The Boys of Summer

Here is Kevin and I this summer.
Look at my beard! Great beard huh?

Well we've been traveling around Pittsburgh, finding bowling alleys in the annals of an old church, being prophecied to by an old man named herbert(?) and cooking meals of spagetti squash and fried rice - all the while thinking of this coming semester!

You students for the fall semester 2008 have a real treat in store.
Get back here! and talofa lava and Sara Barret loves you.

T-Shirts Came In!

Students. The T-shirts came in yesterday. I've been wearing mine ever since we left the shop. Here is a photo of the shirts. We are going to send them out to you all in a week or two from the States. Be stoked, they are delicious.

"Oh, C-C-S-P, we've become a family...."

I just like this picture. That's all.

ISP/Debrief/Too Brief

Friends, you are home. Back in the States, back in Canada, back in places you knew so well but which maybe now seem foreign to you. We have a couple more blog updates to give before we say goodbye to this small semester chronicle we've compiled together.

From the beginning, I think we've always known very well what the end would be like. For the students, this looks like a last week of jamming their fingertips into their keyboards and praying that an ISP project came out. For the staff, it is a time to craft opportunities to contemplate the semester creatively and uniquely.

The week really started with the end of the ISP projects. A few people from the community were invited, presentations were given on various topics, and a nice dinner was enjoyed by all following. Topics were NZ Forestry, Art and Culture, Oral Tradition and Story, and Suicide in Samoa and New Zealand. I was proud to make an appearance as a dog in Brett and Christy's presentation. I tackled and scratched Brett to death (he was a kokako). I was also proud of the students as they presented topics they'd been considering throughout their time here.

The Debrief week included a few night sessions of reflecting on the semester and preparing for the changes in the students' lives that were waiting for them in North America. We took a short night's stay a little further out west at an old schoolhouse lodge in Huia. Sara and Julie provided an opportunity for students to reflect creatively on a timeline of the semester, ran a nice slideshow, gave out student awards, and gave us a chance to play one last game of Murder in the Dark. Some students made their way out to Whatipu to explore and some stuck around the lodge and read books. [Thanks to Rachel and Allie for some of the pictures on this blog.]

Some people slept outside on the deck and had a nice sunrise to wake up to the following morning. We spent a slow morning at the schoolhouse, packed up and headed back to Knock Na Gree for an afternoon to rest or head into the city to do some last minute sightseeing or shopping.

The following night was a time for us to reflect on some of the stories we have made for ourselves through the semester. We had a fine time with the White Weta gift exchange, which is similar to traditional White Elephant gift exchanges. Each item brought by the students was to have some words going along with it explaining its significance for that student through the semester. Books, an old cherished water bottle, collections of significant poems, jewelry, coupons for spankins, and bundles of nice photographs were exchanged throughout the night. This was a time to tell and retell stories, to voice what was significant for each of us, and to share them in the form of a gift.

The third debrief session was a time for staff and students to discuss what returning to places everybody left in January means. The outlooks, world views, opinions, and thoughts of everyone on the program have undergone stress, change, and sometimes renewal. How will these changes be viewed by family and friends? How in the world is the Story of the semester going to be retold? What has been learned here?

For staff, this particular time was a highlight in our involvement with these students. Hearing students retell the impacts of this semester on their lives, the practicality of changes of lifestyle or thought they perceive in returning, and lessons they have learned this semester is full of meaning for us.

The truth of returning is that memories of the semester, the thoughts unique to it, and the small shifts in thought and character that may have occurred throughout may be elusive. Life will have its way of continuing, people will have their way of forgetting, and soon enough this experience will be distant enough to feel foreign again when it once was known as home. The debrief week was a chance to take a short look at what has happened here and to continue thinking about it. It marks neither the beginning or the end of these thoughts.

And we learned together, in the forest

Folks, have you had an ice cream at Pokeno? Probably not. Pokeno has these two nice ice cream parlors where you can get two scoopers for very little money. If you really want, you can get what we named the "dodecascooper," which referred to a ten scoop ice cream cone. (Yes, I realized dodeca- means twelve). Some people said the photo showing the ten-scoop had been manipulated digitally, but I choose to believe in their reality. This photo is of our group, actually on our way to do Forest Ecology together. If you look carefully, you can see our prof Bryan Henson, standing to the left of the post. Looks like he's got a nice mouthful of ice-creamy. (Eileen, did you teach Brett to get ice cream all over his beard?)

