highlight of my sundays.
i discovered that feijoa IS pineapple guava.
i also realized i had never actually eaten
chard or purple kumara so i got some today.

no one in the building has been able to

take a real shower for a week. the only
water that comes out is..beyond scalding.

so i've been filling pots with water from
the kitchen sink & dumping it onto myself
while standing in the shower.

@__@

out of all holidays, i always have the best easters.
this year, i get to visit tonga!

you have not lived life if you have not
tried hokey pokey ice cream.
~*rich creamy vanilla with honey comb chunks*~
i got it on sale at new world this afternoon.

i spend my rainy days eating avocados and
picking aphids off my plants.

i feel overwhelmed & anxious for some reason.

i hear maori(?) chanting coming from the street.
my shower has done nothing but scald my skin.
i hope seymor is okay. i wish i had a pet here.
like a little fish to keep me company.
i'm expected to memorize a poem titled
"what am i"...in samoan.
(it's pronounced saaa-moa, not suh-moa)

the following shows the linguistic
branching of the word "coconut"

Some Austronesian words for "coconut":
Nyiur (Indonesian)
Nu (Tetun, i.e. East Timor)
Niyog (Filipino, e.g. Tagalog, Pangasinan)
Voanìo (Malagasy/Madagascar)

Some other Pacific words for "coconut":
Ni (Marshalls and Kiribati)
Niyok (Guam)
Noece (Caroline Islands--Belau)

Some Polynesian words for "coconut":
Niu (Fiji)
Niu (Samoa)
Niu (Tonga)

E tipu e rea (we want the best of both worlds)
i am most enjoying my Aims & Ideals of Maori ED class.
our class is tiny & our tutorial is even tinier
because people don't show up for some reason.

everybody in the class comes from such a
different background which makes
discussions super interesting because there
are so many different perspectives to be shared!
i like the professor (joanna).
in fact, i've always adored/respected all my ED profs.

Mālō e lelei
Tonga is composed of 176 islands,
36 of which are inhabited.
The king (George Tupou V) passed away today.
i am going here in 4 weeks.

this inspires me.

WARNING: MAXIMUM WEIGHT=1 PERSON

decided to try and make curry for the first time.
i couldn't find one "good" recipe for it, so i combined
many from online & the box of japanese curry.
it was so good and easy too. i made extra for leftovers
so now i can have a yummy lunch tomorrow!
this curry has:
+lamb
+onions
+carrots
+potatoes
+eggplant

tararua.

the second night of tenting was much
warmer than the first. i snuggled into the
soft grass & passed out. we woke up,
ate breakfast, washed our dishes & filled up our bottles
in the river and were on the move again.

day #2 hike was somewhat brutal.
every muscle in my body ached
and my legs are swollen with bug bites. eek.
but i feel very accomplished & GOOD.
the landscape felt so wild and free.

the land before time
tramping through new zealand.
we hiked up+down mountains, leaped over muddy swamps,
hopped over river rocks, pulled our way up
tree roots growing in steep hills
and climbed on/through/above many boulders.
this landscape has been sculpted into our bodies.

we made it to the totara flats by nightfall.

this is a [female] colossal squid
on exhibit at the te papa. it was accidentally found
by nz fishermen in antarctic waters.
it has the largest eyeball of all creatures on earth.
there is no record that a male colossal
squid has ever been sighted!

i watched a little video that was being displayed
then turned around and saw it.

our first assignment in my Pacific Studies class is to

attend a Pacific cultural event and write a review.
Xoobwen Fwaada, a Melanesian band from New Caledonia
was performing at Te Papa museum today so i decided to go after class. the group is interested in promoting indigenous music and reviving the usage of traditional bamboo instruments.they sang about their origin, meeting new people and dragonflies.
they also all spoke french which had to be translated into english for the audience.

one lady asked "i have never heard of this New Caledonia,
is it near France?"
there was an embarrassed silence in the crowed.
"uhm, not quite, it was a French colony,
about a 2 hour ferry ride from New Zealand"

i just joined the school tramping(hiking/backpacking)club!

we're going to the Totara Flats this weekend
for the 1st trip of the semester!

i am glad i already have all the gear i need
(sleeping bag, backpacking backpack, canteen,
head lamp, rain jacket,etc).
i just wish they had clif bars here in aotearoa.
i'm not too keen on museli..

i found a very cool picture online.

i planned to print it out at the kodak store a block away.
but then decided just to paint it myself @ 11:00pm.

taped to the door is a map of wellington.
i constantly have to un-tape & bring it with me places.
for example, lauren and i walked 8.8 kilometers
to and from a pet store. we both wanted a pet betta fish.

we ventured into greater wellington
and encountered many street names
we couldn't even pronounce.
then we passed katherine mansfield's house.
sadly, we didn't end up getting our finned friends
(but we did see heaps of beautiful tropical guppies)
i was going to name mine Lova,
short for pavlova (nz's national dessert).
but just wait, i will have my lova one day.

from the farmer's market :-)

the sea the sea
i have always wanted to swim to a
little platform/dock in the sea.
today, i did just this! the water was freezing.
i jumped off and swam back to shore.
starfish scampered by my feet.
there were skinny little fish in the waves.

