What a Wonderful World

"I see trees of green, red roses too"

New Zealand undoubtedly lived up to every postcard or brochure I've seen. I've seen sunsets and sunrises on beaches. I have drunken from glaciers, skipped rocks on still lakes, swam with wild dolphins, and tread mountains of waterfalls. I've seen mossy forests blurr by. Green mountains sprout directly out of the fjord. Ferns line gentle rivers.

I have seen true beauty.

"Skies of blue, clouds of white"

The clouds are so close here you could stand on a ladder and lick them. The sky is more open. No mountains block the view of sunrises in the East. They move fast, like white stags racing. They're indecicive. They don't form into shapes. Sunrises and sunsets cause the clouds to spread a pastel hue through the expanse of sky.

"Brightness of day and the dark, sacred night"

When the brisk air whisks down your nose you know that it's going to be a good day. You can tell when you look out the window and see blue sky beckoning you. You know it when the cabbage trees stick out like pompoms and the warmth from the sun somehow makes the grass a little greener. But once the sun goes down it's a different world. I had never seen the color silver in the wild before-out of it's metallic state-but I saw it in New Zealand during a midnight stroll down the beach.

With a full moon.

The silver shimmers on the wave as it curls but is up-staged by the crashing white foam.

"I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying, "I love you."

By far the best thing in New Zealand has been the 33 other students who ride red bikes and wear green helmets. We are one. We take over bike racks, round-abouts, libraries, and occasionally small villages. There is never an excuse to be alone on a Friday...or a Tuesday or Sunday for that matter. I have met so many amazing people here. I've met locals and I see them when I head over to Yaks and Yetis. I've changed lives and they've changed mine. I love them.

I'm leaving in approximately twelve hours to hop on a plane and go to Australia and Fiji. Time flies. I'll blog more in a few weeks. Oh the suspense!

Stabbed by a Spaniard

Our Adventure Southland instructors have recently been covereing the topic of hiking. It doesn't sound to complicated, right? You find a trail and walk. Third-graders could do it. But oh no, my friend. This is not hiking. This is tramping. It's like hiking but different:

1) No taking trails allowed
2) You will be given a grid reference and will have to get there using whatever means necessary (ie crawling through prickly forrests, chopping down trees, tresspassing golf courses and shooting ranges, hopping over barbedwire and electric fences)
3) You will only be given a map and a compass
4) Sometimes we will give you only a compass
5) Sometimes we will give you only a map
6) Rain and wind must always come with it

And so this has been class during the last few weeks: tramping with or without a compass and a map. Every day I pack my essentials (http://listitup.blogspot.com/2008/04/things-to-always-have-with-youin-new.html) and wear my thermals, basket ball shorts, and hiking boots. Once we stopped by a river and made a floating fire holder by weaving flax together. I like flax.

Just the other day I returned from the Three-Day Tramping Extravaganza. I'll be honest, I was little grumpy the first day. Not because I don't enjoy tramping, I really do enjoy wandering away from the trail. But I was just sick of being surrounded by people all the time. I love all these people but a little alone time sounds mighty delightful sometimes. (I am SO excited to go ALONE to Borders when I get back to the States). We crossed a swing bridge made of chainlink fence. I saw Red Beeches. Those are the trees used as Ents in Lord of the Rings.

I'm not gonna lie, the first day was pretty bad. I just wanted to be alone. It was taking everybody so long to decide on bearings and directions and counting steps and I absolutely hate waiting. I hate standing in lines. I hate red lights. I hate standing around doing nothing. And we were doing a lot of that.

We got to camp and had to make a bivvy. This is short for bacavala (or something like that). It means "hut you make from what you got". So using a tarp, rope, rocks, and a few clove hitches we made one communial sleeping area for 18 people. Boy did we cuddle it up!

I was one of the elite few who got to sleep on the edge. The tarp was right at my face and dripped condensation and the rain during the night nailed my sleeping bag pretty good. Thank goodness I was warm and dry inside my bag. It kept raining the rest of the morning. I didn't mind it so much. I woke up a lot happier on the second day. I started to remember how much I love these people.

We tramped in the rain. I led the group up the river until it ran into another river at which point we went straight up the mossy ridge. Moss is gorgeous. I love the way it coates trees. I love the way it's soft to sit on. I love the way it gives when you step on it and it makes your knees feel better when you're going down hill. I do not like the way it gives when you're going up hill. But I managed.