Nevertheless, this group of eleven students(all pictured above), professor Henson, and the entire staff of the CCSP South Pacific Spring 2008 semester would need an ice cream stop off like this to prepare them calorically, physically, and mentally for the next 12 days of the highly anticipated Forest Ecology field trip. The following is a tag team recollection of our time spent in the ancient forests of Pureora, within the limits of Tongariro National Park, and upon the sacred whenua (land) of Otukou marae.


Here's our classroom! For much of the time during the trip, students were asked to do some plant identification, some forest tramping, and endure a couple of sprinkles of rain. I was hanging out with Brett, Rachel, and Ben while they took their time working along a rolled out tape measure and flipped through their field guides to identify plants they had never seen before. Most of the plants in New Zealand are found here and nowhere else in the world.

We spent four illuminating days and as many dew filled nights right smack in the center of Pureora forest, a protected and mixed aged forest. At times walking through this forest we would find ourselves surrounded by 800 year old Rimu trees. Other times, we'd be greeted by little cutie whitehead's (lovely birds) in the younger, regenerating portions of this forest. Early each of these mornings, different groups of students made the forest edge their classroom as we listened keenly for the epheral call of the Kokako, a stately forest bird that is extremely rare (most native New Zealanders haven't been lucky enough to hear its call! But we heard it, and saw it in clear sight on our last couple days! Epiphanic moments for students and staff alike! In between lecture and field experience, we managed to invent an invigorating game called "pole ball", managed to wander around the forest at night searching for glow worms, and even had a kitchen dance party lead by the headlamp blinking prowess of our dear director, Mark "body" Pierson.

Oh "Body", you're fantastic.

Although forests are known for their diverse species of both plants and animals, there are always notable individuals amongst the system. The above picture if an enormous Totara we visited, stood around, and admired. I overhead some people saying that the tree was "as old as Jesus," but...seems to be some theological difficulties with that statement. Nevertheless, this is an old tree, over 1500 years old I believe. We also came across a creature known as a velvet worm. Velvet worms are theorized to have remained unchanged throughout evolutionary time for some 65 million years (depending of course, on how old you believe the earth is). Regardless of how long creatures may have remained unchanged, it was quite a thought to consider what stories the trees or the worms could tell us---stories of humanity, stories of the world, ancient stories.

Just as we started to begin comprehension of such stories, we were on the move again. This time, an hour and half drive to the east to the fabled National Park named, "Tongariro". We had only two short days in the little lodge called Whakapapa, but our days within those walls were cozy. Outside of them however; our group became a rugged and ready outfit of searchers, of summit searchers. A highlight of these few days must be the summiting by our entire group of Mt. Ruapehu. Certainly, we were not out to conquer the mountain. No, not by an means. Rather, our group participated in a community hike with more than 100 other keen souls (gathered to celebrate Sir Edmund Hillary) and we spent our best energies' to get to the top of the 2800 meter beast. The icy winds howled upon us, and through us as we tip-toed the ridge line and ended in a cloudy huddle upon the rim of the volcanic crater lake that marks the summit of this legendary mountain. Emma carried her computer bag with her, Bryan cut his jeans into jean shorts, and Sara was ready with the med kit and any extra gear. It was certainly one of our shining moments together this semester, plus we got tea and scones at the base.
This is Christy and Allie walking along the rim of Ruapehu. The third person is a ghost.


As we rested our weary bones from the summiting of one of the world's tallest peaks (not true), we passed good time together in our lodge. There developed a very keen interest in a game called "Murder in the Dark," which had all of us walking around in the dark, running into each other, and trying to avoid being "murdered" by the "killer". Bryan did his fair share of damage as a "killer," I punched Nicole in the face, and Christy decided to take some liberties with what she "accidentally" contacted with her hands while all the lights were turned out. The picture to the right of this writing was a place we stopped at for a nice lunch, some rock jumps, and sunshine.





