Ka wahi te tī

Ka whati te tī,
Ka wana te tī,
Ka rito te tī.

When a cabbage tree is broken it shoots up and grows a new head of leaves.      
______________________

To the left of the Be More sign (which is also actually quite zen... be. More.) Is a cabbage tree.

This is a little quote in a Te Reo introduction book.  I am not positive that it is meant to be superiorly zen, but it has been my mini mantra these past few days.  Especially on the week days when I feel repeatedly knocked down by to-dos. And today is Monday again. How is the world did that happen?

This is the community space where I like to back in the wifi. 

Not much time on week days to get into fiction,  but I finished this wonderful novel by Tea Obreht this weekend. 

On Saturday I finally went out of my comfort zone and into a yoga class at the recreation center on campus.  It is pretty sweet how the Rec center is free for students and offers a boat load of group classes every day of the week.
The setup in the class was casual and comforting,  with all the mats facing in a big circle,  radiating outward.  I love my thin,  bendy manduka brand travel mat,  because I was able to put it on top of a very padded but slippery mat and ended up with a ton of grip.

The class had a range from newbies to acrobats.  I enjoyed how music played softly in the background,  but I really missed the skill with which one of my favorite teachers in taos actually cues the whole flow to really go with the jams.     (Friday night slow jams class with Ashleigh at shree  yoga taos, I miss you!)

Huge tree, i love you.n

Turquoise is a good homesickness remedy. 

After sufficiently chilling myself out,  I spontaneously joined the student army of rugby fans.  I had a pale ale amongst the rowdiest youngsters ( and thankfully
some equally overwhelmed international students by my side) before the club-led bus whisked us away to the match.

Stu dent section wins the photobomb award. 

  The regional team,  the Crusaders, had a good record against the South Africa national team,  the Lions.  The game was pretty well attended,  with fans filing up a majority of the stands in the newly-built (not huge) stadium. The red and black flags available for free certainly enhanced the visual impression.

Always finding a way to hey my horse fix.  

                           
Rugby is a fun game to watch for 3 reasons:
1) these guys are straight up brutes. It's a full-contact sport and the extent of their protective gear is: a mouth guard.  No helmets,  shoulder pads,  nada!
2) the game keeps moving.  Passes have to be made going backward,  kind of like having off-sides all the time for you hockey fans.     And when there
is a tackle,  the guy with the ball on the bottom of the pile has only a few seconds before he has to make the ball available again for play, or else it goes to the opposing team.  So the clock keeps running and the game is in action for the majority of the 80 minute game.
3) the ball passes are quick underhanded spins that originate near the hip. Very different from an American football overhand pass.  The plays are adlibbed so the game takes on a great energetic quality.

Did I mention the views aren't half bad? 

       It was a great weekend,  and on this drizzly Monday (btw hurricane Pam is not hiring us here) I would love to hear from you!  If you have a minute,  send me an email and tell me about what's going on! !!

Xoxo

Beach: moody. Crashing waves. 

Henna inspiration. 

Beach fashion week. 

Sweet trees. 

unwind

"There are many paths through the Ring of Life. They are a constant movement toward self-fulfillment through growth of your mind, expansion of your experiences, widening of your senses and growing your spirit. It’s ceaseless and constant throughout one’s life.”

- Frosty Wooldridge, Golden, Colorado

   

Rewind

     I love this quote. it reminds me that life is a process, not an object.
 I've been putting forth a great and focused effort in my genetics class, and some moments it feels as if it is to no avail.  Occasionally the fearful thought that all this book learning is far removed from, or maybe distant from,  the real life I want to be living. but it is because I am living in these thoughts that I am not truly engaged in the moment to moment act of living.... not because of the class or the work.
I have been literally worrying myself sick!

Restriction enzyme map of a bacterial plasmid DNA. Yeah, this was stressing me out!

  Thankfully I am beginning to feel better: (thank you yarrow, tulsi, bubbly water, ibuprofen, cough drops, hot showers, sleep, and Sriracha sauce....)

Yarrow tea.. medicine translucent in the sun.

Enjoying a freshly picked pear and wearing the wonderful turquoise bamboo velour mermaid pants my awesome sister gave me is probably the best medicine.

I hate to rest is what it comes down to. But my body imposed a (reasonable) limitation on my process, and I was forced to spend time doing absolutely nothing. Oh it felt so terrible! I felt bored and then anxious about how if I ended up liking this whole slacking off thing, I might never end up motivating myself again.  it was really a good time to look at my deepest motivations, and assess my priorities.  I don't know why I fall into the illusion that external things define me (ie.. jobs, grades, clothes, my yoga practice, what I eat)  but for now I can see through that bullcrap, to the light that says I'M OK JUST AS I AM! sheesh!

My homie,  the dalai lama, always bringing a smile to my face:). 

 I am so grateful to feel this freedom of being. And I am grateful for that microscopic flu/cold/whatever virus that lead me, by the breath, cough, sneeze and snot, to the light.

Slowing down to enjoy the moment.  Walking to class through one of christchurches many beautiful, arborous (new word?) Parks.