After we passed the tree line we had to cross over to the other ridge to meet group A. It was windy and with each step everyone would grab hold of the nearest plant so that if you fall at least you'll be holding on to something. And that's when I was stabbed by spaniards. Several of them. They were everywhere! They look nice but they have knives at the end of their leaves. They will stab you in the butt and arms and anything else they can jab. So now I'm holding on for dear life on all the soft grassy plants and trying to avoid to Spaniard bushes. I've never been so reliant or afraid of plants before.

Don't worry. We found group A...but then had to hike the never-ending mountain. Just when you think you reached the top you would see more mountain. It hailed (but it's better than rain because you don't get wet) and my knees were killing me. I found it hard to balance on falling rocks with a big pack. It was a little anerving. When we got to the bottom we all hudled next to a big rock. I really like scroggin mix. (Trail mix). It's times like these when I'm hudled for warmth next to a rock that I really appreciate my peanuts and raisins.

Two hours later we were at camp and this time made our bivvy in record time because we had learned from the night before. Brooke, learning from last night, decided it would be wise to sleep in her sleeping bag and then inside her pack liner so that rain wouldn't get her wet. Smart.

Frost. Everywhere. The condensation on the tarp. The ground. My socks. My shoes. The bra on the tree left to dry from yesterday. Stoves. Pots. Bags. Granola bars. It had all frosted over. Including Brooke in her unbreathable pack liner. Secretly I laugh.

That last day was great. I learned to really use mother nature as a toilet. We hiked on the last day because we got to follow a trail. (Yay!) And then we got to the vans. I love the vans. I feel like home in the vans. I have really come accostomed to being a passenger with 11 others in big white vans. I think I've spent a solid two weeks-104 hours-in a van...if not more.

At the end of the hiking we did mini presentations about what we have learned from our outdoor courses. Team A did the "I love the mountains" song but replaced the words with things like "I love the Tony coats, I love sleeping in the rain, I love the weather clouds, I love surfing with Wayne. Boomdiada, Boomdiada..."

Team B (my team) reinacted the good and bad experiences from each class.

Kayaking

• Good-Jackapo rolling himself in a kayak
• Bad-Me in the kayak

Surfing

• Good-KPax and Stephanie getting the knack really fast
• Bad-Jessica breaking her toe

Rock Climbing

• Good-lead climbing
• Bad-Haeree and Jackapo falling

Tramping

• Good-gigantic spooning fest under a tarp
• Bad-gettingstabbed by Spaniards

Lord of the Flies

"'Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!'"- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 7

I have learned a lot during my New Zealand experience. I've grown some. I've definitely become more liberal. Taboo subjects aren't so taboo anymore. (It's bound to happen with 28 girls) And playing with a dead pig isn't so disgusting.

For my Family Recreation 301 class we had to do a class project. We chose to do a hangi on March 29, Saturday. Hangi: noun. a lot of food for a lot of people. Katie Paxton headed up the food commitee and I took the game commitee. Thanks to Katie's awesome planning we were able to make a lot of food for a lot of people. I must have minced twenty onions for the stuffing. We had kumura and pumpkin and steamed pudding.

And pig.

Two pigs.

And we butchered them ourselves.

You know those scenes in movies when they bring in a blackened, cooked pig on a platter with an apple in it's mouth? Yeah, well we made one of those. The smaller pig was used for the umu. (That's when you cook the pig above ground.) First you roll the dead pig around in the fire to singe off all the fur and then you scrape off all the singed hair. After the blood was drained from the pig we cut a square in it's belly and pulled out the guts. You have to be careful to tie the butt off so that poo doesn't come out. Out came the stentch along with the intestines, spleen, liver, and stomach. You have to really pull hard to get the lungs and heart. I held the liver and touched the stomach. To cook the meat inside the pig you put a hot rock down into the pig's throat. I heard the muscle tissue sizzle when we stuffed it in. Then you do the same thing in the body cavity and then follow the rocks with cabbage.

The other pig was significantly larger. The difference with the gib pig is that you butcher it and stick it in tin baskets underground. We chopped the head off and I held it. (Pictures just might have to wait until I get to the States) Then Stefanie Tanner, Katie Jo and I played with the little piggie feet. We did dancing with them like you would with a Barbie doll. Then we gave each other high-hooves and played the slapping game. I had blood all over me.

Four hours later we ate the meat from the pigs. The branch members and homestay families all ate until they couldn't move.


