ONE MORE STEP

Okay, so I kind of passed that point a long time ago... But I've had a new milestone this week (and I just wanted an excuse to use this quote): I am now OFFICIALLY moved in. I know it probably isn't that big of a deal for all of you. But although I'd taken most of my clothes out and put them in some drawers, nothing was super organized and I was still living out of my suitcase. My room, even when organized, looked a little chaotic with 2 suitcases lying around and piles of shoes books around them. As of Thursday, I've re-organized my drawers, started utilizing the closets, put my books in the book space under my nightstand and hid the suitcases in the closet. When I first got here, I didn't bother fully unpacking because I thought, "It isn't like I'm going to be here very long. I can handle living out of my suitcase for a little while." But now that I'm settled and gotten used to living here, I realized that that was silly and was just a symbol of how a piece of me was holding on to things back home. 

That being said, this week was also a week of looking back. My Granda and Gram celebrate 60 years together last week (Thursday) and I was really disappointed that I couldn't be there with two people who I love and respect so deeply. I talked previously about how we don't think of how it will feel when we move somewhere and the food, trees, flowers, speech is different than we are used to, and we don't always think to prepare for these things, because we are worrying about customs/immigration, money, electrical, weather, time, etc. This week, I considered how I didn't really think of what it would be like missing out on certain things back home. My sister turned 19 and my mum and dad and 3 friends are all celebrating their birthdays while I am away. I will also miss Thanksgiving with my family and the ever-increasing-in-length preparation and excitement leading up to Christmas (yes, Cara and I have already had a few conversations regarding decorations and gifts). These are all things I really enjoy and didn't anticipate missing. While I accept this (and am interested in how Kiwis prepare for Christmas), it's just one more thing that I would advise people who are considering moving to a new country to consider. 

JOURNEY IN THE DARK

The crowd around the gates was already a decent size when we arrived and was growing quickly. People were milling around in small groups, chatting to each other with excitement and curiosity. I don't think anyone really knew what to expect. The Botanical Gardens are not exactly well known for glow worms, so I think many of us had low expectations. It must have been an interesting sight to any passerby to see a crowd of people collected around it's back entrance gates after dark.  

They split the crowd into 3 groups and briefly explained some basic information about the incandescent insects. Glow worms are the larvae of a small fly (which in it's adulthood is similar to a mosquito). The species found in New Zealand is not found anywhere else in the world, although there are other species in Australia and Fiji. The larvae are suspended by webs which catch small insects that they feed on and are typically found around water. Since Wellington is windy, these webs are shorter that the glow worms in the Waitamo Caves (a tourist location famous for them) where they are much better protected. The light produced by the glow worm is bio-luminescence which means that it is produced by a chemical reaction within the worm. 

After beginning our walk, we all moved forward in a bit of a clump, further into the forest in the gardens. A lot of people were shining their torches around to see, but as long as you followed the person in front of you, really the only people who needed them to see were those at the front. There was only a sliver of a moon, but it was still quite bright. After some time we could hear the sound of a creek below on our right side and we were asked to turn off our torches. We all stretched to try and look down to see whatever we could of the glow worms. We moved along the path, but let a lot of people pass, because after they had finished looking in the area they were in they would turn on their torch and make it impossible for the rest of us to see the glow worms.The glow worms became easier to see and increased in number as we walked along. The pack of people was dispersed over the length of the pathway and we could meander more freely. Also, a bit further up the pathway, a bank developed on our left side which had the worms glowing away (although not as brightly and in as great numbers as by the river. 

I couldn't take a picture that would properly show you what this looked like (or look like anything other than darkness), so I've stolen a photo from google that hopefully will give you an idea of the ambiance created by the glow of the worms. 

I believe this is probably taken in the Waitamo caves

It was a mystical experience walking along in the dark with the path lit with blue-green incandescent light with the stars and the sliver of the moon. As I said, on the left there was a creek, so the worms were spread out over the different levels of the riverbed and up the sides of the banks around it, creating a slight chasm effect (since we couldn't see the details of the creek or bush around it). These glowed quite impressively. On the left, they worms didn't glow quite as brightly on the bank, so there were clumps of little pinpricks of light in crude lines along the way. Above you could see the sky and the clouds and the southern cross (which is the group of stars on the NZ flag) past the tops of the trees. It was a fairly warmish night and there was only a slight breeze. This came in gusts which would howl as they approached and the ferns and cabbage trees would rust in such a way that it sounded like a wall of rain was coming towards you. At first, because we were not 100% certain that it wouldn't rain, it was a bit nerve-racking, but once you got used to it, it just added to the mood of the evening. It was light wandering through a mystical forest by fairy lights, no word of a lie. It was so awesome. Definitely one of the coolest and most enjoyable experiences of New Zealand so far. 

