampers Rest last time, I was told about the Palace Hostel and really wanted a girls' dorm room. Sorry guys but sharing a room with a bunch of men usually (not always) is a rather smelly adventure. And truth be told I just wasn't in the mood. That said, I was shown to the messiest room (full of women) that I have seen, but hey it didn't smell :) And the women had been staying there for months, they were cleaners at the hostel and were leaving in 2 days so I hung in there and had a great time; I also saw Lachlan again briefly because he also was there. Anyway, 2 days later another group of women (also working at the Hostel) moved into the empty beds (this group was much neater) and we had some lively discussions about various things (Pres. Obama, hope, ethnicity, change, Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, sex, STDs, generations etc)--see me, being a good ten years older than them lead me to ask about the rise of casual sex in relationships among younger people----I just have noticed the difference between traveling (generally speaking of course) in the early 90s and now, among the young women---i could go in depth but that could be another blog topic:) being that all us new roomies were all from different places: Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, USA - (White) Arkansas, and then me, our talks were really interesting.

Affirmative Action Talks late into the Night
The last night I was there the woman from the Czech Rep, asked about racism in the US and if it exists. She said that some people she has spoken with said that it is all equal in the ole USA. So basically the woman from Arkansas and myself dispelled that little rumor and I spoke at length about racism that I encountered and my family and friends, institutionalized.. etc. The woman from Arkansas also spoke at length about the racism that she has seen and that she had never even been to school with any Black children until high school. We spoke some about the difference in the North and Southern parts of the US and also the fact that in some respects they can also be quite similar. What really got heated was a talk about Affirmative Action --yes again, I had to discuss this topic, since I was in high school this has been a topic that i routinely discuss with people not from the US (I had last talked about it with Nitzan) and with mostly White American students that due to media hype and fear of losing out on some piece of their entitlement pie, they deeply concern themselves with whether the Black kids in college "deserve" to be there...no they don't seem to question all the White kids about whether they "deserve" to be there...nor are Asian kids likely questioned (likely not questioned due to the "academic" stereotype that they deal with)....after all, even the very questioning of the intellect of these Black (and also Latino and Native American) students is one of the reasons why affirmative action exists, the abundant questioning is based on stereotypes and prejudices (derived from the ignorant premise that these people of color are intellectually inferior)..... so I could go on and on about this at great length but I will refrain...well just a little...; anyway so I went into a discussion about this topic and really it went well and the Arkansas woman understood more about Af.Action and also about the idea of entitlement, see the entitlement topic I freely talked about as one of the main problems within America's social structures......anyway I digress, The Czech woman was really interested in the topic and thanked us for the lively dialogue, and wanted to take whatever class I would teach. The woman from Ireland was knitting and just seemed tuned in at the end. And the woman from Arkansas was very thoughtful and talked with me further about the intensly prejudiced ideas that she grew up with. (Hence more illustration of one of the many reasons for the need of Af.Action, ironic that she at first had such a problem with it) And one point she asked me if I thought she was an asshole, and I said No, I am used to this discussion, and she was open to listening to a different perspective which is more than most people would have done. She was open, seemed really honest and was very thoughtful with the ideas presented. And we both agreed that that is one of the only ways that we can work out the various social problems in general, is by talking about them and listening to each other....dialogue :)

It is just so interesting all the misconceptions we can have about one another; and what also interests me more, especially being overseas is the concept of entitlement. In NZ some White New Zealanders think that Maori New Zealanders are getting "too much"....what is "too much" (similar talks in the states concerning casinos owened by Native American Tribes). Some Maori businesses do really well, and there are community trusts that benefit the entire Maori community in a region, Sounds Awesome to me!!! Many White New Zealanders are thrilled about this but still many spoke about others that think that Maoris are doing too well...Too Well?!!...sounds like they think that Maoris are getting too much of their piece of the pie. And then I think about my talks with Beth at the start of my trip (She was on the first farm) and we talked about resources, and how really that that is what many people fight over, and really if there was a scale illustrating who has the control over the most resources in the world...well we likely know who is the winner in that regard, the winner ain't Maori I can tell ya that. So that brings me back to entitlement. And when I asked, the girl from Arkansas who had a "real" problem with Affirmative Action"who should be sitting in those University seats if Black students should not be there, who should be there?" She shook her head and looked down,knowingly and said "Whites" and I said, "That is entitlement and that is a big problem with America; with the world" She nodded. Anyway I felt like I was back in grad school teaching a class on Race Dialogue with my good friend Taura...oh I miss ya girl.