The highlight of the evening might have been the variety show. Sister George did some polynesian dancing for us. (She's from the Cook Islands). The primary, young women, and single adults all did some polyneisan dancing. Some BYU students did a poi ball dance they learned. Something happened and I ended up being in four acts. I played the guitar ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and it was a big hit), then did a "synchronized" dancing routine with Cameron and Tyler with a balloon in my hood so no one could see or breathe, a magic show with Katie Jo, and then I did a joke off with the audience, thanks to Ben. (Chase was actually a really good emcee)

We all got some good laughing in and I was happy to share my talent and see others do the same.

"'after all we aren't savages really...'"- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 11

Twenty-seven SGB

New Zealand's best kept secret is undoubtedly Anderson Park. A magnificent white mansion full of artwork overlooks a lilly pond, rose garden, a brick pathway weaving through New Zealand foilage, and neatly trimmed hedges. The tui bird drums his call and any listener is captivated by the unique click. The day after I got back from the Dunedin trip was still spring break. That's nice because BYU doesn't believe in spring breaks. I sprung out of bed on Tuesday the 25th because I knew it was going to be a good day: we were going hedge jumping.

There are two ways to reach the top of the hedge: "rock climb" your way up the side or find a hole in the hedge and climb up the inside of the hedge and carefully displace your body weight so as to avoid falling back in. I chose the latter. It was the safer route in the long run. (This is Chase, Maggie, Ben and I on top of the hedge) Once on top of the hedge you can stop to see the scenery. You can admire the lilly pond, rose garden, and the brick pathway weaving through New Zealand foilage. Or if you perfer you may cast your eyes heavenward. The clouds look even faster when you're fifteen feet off the ground.

But you can't stay captivated by the view for long. You have to make room for the other friends making their way up the hedge-perhaps in riskier conditions. KPax took the rock climbing route. She managed to gnarl up her foot pretty bad. Meanwhile Chase and I went all the way to the edge of the hedge. This involved avoiding many hidden "escape routes" (aka holes of death). But we managed. We're cool like that.

So there we were-all twelve of us-minding our own business on top of a soft green hedge when I see a man below us with a candy-apple red vest and dark sunglasses emerge from the white mansion make a bearing for the hedge. "Uh...guys...I see an authoritative figure coming over here." I announced to the twelve hedge-high sunbathing students. "Look natural."

I guess we just didn't do a very good job acting natural on top of that hedge. Maybe we looked too much like tourists. I don't know but for whatever reason the man spotted us and requested we get off the hedge, claiming that hedges just aren't made for that. Silly man. Doesn't he know hedges were made for the soul purpose of having naps and picnics on?

Classes began again on Wednesday. We went tramping. Jason and John have us take a map and a compass and find our way through the brush. Katie Jo and Maggie and I are really good at Jason Bourne-ing our way through the brush.

Yesterday we went tramping again but this time they only gave us a map...no compass. That was exciting. When we got to the bend in the river we made floating fires and our huts out of flax and sticks.

Each morning I hit the snooze button a bare minimum of four times, kick my way through my purple bedsheets, rub my eyes as I walk down the hall to the kitchen, and help myself to a nutritious way to start my day. After taking my dishes to the sink I grab the lunch Joyce had packed in a semitransparent tupperware and take it back to my purple room. Then I open the lid of the semitransparent tupperware, take out the granola bar only to stash it in my suitcase in my closet that has an awkwardly high handel. Today I reached 27 SGB...stashed granola bars. I'm excited because that means I won't starve to death in Australia.

I just finished some more volunteering hours by playing games at a Methodist church. Stefanie taught us some jump roping. I learned how to double dutch. I feel very accomplished today.

Bourne and Baldwin

Monday, March 24, 2008

All good things must come to an end. Today, was the last day of YSA Conference in Dunedin. We started the morning by having the entire group go to the hill with tires. The boys tried to hit the girls while they cartwheeled across and also positioned themselves like pinball buzzers. Then the girls rolled the tires while the boys formed a human pyramind and a ramp. The ramp was by far the most entertaining.

After that we took group photos and started cleaning. Brother Price (age 68) started having a waterfight with Lennox even though he had a stroke two days ago. Crazy man. But I love him. While we were done with our cleaning but waiting for something else to happen Katie Jo, Maggie and I decided to climb on the roof. So we did. We got ontop and our hands were all black from the black roof...go figure. This provided a natural war paint. We basically Jason Bourne-ed that roof and rolled across it. We're so hard core. There is no end to the hard core things I can pull out of my hat.

