sunday haul

now that it is autumn, there are heaps of

new goods in season, such as persimmons.

 my "1000 foods to try before you die" book

said i should try a tamarillo before i die.

it tasted like a prickly pear fused with a tomato.
it stained my face red.

i also got a beetroot

(something i have never invested in before).

- - -

on our way to the supermarket,

nick and i walked  through an artificial forest 

"constructed from an intricate web of transparent
acrylic links and thousands of digitally
fabricated interactive components fitted
with sensors and microprocessors"

the fiber-glass leaves would curl 
& light up if you gently touched the vines
that hung from the ceiling.

it is getting colder n colder.

my brain reasons that christmas
should be nearing shortly.

...

oh southern hemisphere,
your reversal of seasons
is throwing me off.

contents of my cupboard:

quinoa, rice, pasta, rolled oats, cornmeal, 

flaxseed, wheatgerm, black tea, red tea,

chamomile tea, green tea, honey, fish oil,

pepper, salt, tuna, rosemary, hot cocoa, chocolate.

"to please your ghost, I have forgiven

a sinner and winked at a homely girl"

these antarctic breezes can only mean one thing:

winter is a comin'!

dog days.

a deep-fried wonderland.

“as he listed these types, the women became even more engaged, whispering to one another in recognition and assent. He would buy big taro, sticky white taro, yellow taro, pin-spotted taro. The women knew all of these types and began to call out their names in their different native languages.

One woman then asked, “will you be interested in the kinds

of yams that have nails?” Yes, he would be."

-gewertz and errington (p. 357).

i love F R E E  P O S T E R S.

commonsenseorganics had a box of free handy-guides

for in-season fruits & vegetables.
i put it up on my wardrobe and will reference it
before my weekly trip to the farmer's market.

now i know that avocados are in season

for all 12 months in new zealand.

today, the school bookstore was giving out

literature posters, so i got this pretty pink one:

after my midterm yesterday,

i decided to visit the city gallery

for the first time.

i walked in and encountered this.

the curator-girl told me i could crawl

inside & explore. so i took off my shoes,

pushed my way into this giant inflatable "sculpture"

not knowing what i'd find.

i fell like alice

through soft inflatable objects,

sat in the darkness for a few minutes,

then crawled out the back & put my shoes back on.

then i had a whole theatre to myself.

i watched short film clips of people doing

various things in china,

such as this guangdong grandma who

pushed a cardboard lion throughout the city.

i got my anthro paper back today!

it was about the indigenization of
christianity in fiji and tonga.

"linda, this is a brilliant, original essay- a real pleasure to read. the explanation for pentecostal attractiveness as ritual is convincing and the notion of belonging to a global imagined community beyond tonga or fiji is a powerful idea. so much packed into a short essay- and beautifully crafted too. thanks"

jeff, our professor,

is world-famous for his remarks about

about humans breast-feeding animals.

you can read about it here.

tongan pigs and fishermen at the nuku'alofa lagoon. 

these photos were snapped out of a moving car.

 the kingdom of tonga is

colorful, friendly and extremely proud.

it isn't as commercialized as i had

predicted and very rural with only a few paved streets.

the islanders are so so so warm and welcoming.

the main island (tongatapu) is tropical, humid and lush

with coconut, banana, breadfruit and noni trees

growing on the side of the road.

plastic flowers & beer bottles decorate

burial grounds and the entire country is

draped in purple & black cloth

 in mourning for the late king, george tupou v.

flying foxes leap from tree to tree.

pigs roam the beaches, streets and yards

scavenging for garbage. children in school uniforms

scream "HI!"at you, wave & eagerly wait

for their picture to be taken. 

churches stand just about every 50 feet

and by the end of our stay,

we learned to identity the different

sects based on distinctive architectural traits.

 rotorua: a land of thermal wonderlands,

fish n chips, and sulphur swamps.

 woke up at 4:30am, took a 2 hour bus ride to

tongariro & climbed up and down volcanoes for 8 hours.

this is the red crater volcano.

 

the emerald sulphur lakes were such
a stark contrast to the gray volcanic terrain.

 

the rest of the hike was downhill

and full of breath taking views, such as this:

 

the entire day seemed surreal and

almost too beautiful to be real.

because we didn't end up climbing mount doom

(mt. ngauruhoe), we had enough time to

take many snack breaks, appreciate the views,

and photograph everything to our heart's content.

those who did climb mount doom said

they basically ran through

the entire crossing and realized they

didn't really get to "see" any of it

because they were too worried about time

and making the last bus back to taupo.

twas a satisfying day.

recap of the last 3 weeks:
i finished my education assignment at 3 am

then met up with morgan at 10 am

to begin our 2 week easter break adventure.

we boarded the "naked bus" and enjoyed

a very scenic 7 hour bus ride up the

north island and got off at lake taupo.

 we were tired but went on a walk

to the lake. i took some pictures

with my new camera!

i decided to make myself an extravagant dinner

after spending the afternoon studying.

lamb with garlic, olive oil, onions,

eggplant, chard, tomatoes,

quinoa and purple kumara.