winter is good in Whangaparaoa

i need to make an amendment. the last post is entitled "home sick".... this looks a lot like homesick. but what i meant was that i was staying home sick from school with rebekah. i'm a dork.

yesterday was another BEAUTIFUL day. i went to Waterfall Gully in Shakespear Park. when i arrived, i was swarmed by pukekos, which was eerie for me because they arent a kind of bird that's comfortable being around humans. oh well. i took a video to mark the occurance and then started along the path. about a minute into my walk, the trail led into the woods. freshly fallen pink flowers covered the path much like a light dusting of snow would, and as i became aware of my surroundings i was quite surprised. i quickly found myself in the midst of a jungle, or the closest to a jungle i've ever been in. there were surreal, twisty trees that i could swear were more alive than normal trees are. hard wooden vines tangled and wound about the sides of the path and there was green everywhere- green moss growing on the trees, a green tint to the air, greenery everywhere. speaking of the air- it must've been at least 5, if not 10 degrees cooler (farenheit) within the "jungle". i could still tell it was sunny outside, but i did so without direct evidence (no clear view of the sky through the canopy). large birds fluttered and thumped from branch to branch, eyeing me warily but for the most part quite unphased. Waterfall Gully was beautiful, but the pool at the bottom of the fall was brown and had scum sitting on the top of it. i started to think that it'd be a romantic spot to visit, but left with the impression that there were many other places i'd want to go with a guy before that waterfall :) still, it was gorgeous by its very nature.
i saw another tall but trickling waterfall further down the path. overall i found that there was too much to take in, and i'll have to go back a few more times to really be able to comprehend how incredible the place really is.

the kids and i went to swim lessons, and attitudes were great for the day. a good time all around.

today was even more beautiful than yesterday, in terms of weather. i was ambitious today. i got up and had this wonderful cereal for breakfast- it's called Light and Tasty and it's what i've been eating lately.. it has corn flakes and dried apricot bits and raisins and probably a type of granola or something along those lines. yeah, i've been consistently having breakfast! it's amazing. then i got the kids to school, came home, and went for a run. i decided upon a loop that would lead me first up this gigantic hill, thinking that i'd coast for the second half of the trip, running down the other leg of the loop and enjoying the view. holy smokes, this initial uphill climb was probably a bit TOO ambitious. pretty steep at times- not easy to walk up even. but i survived and afterwards i went to Rob's house (the man in Mandy's life) and took care of his cats/ironed his shirts. i hadnt ironed in forever!! but i had NO idea it would take me as long as it did. i hope i did it well enough- i did the best i could. i figured, ok, i need to spend 2 hours here, so i'll pop in a movie and watch while i iron- which i'll get done first, so i'll have time to chill afterwards with the cats till i leave. initially there were 15 or 16 shirts to iron; i got there at 10am; i left at 12:30pm; there were 2 shirts left. you do the math. it's fine, i'll do the other shirts tomorrow or friday. but i had NO clue that ironing would take that long for me! i need to brush up on my technique. anyone have any tips? by the end i was going faster, but geeeeez.
then i got back, made some lunch and sat out in the sun while i ate. after half an hour of sun time i had a line of red on my left arm and shoulder, some red on my cheek bones, and some color on my neck and surrounding area. WOOOHOOO. color, finally! one of these days i'm gonna pack up and head to the beach.

the kids have been great today as well. this weekend was rough in terms of behavior but they are good natured kids and they're letting that show.

Aaron Shuffles sent a letter, and today i got it! that was a fantastic surprise for me :) Mandy is good at making stationary so we are going to make some postcards and then... i'll send 'em out. soon i hope. i'm so glad i did a lot of stuff today. it's nice not having to do anything but it's also good to have a full day sometimes. i got to talk to the fam yesterday and it was refreshing to hear about home life as well as to listen to american accents :)

and a note to my grandma: vegemite and marmite are really super salty spreads. i tried vegemite in 6th grade and gagged. i remember the moment actually. and nutella is chocolate/hazelnut spread. :) if you want to come visit i have extra room in my bed!!! Mandy just bought me a new one and it's definitely quite large......