Above, in a calming black and white you will see the Wharenui (the meeting house) also known to us as the Wharepuni (house of peace, house of rest). This building is part of the Otukou Marae - a sacred area to the Maori people who have been living upon that land and guarding and caring for the mountain area for hundreds of years. Those very people welcomed us for the final part of our trip. After an official powhiri ceremony where honor and thanks were given to our respective ancestors and familial lineages, we were fully accepted into the family, essentially into their lineage where we were given full liberty to live comfortably on the marae. The rain came down in buckets and we never did quite catch a glimpse of the mountain ranges that were dwarfing us due to the clouds.

But those days were meaningful and we were blessed with the presence and history and knowledge of "Guy," Bubs and Daisy (these are the common English names of the people of this marae that took wonderful care of us during our time there. Daisy even gave Kevin and I 3 HUGE Rainbow trout that she was apparently preparing for her dinner that night - she just gave them to us!) Even though the ground was soggy, the mist was heavy, and the mountain hues eluded us during our time there, we were covered with the powerful light of hospitality, love, and learning that were so SO kindly bestowed upon us by our friends at Otukou. We were certainly blessed to be witnesses of that place.

We headed back after all this time to our home here at Knock Na Gree. Students had a few days of rest (or intense work, rather) before our last class began today. God and Nature II. With Bret Stephenson. Bret who tried to swing a hearty swing at a kickball but missed and ate it. Bryan did that too one day playing soccer. Bryan, don't be embarrassed, just own it.

A very special sushi occasion (Ode: to Kevin Saiki and Miki)

Every so often in our calendar year, we get to celebrate birth day of our friends and kin. And if you haven't heard yet, birthday's at CCSP are a big deal. It usually means that staff members here show no or little regard for the budget categories that we've been given (which we usually show no or little regard for anyway) So basically, when it comes to celebrations, we have the liberty to "imagine" up all kinds of events and participatory endeavors, and we occasionally break the bank (more on that later.)
Kevin Saiki, Student Life Coordinator and all around staff mystic was thinking probably, that his 24th birthday celebration would be held in quiet and humble regard. Not so.
Kevin loves sushi. His dad and him have a sushi roll named after them. "The Saiki Roll" they call it. People in Bakersfield, CA are still enjoying it to this day. Kevin is half Japanese, and we decided that to kick off his big day celebration, we would call up our dear friend Natsuko Miki (or more affectionately called by us, "Miki") to honor his Japanese heritage and his love for sushi. Miki won our hearts right away as she taught the CCSP program (in very few English words) how to make sushi rolls of all types and shapes.


I met Miki a few years ago, when I was a student here and she taught our group to do the same. She has a wonderful way with relating to people and is as sassy in her 90 year old body as she was in her 25 year old frame that entertained Japanese soldiers as a jazz musician and singer. Kevin certainly reaped Miki's musical talent as she sung a soaring rendition of Happy Birthday in very broken English, it was awesome. She had no shame telling Christy that her roll was sloppy as she promptly turned around to tell me that my beard was itchy (but she liked Brett's and Nate's!)
The break the bank part I mentioned before was that I bought WAY too much rice (I even sprung for the organic sushi rice, so it was a little more heavy on my purse, and I thought it'd be a nice treat - IT WAS FOR KEVIN OK!) We certainly ate our fill and got loaded up with energy for the remainder of Kevin's big day.
Sara, Jess, and Jules had prepared a heavy Wine Cake for "saik dawg" and as we ate it together in the failing evening light, we began to drop cryptic hints to Kevin, for what was in store for him later that night.

Kevin, an avid fan of the "X-files" a late -nineties sci-fi television series - would be later abducted by his fellow collegues and friends, greeted by "the smoking man" (nate) and ushered into a dark room under all kinds of poking and probing stressors, and eventually as a cohesive group, we would all watch the Xfiles movie that we rented in honor of our good friend, Kevin.

So, there you have it. Just another day at CCSP? No, I don't think so.
So as I ready myself to walk over to dinner, I see the clouds moving fast to the west and a fantail flitting itself around as if it were dancing for me and I know that somewhere, "the truth is out there"
Happy Birthday Kev!

Pantherball 2008

Before I give this blog post over to Kevin Saiki - the creator and lover of Pantherball - I wanted to call attention to this photographed image of our very own, David Cutter. Before you let little children see this photo, I want you to be advised....this picture of David is like something out of the Xfiles. All we can do to explain it and describe it is to say that Cutter was giving 174% to this game, he was intense, he was screamin, he was going nuts. His team won the championship - and perhaps it was because Cutter morphed into the alien bounty hunter who's sole purpose for existence was to defeat the opposing team - check this out!!

