I am a pakaha

There’s hardly any white people or pakeha, as the Maori call it
My friends Juliet and Lauren said they saw some boys from the singles ward at the mall and they were beautiful Islanders. There’s a dance Friday night! Exciting.
A native New Zealander came to teach us Literacy. We learned the New Zealand national anthem in English and in Maori..It was so fun! Her daughter came to teach us as well
There’s a New Zealand version of “12 days of Christmas”, it was fun! We learned lots of new Maori vocabulary
Beautiful day…we put on sunscreen. They told us the New Zealand sun can burn you in 8 minutes…FLIP!
Our family is so generous. We’re trying to figure out some sneakier ways of providing help because they won’t let us do dishes or help prepare food or buy our own food. They have fed us 4 cups of milo already in the past 24 hours (a blander but still yummy version of hot chocolate). I feel an addiction coming on.
We were given a map and we have Fridays off next month to explore! I can’t wait. There is a train station 5 minutes from our house. Our program money will go to the bus fare, so our program director will pay us back.
We get to go to the South Island on February 2nd…CANT WAIT! We get to fly there, AND stay in a hotel! I cannot wait to explore..mwhahaha!
I am in New Zealand…weird…when I came to class this morning, everyone commented that I looked so tired. I know I hadn’t showered and my hair looked nast but apparently I am still experiencing side effects of jet lag as well..I was unaware..
I am ridiculously grateful to be in the host family that I am in. I know I am placed there for a reason. I have a lot to learn from them. We participated in their family prayer last night. We woke up and our host mom had woken up at 5 a.m. to make us breakfast, and she was studying the scriptures. I have already come to admire her diligence in the gospel.