¡Mitad del año!
¡Ya llevo aquí medio año!
Suena tanto y tan poco tiempo a la vez. Escribo hoy 19 y no el 20 de cada mes como hago siempre porque éste es el único rato que puedo sacar para hacer mi carta mensual. ¡Es decir que desde antes de navidad no he tenido un solo día libre, y que no tendré otro hasta que la escuela comience! Realmente ha sido un verano super ocupado. Tengo tanto que contarles que mejor comienzo por donde los dejé la vez pasada: días antes de Navidad.
El cumpleaños de Chris es el 23 de diciembre así que siempre acaba juntándolo con las celebraciones de Navidad. Este año tuvimos un almuerzo de cumple navideño con la familia de su hermano en un bach en la península de Coromandel. Tuvimos suerte de que hiciera un día de sol estupendo y la playa era también muy hermosa. Como hizo mucho viento pudimos navegar un poco a vela. Fue divertidísimo.
La Navidad aquí es diferente que en nuestro país. No se celebra la nochebuena, víspera de Navidad, que es para nosotros la ocasión familiar más importante. Me puse un poco triste al pensar que pasaría esa noche como cualquier otra noche, extrañando a mi familia y nuestras tradiciones. Para no sentirme demasiado nostálgica esa noche, le pedí a Karen que si podíamos tener una pequeña cena en familia. La cena resultó encantadora con Michelle (hermana de Karen) y sus tres niños, Phoebe, Lwell y Toby. Le estoy muy agradecida a mi familia por complacerme en esa ocasión tan especial para mí.
Lo que los neozelandeses realmente celebran es el día 25: las familias se reúnen, abren sus regalos y generalmente cenan pavo como plato principal. Eso es exactamente lo que hice. Después de abrir los regalos que dejó Santa en nuestro pequeño árbol, nos fuimos a la casa de Michelle donde también estaban Nana y Pappy. Como Pappy se está recuperando de la operación decidimos que en lugar de una cena era mejor un almuerzo de la familia para que él pudiera irse más temprano a casa. El día estuvo perfecto. La entrega de regalos que hacemos, que aquí se llama “Santa Secreto”, es igual al “Angelito” tradicional nuestro. La comida fue deliciosa y pasamos un buen rato riéndonos y divirtiéndonos en familia. Así fue como pasé mi primera navidad fuera de casa. Debo admitir que me puse bien nostálgica pero mi nueva familia se preocupó e hicieron todo lo posible para que la experiencia no fuera negativa para mí, lo que realmente les agradezco.
El 27, Chris, Karen, Raquel (una amiga de la escuela), Nikau (mi perro) y yo salimos de Auckland en dirección al sur de la Isla del Norte. Después de ocho horas manejando, llegamos a Waikanae, una pequeña ciudad de playa que queda como a una hora de Wellington, donde viven unos amigos de Chris y de Karen. El viaje en carro nos dejó agotados así que descansamos un poco, nos bañamos en la playa y en un jacuzzi que tienen allí y paseamos un poco por Waikanae que es un pueblito muy hermoso, playero y deportivo.
Al día siguiente paseamos en bici a lo largo de la costa y de un río. Un lindo y agradable paseo. Luego volvimos a meternos al mar antes de retomar el camino hacia Wellington donde estuvimos hasta el 2 de enero donde otra amiga de Karen, Allie. El hijo de Allie, Alex, tiene diecisiete años, así que Raquel y yo teníamos a alguien de nuestra edad para salir y divertirnos. Alex fue nuestro guía en Wellington y nos llevó a una caminata alrededor del CBD, por toda la calle principal de Wellington que es peatonal y se llama Cuba, alrededor de Courtney Pl, al Museo de Antropología (Te Papa) al Jardín Botánico, a la Plaza Central, a la cima del monte Victoria, a la mejor tienda de helados de Nueva Zelandia. ¡Wellington es asombroso! ¡Alex, Raquel y yo la caminamos entera!