Wellington Botanical Gardens are very enjoyable to walk around in the day as well. Although, I must add that it is not always very well signed, so it can be easy to lose your way (but don't worry, other than probably a few more hills to climb and possibly going out of your way, you'll find your way fairly quickly). I tried to go back to the spot that we toured the glow worms, just to give you an idea of what the forest area was like and to try to imagine it in the dark and with blue-green glowing specs along the way, but I got lost.... a few times, and took photos as I was walking along, so my the time I got there my camera had died. So here are some photos taken from the gardens, but not in the area we had the tour. 

Cheers!

A Short Rest

 I sincerely apologize for the length of silence since my last blog post. I've been extremely busy - running to and fro with the elves (I wish) - with the district nurses (doing 3 days a week), communicating with my tutor and doing coursework, working out some hiccups, catching up with family and working out some hiccups. I realize that the title is a bit deceiving. It isn't necessarily that there hasn't been anything to blog about, but in my spare time I've just been too tired to write. There will probably be weeks when there isn't a whole lot for me to write about because I obviously am here for school, so this may at times inhibit my doing anything super exciting. I don't want to write too much about my placement because I don't want to risk endangering the confidentiality I promise my patients. Most of my net several blogs will involve events from the past 2 weeks (I'm catching up on the "short" rest I've taken from my blog).

Last week was incredibly busy. I worked with the district nurses team Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday I had the most wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop on the Treaty of Waitangi. This is a very important document in New Zealand history since it was an agreement made between the Crown and the Indigenous people of NZ - the Maori. The workshop explored the contents of the document (or should I say documents...), why it's important, the history of colonialism and the Maori in New Zealand, and many more things. I basically thought I was signing up for a lesson on how to solve issues between Pakeha and Maori people, but I couldn't have been more off track. What I got was so much better. I look forward to discussing this with you in the future. 

Friday I was invited to a glow worm tour in the botanical gardens (which I will discuss in a separate blog). On our way we stopped off at a memorial in Featherston which marks the place of a WWI training ground as well as a Japanese POW camp. I will make sure to post these photos on the Images page. 

After the glow worm tour, we headed over to the Cuban St. Market for a quick look around. On a number of the main shopping streets there will be a little "cove" street where there are a few more shops squeezed. These streets are not super wide (as they aren't made for vehicles), but this is  exactly where the market was located - down one of these side streets. The vendors' tents were placed up against the regular day shops' front windows, lining one or both sides of the street. It is really difficult to describe the atmosphere of the market as there were so many sounds, smells (and tastes), but my host thought it reminded her of a market in Asia (I don't necessarily disagree). The vendors offered a variety of foods from a variety of cultures and a few crafty souvenirs. Churros, falafels, Dutch waffles and custard (which were delicious), sushi, dumplings, crepes (and I'm limiting this list to food I think most people will recognize) - you could have you're pick of food from probably every continent. We walked through looking at a variety of mouth-watering food options, said, "That looks good" to some kind of pork kebab that was being grilled over a fire at a booth that said Filipino... something, and enjoyed.Of course I realized that I had no idea what was in the sauce with which they were basting the pork - could have had pine nuts, peanut oil... who knew what -  but I didn't die, so I assumed it was safe for me to eat. Try new things remember. 

At the end of another week of work, my host took me back to Wellington to visit Weta Cave, before dropping me off somewhere and telling me some basic directions to where I was wanting to head (of which all I retained was "go straight down this road") and I basically just wandered to where I was wanting to start. After seeing some other things, which again I will make a separate post for, I decided to head back to Cuba St. and maybe have a cappuccino and sit down in a cafe to fill my time before I was to meet my ride back to Masterton. On my way there, my attention was diverted from navigating where I was going by the most wonderful smell coming from a little booth making and selling fresh authentic French crepes. Best decision ever! Almost. (You think this story is about a crepe.) After several blocks, I glanced downward and received a shock as I noticed that there where crepe syrup drippings down the front of my shirt! When my crepe was handed to me it was inconveniently wrapped so that you could only eat the bit of the crepe that stuck out the top. So I decided to unwrap it so I could get at the rest to eat it while I walked back to where I was to meet my host. I should also mention that what contributed to my fright was that I had to meet my ride in about a 1/2 hour to go to the Weta Workshop tour (again - another post - sorry!). And I still needed to walk to where we were meeting. I ran to the nearest McDonald's to try to wipe the mess away, but OF COURSE we have to be "eco-friendly" and replace all paper towel dispensers with air dryers. How impractical! Normally I don't care about this kind of thing, but it was really noticeable and messy and sticky (can't look sloppy when meeting that statue of Gandalf), so I ran back up the street to a shop I had noticed had a sale on & bought a shirt for $5. Then ran back to the McDonald's to change into the shirt. The whole ordeal must have been quite a sight... especially the several blocks where I walked around looking like I had forgotten to wear my bib. It happens to the best of us. No more crepes for me!

I'm sorry that all you've basically heard is "Wellington, Wellington, Wellington..." since it's conveniently close to where I am... and I've had free rides there. But honestly, it's awesome; there's so much to see and do!