update from the brink of... something

hello all-

first I'd like to inform everyone that while this post does have pictures that accompany it, they're not for the weak-stomached. Actually, I made that up, but the point is that they are gross pictures and therefore I'll spare you from the misery.

Gross pictures of what, you ask? Well, let's start our first round of Humiliating Tales from the Southern Hemisphere:

About 6 weeks ago, another girl (hereby referred to as K) was really sick. This is a good friend of mine on the program, someone I went out with and had a good time with. When she became really sick, we were at the Kaikoura station (see below) and that was just not a good place to be sick. In any case, it turned out that she tested positive for a whole host of bugs, including glandular fever.

What is glandular fever, you ask? Well, it's the New Zealand term for mononucleosis, a common college-student illness all over the world. Regardless, none of us really knew that so we were all freaking out when we heard 'glandular fever'. But I digress.

So a few weeks later, I started to get sick with what appeared to be either the flu or a nasty respiratory infection. Just before we went on the Mokihinui river trip (see below), I managed to swing by the campus health center and get checked out. For some reason, they only charge you if they diagnose you (which is a story for another time). Anyway, long story short the lovely woman there gave me Amoxicillin (old school antibiotic), painkillers, and nasal spray, along with a $40 diagnostic charge. Bravely, I headed out into the wilderness.

Fast forward to last Thursday. I'm still not getting any better and I've completed the antibiotic course. I woke up on Thursday morning with an itchy rash that started on my arms and ankles, and soon would spread to the rest of my body. Thinking it was just a laundry detergent reaction, I went off to work at the IAC. Well once I got there, my boss was convinced I had a fungal infection. I called the campus health center anyway, just to be safe. As it was just about to be the extended Easter weekend (that they take seriously here, folks), they suggested I come in.

And here is where it gets particularly hilarious. I leave work, leave my tupperware full of yummy home-made gluten-free pizza and fries in the staff fridge and instead lunch on $9 worth of fried potato wedges. After waiting a full 30 minutes for the bus, I ask the bus driver where the best stop to get off is. He grunts at me and tells me to move it along. I sat down near the back and finished my food. Then, wondering how far the rash had spread, I took off my shoes and socks and was busy publicly inspecting my feet and ankles on the bus (i know, gross) and suddenly the bus stopped.

"mskhgkhshgkj get off the bus sdlkjskljdf" said the driver.

"what?" said I.

"sdklkjsdkflsjd catch the other bus skjdljksds" said he.

Not knowing what was going on, I grabbed my backpack, empty wedge container, shoes, and socks and ran off the bus. I realized then that another university (and therefore health center) bound bus was right behind us. Barefoot and in my dress slacks and work shirt, I jumped around trying to get the other bus' attention, but to no avail. I felt like a complete idiot, made better by the high school boys standing on the sidewalk giggling at me.

Humiliation, I say.

Dignifiedly (or as dignified as one can be when holding shoes, socks, and styrofoam at 1pm on a thursday afternoon in the fall in NZ) I started walking towards the university.

6 blocks later I found the health center. After 3 appointments, $200 i didn't have, and many a blood test later, it turns out that I too had glandular fever. The rash, is a characteristic rash (oh joy) that's found only when Amoxicillin and mono interact. How AWESOME! Not.

Anyway, so I've spent my long easter weekend (friday-tuesday) sleeping and watching scrubs off of my external hard drive. New Zealand is a killer, folks.

Hope you're all doing well! Happy Belated Easter!

NZ update 3-- with photos!

Kia ora everyone! Welcome to the third installment of the NZ updates, now with photos on my blog! This will be a long update, but woohoo! Also, I wanted to say that a month from today I will be flying back to America. It seems way too soon, but also too far away at the same time. Hmm...

Alright, when we last left off, I was taking classes at the University of Canterbury and living with my host family.

My host family consists of my host mother, Fay, a retired gourmet baker, and Lindsay (male) a current policeman who now works at the communications center and issues press releases. They have two grown daughters, both over 30, one with a child who is about three. They're all quite proper and nice, and their home is absolutely gorgeous.


This is a bit out of order, but I think it's important to document the hilarity of things that happen in NZ. In my last update I mentioned going to a Canterbury Crusaders rugby match. Below you'll see a picture of Linnea and I there. The things we are holding are big cardboard fingers that they gave out for free with 'TRY!' printed on them. The idea is that you wave them whenever the team scores a try, or a goal. It's pretty silly.


And then random things like this happen. A NZ air force plane comes and lands ON THE RUGBY PITCH to deliver the game ball. They take their sports seriously here, folks.


Anyway, after a week or two in host families, we went out to the University of Canterbury field station on Kaikoura Peninsula. It was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in a bunkroom connected to the marine biology lab all weekend and it was awesome. We got to play around in the tide pools and pull up all sorts of cool creatures and even go dolphin watching.


My favourite was the decorator crab. He uses his claws to decorate his back with seaweed and things to camouflage himself underwater. Pretty cool.

Oh hello, gigantic seven-armed starfish. How are you?

We then got to go check out a seal colony. Check out the big guy below, doing his morning yoga.