Thanks Matt, that was great.

In considering this post, I have to ask myself: What is Pantherball? I mean, what is its essence? What does it represent? What does it do?

Pantherball does everything you can imagine. It gives you an outlet for raging frustrations with either all the papers you have had to write, all the times you've wanted to bash your friend, and all the times you went to the Nutella jar and found that once again, someone had taken the last scoops before you could get to them. It gives you exercise, which modern society tells us is going to make you live longer and better. It gives you insight into the parts of your friends you've never seen before (e.g. Cutter in the picture above). It teaches you patience as the ref (me) calls ridiculous calls. It teaches you that perhaps you are more violent than you thought you were (Sara punched Matt and received a "ten second on the couch" penalty), and thus, you begin a short night-long journey on a path of rapid self-discovery. But most of all, Patherball brings the people together.

I cannot and will not take complete credit for the idea of Pantherball. I learned about Pantherball from a friend of a friend while I was in University. His name was Josh and he was studying at Cal Poly SLO. That's about all I can say about origins.

But what I will say now is that Pantherball has evolved and will continue to evolve. It is no pointless activity, but it is the product of hours of long and arduous thinking about Community and how to bring everyone together. If we were all pieces of dirt lying on the floor, scattered about the room, Pantherball is the stiff whiskered push broom that suddenly pushes us all together into the dustpan.

Meet the teams. Then meet Brett, who wins the award for My Outrageous.
Top: Spanktops
Next: Panthermals
Next: Monkey Brains (Spring 2008 Champs)
Bottom:PawPurrs

Brett, hands down, wins best costume. Who has ever made a newspaper jock strap? Who has ever made a cardboard helmet, plastic bag tank-top, and wore what look to be business socks in Pantherball? No one has, that's why Brett is the best. Also, he was fierce. Also, he had to bite the cardboard helmet to keep it in place.

Some Pantherball highlights - CCSP's big game

Highlights of this pantherball video:

• Cutter yelling, "174 percent!!!!"
• Kevin getting caught by the camera singing to the chorus of Mariah Carey's song, "Touch my Body"
• Emma making incredible saves left and right
• Julie squealing
• Michelle owning
• Sara punching Matt after a goal and getting 10 second penalty on the couch
• Christy hanging
  

Just walking to the mailbox

I know full well that this is not my personal blog. But since I've got the password to this account, and I'm partly responsible for filling all of you in as to what goes on here during the day - I thought I'd share a quick little mish mash of words, an offering I suppose of things I encountered on my walk today to the mailbox at the end of our long driveway:

The rains have been HEAVY this past week. The waters of Oratia stream have been out of their banks and swollen with all sorts of organic matter. I wonder what the eels and freshwater shrimp do when the waters run so quickly. But, since summer is shedding and autumn is unwrapping itself around here (which means heavy rains) - I've needed to be diligent in spending as much time out- of- doors, as I can. So, down the hill I walked, past the old Catholic chapel, stepping over sharp needles of Scottish Gorse, letter in hand - I felt my head tingling from the cool air (or was it the nip of the peppermint oil soap I used to wash my hair with...yes dad...I washed my hair!) The leaves were swift, riding the currents of a low breeze past my feet - being tossed in a swirl of the wind, it was wonderful. The birds were even more swift - as fantails, blackbirds, Eastern Rosella's, Song Thrush's, Ring Necked Pheasants, and even a dinosaur looking Pukeko all were full of movement and made me tingle with delight (or maybe that was the peppermint soap again) and made think twice about holding my letter tightly, because I could have easily dropped it onto the soggy ground being so aloof with pleasure.

I dropped that letter in the box, something so simple, but so so so rewarding. Have you written a letter lately and put it in a mail box with your OWN HANDS ? Give it a shot sometime this week or next.

On my trot back - a little green friend made himself known to me - by hopping in front of my grassy feet and resting for quite a long time upon a maroonish colored leaf, which had gotten caught in the long grasses of our field. A small green tree frog, who I affectionately named "Meep Zorp" (for its alien looking legs) and then renamed "aidan" - just sat and rested, allowing me to watch him or her for quite some time. Look at that wonderful black stripe that continues through its eye - I wonder if that is some kind of defense mechanism to ward off potential predators.