ok! it's about dinner time here. i'm out. i'll post more pictures of my Waterfall Gully romp once i get them off my camera!
i miss you! be blessed.

home sick

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/h118/nzherosquad/

i've been posting pictures on kodakgallery.com up till this weekend, but the problem with kodak is that i cant just post a link to share my pictures by, where you can go to check for updated pics. i have to send an email invite to everyone i want to share with and i dont want to keep sending emails to people- it feels like a nuisance, for me and for you! plus, i inevitably forget to include people when i'm sending out pictures. if you havent seen them thus far, let me know and i'll send you an invite the kodak albums. but i think i'll be posting on photobucket at that link (or you can go to photobucket.com and type in "nzherosquad" under the search option). you can access it whenever you want this way.

whew. ok. well today i am home with Rebekah for the day, who is sick with a bug that's apparently going around. guess who's probably going to get it next? yeah, this girl. grrrrrrreat. she's spent the morning on the couch, watching infomercials for Smartware (nonstick cookingware) and (currently) a spongebob movie.

well, this weekend was relatively uneventful. on saturday we went grocery shopping- WOW! i have never seen a cart so full. picture a shopping cart LITERALLY heaped, filled with stuff. that was our cart. we have so much food now! and no, it wasnt all for me or because of me. and this grocery store, pac'n'save, doesnt provide plastic bags for the food at the checkout! there are cardboard boxes at the front of the store if people want to pack their items up, but i saw people leaving the store with their groceries free in the shopping cart. different huh?
the rest of saturday was spent cleaning up. i have weekends to relax but i wouldnt have felt right just leaving everything to mandy so i definitely helped clean and tidy up. next weekend the kids are at their father's in Keri Keri, about 3 hours north. it'll be a long weekend as Monday will be a no school day, so Mandy and i decided that we'd go someplace really great. i dont know if this'll include Zorbing:

or visiting a vineyard, or doing some hiking..... oh who knows! maybe we'll hit up the west coast. i cant wait though. we're going to have some great times.

i still dont understand vegemite or marmite, or nutella. i mean at least nutella tastes good, but it's like having a gooey chocolate bar for breakfast on toast.

my dreams have been spectacular. they tend to include random samplings of friends from home on some sort of adventure. i wake up feeling refreshed from an unconscious nighttime romp with familiar faces :)

i'm working on loading more videos and i'll let you know when i get them up! take care and heaps of blessings on you all :) oh, and thanks so much for your emails and comments. they are good for my heart :)

Grace's AMAZING hands, they hold me

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=759388251&n=2

...the COWS.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=756614635&n=2

...Rebekah... completely made up on the spot. i didnt know she was going to say this, or anything like it. adorable.






jo.











they really like transformers. i told them about how some of my friends call me "magnatron" and they think that's the greatest! which it's not. rrrrrrrrr.




yesterday was WILD. while the kids were at school, i went grocery shopping! a full blown shopping trip, to the grocery store and then the specialty "fruit and veges" (veggies) store. spent over $100. the whole deal. it was fun but a bit confusing, in a new grocery store, to try and find my way around, and to figure out which brands i should be getting. that took a while in all. hmm, then i picked the kids up from school and went straight to swimming lessons about 45 minutes away. that went well, and we got in the car to go to Burger King (their dinner treat for the week). we drove through traffic about 5 minutes away, and it took about 15 minutes. we were very ready for dinner, when i realized i had left my bag (this lavender purse-satchel) at the swimming place!! shooooooot! there was nothing for it but to go back- i had mere cents on me and couldnt afford to buy dinner yet, so we started back towards the swim center. traffic was so bad that it took us about 50 minutes to get there. how MISERABLE. poor kids, they were cooped up in the car (poor me too, adults get bored just as well!) but for the most part they were good enough sports. we talked to God and asked him to keep the swim center open long enough for us to get there and get my bag... and God provided. on the way from the swim center to BK, traffic was non-existent (on that side of the road) and we got there in no time, had a good meal, and headed back... but not before calling Mandy to let her know where we were of course, of which she was greatly appreciative. we talked about God (His goodness and omnipresence) for a good while on the way back from dinner. they are smart cookies.