 Sometimes life brings you a big pause when you're not going to do so yourself.

Play dough, given to me as a way to learn about DNA recombination,  illustrating for me the concept of change and unconditional love instead.

jumping into routine

#FOMO. Fighting FOMO.

Fukushima fish n chips

It's not hump day, but....

An imported delicacy. Sticker shock lives on....

Living in the uni dorms is a trip.  A new community space opened up last evening.  Due to the drinking age being only 18 here, alcohol is frequently a component of university-sponsored events.  I met a fun international group of three in an impromptu game of pool. Due to our collective  lack of skills it was the longest lasting rounds I have a) been a part of and b) ever even heard of.  Obviously a harsh sense of competitiveness can't last 1 hour,  so we really had a blast laughing at ourselves.

I am taking 4 courses- 2 of them relate directly to learning about the Maori (intro to Māori culture and Māori health issues and opportunities), 101statistics,  and molecular genetics.  The latter being outrageously time consuming and nerdy cool. I am literally learning  genetic engineering.

Running plasmid DNA through a gel electrophoresis machine to see how long the fragments are.

Tools of the trade. 

With the integration of technology into the educational landscape I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the busy work that has to be done in front of a screen.  Good old pencil and paper is still probable my favorite.  Although I must admit that gif animation videos can be super helpful too!

Helpful gif illustration of what happens to brains on too much school.

 

The thing I miss most is animals in my life. There is a whacky cat who is for all intensive purposes a dog,  and I have been blessed to hang with that kooky feline at the most perfect moments when I am really missing my furry friends.

Homie named Kitty

Have you ever heard of kapa haka dancing?  Christchurch hosted the festival for this awesome Māori dance from Thursday to saturday, and on Sunday, (today) the competition culminates in a fierce day of the best of the best, dancing to their highest
Ability to win the title for 2015. I took photos and videos but learned that it is not cool, so I will just refer any interested parties to the te matatini competition website.

The skill with which the women coordinate a rhythmic dance  with poi balls was mesmerising. Most of the women and men have very different  roles in the dance. The women had an indomitable spirit of strength and beauty, and the men were truly awe inspiring in the facility with which they moved between warrior violence and welcoming friendly smiles.

Did I mention the food?! Pacifika knows how to eat!

 The sounds the groups dance to for their 45 minute sets are all of their own making. Stomping, shouting, sailing harmonies, and often times one or two acoustic guitars. Some of the softer songs were like the Hawaiian "somewhere over the rainbow" but more robust and symphonic.  Other songs were less melodic but clearly didactic, with a stoey teller moving and speaking while the dancers make motions to animate the stories. It was simply awe inspiring and I am humbled by the communal aspect of this amazingly coordinated journey of dance and song.

Cheers to living and loving,  my friends! Wishing a wealth of health and happiness to you.  I hope today you find a chance to make an art form out of a challeng

 

Stay a while! The Avon river meandering through campus. #notAllWhoWanderAreLost

                   
Ngā mihi mô tô manaakitanga mai.
 -thanks for your kindness-

Surfing and Eating and Tramping, oh my!

Happy Monday!  To everyone reading this from America,  it is still the holy day of rest,  which I was reminded of as I tried to organize insurance info for my taxes. ..

I had a wonder filled weekend of fun and adventure.  Saturday was exhausting.  My roommates and I biked nearly 2 hours to the beach, from there 'hiring' (aka renting) surf boards and wetsuits for 3 hours. The waves seemed less lethal than the ones I
Braved in hawai'i,  yet still elicited an intense sympathetic response (aka excited the crap out of my fight or flight mode. ) it takes serious energy to crash headfirst INTO waves,  just to venture far enough out  to catch the real waves.

Stopped in at the bike shop to get a few kinks worked out halfway to the beach.

 What a pleasure, though,  to look up from my boards and see a busy beach,  bright blue skies, and rolling green and yellow hills.

The water is fine!

We wrapped up the day with Indian food. In my case a delicious plate of palak paneer.

Choices, choices.....

Sunday was also a day of extremes. We took a bus with 45 other enthusiastic tramps. . I mean trampers... to the base of avalanche    peak in the Arthur's Pass national park.  

Feomt row and center seats on the bus.... verrrr nice!

    Despite the fact that we were socked in and getting spit on by chilly,  horizontally sailing raindrops,  I still had the opportunity to spot the famed Kia. A wild alpine parrot! Much of the foliage below tree line (bush line as it is called here) is just like the Kia: a strange amalgamation of tropical and winter hardy genetics.   The Kia was friendly,  curious, with a soft eye but a sharp break.

Magical fairy forests where elves and Kia live

At the top of the peak,  (3 vertical hours later) the clouds moved just enough for a rainbow.  A rainbow in Mordor, just like I Ordored (get it? Lots of the rings pun...)

Selfie from the top. Don't fall!

It was a surprise to be able to see anything at all, never the less *this*, when I got to the summit of Avalanche peak!

