5 months

Today is the last day of spring. It was a beautiful end of season. As always in a sunny day Camila went to the beach. Wednesday had been a rather rainy day so I just had some friends over. Ellis stayed the night. As we woke up we realized that today was nothing like yesterday and that we should celebrate the end of a crappy week by sunbathing and swimming. We prepared ourselves for a nice warm day in Takapuna beach. Denied to spend lots of money for some crap food we made really good sandwiches to take with us. We packed our togs, towels and sunscreen and walked down to Victoria Park to catch a bus to the shore. The walk is about 20 minutes down the hill so it's a pretty relaxed walked. As we reached the bus stop I opened my bag to get my wallet and realized I had not packed the sandwiches... As dumb as we felt we walked half an hour up hill back to my place. By the time we got there we were so hungry we ate them in in my garden, lying in the sun. We made our way back to the bus stop and across the harbour to the beach. The day was incredibly nice and sunny and warm. The beach was really refreshing :D.

I have now been on holidays for a month. It was been an amazing month! What have I been doing? Well basically I've been going to the beach whenever the sun is out and shining. I have been to Takapuna beach with my friends from school, to Mission Bay with my AFS friends and to any other nice beach around Auckland.

The AFS students that arrived in February and the 6 months students are leaving in January so lately they've having their lasts get togethers. These have been heaps of fun, but quite sad in a way. As I say goodbye to them I can't help thinking that that will be me in 6 months: I will be the one saying goodbye to my family, my friends, my home not knowing when I'll be back. It all seems so scary.

It is Christmas time and Aucklanders definitely have a way of showing it. On December the first all houses of Franklin Road (a street not so far from here, quite an important and busy one) were lit with fairy lights and all sorts of extravagant Christmas decorations. This is an important event for this time of the year and it has been happening for quite a few years now. It is now impossible to drive up Franklin Road at night for it is filled with cars and pedestrians wanting to have a taste of the decoration.
Also for Christmas the sky tower has been redecorated and now shines red and green at nights. I really like it that way.

Other than going to the beach I've been quite busy around here. My school organized Peer Support courses. Peer Support leaders are year 13 students who help year 9 students (high school starts in year 9) who are new to the school. They get assigned a group of these students and show them around the school and every Wednesday of term 1 for one period they are in charge of them and play games or answer any questions. They are sort of a go to person for the new students.
During the courses we played games and talked about what it's like to be new and going to a new school, and what to do when the students are in trouble or not adapting well.
Because only a certain amount of Peer Support leaders are needed there was an evaluation and a selection and I am very proud to have been selected as one.

I have also visited my grandparents. Pappy had an operation recently so, like any good grand daughter, I payed him a visit. My grand parents live in Auckland, but Auckland being so big this does not mean they live near by. In fact it takes little less than an hour to drive there, and much more to bus there! But it is a lovely beachy neighborhood and it is definitely worth it. Every time I visited them Nana would welcome me with some nice treats like cakes or milkshakes. They are such great grand parents! I really love them and will definitely pay them another visit, maybe learn some of Nana's recipes and listen to some nice stories about Karen when she was a kid.

It has been a lovely month! I have done so much and learnt and seen so many new things it is impossible to share them all! I do try to give you an idea of how I'm doing and I hope you like it.
Love you all heaps!
Camila