The Macaroni and Cheese!

Semi Final All Blacks Rugby Match at the Opera House!

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!

The boys: Car problems in the parking lot

These three are from Argentina, Brazil, and Hong Kong

Update: And pictures from last night posted below

Hello!

So yesterday was crazy, but fun. Jacob and I had to work until noon. We got home around 12:30, had lunch, I wrote some postcards, and as the day progressed, more and more people began to arrive. Our hostel is full now, and there is a “no vacancy” sign out front. 

We have two guys from France who cooked us all French pancakes last night, and they play music in the living room. 

There are two new guys from Germany who found an enormous poker set at “Pack n’ Save”, and decided they needed some entertainment--so we now have night time poker games. (However I am struggling w/ the rules).

Now, my room is FULL. We have the two girls from Germany, and one new girl from Belgium. In the hostel there is also a guy from Brazil, and also two new girls from Korea. The girls from Korea are very unfriendly so far, and the two girls in room from Germany came out of the room for the FIRST time last night to watch the rugby. Those four people are unfriendly, everyone else is great and we hang out and cook every night. Our hostel is full at 26 people.

Some people are leaving because work is still not here at the moment, and others are going to stay longer and wait it out. The problem is if you leave you give up your spot on the list, but on the other hand if you stay you waste 2-4 weeks of traveling. It is a hard decision to make. I am SO lucky I got work within 3 days. Wow!

Anyway, France won last night. The two guys from France were FIRED UP! It  was pretty hilarious. Then we played poker, and finally I had to go to bed, because I had been awake since before 7 in the morning. 

This morning I went to the markets with the poker guys from Germany, and the guys from Brazil & Argentina. I bought apples and GREAT bread!

Tonight we are all headed to a free public viewing of the semi final rugby game, ALL BLACKS vs Australia. I guess I have to be for the All Blacks of course! 

Then off to work again tomorrow....

Watching the France v Whales rugby match & playing poker afterwards

Work

I swear, working on the orchard is beginning to remind me exactly of school. Waiting for the weekends, and soaking up the half days on the rare occasions you have them. Today Jacob and I worked only 4 hours instead of 8 to make up for lost time next week for New Zealand's Labor Day holiday. I am beginning to enjoy the orchard. Still boring sometimes, but actually REALLY peaceful and beautiful most of the time.

The best thing is feeling like there is a "family" and place to come "home" to after work. A place where people are cooking, chatting, playing games, watching tv, and waiting to ask how your day was. It is really lovely.

Hope all of you out there have a good weekend!