I sat and got a soggy bum happily - this was one of the nicest encounters I'd ever had with a frog, and I was thankful for it - and for the chance to run and get my camera to take a few shots before "aidan" danced away.


So tonight we play "pantherball" a game dreamed up by the likes of Kevin Saiki - student life coordinator extraordinare - you can be sure of a post about it, and some pictures to boot. But before I go and get myself pumped for the game - I wanted to share this little puzzle piece from my day. A Morepork is calling just about 10 meters away from me right now. Julie just walked in with big goon smile - and the night is clear and cool.

Hot Cocoa? With milk? (rice, soy, or cow or even water buffalo)

Check out what we've been reading about the chocolate we so readily smush into our mouths.  

The problem:  Millions of cocoa and sugar farmers face economic ruin because the price paid for their crops is often less than their cost of production.  The volatile world price for these cash crops leaves growers facing a cycle of poverty and debt, and they are often forced to abandon production with no easy alternative means of income to support their families.  Low prices mean poverty and hunger for cocoa and sugar growers all over the world.  Forced labor practice

(child slavery) is also common within the cocoa industry.  

The solution:  Fairtrade is a way out of the poverty trap.  The extra income from the minimum price, as well as the premium paid to fund the development, means that cocoa and sugar growers have enough money to ensure their families are fed, their kids can go to school, and that their community has funds to invest in health, education, and environmental products.  Appropriate labor conditions prevent the use of forced labor. Through Fairtrade, rural communities around the world have been able to afford the basic necessities that allow them to survive and develop.  

Ressurection Cocoa, Flightless Coffee

Neither Kevin or I, want this CCSP blog to be an "overtly educational" one - rather just an informative resource for interested friends, families, and pals all around the blue/green globe to see what we CCSPer's are up to.  But, while we've got your attention this might be a nice chance to share about a few things that we care about here - issues that we are concerned with learning more about, and doing what we can to contribute to the evaporation of oppression and poverty the world over.  No one here is claiming we can "save the world,"  BUT as the weeks go by, and we sit in class and let ourselves be stirred up by what we are learning, and seeing, and experiencing, it becomes pretty clear that we can love people by how we use our money, by the items we buy, and by knowing where they come from.  And although we might need to do our homework a little bit and try to understand the bigger systems (economic, political) that we are a part of, making ethical choices with our purses is something that feels really good.  

Trade Aid is an organization here in New Zealand, (we've mentioned them before on our blog, I think) that seeks to give Third World producers a fair price, and thus a fair chance at supporting themselves and their families.  Though we are far removed geographically from coffee growers in Ethiopia, or Cocoa farmers in the rich basins of East Africa, or the Olive harvesters in Palestine - we can be close to them in our hearts and with our support.  

[Our support doesn't have to be limited to these big over the sea initiatives either, ya know!  We can empower local people as well, by buying produce that comes from people that live in your area, or purchasing meat for eating from a local (organic) butcher, or even just getting some of your apples from a local farmers market.  It doesn't have to be much, but at least you get to know the guy or gal that you are buying apples from.  Make a friend, eat an apple.  ]

Check out the feature film - 'Black Gold' a film about coffee production and the harsh economics that strangle far away farmers so that Americans and other Western folk can have their massive selection of gourmet coffees.

Late Easter, But I Promised

We never posted about our Easter celebration we had together a couple of weeks back. I'm bummed about it. It's worth it to go back in time and relive the...magic.

Matt and I decided we needed to help recreate some of the good times of Easter Sundays. The good times that seem to be common among us here of being pushed into stiff and starchy pastel colored shirts and dresses, and enduring an Easter Sunday service while we fantasized about finding that old golden egg that had the quarters inside of it. So instead of getting all kinds of plastic eggs, we reclaimed some of our recycling items, some random objects we found lying around campus, and we attached numbers to all the items. We then hid the items and released the energetic little students with the banging on a dinner pot. Almost all items were discovered, with the exception of the yellow squash I hid in the autumn leaves.

