Preparing for Samoa

We are leaving for Samoa tomorrow already! We will be gone for three weeks, which is quite overwhelming considering I have hardly even been in New Zealand that long yet. I am still really enjoying my time over here, and time is really starting to fly! We just finished our second week of class. It was called sustainable development, and our professor was an awesome guy who grew up, and continues to live, in New Zealand. The class was very intense but awesome. He is an unbelievably passionate follower of Christ, and his life story is simply amazing. He will be coming back to taech us for another week in late March and I am looking very foward to that. We are truly blessed that he takes two weeks out of his busy schedule to teach us. He is very in demand around here because of the passion that he brings when he speaks.
I will not have any access to computers in Samoa, but I will be sure to update the blog when I return.

Student Trip and Classes Begin

This past weekend I and the other 15 students went on student trips. We were dropped off in Christchurch on Friday morning and were told to meet back at a church in Christchurch on Sunday night, what we did for the weekend was up to us. I and ten other students spent the day and night exploring Christchurch. We had a nice dinner, went to an authentic Irish pub, and stayed in a hostel in the city. On Saturday morning we rented a van and a car and drove two hours North to a town called Kaikoura. I drove the van, which was quite an experience. In New Zealand cars drive on the left side of the road and the right side of the car is the driver's side. It took a little getting used to but it felt somewhat natural by the end. In Kaikoura we walked out on the rocks during low tide and got very close to some seals. They were napping on the rocks, trying to soak up some sun. At night I slept in another hostel in the city. On Sunday morning we stopped at a beautiful winery on they way back to Christchurch. It had a beautful view of the mountains and the ocean. Sunday night we went to an inner city church that was very different from what I am used to. A group opened by break dancing, and then we sang in a rock concert-like atmosphere. Tony Campolo was the speaker, which was incredible.

This morning we began our first class, called Stream Ecology. It is pretty intense but also interesting.

Week 1

I have been here for nearly a week now and I am having a wonderful time! So far we have been involved in orientation, and class doesn't start until Monday. We have been keeping very busy doing various fun activities and trips. On Thursday we went on a hike and learned from some park rangers about the history of New Zealand and about the particular area surrounding our campus.

On Friday we took a trip to Castle Hill, the location where the final battle scene in the Chronicles of Narnia was filmed. We had a great time doing some bouldering and taking in the beautiful scenery. Then in the afternoon we went to a place called Cave Stream, where we walked through a river going through a cave under a Mountain. We used headlamps and the walk took about 45 minutes. The water in the stream was snowmelt from the mountains, so it was very clear and very cold. On Saturday we spent the day in Christchurch, the 2nd biggest town in New Zealand. It is about 40 minutes from our campus. We spent about 5 hours doing an Amazing Race photo hunt, during which we walked all over the city and got our bearings. Yesterday (Monday) we made a huge feast in the traditional Maori way. The Maori are the indigenous peoples of NZ who were here before the Bristish came. The cooking method is called a Hangi. We dug a huge hole in the ground, filled it with wood, put large rocks on top, and let the wood burn and the rocks fall into the hole. When the rocks were red hot, we put tons of food in baskets and cloths in the hole and covered it with sheets and then dirt and a tarp. After three hours of cooking in the ground, we 'exhumed' the food and had a feast. Today we went to a town called Akaroa right on the water and watched the Waitangi Day celebration. It is best comparable to New Zealand's version of the 4th of July, although this is not a perfect comparison. We watched some of the festivities and then laid out on the beach all afternoon and had dinner overlooking the bay.