We gave hugs to our chocolate thunder men and our Maori girls with funny names. It's sad to say goodbye when you know it's a final goodbye. The Invercargill group saddled up and made our way to Baldwin street. Baldwin Street, in case you were wondering, is the steepest street in the world. We sure showed our true American tourist colors.

Heather, me, Ben, Brooke, Katie Jo, Stefanie, Maggie

After Baldwin street we went over to Cadbury Factory. We get to this one part when you go up to a silo and the perky tourguide, in hopes to create a Willy Wonka-ish ambience, says, "Now watch your step. It gets a little slippery and don't put your hand on the railing because you will get chocolate on your hand."

She wasn't joking. Not heeding her reply I stuck my hand on the railing and when I found out it was chocolate I was not deterred. I ate chocolate off of a handrail. When we got to the top they turned on the chocolate fall. Oh. My. Gosh. I got splashed by the fall and had a streak of chocolate running down my face and hair. On the way down the lady warned us not to eat the chocolate off of the railing because it's eleven months old. Oops. Oh well. If I die, it'll be death by chocolate.

A Pun on Eggs

Sunday, March 23 -Easter
This experience in New Zealand has taught me that holidays really can be celebrated without boiling and dying eggs. Granted it didn't feel like Easter, but it was a magnificent day. We had sacrament in our foyer and had a testimony meeting. I said that the cool thing is that the church is true no matter where you are-even if you're on the bottom of the world. It was sunny in contrast to the few days prior when threatening clouds choked the light. It's days like this when I am most contest to play guitar outside with my bare feet in the grass. So I did. A few people joined me and we all rocked out to Accidentally in Love.

After lunch we went to sea the view of the ocean with all the sailboats out. Katie Jo, Heather and I found a bunch of tires holding down saliage and decided to run through them like football players. We explored a cave. We're so hard core.

We got back from the hike and did some work shops on goal setting, finances, and dating. (What else would you expect) I'm not exactly sure where the time went after the work shops. We had dinner, played some more guitar, played Nertz, talked with the twins David and Michael, and had a question panel (which made kayaking look enticing. It was SO boring)

At midnight President stone asked if we wanted to go to the beach. Duh, yes. The full moon made the water reflect a glossy silver that I had never seen before. In the dark it's impossible to see the waves rolling in until they break and the white suddenly becomes apparent in the dark. It was very beautiful and I don't use that term lightly. Katie Jo and I danced on the beach in the moonlight as well as do yoga and played marrionette and puppetier. Katie Jo and I are really good at having fun doing really simple things. I'm super STOKED for us to be roommates in Provo.

We got back at maybe 1:30 in the morning and the two married men (Eric from Orem and Matt from Canada) were out in the back of the camp rolling tires down the hill. Naturally Katie Jo and I had to join them because how many times can you roll tires down a hill...in New Zealand? Eggactly (Exactly.) Then Katie Jo had the brilliant idea to step into the tires and roll down the hill. So naturally, she did. That girl had a good 8 or 9 tires around her. You couldn't see her head when she was standing. The difficult part was getting her from the standing position into the lying down position but somehow we succeeded. I had a lot of fun just watching a solid line of tires roll down a hill and judging by the giggling coming from the tires I suspect Katie Jo had a terrific time....probably akin to zorbing.

And that was my Easter: church, music, people (chocolate people, nonetheless) moonlight beach party, and fun with tires.

Window Escape

Wednesday, March 19
The first day of Spring Break that I've had in a few years. I started the day by cleaning a cemetery and then ate my weight in pizza at DaVinci's. I fed ducks at Queens Park and saw the wallaby. We went to the museum and saw the tuatara. The day ended with Katie Jo, KPax, and I sneaking into an abandoned haunted house. And that's about the time my bike seat broke so I had to ride home standing up all the way from Tramway to home. Haeree left to go tramping.

Thursday, March 20th
I volunteered at New River school all day. I get there (after biking ALL that way standing up, of course) and introduce myself and the teacher says to the class, "Let's all guess what country Marcie is from."
"Dunedin?" asked a little girl
"No. That's still in the South Island. Nice try."
"China?"
"Auckland?"
"Chile?"
That's about the time we gave up and told them that I'm American. (Do I really look that racially confusing?)