La víspera de Año Nuevo, los tres nos fuimos, con un grupo de sus amigos, a un concierto al aire libre. Primero nos reunimos en un parque donde me reencontré con algunos de mis amigos de AFS y de ahí nos fuimos todos al concierto en la Plaza Central. ¡Fue realmente una noche divertida! ¡Esperamos el Año Nuevo entre centenares de gente, cantando y bailando! ¡Regresamos a la casa completamente agotados! Lo peor es que por la mañana Karen nos despertó tempranísimo para que iniciáramos el año con un buen baño en la playa. ¡Menos mal que hacía sol y era un día precioso porque el agua estaba congelada! ¡Nada que ver con nuestros baños tropicales del 1ro. de enero en Las Terrenas! Supongo que fue una buena manera de despertarnos.
El resto del día lo pasamos más relajado, comiendo un picnic en la playa y viendo una película. El día 2 salimos para Inglewood, un pueblito cerca de Taranaki, donde una tía de Chris tiene una granja. La zona se llama así porque queda alrededor de Mount Taranaki, una montaña perfecta, completamente triangular. Se parece a los dibujos que hacen los niños si les pides que pinten una montaña. Desde la granja teníamos una vista perfecta de ella. Pasamos una noche allí, mirando ordeñar las vacas y caminando por los alrededores. Me gustó mucho.
Después continuamos viaje hacia New Plymouth, una bella ciudad en la costa. De ahí seguimos para Awakino y pasamos la noche en un viejo hotelito en el centro de ninguna parte. También por ahí cenamos en una playa agradable y nos fuimos tempranito al otro día para Kawhia, otra playa de la costa del oeste. Pero esta sí que es una playa muy especial porque es termal. Es decir que si cavas un hoyo en la arena, haces una piscina de agua caliente ¡Eso sí que me sorprendío, porque después de bañarte en el agua helada del mar, te puedes relajar en tu propia piscina de agua caliente!
La última parte de nuestro viaje incluía una parada en Waitomo, en el norte de la Isla del Norte. Se trata de una ciudad muy turística porque tiene unas cuevas brillantes. El regalo de cumpleaños que me hicieron Chris y Karen fue comprarnos entradas para montarnos en las balsas que recorren estas cuevas asombrosas. Esto definitivamente fue lo mejor del viaje. Bajamos 65 metros bajo tierra por cuevas totalmente oscuras, iluminados sólo por las luces y el resplandor verde amarillo de las luciérnagas o “gusanos resplandecientes”. ¡Parecía como si estuvieras tirado en el suelo mirando las estrellas! Fue increíble! ¡Me divertí muchísimo!
Regresamos a Auckland el 4 de enero. ¡Hogar, dulce hogar!
El 5 era mi cumpleaños, pero estábamos medio cansados porque acabábamos de regresar de ese viaje tan largo, así que por la noche nos fuimos con toda la familia a celebrar mi cumple en la casa de Nana y Pappy. ¡Karen me hizo el bizcocho de chocolate más delicioso de la bolita! ¡Qué manera de celebrar!
El día 7 me fui a celebrar el cumple con mis amigos a la playa de Cheltenham en Devonport. El día estuvo asombroso asoleado y caliente, y el agua agradable y fresca. ¡Todo perfecto! Nos divertimos durante horas, nos bañamos y nadamos en luego comimos helados. Antes de regresar a cenar una pizza casera a mi casa, paseamos un poco por la ciudad. Pasamos un rato agradable, conversamos y comimos más helados.
Estos últimos días he ido mucho a la playa con varios de mis amigos, subí a Mangawhai con Raquel y luego me pasé varios días –hasta el 17- con su familia. La playa allí es muy linda, con un agua transparente y refrescante y unas olas fabulosas. Lo pasé super.
Y lo último y lo mejor: ayer fui a ver un festival de conciertos increíbles. Desde las diez de la mañana hasta las doce de la noche me la pasé corriendo de un escenario al otro. Pude ver a Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Bleeders, Rage Against the Machine, LCD Soundsystem y los muchos más. ¡Simplemente maravilloso! ¡Qué día tan especial! ¡Todo el mundo fue y lo pasamos super bien!
Hoy, para continuar con mi suerte voy a ver a The Police, reunited. No puedo ni creer. la suerte que he tenido!
Bueno, eso es todo lo que tengo que contarles. No puedo seguir escribiendoles porque mañana me voy a las montañas en el norte a acampar con mi familia. ¡Este mes ha sido uno de los más increíbles de mi vida! ¡Ha sido realmente memorable y asombroso!
