My Weekend

Thursday night I went out with some of my fellow IESers to this Mexican restaurant called the Flying Burrito Brothers. It ended up with there being like 20 of us, so they had to seat us at a BIG table upstairs. The waitress (who was from California) asked if this was a special occasion, and someone claimed it was Amanda's birthday (which it wasn't). I had a very tasty burrito, but unfortunately I couldn't get much chipotle sauce out of its container, which was frustrating. That burrito would have been awesome with some chipotle sauce. I've noticed that there are quite a few Mexican restaurants around Christchurch, which surprised me and my fellow IESers a bit. I came here worried that I wouldn't be able to find tortillas for my quesadillas, but it was no problem. And the burrito I got at the Flying Burrito Brothers was quite delicious. Anyways, at the end of the meal I resisted the temptation to get some chocolate cake, which turned out to be a good thing, as Amanda got a complementary piece for "her" birthday, and she shared it around. After that the group split up into two groups, one going to a latin club while the other looked for an Irish pub called the Bog. I went with the Bog group. Unfortunately, when I got there I discovered that although I wasn't planning on drinking any (they had live music and I just wanted to listen), my driver's license wouldn't be enough to prove my age. If I go another time, I'll have to take my passport. This other girl who was having the same problem and her boyfriend went with me back to the bus. As soon as I got on the bus, I started to feel tired and I pretty much went to bed when I got back to Ilam Village.

Friday I didn't do anything really. I went to the Maori and Indigenous Studies BBQ, where the grill was broken, and met up with some friends who had stayed at the Bog. Apparently they had missed their bus when they were coming home, and it was only a stroke of luck that they were able to take another bus that got them close. Once the grill was fixed, I had the sausages, which I made sure were beef, and were OK. I think the problem with the sausages they always serve at BBQs here is that apparently NZ hasn't heard of buns (or the school is just too cheap to buy them, we always end up using pieces of sliced bread) and also the ketchup is too sweet. Also, apparently Friday evening there was a rugby game which a lot of people I knew were going to, but I foolishly decided that since I wasn't interested in sports stuff, that I wouldn't go. I regretted that decision when I didn't do much with my day. I decided to go the "Kiwi 101" session put on by the International Christian Federation (which I was a little leery about), and ran into a Japanese guy I'd run in to at the Maori BBQ. I didn't catch his name because he speaks very softly, so I only understood about one word in ten that he says. He seems a nice guy. The Kiwi 101 session was fun, with lots of "lollies" (the NZ word for Candy, which bothers me somewhat), and lots about NZ history, culture, landmarks, and politics, mixed in with funny Australian commercials about NZ. There was also less Christ than I was expecting, but I think that I will avoid further events put on by the ICF, just so I don't give them the wrong idea.

Saturday I was planning on going out to Sumner Beach, but I ran into my friend Kate, who was going with some other people to a local farmer's market, and invited me to tag along. We were going with Carolina's homestay family (who I discovered were the same people as my Operation Friendship family), and it turned out the farmer's market was at Riccarton House, a place I'd been looking for for a while. I bought a lemon macaroon from a lady, which was quite tasty. I also bought some pesto, which I later tried on some pasta, which was also delicious. I also got an opportunity to go into Riccarton Bush, a nearby park that the last intact kehikitea forest in NZ, apparently. Because it was important to not contaminate it, there was a 2 door system to get in, where one door had be closed for the other to be opened. Walking around in it was oddly like going home, even tho kehikitea trees look nothing like the evergreen trees in Oregon. After the market was over, my fellow IESers and I walked over to Riccarton Road, where they looked in a Outdoors store for cheap camping gear, then went to the mall for various things. I was able to pick up a colander (which made making pasta quite a bit easier), as well as some underwear and socks (to delay the need for me to use the criminally expensive laundry system here), and a New Zealand flag, as a souvenier for myself. When we finished it was raining, so Carolina called her host mother, who came to pick us up. She brought one of her daughters with her, and the daughter used the flute cleaning rod Carolina had bought for her mother to turn me into a toad. But she turned me back into a person when I told her my girlfriend wouldn't like to have a toad for a boyfriend.

Sunday I decided to go to Sumner beach. It was pretty easy: all I had to do was to get on the 3 bus and stay on until the end. I wandered around the shops in Sumner (of which there weren't a lot) and then out onto the beach, where there was this huge rock with a cave in it. I went through the cave, then I felt hungry. Unfortunately, I discovered that a lot of the shops in Sumner don't accept my debit card and I had no cash. So I took the bus back. My soft-spoken Japanese friend got on the bus after me, and we chatted. I think he had gotten on the bus going the wrong way, so he got to Sumner by accident. Anyways, he got off at the city center. I was planning to just go back to the University, but I decided to check out some shops on Riccarton Road that I hadn't had the opportunity to on Saturday. Unfortunately, most of them were closed on Sunday. One place that wasn't was a Cambodian noodle shop, where I had dinner/lunch. Then I got on the bus again, and went back to Ilam. I spent the evening watching Rambo II with my flatmate Damien.

Today is the first day of week 2. Now we have tutorials, so hopefully they'll be OK. Anyways, I'll report back when I have info

David Lev