Quick [long] Update

I am now officially settled in to my new flat. We've been here for more than a week now, and everything is coming together. Meredith isn't here often because she works such long hours and then goes to the gym, and Nina has class all morning long, so it is often just me and Claudia hanging around. I spent the week finally catching my breath from everything going on and re-organizing my life. I've also been catching up on my movies. Nina worked in a theater for something like 5 years, so she is always ready to catch a movie in town. That's a convienent kind of person for me to share a flat with!

I have also been cooking real food as I am no longer catered, and what an experience. We all know that I am not the best or most enjoyable cook in the world, and my issues are magnified by the fact that I am unfamiliar with our kitchen equipment. (For example, we have now learned that our stove heats up very quickly and gets very hot. We never turn it more than halfway on now!) Don't worry, I am still eating well, not starving, but it is a little intimidating when Nina comes down to cook the equivalent of a 5-course meal and you are having basic chicken and vegetables. No, not that drastic, but she is a great cook. We are also trying to eat together as a flat sometimes. Last Friday night Meredith cooked us all mexican food! It was my first burrito since being in Wellington, and it was great. That is the only kind of food I miss being here - mexican/cuban. Man, what I wouldn't give for a meal from Bridgetown!

That was a good start to the weekend. We all sat around and watched movies together that night because Saturday was our big night. Meredith and I started off with a cocktail party at 5PM. Kay, the president of Meredith's host club, had announced that she was going to have a cocktail party around her place for the Rotarians and their guests, and she nicely extended the invitation to include me. We had a great time. Kay had a wide selection of champagne, wine, spirits, and munchies, and get this - I even tried some shellfish. To be fair, I still don't like the texture, but hey, I tried it again at least. I also got to talk a lot about what I am doing with my education and the Kiwi and American political systems, so much so that I ended up on my soap box about the Supreme Court again and stayed longer than I thought I was going to. Meredith had to remind me that I had plans to meet Claudia and Nina at 7:10!

I was meeting Claudia and Nina at Sandwiches for a drink before we headed out to - get this - a fashion show. Claudia had found a flyer earlier in the week about an up-and-coming New Zealand designers' show that would showcase several new summer lines, and as none of us had ever been to a fashion show before, we decided it would be a great experience. It was really cool, but the host and hostess were a bit too cheesy for my liking. Also, the models were 'real' people, not just stick thin Barbie wannabes. We definately liked seeing what Kiwis were going to be looking for in the summer. Meredith couldn't join us because her social schedule was already too booked; she had not one but two birthday parties to attend that evening.

After the show, the three of us grabbed some quick dinner before heading out to the clubs. We hadn't been out as flatmates, and all of us wanted to go dancing. Meredith was supposed to meet us in town later in the evening after the parties, but we never caught up with her because we were already inside and she didn't feel like waiting in line. Very understandable! Claudia and I ended up dancing mainly at one club that we like a lot, and I kept running into people that I knew there. I love how Wellington is small-town homey like that; usually, people run in about the same circles, so you run into people all over the place! The only sad part about the evening is that I hadn't realized that the All Blacks were playing Ireland in rugby, so I missed the game. Very sad! No worries, though; the All Blacks won.

Sunday brought my second Rotary engagement of the weekend. Paula Smith is the head of the committee that basically brings scholars to New Zealand, and she invited the rest of her committee, all of the scholars, and our counselors out on her boat for an afternoon of sailing and food. Unfortunately, we ended up not being able to go out on the boat, so we went to her house for a nice lunch instead. (New Zealand just sank HMNZS Wellington as a dive attraction off of the coast of Wellington. It was set to sink Saturday, and Paula's husband, a lawyer, was taking clients out on his boat to see the explosion and sinking. High winds prevented the event on Saturday, and when it was moved to Sunday, we lost our chance to go out on the boat ourselves.) This was the first opportunity I have had to meet all of the scholars. Of course, I knew Amy and Meredith, but I also met Chris Petersen (who is leaving sometime in the next couple of months) and Carrie Oelberger (who just arrived about three weeks ago). It was nice to have all of the scholars and counselors in one room to socialize and share stories, not to mention finally meeting some of the members of the committee who are responsible for us getting to Wellington. Paula's house is also beautiful. She has a home on Oriental Parade with big bay windows facing the harbour and city. It was amazing how she opened up her home to all of us for the afternoon.

As fun as the afternoon was, it became more emotional at the end. This was the last time Meredith and I, as well as everyone else, would see Amy in New Zealand (at least for a long time). Her scholarship period was up, and she left today to go back to Kentucky. I know that she has some amazing experiences to take back home with her, and I am sure she is already out there sharing as much as she can. I imagine it will be hard to go home. I will be excited to be home, but it is difficult to really explain everything you have experienced to people who have never been to where you have travelled. I will do my best, armed with an arsenal of memories, pictures, and blog posts, to convey the Kiwi was of life in my speeches and stories. It will be very odd being in Wellington without Amy. She was here when Meredith and I first arrived here. She already knew her way around, she already had a network of contacts, she already knew what was going on. Her information and instant friendship was invaluable in our first few weeks here in New Zealand. I hope that Meredith and I can be the same for the new scholars who are arriving while we are still here.