"so, are there sharks here..?"
"nope, the water is much too cold for them."

"the world is mud
luscious and puddle
wonderful" -ee.

there is a graveyard on campus.

i wanted to go to the edge to take a picture

of the glowing city under falling sheets of rain.

they thought i would get blown away b/c i am "so small."

to stop myself from purchasing sushi,
i walked to the grocery store, bought sushi supplies
then made some using this recipe and ate it.

everything in new zealand is somewhat price-y
(there are crazy taxes & everything must be imported).
except avocados. i bought 5 for $NZD 1.98.

i make all these big meals, eat them
then feel very sleepy.

salmon pesto pasta with
red capsiums (they call bell peppers this),
onions & zucchini.

got an email alert saying this:
SITUATION REPORT: Strong solar flare could affect technology worldwide starting 1200 GMT March 8. The source of the storm is a coronal mass ejection, or CME, in which charged particles ejected from the sun's corona will enter the Earth's upper atmosphere.

The locations affected by this alert are Asia, South Pacific/Oceania.

i think i am the only asian person in my pacific studies course. mostly everyone else is polynesian, melanesian, micronesian or pakeha.our professor took roll today. it would be my greatest nightmare to publically read a list of pacific islander names
such as: Fetuilelagi, Ãio, Haumiatiketike.

we have a guest lecturer coming on friday. he is arriving by sailing from fiji .ah, this is exciting! :-)

hiking up mount victoria after class.

i had my first paper (class) today:

THE PACIFIC HERITAGE.

did you know that the pacific islands
consist of more than 1,200 cultures & languages?
our professor discussed her background.
she's half african american/half banaban islander
and grew up in fiji. she also mentioned
she got her phd from UCSC..
:O that's when i had a panic attack
and got very excited. i chatted with her after class.
*~our interconnected as fellow banana slugs~*i also befriended two kiwi girls named emma &
courtnay (i think she might be half samoan)
and a guy who is half kiwi/half tokelauan.

"i am a pescaquarium."
i regret of not getting the eclair.
our building reeks of burnt chicken & roses.
night walks through city lights to the harbour-front.
i led the way with my headlamp on.
kegel exercises, massive slides and a complex sculpture
built for little animals to do circus tricks.

in time of lilacs who proclaim.

in every country (except the US), it seems heaps
cheaper to get your produce at farmer's markets.
they had 油条 (oil sticks)!

"what is the national dessert
of your country?"
P A V L O V A

our interactions always revolve around food.
we made a tuna pasta for lunch,
went grocery shopping in the pouring rain,
and baked chocolate raspberry brownies for dinner.

i decided to make my garland today.
cutting + folding + taping
are some of best things hands can do.

"lauren" wants me to make her one
so i told her to pick out colors.
i'll try make it extra special since
she had a bad/unsettling/disturbing day.

(lauren isn't her real name. she doesn't like it.
she just tells people to call her that because
most people can't pronounce her farsi name.
*seh-tzuh-rwuh*)

in search of maori poems.
today was a very slow & drizzly day.
we missed the boat and a storm's a comin'.

nick and i escaped from a creepy drunkard
who was heading to a hookah bar.
we sought refuge at the local library.
afterwards, we noticed that we both walk rather fast
all the time, for no apparent reason other than habit.
we weren't in a rush so we slowed down our pace &
took relaxed footsteps in the pitter patter of raindrops.
then we picked nasturtiums in the pop-up gardens
and popped them into our mouths. spicy.

got my victoria ID card today.
i have not been in school-mode for 3 months
(i have been climbing glaciers & spending time
with heaps of people from all over the world).
i am excited, somewhat nervous, and almost ready.
[i can't show the other side; my picture looks like a mug shot].

all my classes are focused on oceania.
+aims & ideals of maori education
+anthropology in oceania
+the pacific heritage w/ an emphasis on samoa
+art in the pacific
& possibly this VILProgram i am interested in.
we shall see.