Los quiero montones,
Camila
jueves, 31 de enero de 2008
sábado, 19 de enero de 2008
6 months!
Half a year! I've been here half a year already! It sounds like so much but so little at the same time.
The reason why I am writing today and not tomorrow, on the 20th like I always do is basically because this is the only free time I can find. That's to say I haven't had a single free day since before Christmas, and won't have another until school starts! This really is a busy summer. I have got so much to tell you so let's begin where I last left you: just before Christmas.
Chris' birthday is on the 23rd, so his birthday always gets joined to Christmas celebrations. This year we went to a bach in the Coromandel peninsula to have a Christmas/birthday lunch with his brother's family. It was a very sunny day so we were lucky to be at a beautiful beach. It was also very windy so we could have a little sail. It was heaps of fun.
Christmas here is a bit different than back home. I was surprised to see that no one here celebrates Christmas Eve, when for me, that is the big family occasion. I got a bit sad to think that I would spend that night just like every other night, thinking about my family and their traditions. So, in order to not get too homesick around this time, which is when you're the most prone to do so, I asked Karen if we could have a little family dinner. It turned out to be a great occasion with Michelle (Karen's sister) and her three children, Phoebe, Lwell and Toby. It was a lovely dinner. I'm so thankful to my family here for doing that for me :D.
On the other hand, Christmas day is a really big deal. This is when the family gets together and when you open your presents and have a nice big dinner with usually turkey as the main course. That is exactly what I did. After opening the presents Santa had left on our little tree here in our house, we went to Michelle's house. There were also Nana and Pappy. Because Pappy recently had an operation and is still in recovery we decided to have a family lunch rather than a family dinner so he could go home early. The day was perfect. We gave our presents in a similar way to how I do it back home, a game here called "Secret Santa" but I call "Little Angel". We had a delicious feast and we all shared and laughed.
So that was my first Christmas away from home. I must admit I got quite homesick but my new family here was very helpful and did everything they could to make this a positive experience for me and I really appreciate that.
On the 27th, Chris, Karen, Raquel (a friend from school), Nikau (my dog) and I left Auckland on a car trip south. After eight hours of driving we arrived to Waikanae, a little beach town about an hour north of Wellington. There live some friends of Chris and Karen. It was an exhausting car trip so we were glad to have a nice swim at the beach and at the jacuzzi they've got there.
Waikanae is a beautiful little town. It is very beachy and sporty. The next day we went for a long bike ride along the cost and then along a river. It was really nice. We then of course had a nice swim in the sea to cool off before heading to Wellington.
We stayed in Wellington until the second with another of Karen's friend, Allie. Allie's son, Alex, is seventeen so Raquel and I had someone to hang out with, which was really nice. Alex was like our guide to Wellington. He took us for a walk around the CBD, up and down Cuba St, Wellington's main pedestrian street, around Courtney Pl, the main street, to Te Papa museum, to the Botanical Gardens, to the Civic Square, to the top of Mount Victoria, to the best ice-cream shop of New Zealand. Wellington was amazing! Alex, Raquel and I walked all around it!
On New Years Eve, the three of us went into town for a concert. We first met up with some oh his friends at a park and hanged around there for a while. Then we met some of my AFS friends in the Civic Centre for a free, open air New Years concert. It was a really fun night! We received the New Year among hundreds of people, singing and dancing! By the time we got back home we were exhausted!
The next morning Karen woke us up quite early to have our first swim of the year. It was a lovely sunny day, nevertheless the water was freezing cold! Nothing like my tropicals first swim of the year in Las Terrenas! I guess it was a good way to wake up. The rest of the day was very relaxed. We just had a picnic at the beach and watched a film.
The next day we headed up to to Chris's aunt's farm near a little town in Taranaki: Inglewood. Taranaki is the name of the area around Mt. Taranaki. It is the perfect mountain, perfectly triangular its is the living version of every kid's drawing of a mountain. From the farm we had a perfect view of it.
We spent a night there, watching the cows being milked and walking around the farm. It was really nice. We then toured around Taranaki and went to New Plymouth, a beautiful city just by the coast. We went to another beach and then headed to Awakino where we were to stay the night.
It was little hotel in the middle of nowhere, very old fashioned. There was also a very nice beach near there where we had our dinner picnic.
