First Things First

Hello from New Zealand. I finally arrived early Sunday morning. The flight wasn't too bad even though it was 13 hours from Los Angeles. It is weird that I missed an entire day of my life due to time changes. I was really emotional the first day wondering what in the hell I was doing leaving my wonderful family and friends and moving halfway around the world. I mean seriously, that's a gut check. I could barely even read your e-mails without tearing up. After a lot of prayers and some new friends, I feel 100% better. I went to the orientation for the program I am in and could not be more excited. There is so much to see and do here. It's the "world's biggest playground". I met two guys at orientation, one Canadian, Daniel, who I can barely understand. I swear he sounds Irish, but we all know I cannot decipher or really understand new accents. The other guy, Dave, is from Portland via Pittsburgh via a bunch of other places. We call him our "token black guy". His roommate, Paul, is also from Canada where he was a police officer and some sort of UFC fight. Let me tell you, we are the most random group you have ever seen, but we sure do have fun together. They make fun of me for saying "y'all" and call me "Frizzy"because there is no hope for my hair here. It's so humid. I'm sure the guys I used to work with are relieved that someone is taking up the slack on making fun of me.

My plan was to head straight to Queenstown, but after orientation, I decided to stay around Auckland for a couple more days until I figure out what we're doing. As I'm beginning to realize, it's best just to go with the flow here.

The hostel situation is well, very interesting. I sleep in a very small room with two bunk beds. There is another guy I share it with who I have yet to meet. All I know is he farts a lot and has zero remorse. Showering is a huge pain. It's like living in the dorms, but worse. The showers water turns off after about five seconds to save water. You have to continue hitting the button to turn it back on. The temperature is always either really hot or really cold. I am not exactly living in the lap of luxury, but I love it!!

Auckland is a lovely city. You could be walking down the street and hear 10 different accents of people from all over the world. Last night, the guys and I went down the harbor to an Irish bar. The people here are very friendly. I think our plan today is to head down to see the volcano, Mt. Eden. There are several in the surrounding area, but they are all dormant.

Oh and I am hesitant to even say this because I will scare my parents to death, but I promised to be honest on my blog. I had a major scare yesterday, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I went to get some coffee and decided I should clean out my purse, but oops, I took my money belt off. The money belt that had ALL of my money in it that I had yet to take off. Well, I go to open my bank account later and realize it is no longer there. My sweet friend Dave walked with me to retrace my steps. Low and behold, there are good people in this world. Someone turned it in without a penny missing. Thank you God! He's watching over me.

I will try and update as much as possible, but I'm never sure when I have internet access. If I haven't returned your e-mail, it's not because I don't love you. :) I miss everyone so much, but rest assured, I am having an amazing time thus far! Pictures will be posted soon.