new zealand. sweet as!

so here i am, sitting in the student lounge of my dormitory in Massey University. we've only been here for less than 48 hours, and we're leaving in about 9 hours (it is almost 4 in the morning - the only time i have to write, so please pardon any grammatical errors that may pop up like chunks in a glass of milk). New Zealand thus far has been fantastic. we arrived on the 19th, spent a few days in Wellington, where i promptly spent ungodly amounts of money on the overpriced commodities here (a beer at a decent bar is $7-8). no worries, though, we moved away from the beautiful coastal town soon enough to go to riverslea retreat and start our lectures at a lodge tucked into the forest next to a beautiful river just outside the town of Otaki on the North Island. the countryside is so idyllic and green and... quiet!!! a welcome change from the chaos of Mumbai, though i do miss all the activity sometimes.

while at riverslea i spent my days learning about Maori cultural revival and political struggles, conservation problems and the army of invasive species complicating ecosystems here, climate change and the importance of the amazon in regulating hydrological cycles for the entire western hemisphere, and similar low-key topics. luckily we have the river close by so i can go for a refreshing dip after the intensity of class. or i will just sit on the deck and "have a yarn" (there's all kinds of glorious phrases i'm learning here) with friends.

after riverslea we relocated to a Maori "marae," which is difficult to translate because we really don't have anything equivalent. it fulfills the roles of community center, spiritual sanctuary, and guest house for the local "iwi" (tribe, people). sadly, our visit coincided with the funeral of a young woman, which was taking place at a nearby marae. as a result, many of the people who we were supposed to meet and spend time with were there, so it was mostly just us this time. still, it was great to spend some time on the land there and be guests in a totally new culture.

tomorrow we're going up to the mountains of the North Island to see Tongariro National Park (volcanoes! hurrah!) and stay at another marae. after that, we'll be going back to Wellington to stay in homestays with members of New Zealand's green party, so that should be some more good clean fun. then vacation, and i'm not quite sure what i'm doing yet, but i intend to see as much of the South Island as i can in 12 days.

i apologize for the rather superficial overview of the experience thus far. i know i've left a lot of gaps (and there are still weeks of India that i need to include) and haven't really covered the important stuff, but honestly there is just no time to get online, and now that i have found the time, i am a little too tired to write anything substantial. i guess that's part of the nature of this program. ha. just kidding, there is a hell of a lot of substantial stuff going on, but unfortunately you won't get to hear the whole story until i return. mua-ha-ha. [evil smirk].