upon arriving home, i had a glass of wine and fell asleep as soon as possible.
i doubted that the swim center would be open, no matter how much i silently pleaded with God to keep it open till we got there. i figured swim centers have hours and that when we do stupid things like forget important stuff, we have to live with the consequences. thank you Lord for providing for us even through my doubt.

in other news, i had a SWEEEEET dream involving a cliff, hanggliders, aaron harrington, and david ells filming a movie about it all.

bedtime (midnight) here, 8am (work time) for most of you.

my skin NEEDs to get darker. i stand out so badly i bet judging by that first picture.
the middle pics were taken on my journey along fisherman's cove.
the last pic is of the pond that runs along the neighborhood i'm living in.
i will figure out a better way to post pictures, but for now, here are a handful (in this post and the one below it).

worth much more than 1000 words.

the peacocks in shakespear park are incredible. any of you who know about my turkey incident back in high school (my car was chased) can understand my fear when i pulled up near a few peacocks who were milling about, only to have them approach my car. not just shuffle towards it, but make a bee-line for it, come right up to my window. i started to roll the window up as one stood there with its neck stretched upwards right outside of my door, eyelevel dangerously high- or so i would consider it. i didnt lock the doors but this one looked as if he could get inside my car if he had really wanted to.

the bird that you dont recognize with the blue feathers on its breast is called a pukeko (POO-kee-koh). they are very awkward, very afraid of people, and make the most miserable noises... but they are quite nifty to look at.

i spent a couple days in Auckland visiting my friend Julia this past weekend. i had a really good time walking around the city and being in the company of other Americans, though i havent really had any longings for people with my accent- it was just nice.

we went to a Belgian Brewery, where i had a Hoegaarden and didnt grimace the whole way through it. while we were sitting, two cops and a cameraman walk in and approach a man in a booth a few tables away. we joked about it being something crazy like a New Zealand-equivalent of the US's Cops... and how they would have to be pretty desperate to include a story on some guy who had been in a bar too long. we soon found out that it was, indeed, a live shooting of an episode of whatever the NZ "Cops" show is!! can you believe it?! it was lame, no struggle or even raised voices. the man settled his tab and eventually left, a bit disgruntled but definitely not tv-worthy. the people working at the brewery said it wasnt staged, that they had called the police on this guy who had been hanging around too long.



wow, earrings are SO cheap here. we went to a marketplace where vendors were selling beautiful carved-shell jewelry at, say, 3 pairs of earrings for $10NZD (about $6.64USD). these are NICE earrings. i mean, especially for the cost, but they're not the type you'd find in Claire's or at a teen girl store in the mall.
Julia is a great tour guide. i had a wonderful first time experience in Auckland and it was fantastic seeing someone i've known for so long in such a distant land.

i'm going to a "little league" rugby tourney on thursday! Josiah made the school team even though he's technically a grade too young, and i'm going to drive him and stay for the day. i'm pretty excited to learn about rugby and cricket.

dusk here is something to be cherished. morning is technically like dusk in many ways, but mornings are crisp, the light peeks over the horizon and blares at the lush green that is Whangaparaoa, and mornings are out of character with the laidback way of life here. dusk, on the other hand.. it has that worn-in-jeans feel to it: comfortable, breezy, dimmed, it makes me want to wear capris and a tanktop no matter what the temperature. the light fades and inevitably tints everything with its rich golden rays.

out of sight, out of mind

thankfully, i am not feeling that way! (see subject above). i've loved getting emails and comments from you all back in the states! just yesterday, i even received a fantastic package from my friend Stacey, containing 6 books to read and a letter. i was thrilllllllled beyond belief. i plan to start writing letters today, because i havent yet figured out what to do with myself while the kids are at school.

