Check and Check that off my list

The past two weeks I have been busy. I was able to get some school work done, future goals sorted out a wee bit and check some things off the "Things to do in New Zealand" list.

First up was getting my tattoo. Andrea and I made our way to the tattoo parlor after our philosophy class. We went to the same place Claire got hers done, but we had the other artist, Al. Andrea wanted to go first, which was fine with me. I talked with her and tried to distract her while she got hers done. I jumped on the table after her, trying to hide how nervous I was. Ive been told numerous times that the rip is the most painful place for a tattoo. Andrea was sat too far away so we didn't chat- but that turned out to be okay. I closed my eyes and just relaxed in my happy place. I think the heavy hip hop blaring and the stench of BO distracted me enough from the pain. So to explain my tattoo, the phrase is from a really good youth work reading I had in social work. It shows me that I can learn from anyone, stranger, enemy, child, homeless man, etc. The circle represent community, everyone has a part or role in this journey. And the font is based on the Waldorf font;reinforcing community. CHECK

That evening, the last minute I decided to go out with my German, French and Spanish friends to a bar called the MaltHouse. The bar was celebrating Oktoberfest! It was actually a really good time. We all just sat around and chatted, ordering large Deutchland Beers, and watching the bartenders in classic outfits, straight out of the Sound of Music. I left at 1:30, before everyone else. I decided that I had a really good night and didn't want to drag it out and not have the night be as wonderful as it was.

The next day, I went to the craft fair near the harbor with Hollin, Andrea, Courtney, Sam and Amanda. There was a sweet bluegrass band playing outside, that I enjoyed while the ladies shopped. I decided I wanted some caffeine and a baked good so we made our way to enigma. The caffeine really made a difference! I was ready to roll after that.

We all were supposed to find our Clue Costumes, but i got lost in a second hand book store. I was there at least an hour and could have stayed longer. I narrowed down my ridiculous pile of books to 2 small Harry Potter books, Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (4$ all together!), AND I also bought Harry Potter and the PHILOSOPHERS stone and the prisoner of azkaban...I decided I wanted two British versions for home. They have better covers then the American, anyway.

I met up with my friend Max, and him, Sam and I walked around Cuba St for the next 3 hours looking for costumes. It was a really nice day and local musicians were out and about all day! It was really nice listening to them and rummaging through random indie stores. I made it to about 4 o'clock- the other two went off to grab some food and I made my way home, exhausted.

The next week I pushed about all of my school work aside and focused my attention on applying to the Peace corps. The process was rather long, and many emails were exchanged with my Dad, trying to figure out how much in debt I was with my student loans. Now its the waiting game to see if they are interested. I will fill my waiting time with applying to Americorps, and trying to figure out where in the North Island I am going to WWOOF when classes finish.

I took a nice little break on Wednesday from the Peace corps paperwork. I stopped by the Union bar and met with some of my friends and the ultimate Frisbee team. I met two cool as Kiwis, Liz and Mike. The bar wasn't prepared for en entire Ultimate Frisbee team to show up on a Wednesday so beer went quick. I then nursed a new drink. Ginger ale + whiskey. Is amazingness a word? It should be after that drink.

I was feeling pretty good and walked 4 minutes down a hill to my German and French friends, Lena and Anais. Lena allowed me to help her make this great German dish and Anais made french apple pies! My contribution was red wine, and doing the dishes. It was incredible. We decided that we are all going to make pumpkin pie- which is scheduled for tonight. I just bought half a pumpkin so it better happen!

I then returned to the bar and met up with Andrea, Liz, and Mike. We all went out to this bar called Lotus. It had some techno music and sweet drinks with limited amounts of alcohol. Liz got a bit ahead of herself so around 12:30, I found her a cab outside, and as heavy amount of rain poured upon me, I decided it wasn't worth going back into the bar so I made my way home. Right when I hit my pillow case, I discovered that I was finally drunk. I hate it when that happens. I downed my nalgene and hoped for the best.

Thursday was a shitshow. I was that non-motivated hungover. I somehow did nothing until 9pm, when I started my two research papers. To give me some credit, I had an awesome outline for one of my papers, and I had gotten 2 books from the Library for the other paper. It was a long night, but around 2am I gave myself a break and said sleep was more important. I woke up at 8am, skipped two classes and finished my papers. I took a nice lunch of Hell's Pizza with Andrea and Courtney. We ate our meals at the union bar and talked with our friend Brian, who always seems to be drinking there. I returned home, finished my bibliographies and then printed out my papers at the library. As I was dropping off my papers, I had to share a elevator with my philosophy professor (the class i had skipped that day- and yes, he did notice. I always sit in the front row).

That night, I had dinner at this dessert place classed Strawberry Fair. I had a Delicious half cooked chocolate cake, with ice cream, cream, and white and dark chocolate drizzled on the bottom. I then made my way to the Embassy theater and caught a showing of fight club. It was a freaking great night.

The next day I did nothing but read, drink tea, watch Dexter and nap in the sunlight of my room. I went to a concert around 5pm. The 8pm show was sold out so I went for the all ages show. The opening band was called the Kids of 88. I was pumped at the name, as I myself am a kid from 88. They were not BAD, but I felt like I was in middle school, lyrics awful, stage presents a joke, and the lead singer re-messing his hair 4 times a song. The main act was Naked and Famous- a New Zealand band. In short, they rocked. I even ran into an employee of Enigma who was jamming out. I would suggest listening to "All of This" and " Young Blood". I was really glad I went. It was a small venue, smelling to sweat of the band members, and feeling the pulse of the music. Going to see a live New Zealand band, CHECK!

Last night I opted out of going out. I had already spent a bunch of money this week, and I was tired from the late nighters. So I bought a bar of chocolate, and read some Harry Potter. I woke up at 7:30am, saw the sunrise and then went to the farmers market. That place always makes me in the best calm/happy mood. I told myself that due to the limited money I have left that I couldn't buy anymore avocados, grapefruit or kiwifruits. So I was just going to get apples and bananas. Well, since I am making pumpkin pie, I got half the pumpkin, and then the pumpkin was by the eggs, and the eggs were by the onions. So I cheated and had a really nice breakfast. I will do better next week.