Update

So the month of May has been quite boring compared to the rest of my adventures here, but since I haven't written since my travels during mid-semester break, I thought I would do a little updating. The study part of studying abroad has finally come to mean something as I am finishing up the semester. I only have one more week of actual classes, then 2 group projects, 2 essays and 2 finals and I am done with AUT and ready to celebrate summer time, well actually more winter time while I am still in New Zealand. May has been pretty mellow in regards to traveling or doing exciting things, however, things will pick up again in June and my last month here is going to fly by. Three of my best friends from home, Morgan, Caitlin and Reann are coming to visit me and will be here roughly two weeks. I am going to try and show them as much of New Zealand as I can, with the limited supply of resources (money, car, etc.). Once they leave, I have to take my two finals, which hopefully will go smoothly, and then it's arrival of my parents and Uncle Melvin and Aunt Leta. The next ten days will be spent with them traveling to Wellington and other stops along the way, then it's U.S.A. here I come. It amazes me that 4 months have already passed, I truly have had an incredible experience here and am sad to see it end. This trip has definitely made me want to travel more and experience other cultures because I've realized there is a whole lot more to the world then Cow Town Tulare and Sunny San Diego.

Spring Break, Part Two - Samoa

The second part of my mid-semester break was spent in the island Upolu, Samoa. Lauren, Sarah, Taylor, Eric, Joey, Steven and I started our journey at 3 am Tuesday morning. I decided to not sleep Monday night because I knew if I had to wake up that early I would be in a terrible mood. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our 6:30 am flight to Samoa. The flight was probably one of the worst I have been on while being here, but we made it to Samoa safely. We arrived there on Monday, (we got to go back in time since Samoa is on the other side of the international date line) and from there on out we were on complete Island time. The resort we stayed at included breakfast and dinner everyday so we skipped lunch each day in order to save money. Samoa consisted of laying out from the hours of 10 am until 5 pm everyday, with the occasional naps. It was truly a vacation. On Thursday of our trip we decided to rent a car and explore town along with a few other touristy places. This was definitely the most interesting and entertaining day of them all. We had ordered a van because three others had met up with us so there was 10 of us total, and when the van arrived early Thursday morning we realized none of us knew how to drive a manual vehicle. Kaleigh had learned before she got her license but since she had not practiced in 5 years, it made for an exciting ride. Our first stop was this hole in the ground that had incredibly clear water and was truly gorgeous, there was also a blow hole and other great views of the ocean. Next, we made it in to town and did some bargain souvenir shopping at what reminded me a flea markets. On our way back to our resort we stopped at the sliding rocks, which was nature's own version of the very best waterslides. Each place was fun and interesting, but the drive was truly the high of the day. We ran about 5 red lights for fear of the van not being able to start again, and realized that the 3rd time was truly a charm when it came to getting going. We later decided to name our van the Clutchenator because it came through in clutch moments, and also we probably destroyed the clutch of the van. While being in town, we realized how great we really have it. I felt so naive to other countries and was so grateful to the life I live in the U.S. and also here in NZ. We saw kids walking around with machetes to chop grass and get coconuts and it was so common. It truly was a different way of life there, but outside of our resort, I could never live there. Now, I am back in Auckland and probably won't have many more exciting posts because I am devoting the month of May to saving money and working on school work. However, in June three of my best friends will be visiting so the adventures will be sure to continue.