The next day was very exiting. We drove up to Kawhia, another beach of the west coast. But this is a very special beach because it's thermal, that's to say that if you dig a hole in the sand you create a hot water pool! How amazing is that! So after swimming in the cold sea you can relax in you very own hot water pool!
We then continued our journey back north stopping in Waitomo. This is a very touristy town because of the glow warm caves. Chris and Karen offered me and Raquel, as a birthday present, Black Water Rafting down these amazing caves. This was definitely a high light of the journey. We went 65 meters under ground in completely dark caves, lit only by the green/yellow light of the glow warms. It feels as though you are looking at the stars in the sky! It was heaps of fun!
Afterwards we headed back up to Auckland, home sweet home!
The fifth of January was my birthday. It was a slow day because we'd just come back. At night we went to Nana and Pappy's house and I had a birthday dinner with the family. Karen made the most delicious chocolate cake! It was a great way to celebrate!
On the 7th I had my birthday celebration with my friends. We all went to Cheltenham beach in Devonport. The day was amazingly sunny and warm. And the water was nice and cool. It was perfect! We stayed there for hours, had couple of swims and some ice cream. Then we caught a ferry back into town and came to my place for dinner. We had some home made pizza and talked and laughed. I had a great time!
The rest of the days were also very beachy. I went to different beaches with different friends On the 14th I went up north to Mangawhai with Raquel. I stayed with her family there until the 17th. The beach there was beautiful! The water was so clear and refreshing! And the waves were amazingly fun. I loved it!
Yesterday was the Big Day out. This is a huge concert festival. From ten in the morning to twelve at night i moved from stage to stage and saw Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Bleeders, Rage Against the Machine, LCD Soundsystem and heaps, heaps more! It was amazing! Such a great day! Everyone was there! It was so exhaustingly fun!
And to keep up the eternal concert today I am going to see The Police reunited! I am so exited! I can't believe my luck! So this is the only I had to talk to you because tomorrow I'm going up north camping with my host family.
I have had one the most incredible month of my life! It has been really memorable and amazing!
Love you all heaps,
Camila
The reason why I am writing today and not tomorrow, on the 20th like I always do is basically because this is the only free time I can find. That's to say I haven't had a single free day since before Christmas, and won't have another until school starts! This really is a busy summer. I have got so much to tell you so let's begin where I last left you: just before Christmas.
Chris' birthday is on the 23rd, so his birthday always gets joined to Christmas celebrations. This year we went to a bach in the Coromandel peninsula to have a Christmas/birthday lunch with his brother's family. It was a very sunny day so we were lucky to be at a beautiful beach. It was also very windy so we could have a little sail. It was heaps of fun.
Christmas here is a bit different than back home. I was surprised to see that no one here celebrates Christmas Eve, when for me, that is the big family occasion. I got a bit sad to think that I would spend that night just like every other night, thinking about my family and their traditions. So, in order to not get too homesick around this time, which is when you're the most prone to do so, I asked Karen if we could have a little family dinner. It turned out to be a great occasion with Michelle (Karen's sister) and her three children, Phoebe, Lwell and Toby. It was a lovely dinner. I'm so thankful to my family here for doing that for me :D.
On the other hand, Christmas day is a really big deal. This is when the family gets together and when you open your presents and have a nice big dinner with usually turkey as the main course. That is exactly what I did. After opening the presents Santa had left on our little tree here in our house, we went to Michelle's house. There were also Nana and Pappy. Because Pappy recently had an operation and is still in recovery we decided to have a family lunch rather than a family dinner so he could go home early. The day was perfect. We gave our presents in a similar way to how I do it back home, a game here called "Secret Santa" but I call "Little Angel". We had a delicious feast and we all shared and laughed.
So that was my first Christmas away from home. I must admit I got quite homesick but my new family here was very helpful and did everything they could to make this a positive experience for me and I really appreciate that.
On the 27th, Chris, Karen, Raquel (a friend from school), Nikau (my dog) and I left Auckland on a car trip south. After eight hours of driving we arrived to Waikanae, a little beach town about an hour north of Wellington. There live some friends of Chris and Karen. It was an exhausting car trip so we were glad to have a nice swim at the beach and at the jacuzzi they've got there.
