Umm...hi.
So I've been writing stuff down on paper, since internet-access is sparing. Anyway, here's a bunch of random stuff from New Zealand. (Oh and real quick: it's amazing here and I love it)

Anyway let's see what we got.
2/20. Learned the All Blacks haka. Drank a beer called the 12 Gauge on a table with a buzzsaw for a counter-top. It was the manliest moment ever. Also the pub had a kitty and that's awesome, we should adopt this policy in the States.
2/21 Bunch of cool stuff happened. Totally cool.
2/22. My host mom reminds me of Sarah Flowers in a shameless way. I like my host family a lot, they're all spiffy, and my house here kicks the crap outta anything I've had back home. Sorry mom/Wake/Crouse, you've been bested. My host dad said bullocks and "that's the dog's wobblies" and that's just awesome. Referring to a dog's balls means that something's really cool. Obviously I am in the greatest country of all time.
- We drove past the prime minister's house. His security detail consists of a van parked near the garage with one officer in it.

Ok now for the much longer entry woo! This was Saturday night:
I was dropped off downtown on Queen Street so I could get a bit of cash, hit a liquor store, and make my way to Sophie's apartment in Wellesley. This was 8 o'clock. The bank I went to was closed, but a dude and his lady had set up with a guitar, some drums, and two massive amps and rocked their way to becoming the best street performers I've ever seen. Imagine if The White Stripes just set up on the street-corner and that Meg White was really hot and had talent. And they covered a Sublime song. Amazing. Anyway...eventually got some money, so it was off to Wellesley Apartments.

Wellesley Apartments are not on Wellesley Street.

I don't think they're on Queens, either.

At this point in time, nobody has a cellphone yet, so I can't call and find out.

So I ended up wandering about downtown Auckland for a good two hours, forty-seven minutes, and some spare seconds for change. Figured I'd find the apartments eventually!
Walked past the White Stripes-with-the-hot/successful-Meg a few more times (read: 8), went to an internet cafe for half an hour only to leave it and say to myself "Why the hell didn't I google the address of the apartments?"
So now it's 10:30. I figure they've all left the apartments by now, and I'm getting a little freaked by the darkness, the homeless people passed out everywhere, the people fighting in the streets (it was about 15 people just duking it out), and the transvestite prostitutes. So I got a cab, and in a voice not at all my own I gave the driver my address. Turns out I said something wrong. He stops and we're in the wrong place. It's totally dark and I have no idea where I am. He asks me a question and again I respond in the foreign voice. Later I realized that that's how I sound when I'm scared shitless.
And lost.
A few thousand miles from home.
With no way of contacting anybody I know.
The taxi driver turned out to be nice, though. His ID said "Singh 78". I asked him where he was from, and in a thick Indian accent he said "Easy guess, my friend." I felt like an asshole but we both laughed. When we got to my homestay he offered me a lower price on the fare, but I paid full and tipped the brotha since it was my fault we got lost.
So how'd my first night out in Auckland go?
Look up, and it kinda sucked and it was scary and I wanted my mommy.
Or
I got a free concert, I saw an adorable little girl in all pink dance with a homeless man to the music of said concert, I did a $10 bungee thing ($5.40 USD, bitches), and Singh 78 is one cool taxi driver.

Kinda weird to start by writing this night/experience down. Everything else has been absolutely fantastic. It's still so surreal. But it's probably more fun to read about how I fucked up and got lost than to read about what would have happened that night had it all gone according to plan. Would have been more expensive, too.

Oh well! Better luck next time, eh? (Again, contrast this attitude with the one I had while still at Wake. Never realized how unhappy I was there...but I do miss some of you a whole bunch.)




2/24
- As I walked down the street, I sneezed. A girl said "Bless you" as she drove by. I am in the most polite country ever.
- You can strike up a conversation with literally everybody. Just nod at anybody as you walk down the street and they'll smile or wave or say "G'day, mate" (this one's my favorite).
- 3 condoms cost $20 NZD. But they were extra ribbed...maybe extra ribbing = extra dollars...
- I ate Hokey Pokey ice cream but had no desire to then turn myself around. If anybody is wondering what the hokey pokey tastes like, the answer is toffee.
- Thrift stores are definitely cooler for girls. There's more variety for you.
- Sat next to a middle eastern lady with everything but her eyes covered. She had ear buds in and I could hear drums and the far-off sound of a woman singing in a wailing voice, which I assumed was Indian music. The bus jolted, an ear bud fell out, and out of it bolted the musical stylings of Taylor Swift. The look in the lady's eyes was that of pure terror. I giggled.