Well this week sure flew by
- it is unreal to think it is almost February!
We were so busy that Monday
was the only day we had class; it is hitting us that we need to get work done
& get content out there stat! After
class we had a chill day and eventually went to the beach, then filmed our
friend Leah, who is the youngest (and one of the only female) Justice of the
Peace in New Zealand!
Claire, one of my close classmate
friends had her 19th birthday on Tuesday. We had the best day celebrating with her! We decorated her room, we surprised her with
our local friends when she came home from breakfast, they even made her a cake
and it was sooo yummy. We road-tripped to Omaha Beach which was soo cool. The
drive there was everything you imagine NZ to be - it was just gorgeous with
palm trees densely mixed with evergreen trees and bright green shrubs. We passed vineyards, farms with sheep, and forested
narrow streets. Just stunning. It was a perfect beach day, slightly overcast
(which made for awesome birthday pictures), more friends from the YSA ward
showed up, we had the stereo playin the tunes, there were some pretty decently big
waves and we brought the GoPros out, there was some touch rugby going on, it
was great. After this, we went to a wharf and jumped off a dock. It was
absolutely beautiful there as well. After this we rushed home to get ready for
our night on the town. We had a reservation for Harbourside Grill right on the
wharf down the street from us. It was a super nice restaurant and I got a
ridiculously delicious appetizer - tortellini in a pumpkin sauce. Then we all
headed over to our favorite karakoke place, the Rock Bar. Most of our study
abroad group was there - including our director Steve and his wife Dori (HAHAHA
didn't think they'd actually show), and a bunch of people from the YSA ward! It
was great.
http://vsco.co/jesssanne/journal/go-shawty-its-yo-birthday
(see pics here)
We had the opportunity to
go to the Samoan Times on Wednesday. It is the Radio Samoa and Samoan TV
headquarters. That was a very once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They are very
well respected, highly rated, and popular. We even went on live Samoan Radio!
They fed us some very good traditional Samoan food! I loved it! And it
definitely tasted a lot better than it looked! Some people voted to go to the
biggest mall in NZ that is close by afterwards, but most of us were so tired,
we just sat and waited. In fact, I was among those who fell asleep in the
middle of the mall until we finally went home.
On Thursday we had another
very unique opportunity. We had the privilege of going to the church’s Pacific
Area Office to meet with Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy. We were able to show him a short clip of the
stuff we have been working on with the Maori Members and it sounded like he
liked it a lot! He had a great message for us. One of the points that stuck
with me was about our Heavenly Father wanting us to think and dream big. He
wants us to make BIG goals and he wants to make those happen and help us to
achieve them!
That night, we had the
opportunity go with some guys from the ward to the Sky Tower! It was so neat to
see the whole city from up there. It was kinda weird to see the city without
the sky tower IN it because it is such a landmark! Haha We got really yummy
dessert afterward!
On Friday we had the
opportunity to visit a very popular Marae, which is a fenced-in Maori village. Tourists can go to and learn about the Maori
culture. It was fascinating. There was reenactment of a traditional Maori
village welcoming from their chief, and some performances and dances, including
a Haka. After all of this we got lunch. Since we had arrived about 45 minutes
early, we ventured around and some of us went to a fruit stand and I sampled
one of their mini apples. It was the BEST apple I have ever had! It tasted like
apple cider. I deeply regret not going back after and getting a bag.
Our favorite cookie shop
called Mustache closed at the end of that day, which is probably a good for the
sake of our health haha. But of course we had to go stock up on cookies when we
got home. They are the BEST! But my true loves are still Tim Tams...
On Saturday we took the bus
to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves! You are not allowed to take pictures of any kind
in the caves because of light and sound from cameras so they banned them all.
Jason and I snuck our go pros in on record because they didn't make noise or
have any light (rebels, I know). Mine was on my head so it was pretty obvious
and I looked like a nerd but oh well haha. So first we walked around the caves
for about 30 minutes and even saw a few glowworms in this part. We also learned
that one particular part of the cave has such good acoustics that they hold
concerts there. Some pretty famous people have sung there and every year they
have a Christmas Concert. After this tour, we got on a little row boat and this
was the amazing part. We just rowed around the rest of the caves for about 20
minutes. It is like a glorious starry night sky in there. There’s a
slightly blue- green tint all around you and it is just mesmerizing. It is good
that you don't get caught up trying to take a cool picture so you can truly
focus and appreciate the beauty around you. Then you exit out into this
gorgeous jungle. The water is just green and there are trees and moss just all
around you and it is gorgeous. GREEN everywhere. Check out the pictures!
I am so grateful we have
made such good friendships with people from the YSA ward. This morning they
picked us up and brought us to Stake Conference! There are so many kind and
genuine people here. Oh and guess who is in our stake?! You know the couple
from that viral wedding Haka video?! THEM! Ahhh it was so cool to see them! The
newlyweds, Ben and Aaliyah are both from New Zealand and you can tell they are
just loved by everyone around them. And
the bride… she is just so gorgeous. Afterward,
I was fortunate to be invited to the sweet Cocker family's house with Steve and
Dori (our directors), and my classmates Mae and Caitlyn. I was feeling pretty sick with a bad cold that
had started Friday night. I just didn't
feel well and they took good care of me. After a delicious home-cooked dinner, we went
for a Sunday walk along the Coast up to Takapuna Beach. It was so beautiful. The first few pics on my
VSCO Grid are from the walk:
NZ fun facts of the
week:
· You have to wave down your bus when you want to
get on- even if you are standing at your bus stop... And as I learned the other
day, sometimes it won't even stop when you wave it down. We got stranded at a
bus one night because the bus drivers were straight up ignoring us...
· We drove through this town called Manly. So all
the signs were hilarious... For example: Manly Town Centre, Manly Fire Station,
Big Manly Beach. Hahahahaha it was great
Wonderful post! What adventures you are having. I think I'm going to add those glow worm caves to my bucket list...
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