Yesterday we finished the 12 hour train trip and arrived in Auckland! It was a pretty good ride with a lot to see. We definetly got a good look at the real New Zealand scenery. We are staying in a college dorm that use to be a train station, so it is very pretty! Today we went to the maritime museum which has a lot of info. on the boats and Maori sea travel history. Then we all signed up to do crazy fun things here! A bunch are bungy jumping!

January 20th
Last night we saw “Beautiful View” at the Public Theater. It was a two woman show with minimal props and beautiful light and sound. Though the story was specific to a relationship between two women in a unique relationship, I felt that the story had a universal appeal that came from its simplicity.

January 17th
We moved to Chelsea today. It is much more convenient down here. It will be nice to have the copy center close by but I'll miss the cathedrals and beautiful brownstone, not to mention the solitude. This trip is full of solitude for me and I was relishing that while uptown. It's so much easier to be alone when my surroundings have class and grace. These surroundings have character, but honestly, Burger and Cupcake down the block? With its garish pink sign? I'll love shooting here but I will miss the boulevard of Broadway and the tree-lined walkway of Columbia University. 



January 16th
I’ve learned a great deal while working here in New York. Already I know myself in an entirely different way. I’ve learned to navigate the subway, that most European delis have terrible food, and that I am strong. I’m not perfect but at least I’m strong. There is a sign above a bookstore along our section of Broadway that says, “nobody who can write worth a damn ever writes in peace,” or something like that. But it applies to life as well: nobody who gives a damn ever lives in peace. 



For some reason my PLU blog account doesn’t like me and won’t let me sign on. So here are a few of my past entries that I wrote and saved.

January 13th

I am currently staying at the "Tube n' Axe" backpakers resort somewhere on the south eastern coast of South Africa. Last wednesday we spent a night in Township known as a Khayitlisha. A township, for those unfamiliar is semi-temporary housing built by poor blacks moving in toward the cities to find work. The townships are basically shanty-town, where each house is crudely (but creatively) fashioned out of corrugated metal sheets, and any other building materials available.

The values of the SA culture are quite diverse to say the least. On January 18, 2007 this group got the privelege to see one side of African culture that is all too often miscontrued and abused throughout international media. In short, our view on the global community has changed.

Africa has continued to amaze me. The scenery is amazing, the people are hospitable and warm, the sun is BLAZING! We travelled a couple days ago in 105 degree heat without air conditioning for six hours. I was in the back and felt a bout of nausea but tried my best not to complain because I AM IN FLIPP'N AFRICA!

Students with very little pocket money like to go to Hot Pots in China. They are an inexpensive way to eat out. Typically, at Hot Pot restaraunt there are two boiling pots filled with a different kind of flavored soup and people add a variety of vegetables or meat into either pot. When the various foodstuffs are adequately cooked they are removed from the soup (with chopsticks) and eaten.

Daily life here in Chengdu is fast paced. Pedestrians, taxis, cars and buses all rush to get from one destination to the next. From the early morning to around midnight, people are always seem to be on a mission. The only time that I have seen people completely relaxed was at the People's Park where the elderly come together for martial arts, sword fighting, yoga, dancing and singing. We were told that once you retire in China, it is hard for the elderly to go from a structured, hard working life to a slow paced, relaxing environment.