LONG update

Wow, so much has happened since the last time I wrote on the blog...which was not even that long ago! I will try to make this at least semi brief. 

Last weekend was the rugby semi finals. A few girls in the hostel heard the i-site (information center) in Hastings was giving out free tickets to a public viewing of the All Blacks vs Australia semi final game. We all packed into cars and headed to the i-site to get the tickets. The public viewing was at the Opera House on Sunday night. I will post pictures of us going to the Opera House, and the inside of the Opera House later. It was so cool, very old, and reminded me of an old beautiful Broadway theatre in New York. 

We all got ready a little early so we could get some drinks and hear the music before the game. When we got there, there was face painting, and we all wanted to have something done because it was so awesome. 

Finally we were sitting in the theatre waiting for the match to begin. This was the first time I have seen the New Zealand All Blacks team do the “Haka” in real life. “The Haka” is something the native Maori do, and was started a long time ago to basically warn people off and let strangers know if they come any closer, the Maori will kill them. There is a leader, the others follow, and between sticking out their tongues, making insane faces, and being together, serious, loud, and strong...I really can see why they are so scary. They did this as the Australian team watched. It was so funny. 

There were people in the theatre who had brought drums and tambourines. People were cheering and going mad. I don’t even understand rugby, and neither do most of the others with me, but we still found ourselves standing up and yelling when the All Blacks did something amazing. They are so quick, and work together unbelievably. The energy was so strong. In the end the All Blacks won, which means they will play France in the final THIS SUNDAY! I am sure it is going to be wild! 

After the All Blacks won, there was this group of boys who looked like they they were between 12 and 15 years old. They were up on the high balcony of the theatre. Suddenly they broke into The Haka, and they were full on into it, and completely together 100%. It was so great. And they were so serious. Suddenly everyone was watching them, and cheering for them when they were finished. 

We came home, took pictures, and stayed up late chatting because we were all in good moods. Unfortunately I had to work the next day. I have only worked three days this week, was let off early one day because of rain, and apparently we finished the “tree training” faster than expected...so there is no work tomorrow. This weekend is New Zealand’s Labor Day Weekend and annual Festival in Hastings. Therefore, I was prepared for a wonderful long weekend with Friday and Monday off, and lots of time to sleep. However, because we finished the trees so fast I am off tomorrow also. So, FIVE whole days, not to mention, now Jacob and I are not even sure if we ARE going back to work Tuesday. We are crossing our fingers. We were promised work for at least a month, but now we’re not so sure. We were the only two working for a while, and EVERYONE else in the hostel was waiting...waiting....waiting. Now in the past 2 days SO MANY PEOPLE are getting work. This is good, it means we can all stick together for a while!!! 

This Friday Jacob has decided to get a tattoo of a map of New Zealand that looks like a Chinese dragon. Iris, his girlfriend, came out of their room the other day and said in her Chinese accent, “I am on FIRE with Jacob.” This was her way of saying how mad she was it him when she found out about this. I might go with him to see if they have some ear piercing books to look at. Of course....I love my ear piercings! 

There are some other small stories I would like to add to the blog later if I have time. This is already WAY TOO LONG! 

The only other freaky thing here is the weather. 4 seasons a day in NO joke. The past two nights we have had INSANE hail storms after perfectly sunny days. Everyone in the hostel was crowded together on the front porch watching the hail last night. We collected the hail, and had tiny piles in the kitchen...I have no idea why. Where we live in GA hail is rare, and even when it hails it does not last long. Here, is lasts a long time, and it comes downs like a mother...(Raining CATS and DOGS) as I taught everyone last night. Jacob told me they had a similar saying in Chinese. Their version of “raining cats & dogs” is “raining dog shits.” 

Hope all is well with everyone. Sending kisses. Sorry this is so long!