~/~Windy Welly~\~

Thursday: So we arrived in Wellington around 9:30, met up with Kana and caught up with her before heading to bed. Pretty boring day, although we have finally started discussing God in my Philosophy class, so it should be rather interesting the rest of my time here. I'm apprehensive about it, but am praying it will only strengthen my faith in our Savior, not hinder it. Pray that for me as well, and that He'll give me the courage to stand up for Him if need be!!!


Friday: We woke up after a crappy sleep. We slept on the floor of Kana's room, which wasn't very comfy, and woke up several times throughout the night. I don't think I really ever fell into a deep sleep at all. Oh well. We walked around downtown Wellington, then Sara and I went to Te Papa, the free museum in Wellington. It was huge and we had fun. We rode "rides" which ended up being really weird, but oh well. We met up with Aaron (fellow Canterbury Arcadia student) and the people he was staying with for a little while. After about 4 hours there and awing over the only Giant/Colossal Squid on display, we headed to the grocery store for milk, cereal, and a gift for Kana. Then it was back to her place, where we spent about an hour chilling before heading out to dinner, we hoped with fellow ArcadiaNZ. However, Kana didn't have her phone and I had no numbers, so we weren't positive where they were eating. Turns out about 4 separate groups went to 4 separate places, and we didn't run into any of them haha. Instead we ate at an Irish Pub and watched the Canterbury Rugby team on the big screen. I ordered wings that were delicious! We had heard the news about Patrick Swayze at this point and went back to have a movie night watching Dirty Dancing and Ghost at Kana's. We didn't go to bed til after 1 and Sara and I were exhausted. I couldn't help but wonder about Patrick Swayze's family and what they must be experiencing. I was hoping they wouldn't or hadn't watched Ghost, cause I was extremely depressed after and can't imagine what they would have felt.

Saturday: We woke up and headed for the zoo around 10:30. The sleep this night was the worst of the entire weekend for me, since I slept on the floor again. Sara slept on a mattress she rented for $5 NZ, but I didn't have any cash and figured I didn't care that much. The zoo was pretty cool and really interactive, and the exhibits were so much better than anywhere I've been in Illinois. They were much more open and weren't "cage-like." Instead, there were motes around "islands" where the animals were, except of course the really dangerous ones. We got to feed a giraffe, see a kiwi, and throw fruit to chimps. It was cool and a good day. Plus I got to see both a tiger and lions, which are my favorite. It makes me sooo sad and miss Zimbabwe every time I go to a zoo though. I was pretty absorbed in how much I missed it after standing and watching the lions. I always feel bad for the animals too. They live the most boring lives EVER! The characters in Madagascar had the right idea for sure haha! Anyways, we had a few hours to chill after the zoo and before the game. We dropped our stuff off at Ewelina's (pronounced Eveline) before heading off to the All Blacks rugby game!!!!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME! I LOVED IT!!! Rugby is just amazing. Anyways, we got to see the famous "haka" dance of the All Blacks at the beginning. We had a mentally handicapped man sitting right in front of us, but he was also drinking...he stood up and "danced" to the haka as well. Or tried. He was very intense, but left during half-time and never came back. We were confused. Our seats were pretty close for being the cheapest ones. After the game we went to Liz's, another Arcadian, and had an "Arcadia" reunion. It was OK. I finally got to sleep on a couch this night though, so that was nice. I was really sad about not being able to attend Joe and Amy's first service though. I thought about them all day Saturday and prayed everything would go well and God would reach out to the community through ReChurch. I'm really excited to hear about how it went and meet up with Amy and Joe before she heads back to America for a visit!

Sunday: Ewelina's flatmates are really rude and I was woken up at 7 a.m. to someone washing dishes! At 7!!! I was really angry, and there were 2 more instances after of pots banging again! If the place was clean, I could understand a "clean freak" but it was filthy, so no. It was really frustrating. Ugh. Anyways, we went to a food market and got some free samples. I bought a little chocolate turtle because it was so cute and they didn't have any chocolate frogs left ;). After that we went to the Botanical Gardens and just had a chill day, taking our time and enjoying the city. We ran into two friends also visiting Wellington from Christchurch, Nikki and Jayme. We decided to all meet up for dinner at Burger Fuel, this cool restaurant slightly classier than fast-food. They offer various kinds of burgers obviously, except these burgers are huge and the fries are delicious! Anyways, we were pretty tired and just went our separate ways after that. Sara and I read back at Ewelina's before heading to bed around 10.


Monday: We woke up early today, around 6:30. We packed and then met up with Kana again, dropping our stuff at her place since it's more central and closer to downtown where we needed to catch our bus. We then walked to the wharf, expecting to take a ferry to the Matiu/Somes Island, but we'd read the times wrong and misinterpreted the schedule. So instead we went to Wholly Bagel, which is pretty famous. I've read about it in one of my case studies for business, so I was keen on going anyways, and Sara had read about it in her little Wellington Travel Guide. It was pretty good and we chilled there for an hour and a half before heading back to the wharf to catch the right ferry. The Island was OK...slightly boring because it was windy and not sunny enough to enjoy the beach. We got to see sheep (go figure) and some cool parrots. I also held an almost-extinct grasshopper. AWESOME. It was a really awkward creature...they're so big that they can't jump or move very fast, and they're often eaten by tuatara, the lizards/iguanas native to New Zealand. The island is really strict about preservation. After riding the ferry back, Sara and I went to Parliament building, known as "The Beehive" because of its design. Google-Image it, it's cool. Anyways, the best part of the weekend happened here...we got to see the Prime Minister! Up close! He was only 5 feet away! His name is John Key and he's been the PM for less than a year I think? It was really cool because that would NEVER happen in the States! He was actually on his way to New York, supposedly to meet for a UN meeting or something. We heard a rumor that he's making an appearance on Jay Leno though, so maybe he's doing both? Who knows. Anyways, we took a tour of Parliament, and you see much more than you do in the States. It was cool but we were both really tired, so it was hard to focus. After that we grabbed our stuff, thanked Kana for the upteenth time and then headed to the airport. When finally getting back into Christchurch, we made popcorn chicken, fries, and pumpkin soup for dinner (which was delicious as usual) and then I've been trying to update pictures and read all the emails from the girls =). It was a long weekend and I'm glad to be back, although I do have to start doing some serious schoolwork this week. Oh well. Only 4 weeks left of school! Please pray for my motivation, and mainly that God will give me some! Love and miss you all!