Sunday, day 4 in New Zealand
My number is 0221226484. New Zealand country code is 64…
What a great couple of days!!
I landed Thursday morning and spent the better part of Thursday and Friday finding lodging, exchanging money, figuring food stuffs out, getting a working cell-phone, walking around the city, going to the Wellington JCC, looking at cars to buy and recovering from jetlag. And I’m happy to say that I was successful on almost all counts!
My most exciting imminent acquisition is the car. I plan on buying a 1990 subaru legacy for $1300 NZD. And I’m really excited about it. I’m thinking of names for her, I’m fairly certain its going to have to be a her.
The weather tends to be chilly and rainy, but they seems to be at least some sunshine during the day, it even rains and is sunny at the same time often. I saw two rainbows on my first two days here which has to be a fantastic sign. Some of the best rainbows I have ever seen as well.
Free internet is fairly scarce here, and I go to the national museum’s café to save $4/hour, if you think im being cheap, I don’t care. I think I’m being brilliant.
Being a lone traveler has been pretty exciting, I’ve been compelled to talk to other people sitting alone in the hostel and It’s been really great. I’ve met a Argentinean, a Frenchman (Sylvain), a new Zealander pastor visiting the north island, a german work-study traveler (Dennis) who I was trying to figure some plans with but they fell through.
Shabbat was my first day of not running around, I went to Shul here, the congregation is generally elderly, but I was invited out to dinner by a couple with 4 children, Kesem Yanai, Noam and Dede (ages range from 5-14). It was a lot of fun and I got to eat some real food!! The walk to the house was also my first venture out of the main city center.
Shabbat day, I went to shul again, (amazing, I know). I got invited out again and ate with a 4 other kids ages ranging 17-24, and it fell right into place. People actually enjoy my company. I knew I was really funny, even if I had to come half way across the world to discover it. Case in point, I successfully got someone at the Shabbat table to lick someone else’s elbow, the reason being that no one at the table had ever gotten their elbow licked or had licked anyone else’s elbow. Its not ever day you do something completely novel!
Saturday night, I spent my first night out in town and then hung out at someone’s flat and then drove to the toip of mount Victoria and saw all of Wellington at night and out onto the ocean. It really is a beautiful place.
As soon as I can I’m going to get a video up here of the toilets going the other direction, it will blow your mind!
