Last Few Days in NZed and back in MA

Finals were terrible. Especially when they were worth 70% of the final grade.  In between studying for these finals I was able to have a wee bit of fun.  Amy and I went on the hunt for the Pineapple track, which she was previously unable to find. We found it and climbed up to oversee Dunedin, it was a beautiful and clear day so we got a great view of the city.  Later that week we had a goodbye party for Amy who was the first person to leave us.  After saying good-bye to Amy on the 17th, Jane came to say a final goodbye to all the Arcadianz and buy us all a hot chocolate.  So it was a little bit of an emotional day with all the farewells and I still had to study for my last 2 finals! I got together with classmates to  do some last minute cramming and finally they were over! And to celebrate the end of finals I packed. Packing was extremely depressing because I did not want to leave my flat or the amazing country, but I did not have a choice because my visa was running out.  After packing and going out to dinner with Alexis, we all met up at Cat and Colyer's flat for some fun, music and storytelling about all of our adventures.  Then all of a sudden it was June 20th and it was time to leave our flats.  We had to be out of our flats at 10am, though our flight out of Dunedin was not until 5:10pm. So we had some time to kill before the shuttle picked us up at 3:30pm.  Our flight ended up being delayed 2 and 1/2 hours, which strained our time to make the connecting flight in Auckland to go back to the USA. They ended up having to hold the flight in Auckland for the 20 of us that needed to be on that flight.  The flight did not seem as long this time, maybe I was just more entertained sitting next to Nikki, Alexis, and Nia, or was it that I watched more movies, or slept longer than 2 hours.  Once landing in LAX we went through customs somewhat easily and had a 6 hour layover before the "night" flight (night for america, day for me) back to Boston.  My friend from Arcadia and my flatmate were on the same flight back, so I was not completely bored.  Finally after traveling for about 3 days, or so it felt like it, I was back in MA.  I thought I was going to sleep a little before starting my first day back, but I ended up staying awake and going for a walk to reacquaint myself with the town.  I then met up with my Best Friend Charlotte and went to Panera for lunch.  New Zealand does not have Panera and I really missed it.  After lunch and a little shopping at Target, I got home and took a 6 hour nap, then 3 hours later went to bed.  I guess not sleeping on the planes helped me adjust to the time here better.  Have not felt much jet lag since getting back, but it has not been an easy adjustment back here either. I had a party with my friends last night and it was great seeing everyone and telling them stories from NZ.  It just feels weird being back in the States, but it also feels like I never left and NZ is only a dream.   Hopefully I will start work soon that will help keep my mind off of how much I miss NZ and my friends I made there.

The Last Outing in Dunedin

Final Farewells

The Monday after we returned from the Kepler track I had my last Neurophysiology lecture and lab. It was a fun lab on the senses of taste, hearing, and the vestibular system.  Later that night Arcadia had the Farewell dinner for everyone.  The dinner was at an amazing Italian restaurant, that I wish I could go to again but it is fairly expensive.  At the dinner the winners of the photo competition were announced.  Guess who one the best picture for the people category and overall best pictures, that's right! This lady, right here currently in the corner of the library.  For winning, there were some prizes.  I received a nifty certificate and a laminated copy of my picture as well as a business card holder with a kiwi on it.  For winning the overall competition I got a sweatshirt! The sweatshirt says Sweet As (a very common saying here) and I will be wearing it all the time when I come home.  At the end of the dinner we also got "goodie bags" with a postcard from 'Mama' Jane and Dee (the student staff member) and an Arcadianz shirt.  So many new souvenirs for me to bring back! Do I have room for it all in my suitcase? - NOPE!

My Winning Photo! - taken at Moeraki Boulders

Tuesday in Dunedin a rare occurrence happened, it snowed! In Dunedin it gets fairly cold in the winter, but because of the low elevation there is little snow.  It was strange to wake up to snow falling at the end of May, but I love snow so I had fun.  It was funny to see how little prepared people are for snow as students were slipping and sliding on the sidewalks in their converse sneakers.  My friend also said that the university was trying to clear a pathway with a snowblower.  Throughout the day is changed from snow to rain to snow to hail! Yes there was a hail storm in the afternoon that brought back to memories of the one I experienced in Mexico on my mission trip. That night some friends and I braced the slushy streets and went to the Baaa Bar for trivia.  It was funk but as always we didn't do too great because of our lack of New Zealand pop-culture knowledge.

Friday was my last day of classes here in New Zealand, I was actually a little sad because 1. I did not want to deal with finals and 2. reality hits that you really do not have much time left.  However to celebrate the end of classes we had a movie night, that turned out to be another girls' night.  We ordered some dominos and made some banoffee pie and then watched Gladiator and Sydney White, and a little bit of Hercules.  Saturday, the first day of June I started to study for my finals.   Then that night there was a rugby game, that I did not go to, but I helped my friends get ready to go and met up with them after the game. my friend Cat found some abandoned Highlanders flags, so I now have one to decorate my room with next year! A couple of my friends just celebrated their birthdays, so we went out to an Indian Restaurant on the 7th, I couldn't go out with them after because I had a final the next day, but the food was delicious.

That is pretty much all that has happened in the last couple weeks. I have done a lot of studying and have finished 2 of my finals, so only 2 more to go, but they are not until the 18th and 19th.

A New Zealand Birthday

Since my last post I have had a paper and 3 tests to complete. It was rough, especially because I had 2 of the tests on the same day (Thursday the 23rd), but I made it.  After a week of studying and tests it was time to celebrate my birthday with some awesome flatmates and friends on Thursday night. There were 15 of us total at dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant that was BYO (meaning you can bring your own wine bottle there for a small cost) and the food was very good and actually spicy! New Zealanders are not big on spice usually.  After a fantastic dinner we went back to my flat for some music and games.  It was a lot of fun having so many of my friends over to celebrate my 21st!   The next day (my actual birthday) I went to lunch with Cat and then went shopping for our tramping weekend.  This was going to be another Girl Weekend out to the Kepler track with Cat, Amy, Alexis and Sarah.  We left Dunedin around 4:30pm and stayed overnight in a backpackers in Te Anau, though we had a little trouble finding it once we arrived in the town.  Then Saturday morning we were off to tramp up the mountain and stay overnight at Luxmore hut, but not before we all bought matching hats for tramp.  The hike was a lot more difficult than the Heaphy - so much steeper.  Once out of the tree line, the wind was strong and cold that it knocked me sideways and off the track a couple of times.  I made it though, and the views were more than worth the pain I put my body through. In the "hut," which was more a vacation home (without a stove or electricity), we sat my the fireplace and made some dinner of couscous and veggies. After dinner it was time for a well deserved message line.  When we exhausted we all went up to the bunkroom and cuddled up in out sleeping backs and had some girl talk.  It was pretty cold so the five of us were all up on the top bunk (usually 4 would be up there).  Trying to sleep even after a day of hard tramping was not easy when the wind was howling and causing the hut to shake.  Then in the morning, we found out the forecast was calling for Snow! And as we were having breakfast that cold Sunday morning it started to fall.  As Amy is from Texas, she rarely sees snow and was ecstatic.  It turned out to be extremely fun hiking in the snow, for a little while, as it turned to rain as we descended the mountain.  Thankfully the rain on this tramp did not cause any 'exciting' river crossings.  The drive home was filled with the singing of Disney and Country songs and then stopping for a little chinese food.  This was such an amazing weekend and birthday.

Thursday Night BDay party

Rainbow in Te Anau before starting the track

Matching hats!

On the Kepler after getting out of the tree line

Snow in the morning