Numbers corresponded with prizes for all the participants. Some came to the prize table to claim pleasant little candies, but some ended up claiming envelopes full of weeds or piles of rocks (Matt even put hair in a plastic baggy and had that be a prize). Despite having some pretty terrible "prizes" to claim, it seemed like everyone was rapt with anticipation to see what they would receive. What a time! Except for Emma, who we think received all bad prizes, including a chocolate covered wad of toilet paper, some weeds, and a certificate for a tummy Zerbert from Brett, which she politely declined and passed on to me.

This was Christy's prize, which she certainly didn't let me forget. Her picture, posted on the blog, for all to see (and admire, she says).

Vienen

We've all returned. If it hadn't been raining for the last couple of days to keep us indoors, maybe we wouldn't have even noticed how short of a time we have left here with Spring semester 08. As it is, we are cooling our jets from the last week of travel, reorienting ourselves to being back on campus, and realizing we have a very short time left here together.

Students are back in class with Mick Duncan studying Sustainable Community Development for the second week. We got some class in the mornings and evening, with afternoons off. Ok, we got some nice rain. Ok, We even got some Panther Ball (what's that?) this Wednesday. And plenty of schoolwork to be done, I hear.

Autumn has fully settled in, and it is a nice time of the year here I reckon.

Most everyone headed down to the South Island for break, with a few of us spending most of our time seeing the sights in the North. If we can wrangle up some pictures from the students, we may get a blurb or two from them about their time, maybe have a few laughs about Emma putting herself into fetal position when stepping off the bungy tower in Queenstown or about Sara and Allie being attacked by Kea.

Community News:
Matt was treating his hand warts with garlic. I think it's been a few weeks and they are still around but smaller.
Mallory just bought some new shampoo and conditioner.
Allie rolled a Yahtzee today when we played.
Christy has been learning a song on the guitar.
Brett and Jen are studying.
That's all for now.

Note for the readers: You guys are great. Special shout-outs to Brett's parents and Cutter's Dad. Thanks for writing comments on the blog!

Students, why don't you have another homestay? Maybe this one with a Kiwi family? OK!?! cool!!

The following few posts entitled "homestay:" were written by our very own home-stayers.
This past week, all CCSP SoPac students were placed with real life families from around the greater Auckland area. Surely everyone's experience was unique and meaningful, but the next few posts will be a small, serene glimpse into the experiences of a few lucky CCSP gals.
No names, dates, locations, or words were changed or added to their re-tellings.

Prior to home stay week, we were visited, and are still being visited by a massive, cackling, laughing beast of the air. Native to Australia, we've been graced with the recent presence of a Kookaburra - a large and robust kingfisher, with a long broad bill, and a call that is like none other. It's a real treat to see this bird, which is rarely ever seen in New Zealand. Jen captured this silhouetted photo! Students have also been taking to the out-of-doors lately for their sleeping hours. The cool Waitakere air has been lovely to find rest in. Braving the heavy dew of the morning, many of us spent some moon-lit nights and some mornings as equally heavy with Tui song. Good morning Michelle!! So enjoy the home stay accounts. I'm going to watch "Roger and Me" as part of our Cultural Anthropology course this week. Peace Peace Peace

Homestay: Michelle Bomboooiiiiiiiii!!

Here is our lovely Michelle with her new family in front of the iconic Rangitoto island on the outskirts of Auckland Harbor!

Staying with the Airey family was great! I had a brother named Daniel, a sister named Sarah, and a temporary Japanese brother Yukinaga! It was great fun and my family took very good care of me. I visited One Tree Hill, Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium, Mission Bay, as well as spent a good amount of time in Auckland over the week/end. Dinner every night was fabulously cooked by Mrs. Airey, my mom, and I didn’t meet “dad” until Saturday due to him being in Vietnam on business. Overall, my homestay was a great deal of fun, and I plan on visiting the Airey’s in another week or so thanks to Debbie’s gracious offering of opening her home to me and some other CCSP students over mid-semester break. So.. as the Airey family would say “Good on ya, mate!”

--Michelle Bomboy

Homestay: Jen and Nicole!

