Another month gone by. The reality of my return is now slowly setting in, and I can now understand Martin (my AFS Norwegian host brother) when he started counting the days to his return, with a sad face. Looking back on that whole year I hosted him, I realize how all of us go trough the same stages, and this one is definitely not one which I'd like to last for long.
Last time I wrote, school had only just started and I still felt like in the holidays. Now I am much more settled. Unlike my the firsts weeks in NZ, school now has been everything but boring. I have been doing so man different and fun things.
On the 22nd of February was the school's Athletics Day. This is a day were all sorts of athletics sports are set up, like 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m run, long jump, high jump, javaline and relays, and you can sign up to compete in any of them. So instead of being in class, the whole school is out on the field, playing or cheering, or just chilling. I must be included in third category: chilling. My friends and I got organized so that the day would be the most amazing day of school ever. We brought tons of foods and drinks, music and even couches! A whole living room set on the school field! It was so worth it! We spent all day talking and dancing and eating. I ran on the relay with my class and we got third place. It was the best day of school ever!
From the 2nd to the 4th of March was held school's year 13 camp. All, or almost all, of year 13 was taken up to Mangawhai for three days of bonding, playing, beach and fun. The first day was rather slow, we were given time to set up our tents and get settled. I was tenting with my group of girl friends, we were eleven in total, and had two huge tent which we opened facing each other to have a common outside area. We were assigned at the bottom camp, which meant that the teachers were a bit of a walk away so we could be as loud as we wanted.
We were divided in 6 groups to compete against each other. The first competition was at the beach, were we had to make the largest and deepest hole and the biggest and coolest sand castle. It was heaps of fun and afterwards we were all really sandy.
That night we had a food competition: members of the team had to eat all sorts of disgusting things as fast as they could. I made the mistake of eating the garlic, three gloves of pure, raw garlic. The problem was not eating it, but smelling of it for the rest of the camp. At least I knew i was safe from vampires...
The next day we had some more activities. We had a rally and a confidence course trough the bushes, and beach activities in the afternoon. I played cricket for the first time, but being used to baseball this was rather hard: on my first swing I let go of the bat and started running, to soon realize that you actually need the bat for getting to the other base. I didn't really like it: it's like baseball, but with less space, less bases, and less players... We also played volleyball, and I was much better at this. Then we had a nice long swim in the sea.
Sadly the third day was very rainy, and activities were canceled so we had to all sit under a crowded tent and wait for the buses that were called in earlier. Nevertheless I really enjoyed camp. I got to meet heaps of people I hadn't met before, have a nice time with my friends and enjoy of a couple of days with no facilities.
I have been taking advantage of all of the free summer events that Auckland city council offers. Firstly Starlight Symphony in the Park. It was a very amazing classical concert in Auckland domain, with heaps of talented musicians and New Zealand's most famous opera singer Dame Kiri te Kanawa. Although this isn't really my stile of music I really enjoyed the show. My favorite part was the laser show. It was like the air was tangeable, touchable. It was incredible!
I've also been to some free outdoor movies with my friends. I saw Goodbye Pork Pie and The World Fastest Indian, two of New Zealand's best movies. I enjoyed them very much. Then there have been some concerts: at parks or at beaches. It's been really cool organizing to go to all of those with my friends.
Easter weekend has just gone by and I spent it at my bach in Piha with my family. We were all there, my host parents, Georgie, my aunt Michele and her two sons and Nana and Peppy. The weather was great and the water wasn't as cold as I thought it'd be, but rather enjoyable. We had some nice walks around the beach and nice swims. It was a really good weekend. We also ate heaps and heaps of chocolate easter eggs, which are delicious!
I'm on my way out so this is it for now. I'll get some pictures up soon.
Cheers,
Camila
