It would be very hard to not feel blissful when you are constantly surrounded by beauty. NZ is so beautiful that it's not even fair. Imagine all possible shades of green as you rest your eyes on lush rolling hills. Periodically you catch the sand of beaches and the clear blue slowly getting darker as you gaze farther into the ocean. The sky is a light blue with maybe some little clouds drifting by. Its ridiculous! Now imagine the reds, oranges, yellows and purples of the sunset and a sky filled with stars at night. Completely unbelievable.
The farm we stayed at was incredible. There were people coming and going at all times and the atmosphere was alive with young energy. It was contagious. There was always something going on, and not just one something ,several somethings all at once. One of the days we were there we took a tandem kayak to an island and explored the deserted houses on it. On our way back to The Farm, it was low tide and the landscape changed entirely. we had spots where either one or both of us had to get out and carry the kayak over mud. It was a great adventure and i couldn't really lift my arms the next day, so overall great success.
I must admit that in a way being surrounded by kids that were in their late teens and early 20s made me feel a little old and socially awkward. I wanted to join in to the fun, but felt that they wouldn't want me to. Of course Mike did not feel any of this. He is perfectly at home and at ease with everyone. I even resent him a little for this. (honesty is hard :)) I will need to figure out how to deal with the social awkwardness aspect on my own, because I have a feeling that when we go to volunteer on farms, our fellow volunteers will all be younger and I will just have to get over myself. I don't know why I pictured it any other way in my head.
The funny part is that it's not like I just sat in the corner the whole entire time. I spoke with several people and found out a bit about them and why they were there. I really think that it's just mental thing for me. Mike said that I probably spoke with more people and for a longer period of time than he did. I think I just need outside interaction more than he does.
Physically I'm making great strides. I can feel my body get stronger every time we go to do something. Yesterday we went on a 2.5 hour hike with 20lb backpacks in preparation for multi-day hikes. I think I did pretty well and now I'm feeling the burn.
I noticed some strange body issues happening when we got here. For some reason I have a feeling that I weigh 300 lbs and look like a big horrible rolly-polly blob. Every time I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror I'm surprised that I don't look like that. My theory is that this is happening because I'm doing a lot of physically challenging things and feel really out of shape and sweaty all the time. I think as I get stronger my mental image will get closer to my physical one. At least I hope it does.
In any case, in reality my clothes are fitting looser and I'm able to do tougher things now than I did when we first came here, so we'll see how all of this shakes out. I am hoping I will look AND FEEL like a golden goddess by the end of this trip (fingers crossed).
I have been told by several people that it sounds like I'm not having a good time so far. That is simply not the case, I'm just trying to document the bad with the good. I know that once this trip is over my memory will gloss over everything but the highlights. I'm in a good mood 90% of the time. It's a big transition for me, and I want to make sure that I'm honest about how it makes me feel.That is all. I love you and miss you guys.
PS - send me cheap easy recipes. We are cooking all the time an need ideas
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