During morning tea (morning recess) the teacher asked me if I wanted to go to the teacher's lounge for a cup of tea or coffee. I politely declined and went to the playground instead. This blond girl looked up at me and cocked her head to the side. "Are you a kid?"
"Yeah."
"You don't look like a kid. You look like an adult."
"Well I'm not. I'm a kid."
"Okay. Do you want to play tag?"

Basically I love playground politics and how the kids just adore me simply because of my height and accent. I'm cool.

Friday March 21
Good Friday. (It's not a big deal in the States but here it's a compulsory holiday and even grocery stores are closed.)

Brother Price picked up Me, Ben, Brooke, Maggie, Katie Jo, Stefanie Tanner, Heather, and three Polynesians Evan, Trio, and Annie and off we went to Dunedin. We watched a surfing competition. That's us cheering. You can see a lot of black dots out there in the ocean warming up for their heat. We snagged a picture with Dwayne (some random surfer) but I'll have to find who has it. I love the beach. I love the music they play at the beach. I love being at the beach in Dunedin on my way to a YSA conference and watching a surfing competition.

We met up with other YSA at the church. We divided into teams and recieved bandannas. I was given a blue bandanna and joined the other blue-bandana folk: Ronnie (rugby star), Stacey (enthusiastic), Erin (unenthusiastic), Nathan (29 year old drummer), and Jimmy (skinny Asian). I brilliantly came up with the name Shark Bait (oo ah ah!) and our cheer "wanahaka wanahaka wanaka LUGEE! *spitting noise*)

We left the church and started heading out to Girls Guide Camp out in Otago. We stopped for lunch and I had a Kiwi Burger from McDonalds. It has hamburger, egg, cheese, beets, and the standard lettuce and tomato. Once we found the camp we played Boogedy Boogedy Boo, Zip Zip Bong, and Samarai.

Kool Kiwis at the Camp
Lennox: He's 18 and about as funny as they come. Brooke says we should get married.
Ronnie: Rugby Maori man Brook wishes she could marry
Terenamu: She has a really cool name (pronounced tea-rain-a-moo)
Kotuku: Brother of the above
Kala: From Niue Island. Her full name is Kalavatagaloa.
Sam: Helpful
Mikey: Visually impaired and the leader of the group
Kaho: from Tonga
Matai: from Tonga, BIG man from Tonga

Apparently I have a newly discovered talent: I kick butt at Mafia. Factoring the direction of the echo, the motives behind kills, and past behaviors I could predict-with my eyes closed-who the mafia was. Don't mess with this.

We met a married couple (they were kind of chaperons) who were from the states. He grew up in Orem and Maggie and Ben knew his cousins. Small world. What are the odds we find this guy....in New Zealand?

Saturday March 22
I hopped out into the foyer while still in my sleeping bag. Why? Because it was comfy. I did the worm in my sleeping bag and then Brooke and I started arguing about how to say patronizing and then next thing I know she's tickling me and I can't go anywhere because I'm in a mummy bag.

Shortly following we went to the beach to pick up trash (one of my favorite pastimes) Katie Jo and I found natural bubble wrap (seaweed pods) and probably had more fun than we should have while popping them. One massive sprong of kelp had washed itself on the beach and wouldn't you know we walked around with it on our heads like hair. It was pretty great.

We also played games on the beach: chicken fighting on steroids and putting one lucky soul balancing on a board with the board across other team members and all the unlucky souls rolled over to get the board moving. I'm pretty sure I could have died. I took a dip in the frigid Tasmanian Sea and stepped on a crab. Luckily it didn't latch on.

We drove back to camp and packed more people in the car than for which the car was manufactured. We're getting really good at that. We went to a hangi. This is code for "eat a lot of food that's all been cooked together in a rubbish bin underground" The dessert was pretty good and they made a cake for Brooke because her birthday is tomorrow.

A few of us helped to do the dishes after the hangi while the others dutifully decorated the foyer for our dance. Katie Jo and I sat in the room for a while, tired from the hangi and not wanting to go to the dance. But we had to pee. And we would have to cut straight through the dance and that would be awkward because it's not a very big foyer. So we opted to escape through the window, army crawl across the big window, run around the building, and use the alternative toilet entrance. Jason Bourne would be proud of the way Katie Jo re-entered our room by going head first. After that the dance was pretty good. Heather has the best hip hop moves. I put my hair in a high pony tail for an 80's song and I pulled my neck. It was worth it though because I got some sweet moves.