Okay.  I leave for the States in a few hours. I'll cross the international date line today - which is pretty exciting to me. I'll leave New Zealand Tuesday evening and arrive in San Francisco Tuesday morning. 

New Zealand has been a very calm part of my trip.

I spent most of my time in NZ in Christchurch working at a hostel and exploring the city.

I did end up getting to see my friend Bryn just over this past weekend. We had a good chance to catch up and I saw some beautiful parts of Southern New Zealand. 

So, to wrap things up, here are a lists of firsts for you.

First time:

in a lot of countries - Ireland, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Kenya, South Africa, and NZ (also Qatar and Dubai - but they don't fully count)

sleeping in a cave

having an extended conversation with a monk

having acupuncture

picking my own  - guava, cocoanuts, star fruit, pomegranate, wild chillies

seeing bananas growing

riding three to a motorbike

having mehndi (henna) done 

teaching an art class

teaching a gym class

eating - raggie ball, ghee, a cricket, a fish caught off the side of the boat, milo, fresh cocoanut milk (and many other things)

sailing to a tropical island

fainting

being very close to wild elephants, lions, baboons, guinea foul (my new favorite bird)

riding in a matatu

riding in a tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw)

wine tasting 

harvesting grapes

making mud bricks

having the women sleeping on my shoulder go into seizure

working in a clinic

trying to say any word involving a 'click'

missing a flight

spending Christmas away from home

going to an outdoor symphony

seeing more sheep in one day then I have seen in my whole life

puking on a boat (only because everyone else was doing it - think "Stand by Me")

seeing the Atlantic Ocean from the South East side

seeing the Pacific Ocean from the South East Side

seeing the Indian Ocean (from the North and South)

and many many other things

Thanks for reading about me and my travels. Thanks for all of your kind notes and e-mails. Hopefully I will see you all soon.

-Emily