Baby Bondi

So I decided to give birth to a rolly polly baby girl named Bondi (after the Bonderman Travel Fellowship). I thought that I was just bloated from all the yogurt but nope it was little Bondi. And see that crazy look in my eye, that is from the shock and exhaustion...who knew?:)

Ok just kidding Mom don't get your hopes all up:) This is my friend's baby Freida, ain't she the cutest!!! So basically I have no excuse for the crazy look in my eye or my bloated belly.

a cuss out but then on to family life in Christchurch

The Cuss Out
Okay so, I forgot to mention that there was a brief spell on the road trip where ...okay, I unleashed the rare Kuzi (my nickname to some) fury. So in a small town, Te Anau, Nitzan and I walked into a hostel and we were met with well....just a rude ass woman. We wanted a room and she scoofed at us when we wanted to see the room first, in some cases we were able to see the rooms but this woman acted like it was just the craziest thing she ever heard, so well we reluctantly said okay and paid for the room, then we drove around the camp grounds to the room, when we saw the room; now we did not even open the door, it was a sliding glass door that we could easily see into....see, if she had indicated that then I would have kept a lid on the fury...we were unhappy with the room and drove back to her office (entire process took 2 min) and said that it was not what we wanted (long story) so she gave me crazy attitude which at first I went to my happy zen place with...but then she wanted to charge us a 10% fee because we did not cancel 24hrs in advance....now we had just talked to her about the room 5 minutes before for the first time...which is what i told her...but she really wanted some type of fee, so I just waited there at the desk (Nitzan was in the car) and looked at her like she was trippin all the while with a smile. She then said that I was rude, so I asked her, "Am I yelling or seemingly upset right now, aren't I being pleasant?" She didn't say anything, likely sensing that the actual"rude" Akua is not what she really wants to experience.So I gave her some chances and was sweet to her, she angrily gave me all our money back...which I genuinely said "thank you" for , to which she barked, "thank you for being a waste of my time!" so then I replied "thank you for being a ####*****" No it was not my most poetic response or even what I would have wanted to say upon greater reflection but well, we all have our moments. So that was my first real curse out while traveling. Hope there wont be many more. But after that we went to the place that I had wanted to stay at called Bob and Maxines (we had been unable to find it at first), a lovely and perfect homie hostel where we met English language students and fellow travelers, Stuart and Emma from Taiwan, and we all laughed about how difficult our names were and how easy their names were for us to say. Then we had a cozy night and watched Lord of the Rings which is a "must" while in NZ...at least that is what I am told. Also big shout out to Bob and Maxine, they have one of the coziest and cleanest places I have seen, I could have stayed a while.

So the adventures in Bimba ended in Christchurch...wow what a name, can't get more Christian than that huh...anyway I said goodbye to Nitzan and stayed in CC for about 5 days I think. It is a cute city. Nitzan and I both are city girls so we were happy to be in one (at least for a little while anyway) I was also really thrilled that my cousins friends lived in CC (coincidentally they also happened to be related to another friend of mine too) So I hung out with them a couple times which was really nice and as close to being around family and I could be. Malik is from NYC and Sue is from New Zealand but they both had lived in Seattle. So well, it was really special to spend time with them. Because really, though I am all about travel and solo travel, life on the road especially an unfamiliar road can get a bit lonely in the sense that one can really long for familiar expressions or just common understandings about various things, I donno...I find that when I am around people that share a similar background or even references, I realize just how special that can feel, I don't even realize that i am missing it until I am around it and that is what happened with Sue and Malik. Thanks ya'all

Adventures in Bimba

So our little car took us to Nelson lakes and then the beach. And those one lane bridges winding around a mountain, wow, that is freaky. So we had a great time listening to music, hearing Lachlan belt out some tunes and stopping along the side for those scenic photos. It was a nice change to be in a car and have a bit more freedom. And Nitzan really rocked the driving!!! I was the entertainment coordinator like Julie on Loveboat:) Anyway the glacier was beautiful but I chose not to walk on it, I just gazed at it and tried to ignore sandflies biting me. Lachlan went ice picking on the glacier and had a great time. he is a professional Cricket player...never met one of those before. Anyway we stayed at Franz josef for a few nights and then Lachlan dove with a girl that was riding alone to keep her company, which is the kind of fella he is. Anyway we caught up with both of them in Wanaka. And I figured out that the German girl he rode with was the bartender that I got a drink from while in New Plymouth, I recognized her because she was the only person in the restaurant that was actually really friendly to me. So it was just me and Nitzan hitting the road. And we had a good time chatting about men, war, politics, Obama, peace, music, movies, media....She is a very interesting person, she is an Israeli attorney living in Australia, oh and she happens to be an amazing chef.