yesterday i had my first day of "work". it went smoothely enough. i cooked sausages for dinner and boy, the stove was a battlefield. hot oil does not belong on my skin. ouch. i should have thought to cover the pan, but i didnt till it was prepared.
while they were at school, i went exploring, walked about 7 minutes down the road to Fisherman's Cove. i took pictures and a video or two ;) and will be sharing them as soon as i get the electric converter/adaptor back from rob, who's borrowing it. the cove was unbelieveable. i shimmied along some rocks along the water and the path soon took me onto a grassy cliff. i could see the ocean and the coastline distantly across the bay. strange birds were nested in canopies of trees which were near my eyelevel, since they were rooted further down the steep cliff banking. a lot of the flowers here are unlike any i've seen. i took pictures of one which looks like it's made of firey bright orange-yellow tissue paper, blossoming from a bush. it's never silent here, and that struck me as i was traversing gentle rolling mounds on the cliff; even birds and insects harmonize with each other and create perpetual background tones. here, it's debatable whether they're actually background noises or not, because the caucauphony of sound sometimes overwhelms even my thoughts.

This morning, i heard small footsteps approaching my room at 6:50am, and soon thereafter saw the silouhette of Rebekah in my doorway. this house is always cold, so i invited her in and within minutes the two boys had joined us. they hid beneath the covers when Mandy approached and the bed must have looked absurdly lumpy to anyone witnessing the scene. it was a nice way to wake up. besides getting the kids to school, i've done very little today. after lunch i plan to take a walk /somewhere/.. who knows where. i've been reading Kissing Adrien, which is one of the books Stacey sent. it's very easy to read and lighthearted so far- witty too- so i'm getting along quickly through it.

i hope i find some friends here soon. i'll likely see Julia this weekend, and tour around auckland.

everything is beautiful here.

fragmented

....this is going to be nonsensical at times but i'll TRY to type it out. i'm overwhelmed and dont really feel like typing about it because there's so much, but i want to tell YOU and hear from you too. i dont really have any pictures yet so i realize that only a very few brave souls will traverse the winding letters that make up this entry, but so be it!

The flights were fine. I wrote below about my flight across the US, mostly about the time we were over Arizona (i think, i imagine) when i could see the ground and the clouds were sparse. The flight the Auckland was delayed over an hour, and when i got here they had lost my luggage....... which i still dont have. but they gave me a $100 allowance ($64 USD equivalent) so i got toiletries and one outfit. i already have great ideas for things to bring back as cheap/free souvenirs :)

i saw a peacock! walking around. hanging out in the big national park on the end of the peninsula. wait till i get some pictures......... you wont believe it. it is so much more beautiful here than i could have imagined. driving from here to there, i get the most beautiful views, water on each side. the peninsula is much larger than i had believed it to be but in it's relative immensity it is all the more gorgeous. and it's so clean! same with auckland. everywhere, i havent seen a place yet which is dirty or even "normal"... everything is bright and green. yesterday it rained 7 times by my count, so that explains a bit of the lush appearance ;) yesterday i had a few chunks of time to myself in the city (outskirts of auckland) and i walked around alone, feeling fully safe and loving the rolling hills that the city is built upon. it was more suburby than cityish, where i was. but i am struck by the clean state of everywhere i've been.
in Whangaparaoa (pronounced Fawhng-ah-pah-roh-ah), where i'm living with Mandy and the kids, there are so many houses but i dont feel crowded. there are palm trees and grass and bushes and other trees everywhere. on the very end of the peninsula is Shakespear Park, as mentioned above. it's this vast expanse of hilly, green area, surrounded of course by water, with beaches and filled with livestock (horses, sheep, cows) and birds milling about. i've only been there once so far, but there will be more to say about it once i start spending time there. it is breathtaking.

i drove today. i've been here just over 24 hours, and i am already driving. oh man, it was nerve-wrecking. i start my actual "job" tomorrow, which entails almost NOTHING, so today was a practice/hang out day. Mandy is so excited to show me everything here. anyhow, i drove an automatic (THANK THE LORD) on the right side of the car on the left side of the road. oh and get this- if i'm turning left (it's like taking a right turn in the states- turning onto the same side of the road) and a car coming in the other direction is making the same turn, i have to yield to them! isnt that backwards? but it's good to know because it could cause issues. later today i have to drive in Auckland... slightly nerve-wrecking to say the least. it's the biggest city in NZ!