Waikanae is a beautiful little town. It is very beachy and sporty. The next day we went for a long bike ride along the cost and then along a river. It was really nice. We then of course had a nice swim in the sea to cool off before heading to Wellington.
We stayed in Wellington until the second with another of Karen's friend, Allie. Allie's son, Alex, is seventeen so Raquel and I had someone to hang out with, which was really nice. Alex was like our guide to Wellington. He took us for a walk around the CBD, up and down Cuba St, Wellington's main pedestrian street, around Courtney Pl, the main street, to Te Papa museum, to the Botanical Gardens, to the Civic Square, to the top of Mount Victoria, to the best ice-cream shop of New Zealand. Wellington was amazing! Alex, Raquel and I walked all around it!
On New Years Eve, the three of us went into town for a concert. We first met up with some oh his friends at a park and hanged around there for a while. Then we met some of my AFS friends in the Civic Centre for a free, open air New Years concert. It was a really fun night! We received the New Year among hundreds of people, singing and dancing! By the time we got back home we were exhausted!
The next morning Karen woke us up quite early to have our first swim of the year. It was a lovely sunny day, nevertheless the water was freezing cold! Nothing like my tropicals first swim of the year in Las Terrenas! I guess it was a good way to wake up. The rest of the day was very relaxed. We just had a picnic at the beach and watched a film.
The next day we headed up to to Chris's aunt's farm near a little town in Taranaki: Inglewood. Taranaki is the name of the area around Mt. Taranaki. It is the perfect mountain, perfectly triangular its is the living version of every kid's drawing of a mountain. From the farm we had a perfect view of it.
We spent a night there, watching the cows being milked and walking around the farm. It was really nice. We then toured around Taranaki and went to New Plymouth, a beautiful city just by the coast. We went to another beach and then headed to Awakino where we were to stay the night.
It was little hotel in the middle of nowhere, very old fashioned. There was also a very nice beach near there where we had our dinner picnic.
The next day was very exiting. We drove up to Kawhia, another beach of the west coast. But this is a very special beach because it's thermal, that's to say that if you dig a hole in the sand you create a hot water pool! How amazing is that! So after swimming in the cold sea you can relax in you very own hot water pool!
We then continued our journey back north stopping in Waitomo. This is a very touristy town because of the glow warm caves. Chris and Karen offered me and Raquel, as a birthday present, Black Water Rafting down these amazing caves. This was definitely a high light of the journey. We went 65 meters under ground in completely dark caves, lit only by the green/yellow light of the glow warms. It feels as though you are looking at the stars in the sky! It was heaps of fun!
Afterwards we headed back up to Auckland, home sweet home!
The fifth of January was my birthday. It was a slow day because we'd just come back. At night we went to Nana and Pappy's house and I had a birthday dinner with the family. Karen made the most delicious chocolate cake! It was a great way to celebrate!
On the 7th I had my birthday celebration with my friends. We all went to Cheltenham beach in Devonport. The day was amazingly sunny and warm. And the water was nice and cool. It was perfect! We stayed there for hours, had couple of swims and some ice cream. Then we caught a ferry back into town and came to my place for dinner. We had some home made pizza and talked and laughed. I had a great time!
The rest of the days were also very beachy. I went to different beaches with different friends On the 14th I went up north to Mangawhai with Raquel. I stayed with her family there until the 17th. The beach there was beautiful! The water was so clear and refreshing! And the waves were amazingly fun. I loved it!
Yesterday was the Big Day out. This is a huge concert festival. From ten in the morning to twelve at night i moved from stage to stage and saw Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Bleeders, Rage Against the Machine, LCD Soundsystem and heaps, heaps more! It was amazing! Such a great day! Everyone was there! It was so exhaustingly fun!
And to keep up the eternal concert today I am going to see The Police reunited! I am so exited! I can't believe my luck! So this is the only I had to talk to you because tomorrow I'm going up north camping with my host family.
I have had one the most incredible month of my life! It has been really memorable and amazing!
Love you all heaps,
Camila
sábado, 5 de enero de 2008
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
Today January the 5th it's my birthday! And I'm now seventeen and happy! So I've made my blog a bit more festive! I will be celebrating and having fun as always! Kisses and hugs to all of you!!!
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