I Hope You're All Wearing Underwear

Kia Ora Everyone! (that means hello, goodbye, thank you, youre welcome) Made it here safe and sound after a long day of traveling. Starting out at CWA the x-ray machine for security was down, so they manually searched everyone's bags. It took quite a while to get through. When I finally got to LA, I had to walk outside and hop on a shuttle to get to a different terminal. I got on the wrong one...oops. I realized I was on the wrong one when I could no longer see the airport and we stopped at a transfer point and the voice said destinations such as Santa Barbara and other cities. So I quickly hopped off and asked how to get back.

The flight from LA to Auckland was around 12 hours. Way too long to be sitting in one spot, but the movie choices were good, staff was nice, and the food was delicious. We had to sit at the airport for a good two hours waiting for everyone to get through customs, and then took a bus downtown. Unfortunately our hotel rooms were not ready yet, which meant no showers, and let me tell you none of us smelled very good. So we had an information session, got cell phones, and had some free time to walk around. So at an intersection, everyone crosses at the same time wherever they want. Diagonally, straight across, it doesn't really matter. There is quite a mixture of American and Asian things here. Tons of American shops and Asian food, and almost everything is translated into Japanese. The second our rooms were available a few of us immediately went to take showers. The rooms were great. More like a small apartment. Then we had dinner down on the waterfront and had the night to ourselves, which included walking around town and a stop at the liquor store because nobody goes to the bars until way later.

This morning we took our bus to Rotorua. The drive here way amazing. The scenery is beautiful. We stopped in a small town called Matamata or something. Its where they've filmed a lot of The Lord of the Rings. While I'm not a fan, I took some pictures for those of you who are. We then drove the rest of the way to Rotorua, where we are staying at KiwiPaka. It consists of a lodge, chalets, and camping. The girls have 4 to a chalet, which is just a room with a loft and a bathroom. The boys are stuck in the lodge, which is basically just a bedroom. They have to use the communal bathroom and showers.

Later we got to learn the Haka, which is so freakin cool. The rugby team here, the All Blacks, perform it before games. It's very spiritual and about protection and compassion for your loved ones and ancestors. Its performed in the Maori language, and you pretty much yell as loud as you can. We learned all the words and the actions along with the history and what it all means. We then got to put on the traditional costumes and makeup and performed for one another. This is where the title of my post comes in. While changing into costume, the girls were seperated from the guys by a curtain. We then hear the male leader say to the guys, "I hope you're all wearing underwear". We all froze and weren't really sure what to expect. There was more guy thigh there than I ever wanted to see. There were a range of styles, but they were basically wearing furry loin clothes and nothing more. Hilarious. Anyways, performing was really fun and a great way to get started here.

We have our nights free to do what we please. Tonight for me that included dinner here at KiwiPaka and then a walk into town. However, most everything is closed at night. We did find an ice cream shop, and it was fantastic. And everyone is a little pink today. They actually have a burn time, which can start around 7 minutes. They've been urging us to slather ourselves in sunscreen, which I have. I got tan, but no burn. Also, its crazy all the different lingo they have here, that I don't understand yet. Everyone's favorite is 'sweet as'. It just means cool, all good, pretty much anything positive. Anyways, internet is super limited right now, so I might not post again until I actually get to school, and I'll post pictures later.