Hello! The past two weeks I would call my cultural weekends. Last weekend I went to Noho Marae, which taught us all about the Mauri culture and traditions. This was my favorite adventure I have done so far, the staff made us (all 50 of us) feel like a whanau (family) and that the building was our home too. It was mostly AUT study abroad students attending but there were also a few teachers from a school close by and lots of children of the staff running around. We learned many traditional songs, meaning we had to learn the language too, ate amazing tradition food (roasted in the ground), and performed traditional dances. Overall, I would recommend this weekend to absolutely everyone! I'm a big softy but still I cried when we were leaving because I enjoyed feeling like a family and learning so much.
The boys and the girls split up to learn about their respective gender dances. The girls got to make our own Poi, as being shown here, and learn the dance that went with it. Poi are the soft balls on string that you see in the picture. They were originally used to supple wrists for battle but today they are only used by women as an extension of their beauty.
The boys went to learn the Haka. This is what Mauri tribes would perform before going into battle as a way to psych themselves up and psych the other tribe out. I would say it would definitely intimidate me; there was lots of screaming and slapping chests and wide eyes happening! (Women aren't allowed to perform the Haka- sorry I can't do it for you, but feel free to ask me to show you the Poi dance!)
This is the most of the whanau performing a song about how the man is off in a battle and missing his loved one back home and can't wait to come back to her; it sounds a lot sweeter when you hear the whole story behind it but of course I can't remember it completely. Also, look at the beautiful building: that ceiling is just amazing, when I first entered I couldn't stop staring at all the details on everything; each of the sculptures mean something to the Mauri people and are carved completely by hand. You'll notice we all have our shoes off and that's because this is a sacred space and shouldn't be dirtied. There are other little rules such as: no sitting on pillows because they are made for your head which is sacred or don't bring your Poi into the dining hall because they are suppose to be protected and clean.
I had to show you this dessert we had!! It's called Pavlova and has almost like an angel cake middle with meringue on the outside and fruit on top. Of course, I was also super excited about the fruit salad- look how delicious that looks!
This was a token that was given to everyone that weekend. It is called, " 'Pikoura' - the twist - is a symbol for eternity, interwoven spirits and lives. The pikoura or twist design with its criss cross form represents the many paths of life and love and as such is regarded as the original eternity symbol. The single twist design shows the joining together of two people. Even though they sometimes move away from each other on their own journeys, they will always come together again sharing their lives and blending to become one. It tells how the strength of a bond of friendship, loyalty, love and family will last forever," - Lucky (the man who ran most of the weekend). I felt his words were better than mine, it just describes how we felt so perfectly and is so nice to see whanau walking around campus proudly wearing their necklace.
This picture I would say describes the last weekend. A few friends and I went to an Asian supermarket and found that fresh fruits and veggies are so much better and cheaper there. I wasn't planning on buying anything but apples and then I couldn't stop it was so cheap! So guess how much I spent on all of this? ...$5.22 that's right folks only $5 and 22 cents BEST SHOPPING TRIP EVER!! We walked around the store for a while looking at all the different food and I became very interested in the meats. I found pig hearts, lamb hearts, livers, intestines, all sorts of feet, and ears! I would say that was pretty cultural haha. The rest of the weekend I spent relaxing, not doing homework, and cooking dinner with a big group of people!
Classes are going pretty well, I'm really enjoying a health and environment class because it makes you think about why you believe what you believe and questions everything about medical care and how our environment is affecting us. My primary education classes (science, social studies, and art) are good but a lot to learn. The art class is pretty difficult for me because it works on drama, dance, visual art, and music; so all of the things I'm not good at but hey I have to learn somehow! I am doing my student teaching in a year 8 class (7th grade) and love working with one student in particular. He is quite behind in all subject areas so the head teacher is very glad I'm there to give him one on one help. I love the challenges he's been throwing my way and seeing him get excited about reading is definitely what gets me through the day. My secret is I let him listen to Who Let The Dogs Out on repeat while he works and then occasionally dance- it might not sound productive but it really is!
I heard the summer is pretty hot and muggy back home so hopefully you are all surviving! Have a great week!
-Michele
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