i had a new type of fruit called feijoa (fee-ju-wah)... which tastes like nothing i've had, really. it's equally sweet and tart, and you eat it in the same way you'd eat kiwi fruit.

i am not very tired and i am not homesick yet. i still cant believe that this is my home for THREE WHOLE MONTHS. the accents here make me continually happy.

the kids! i havent even mentioned them really yet. i'm scattered. rebecca, caleb, and josiah are completely friendly and excited for me to be here, not timid at all. rebecca has already proclaimed her love for me, and josiah is smart and polite, a good older brother. caleb has a wide beautiful smile and i know i will have a good time being goofy and having fun with him. we havent all really done much together, just milled about the house. tomorrow, like i said, i'll start being in charge of them.

oh, by the way... i'm 8 hours "behind" EST (a day ahead) or 16 (not 18 as previously stated) hours ahead.

the family doesnt eat much cheese- talk about being placed with the RIGHT FAM. hahaha. they eat a lot of curry, which is DIVINE. i'm so happy about that. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

You know how people dream in French or Spanish? i dreamed in a New Zealand accent last night... everyone in my dream had an accent :)

there's a spattering of what i've been experiencing here. i need to go, but i'll take some pictures and write more when i can. i'm having a staring contest with a beautiful little kiwi girl who is gaping at me across the table, wide-eyed, and not talking to me (mandy's neighbor and her daughter are visiting)........ love and blessings to each of you.

across the US

5/13/06
White ribbons dart through the sky
Trying to keep up with jets
Have you seen the desert through a mist?
Rock and sand stretch farther than my eyes will
They ache from sunshine like I havent seen in five days
But everything's hazy from 4500 feet up above
I dont understand how spits of cloud can linger in such a way
Have you seen the clouds part?
I hadnt before this day
But now I have seen majesty
Sometimes the barrenness looks like the ocean
Or a beach
Sands ripple and fold, swirl and flow
I've learned so much, and I've been gone for 5 hours
My forehead is pressed against this grimy window
Counting the ice crystals formed on the other side of the pane
Try as i might, I cannot see ahead
I can only watch behind
If there was a door, I'd step onto the wing and bask in the speed and the sun
Everytime the plane dips to this side
I see sand
I could pick it up, a handful, and fun the silky grains through my fingers
Have you ever seen a horizon?
I never knew what a horizon was until i followed a winding river past my mind's belief
We make grids
But God is much more creative with His shaping of the earth..

pre-game show

There you have it.
This is where i'll be living- in Whangaparaoa, in the Auckland region, about 40 minutes north of Auckland itself. Near to the marina that you can see in that second picture- it's called Gulf Harbour. I'm going to be a live-in nanny for a family of 5. Mandy is the mother of the family and she is in a relationship with Rob; both of them have been very friendly throughout emails, phonecalls, and webcam meetings, and both are as excited about this as i am. Mandy's children are Rebecca (6), Calib (7), and Josiah (9), and they are each incredibly cute from what i have experienced of them thus far.

This is pretty bittersweet for me. For now, i'm concerned with spending time with the people i wont be seeing for the entire summer, but i know that i am so fortunate to have this opportunity and as soon as the goodbyes are past (ugh :( ) i'll start to think towards the future more.

I leave in less than two weeks, on May 13th, and i'll be back on August 15th. Anyone want to pick me up from Logan on 8/15 at 10pm? :) come on, boston dwellers.

Julia Bruno, my best friend from elementary school (and current friend, but that's where it all started) has been in Auckland since the beginning of last summer, and will be there till late july, and so i'm that much more excited to spend time with her in such a far off place. she really knows how to travel.

here're some facts for you. i'll be 18 hours ahead of you, so pretty much whenever you're awake EST (with the exception of after midnight) i will be what looks like 8 hours behind you, but a day ahead. make sense? think about that. :) also, it's winter there now. or, rather, probably fall. it'll be winter. but Auckland never even gets a frost during their winter. i think i can live with that :)

well, that's that for now. sometime in the future, please comment with questions, to let me know you're reading and thinking of me, to tell me about little things going on, or to remind me to send you a post card ;) what have you. i'm not even gone and i miss you already.