July 21-July 29

Hello again! Sorry it has been so long since I have updated but things finally got crazy with school starting and traveling around! The weekend of July 21 I went to Rotorua, a town known for its thermal areas.  Six of us met randomly because we were all looking to go to Rotorua that weekend so we just planned it together! Out of the six of us there was one American (me) and five Germans, how did that work out?!  I wish I could say that over the weekend I learned so much German and now can have full conversations in German but we all know me too well, that didn't happen.  I found that there are some words very similar to English so through gestures you can figure out a lot but still don't know any German.  Thankfully, they were all very nice and spoke English and I've been hanging out with them all a lot now!

Before we got to Rotorua we stopped at Hobbiton, middle Earth from Lord of the Rings.  The group made fun of me because I was the only one who hadn't watched it yet but we have a date set next week to rent it for me!  This is apparently an important green doored hobbit house and oak tree from the book; so for those of you who know it here it is!  It was really cool there learning about how the film was made and seeing all these tiny props.

After that we finished our drive and had a look around the town which for some reason was very quiet on that Saturday afternoon so we went to a Polynesian spa!  We soaked in mineral pools, which are suppose to sooth your muscles and help people with arthritis, all night and enjoyed meeting other study abroad students.

On Sunday we went to the geyser and thermal pools (don't be mistaken you don't swim in these ones).  We watched a park ranger put soap inside to set the geyser off.  Apparently, it was discovered by prisoners who were clearing the area and thought it was a good idea to wash their clothes in the thermal pool so they wouldn't have to heat water but when they put the soap in they were surprised with this:

There were so many thermal pools and they each brought their own very nice smelling sulfur smell as you walked past them.  This was the last one that I saw though and was just so amazed by the color, the picture does not do it justice; it was a bright yellow green.

After that we went to see a Mauri (native New Zealanders) village and how they use the thermal pools to their advantage. In this picture the guide was showing us how they dig deep holes and then put a grill rack over it and box with lid.  This is how they cook a lot of food, steaming it, there is no way to over cook the food, the worst that can happen is the meat falls off the bone (sooooo horrible!).  Another way they cook is putting their vegetables in cheese cloth and throwing it into one of the pools.  I tried some of the corn they cook and it was actually pretty good!

The following weekend we all stayed in Auckland and explored around there.  Here I am at the top of Rangitoto, the youngest volcanic island in New Zealand, it's only 600 years old!  There was a beautiful view of the city and the other islands around us.

Since it is such a young volcanic sight it isn't completely covered in vegetation.  There were large areas of lava rocks and then a random bush.  No one lives on the island anymore although it used to be a vacation spot so there are a few houses along the shore. 

Here is the group that I went to Rangitoto with! Most of the people I went to Rotorua with came here too (the others had a class- on a Saturday!).

That's right you're looking at the cutest little monkey guy ever! On Sunday four of us went to the Auckland Zoo.  Thank goodness for me because I was really missing animals so this was a perfect fix.  This monkey was playing with and would sit on top of his little house and when we would turn away he would swing over to the window and make sure we were watching.

If you look closely you can see a bird with a long beak in the ground.  This is a native Kiwi bird, they are going extinct.  The birds are very shy and only come out at night but they can't fly so their beak helps them get all the worms and bugs out of the ground.  In New Zealand the word Kiwi is very precious and pictures of the birds are on everything, people who live in New Zealand are even called Kiwis!

This week I get to start my student teaching and see what schools over here are like, I'm really looking forward to that!  Also, I have already made a second ice cream cake, I know it's crazy but my friends from going to Rotorua wanted to try it and we had a big dinner together.  Be sure to update me on what you are up to! 

Miss and love you all,

-Michele