My word, has it only been just over a week since I've arrived? I feel like I have already done so much. I have now spent 5 days in the hospital and done a myriad of other things.
A big thing for me has been trying all of the different foods... I can be a bit of a picky eater (understatement of the century) so I made a commitment to try new things while I was here. So far the only thing I've tried that I really didn't like was this grain thing with dinner that I can't remember the name of. Oh, well. I tried it. There have been other things that I probably wouldn't get again, but that were totally fine to have once. New Zealand sodas are interesting... L&P (similar to lemonade) is super good but Lift (also similar to lemonade but in a different way...) is not so good, but not terrible. Also desserts. Yum. Pavlova tastes like pure sugar in a beautiful way. Deep fried bananas. Yes, please, my arteries can protest later. Kaylee made a banana cake today that I will have to try some of...
Kaylee, her friend Emma, and I went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant yesterday and I activated the phone that Darren let me borrow from his mum (because in NZ we don't say mom). So now I have a NZ number with some minutes, texting, and a bit of data a month plus a GB a day on the Spark hotspots that are all over the city. I also found the cafe at work with wifi so I go there on my lunch break now. I just figured out the wifi there today so now next week I can Skype with my family during the day! I left Carmen a video message and Skyped with Matt (and Ty and Ann... so nice to see familiar faces!) I've been waking up early as well to talk to people, and they've been staying up late. I am so grateful to have their love and support while I am so far away.
The public transport system here is great, but there are some issues as in any place... I got off the train on my way home Thursday and there was a man with his legs all wrapped up in bandages and using a heavy duty medical cane trying to make his way down the stairs because the lift ('cause we don't say elevator here) was broken. Everyone was rushing around him/past him and being quite rude. I stayed behind him so as not to make the bottleneck of people rushing up and down the stairs even worse and then asked him if he needed help. All he needed was someone to hold his cane so he could hold onto the railing more securely and make his way down the stairs, and when he got to the bottom he thanked me profusely and said he had been in a car accident. Funny how people with disabilities/difficulties have issues getting treated kindly everywhere. I checked this morning on my way to work and the lift was fixed, so hopefully it won't happen to him again. I saw a man today on the train in a powerchair. I can only imagine how much of a struggle that would have been if the lift had been broken. I can imagine there would have been nearly no way for him to get down at that stop. I'm glad it has been fixed now.
This weekend is a long weekend (Monday is a public holiday), so Kaylee and Darren are taking me camping at a beach up north. I will be sure to take pictures to bring home and post, so look out for those early next week.
Thanks for reading and keeping track of my adventures. I hope to keep up with these posts... So far, so good. :)
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