Well after a few more weeks of classes, it was finally time for a college student's favourite thing: Spring Break! Three other girls and I took off for our tiki-tour around the South Island. We took a trans alpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth, travelled down the west coast to the Franz Josef glaciers, then down some more to popular Queenstown, then back over to the east coast to Scottish-descendant Dunedin, then back up the east coast to Christchurch. It was a lot of fun, but a LOT of travelling. My favourite parts were the walks we spent going along the glacier. See below for atrocious hiking outfits (hiking shorts + leggings + wool socks and hiking boots = not a good look) and a nice view of the glacier.


As soon as we returned from spring break, we turned right back around and went camping, tramping, and lodging for the past week. We went along the west coast to Lyell/Westport/ and Seddonville, three small towns affected by a current power shortage. We camped along the Mokihinui river, a site of serious controversy in this area. Meridian, a NZ-based power company has proposed to put up an 85 m high dam along the river and flood acres of native forest, all for power in this area. There is a huge debate over whether the costs outweigh the benefits, and we spent a week as a class studying the issue from all different sides, and even interviewing town-folk about what they thought. We stayed at a beautiful lodge called the Rough and Tumble, started by a fiddling American and his Kiwi wife. Very cool.
This is where the dam would be built.

On our way back, we also stopped at Pancake Rocks, these super awesome geological formations... so cool. Pictures forthcoming-- I can't overload my host family's server in just one night!

We just got back yesterday, and are now back to the grind with classes and internships. Just a few more weeks of this, final exams, and then we're off to Abel Tasman National Park to tramp and sea-kayak. It is the most beautiful place in NZ, and if NZ is the most beautiful place on Earth (and it is), I dare say I may be going to the most beautiful place in the entire WORLD. I can't wait!

Love and miss all of you!
kjf

NZ update 1-- now with photos!

I hope you are all doing well over in the states and enjoyed the inaugeration as much as the New Zealanders did! I've been having a blast here and I just wanted to send an update on to those of you who I care for a lot.

New Zealand has been great! Kiwis (the name for native New Zealander's) are quite friendly and very fun. We arrived in Christchurch on January 6 and have been very busy since then. First off, let me say that it is mid-summer here and the weather is PERFECT! The climate is not too wet or dry because of it's island geography (close to all oceans) and the weather so far has been in the 70s with sun and a light breeze… perfect! The only thing is that the sun is VERY intense here, with nearly every day clocking in at 11/11 on the UV scale. You can get sunburned in under 10 minutes! Needless to say, we're slathering on the sunblock here.

Anyway, our group is composed of 19 students and 4 program leaders, all from Earlham. We come from different parts of the country and different fields of study, but we're all getting along very well. The leaders are all former Earlham grads, with one being a current biology professor at EC (shown below).
We stayed in Chch for a few days just getting an introduction to the city, the bird life, and the geology of NZ. We stayed in small dorms on the University of Canterbury campus and ate meals together. Soon after, we packed up all of our gear and headed south to Fjordland (land of the Southern Alps Mountain range) and hiked on the infamous Routeburn track for five days. It was pretty grueling at times. We covered 60km (45 miles?) in just over 4 days with 50-70lb backpacks on in the heat, no showers or clothes changing!

It was really intense, and the highlight for me was spending one day on the top of a mountain feeling very chilly, and the next day being down in the bog up to my knees in mud! It was a beautiful hike—we could see the glory of the Earth in many ways. NZs geology is so spectacular, we saw natural waterfalls, rock slides, plain grasslands, forests, sub-alpine areas, snowy areas, deserts, and many more types of environment all in one week.

After that, we showered and returned to Chch for two days to pack up completely and prepare to go to Wanganui. We've spent a LOT of time driving (on the wrong side of the road! That's how they do it here) in big 12-passenger vans all over NZ. Some people are carsick—so it's pretty brutal for them! We drove up the coast of the South Island and stopped in Picton for a stay in a backpacker's hostel. We then took the ferry across Cook Strait the next morning and reached the North Island of NZ. We drove to Wanganui, and that's where we are now.


I know it might not all quite make sense now, but hopefully it will soon! We've been getting our coursework and our cultural experiences in while still having a blast. So far in Wanganui, we've done a fair bit of work and had lectures. We're staying at a beautiful Quaker settlement for the next week or two. This picture is of one of the quaker settlers, named Nigel, on his birthday. He's one of the most friendly people we've met so far. Later next week, we're taking a river trip canoeing up the Wanganui river to travel through Maori iwi and undoubtedly see some haka.

So if that last sentence didn't make any sense to you, no worries! The Maori are the Polynesian decendents of the native indigenous people of New Zealand—think Native Americans in the US. While most have intermarried, some still live in settlements with their iwi, or tribe. Many of them live along the river and we will be staying in their marae, or worship buildings. NZ has many Maori influences—the signs are all in English and Maori, many towns are named in Maori, etc. In fact, Wanganui means 'land of the big wave'. Also, you pronounce Maori as follows: Mauw-ree.

Anyway, this email has gone on far too long. I'll leave you with a few fun Kiwi phrases:
Cheers!—thanks!
Sweet as!—Awesome
She'll be right, mate—it'll all work out

I miss all of you and hope this email wasn't too much. Take care and enjoy all of the Northern Hemisphere's haku (snow)!

woohoo!

welcome to the batman spaghettio blog! More updates soon!