"Jen Westrate and Nicole Aragon stayed with the Annabell family. David and Tracy have two kids Melisa 7, and Zachary 6. They are two rambunctious, fun kids. They wake up at the crack of dawn and run down the hallways and practice their piano. We got to sleep in Zach’s room. He has a tiny bunk bed with power ranger stickers posted everywhere. We had an interesting homestay because Tracy left fro Thailand two days after we arrived. Then the next day David and Zach left for father son camp. Nana came to stay with us. We had girls’ in weekend. Nana even stayed up late and watched movies with us, panic room. We were all a little jumpy at that point in the night. They let us cook them a meal one night so we made them tacos and they appreciated it very much. On Saturday night we decided to go to the rugby game. Blues vs. Bulls, the blues won 23 to 21, best game I’d every seen." -- Nicole

Homestay: Rachel "any man of mine" Hesselink

Here is Rachel. This is NOT the Wiklund family! These are the injured "Blues" players she sat by. She really had a case of the "blues" after meeting these Auckland beefcakes. Kevin said he could "take" that guy on the left.


I stayed with the Wiklund family this week. A little bio on the family:

Geoff Wiklund, dad, pastor, Eden Assembly of God. Interested in sailing, golfing, basketball, and rugby.

Joanne Wiklund, mum, homemaker. Loves telling Geoff what to do, and being sooo nice to everyone.

Jeremy Wiklund, 20 yrs, mechanic’s apprentice. Avid snowboarder, guitar player, card player. He was injured this week and had to keep his leg up.

Mary Rose Wiklund, 16 yrs. Student. In love with Thomas, the cardigan-wearing British boy with whom she went on her first date Friday night.

Taffy, Topsy, and Toomany (as in one TOO MANY cats)-the three cats who entertain the family greatly.

I had a nice week with the Wiklunds. Between going downtown to work on ISP and hang out with CCSPers and doing things with the fam I stayed really busy. I went to Bible study one night with Jeremy, and played cards with him and his friend Dean. I had to watch Geoff’s favorite movie, O Brother Where Art Thou (he couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it!) the first night I was there. He (of course) sang along to all the songs. Friday we were supposed to go sailing but it was too windy, so Geoff and Joanne took me for a drive down the coast that afternoon to see the islands and cute towns. Joanne thought that I would like to stop and look through the ‘darling’ little stores but Geoff figured that I wouldn’t because I’m a student and have no money. I just sat in the back seat listening to them talk about me. Of course Joanne got her way and we stopped at the shops.

Saturday night Geoff and Joanne took Cutter and me to a Blues game. We had seats right on the center line-I was able to see everything! The injured Blues players were sitting a few rows ahead of us and I got my picture with them . I think I’m becoming quite a rugby fan-two games in a row! GO BLUES! To finish off my week I went with Jeremy, Mary Rose, and a bunch of Jeremy’s friends to Wiranga after church on Sunday where we threw a football around in the thermal pools, raced down the waterslides, and watched an episode of Grey’s in the Movie pool.

Ben's Belated Blog Birthday

Whilst in Samoa, our boy Ben celebrated his 20th birthday!

We noticed while staying near several beaches in Samoa that Ben could be spotted walking slowly down the beach, scouring for small treasures. Usually he would turn up with small and delicate items that he noticed to show some of the rest of us.

So, we arranged for a nice embarrassing birthday song with everyone else at the beach resort. We made him a fashionable coconut bra, snazzy palm hat, and presented him with a Kava stick to be our leader. He adorned himself proudly with his new birthday costume for all to see, and proceeded to eat his breakfast. We then sent him along the beach to discover some items that we made for him to discover.


All the students and staff found an item and fixed a small note to it. Some were bananas, some were large shells, some were empty bottles, and one was even a discarded bag of hamburger flavored treats. We then carefully laid the items out along the beach, hoping to goodness that the dogs and children along the beach wouldn't trample or munch our precious treasures while we ran back to get Ben started on his treasure hunt. Ben was soon sent along with a palm basket to slowly walk down the beach and discover these items, taking his time as he walked. He returned with a basket full of birthday wishes, a big smile, and another year under his belt. Way to go, Ben, you did it!

