Erinn Goes Abroad

An Easter in Autumn

I have found myself remiss in blog writing the last wee while and so I owe you a rather long one this time. I have just finished a two week Easter holiday and celebrated a birthday and the Royal Wedding. Without any attempt at subtlety, I had an eventful vacation and it was just the proper dose of adventure and repose to return to the second half of the semester motivated.

^ Mount Tongariro as seen from the train

The holiday began with a train ride to Hamilton. I love train rides! I’ve expressed this previously. I’m a very active person, constantly and physically engaged in this or that, and often this state keeps me from enjoying the sweet idleness of reading or writing. With the opportunity presented, I did so quite cheerily. I finished Barry Crump’s “A Good Keen Man” and progressed through Mark Twain’s “Following the Equator”.  Both authors share a peculiar sense of humor that I find dry but all the better for it.

^ Caresse and I ready for RYLA

The rest of the week was enveloped by a leadership seminar called Rotary Youth Leadership Award. Fellow Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Caresse (see her blog here) and I chaperoned and often participated in enrichment activities emphasizing team building and leadership development. It had a very diverting outdoor component, which enabled us to do a high ropes course, rock climbing, repelling and caving. I could not claim any of these activities prior to RYLA so I’ll wear those distinctions proudly! The backdrop of the weeklong event was Lake Karapiro near Hamilton. The lake is massive, beautiful and an oft used resource for competitive rowers.  One of the highlights of the week, at least in my mind, was a rock-n-roll/swing dancing lesson we took as a group in order to step out of comfort zones. I rather like partner dancing so I felt more in my element than not. We also had a public speaking competition around the scenario of someone persuading a group of people why he or she ought to have the last place on a life boat while the others would have to go down with the sinking ship. We were asked to create characters to support our speech and so I created “Jane Rockefeller”, a very pregnant oncology doctor with valuable research contributions to the cure for childhood leukemia. In the end, I had to dress up as a doctor with a lab coat, stethoscope and unmistakable baby bump and present my speech at the final ceremony. Silly as it sounds, it was a very constructive exercise!

^Formation seen in the cave

The week concluded on a high note as it was amazing how much talent surfaced and was cultivated during the experience. Undoubtedly, it was also sad to say goodbye to so many extraordinary people. With that, Caresse and I sauntered north to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. Great rivalry persists between Auckland and Wellington in terms of superiority and obviously my allegiance stands by Welly… until that trip!!! I better go into hiding for that admission. No really though… Auckland was really fun to explore and it’s growing on me. We were able to meet with a few of the other Rotary scholars based in Auckland and catching up with them was ideal. One of the highlights was taking a trip up on the “Sky Screamer” with Caresse and Rotary Scholar Wesley. The concept of the Sky Screamer is to strap the “victims” into a vessel, which is catapulted into the air for the amusement of everyone in the vicinity. For a demonstration of the workings of this wily device, here is a 2-minute video that a friend on the ground took. It’s about 2 minutes too long, but at least you get the idea!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYNNBPhk4o

I returned to a soggy Wellington Easter morning, but it was still as lovely as I had left it. While buying veggies at the outdoor market, it was difficult not to notice the emerald water of the harbor whipping about agitatedly in the very typical Wellington wind. During the rest of the week, I celebrated a birthday and hosted a German, a Trinidadian, and an American living in Australia. All of them of Rotary scholars but one. We had a great time together in each other’s company and I was proud to share the city with them. At the end of the week, the American, the Trinidadian and I drove northeast to Martinborough to visit my host family’s country home. There we ambled from vineyard to vineyard, all within a few kilometers of each other and tasted a variety of wines. The weather was in our favor and autumn colors graced many of the fields we passed.  Taking in the pristine beauty brought me a preponderance of clarity and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the grace of this adventure.  

^ Vineyard in Martinborough

So now university is back in session and I’m boldly attempting to complete assignments well in advance versus under the pressure of a deadline. The motivation for this is next month will much merrier if I do. I am hoping to venture north to Australia at some point but I also have some of my favorite American girlfriends coming to visit early June. Besides a grand tour of the Land of the Long White Cloud, we will conclude the adventure with a few days in Tahiti. I haven’t seen a proper beach for ages, so with these visions dancing across my mind, I have set my sights forward.