A few other things I have noticed over the days are:

-farmers wrap their hay bales in plastic to keep it fresh.  I wonder why that isn't common in the US.
-professors are terminally   chill.  Classes are not as easy going as their relaxed attire.
 -minimum wage just went up a quarter,  to 14.75$. That's double NM.
-the magpies here have a more complicated pattern of black and white, but are roughly the same size.
-in NZ, a possum is a black nocturnal creature with a thick, luxurious tail.

Kia ora friends!

jandals and earthquakes

I have just emerged from my first class.. and I survived it! Really the survival is more social than academic. I won't say I am the OLDEST person here at u of Canterbury,  but I am   experiencing the visual phenomenon of freshmen looking like middle schoolers.    And the are a LOT of "freshers". (Pronounced: frehshahs)

The library at university of Canterbury.  It is 12 stories high! 

                                                             
When I awoke  this morning I felt no nerves about the first day of school.  Now,  immersed amongst the many munchkins I feel old and gnarled as the wicked witch of the west. And even more uncomfortably,  quite conscious of the fact that I am sensitive to, and caring about, how I am perceived. These are all feelings that didn't come up for a few years,  as the unm taos branch campus is 1) miniscule and 2) mostly inhabited by adult students.  So,  this is not what I was expecting (for whatever reason), yet I can't reason through it and be surprised.

Optimistic first day of school breakfast.

Slightly dejected after class lunch.

A few other cultural adjustments,  small and large:

-jandals.  They are also occasionally called thongs.  And they are not allowed in the physics lab.      
-quake danger.  We don't do fire drills;  we do earthquake drills.
-the mustache and only a mustache style is not "in" (favoured man styling is the man bun with short clipped undercut)


My schedule is rather full with about 3 one hr lectures per day and it seems that my excursions will soon be limited to  weekends.  Still,  I have my bike and the nearby parks are a great place for yoga and meditation.

Yoga schedule at the gym. 

Yesterday I went to Akaroa, this beautiful wild reserve,  for a hike.  My roommate and I split from the group of 30 for a 1.5hr hike down to the ocean.  Along the way we enjoyed the yarrow, waterfalls and blackberries.  As we got lower in elevation and closer to the sea we began to hike through herds of some of the cutest sheep in existence.

Yellow-forelocked sheep en route to the ocean. At this point we could hear sounds from both ocean and sheep.

Here the farmers mark their flocks by dyeing their forelocks different colors.  We saw the yellow and the green farmers.

Fern gullies abound

This tree has lived my lifespan more than 23 times over! 

Due to the locked Sim card on my phone and a wifi-less dorm life,  I am living a life significantly less attached to technology. This of course presents blessings and challenges.  Overall though,  I am spending more time doing fun things and less time blurred in a computer.  Henna, yoga, reading, cooking,  and meaningful (literal) face time getting to know my 4 female roommates are the best perks of putting down my phone.

Practicing henna on patient Nareh's shoulder

And I provide a very accessible canvas as well.

Ps the book I am reading is The Tiger's Wife, and I recommend it!

Peace friends!

1 week in Christchurch

7 days

2 am will mark my official first week in NZ. It has been school orientation jam packed with student friendly events.  But the most exciting day this week was the day I got my new bike!  I can already soar no hands down the bike lane with minimal swerving÷ (don't worry- christchurch has a helmet law). Adjusting to the "opposite" roads has required dedicated focus but it is becoming second nature.  (When crossing the road look right, then left).

The town is beautifully peppered with obscure plants that seem neither palm tree nor pine. All the greenery paired with smooth bike lanes and vast parks makes for a very habitable feel.

Said greenery creatimg said habitable feeling reading spot. This is on campus but there are plenty of parks with the same green happy happy joy joy. 

The biggest shock is the sticker shock.  Prices at the natural grocer,  which I ventured 45 minutes by bike to find,
Absolutely blew my mind!  The yogi tea which is so wonderful and tasty costs double what it does in new mexico.  I guess island life is more expensive than landlocked.

Rice and beans is not a cheap meal here. 

Christchurch is called "Quake City" owing to the 2011 earthquake that rocked the whole city center.  Construction workers are well employed all across the town.  Many buildings have beautiful,  colorful graffiti.

A building under construction in Christchurch after the 2011 quakes. 

Aside from exploring beaches,  trails,  and shopping from the two wheels of my sleek pony Black Beauty,  a highlight has been learning to roll sushi from my Japanese roommate.  The yellow pieces are pickled radishes. .. a tart addition to contrast the savory seaweed wrapping.  YUM.

Final product

Ingredient prep

Tomorrow and a week from tomorrow I am going or with the University ofCanterbury on a tramping excursion.  Don't get too excited: tramping is just the kiwi word for hiking! Tomorrow I will go to Hinawei reserve, which is in the Akaroa region-- reputed to be one of the prettiest parts of the Canterbury region. The week after I will go to the popular tramping spots of Mt Isabel and Hanmer.    

So tonight I will rest up for my hike tomorrow. I discovered the film section in the library and will watch a NZ indie film called Boy. Heard of it?

Aroha nui! (Much loooovvveee!)