Easter

Days like Easter are a cause for celebration, a call for an "occasion" Students and staff alike celebrated this glorious day in their own ways for the better part of the morning and the afternoon, until coming together at 4:30 for a memorable, and delightful remainder of the night.
Our dear gals Jessie and Julie orchestrated an outdoor evening meal, complete with dishes offered by many students, who cooked some things that represented some of their own home cooked Easter meal traditions. We ate among the breeze and the fading light together as we stuck blueberries in our upper lips for a delicious "blueberry delight" and said animal names to each other without showing our teeth. Try it, its tough to do without laughing yourself silly! Mark, (our beloved director) his wife Robin, nearly had an asthma attack because she was laughing so hard.
You might be asking yourself, "Hey now! Why aren't there any people sitting at the lovely Easter table?!"
Well, perhaps no one is there, because every person was off trying their darndest to find some of the 100 items hidden by Kevin and Matt for the 1st annual CCSP soPac mega Easter treasure/rubbish/trinket hunt!
Items were hidden all over our 13 h.acre campus and everyone was given 30 minutes to find those items, and proudly only two of them were not retrieved. Prizes were given, in exchange for the items, some good and some terrible - so it was a real surprise when Emma, proud of her retrieved item, found out that she would receive a "zerber" from Brett. She quickly declined that, not knowing what the heck it was.
Other, more "edifying" prizes included some little candy bits purchased from our dear friend Choi, who owns the superette at the end of our driveway. Pairs of pairs were given from our neighboring orchard, red peppers, favorite poems, ice creams, music compilations - and on the "lame prize side" some people took home envelopes of weeds, a bag with Kevin's underwear (sorry Nicole) and an old school paper jacket from an "iams dog show" (it is actually awesome).
The night eased on, and we closed together with a candlelit Community Worship time, curated by Nate where students and staff contemplated quietly for some time, journaling, and meditating. Soon, space was created for anyone to share worries or blessings or offerings or items of thanksgiving with the rest of the group - something that is quite necessary we think, for a group of people living as a community. A dessert smorgasboard rounded out the night, something that we also think is quite necessary from time to time, for a group of people living in a community!

Students look forward to their second "homestay" this week - this time, with a New Zealand family. Check the blog again soon to hear some primary accounts of their experiences! To our families, friends, and those we miss and to those who we don't know personally that read this blog- Happy Easter, blessings friends!

Auckland Rugby! Go Blues

This week, we've been letting our bodies and our minds unravel; just a wee bit, from a "hefty" time in Samoa.
But CCSP students are keen, willing, and able learners - and although we just finished debriefing our Pacific island time, we've no sooner begun wrapping our minds around God and Nature (week 1) with visiting professor Dr. Bret Stevenson. In a jam packed week of class, students began to consider foundational philosophy regarding humanity, divinity, the earth, and our place within those massive contexts. It seems like it could be a bit heavy on the mind, so to give us all some leisure space - WE SCORED SOME CHEAPS SEATS TO THE RUGBY!



We arrived massively early, mostly to assure that we wouldn't miss out on some good seats, but arrived in time to see some outlandish pre-game celebration: motocross jumping, pirate ship cannon ball shooting, jam band a'groovin! The home team Auckland Blues soon emerged from the stadium innards amid hoots and hollers and cheers from the Eden Park crowd. For all of us, this was our first professional rugby match - and we went home happy as the Blues pulled out a last second, "walk off" win against the Stormers of South Africa. Unlikely hero Ben Atiga converted a penalty kick with no time left to give the beloved Blues the 3 point victory! Most of us didn't know much of what was going on, but we had a blast cheering like hooligans when everyone else cheered, and yelling when everyone else yelled! The game featured several members of the South African national team (2007 World Cup champs) and the All Blacks (New Zealand national team and world powerhouse). We had quite a time, and everyone stayed out amid the Auckland city lights as the night wore itself out. I even heard that Emma sang kareoke! YESS!! Below are the Blues in a "scrum" Thanks for the pictures Mallory!

Return From Samoa

Greetings all!

What follows this post is our small attempt of unraveling our experience of Western Samoa together. Of course our observations written here are only a small glimpse into our experience, and we recognize retelling what happened as a process, and although we remained together as a group throughout the time, stories and perceptions of the three weeks will be individualized and unique. We encourage you, the readers of this blog, to ask your questions and to be a part of the Samoa experience of the students. Oftentimes, it is in the retelling and remembering of our journeys that we come to really know where we have been, what it meant, and maybe even come to know more of who we are.

For clarity: As you work you way down through the blog posts, you will be starting this small story at the last section of our trip and working towards the beginning.

Lalomanu, Marine Ecology

After departing Faga, we made our way to the last leg of our journey, the southeastern side of the island of Upolu in a village by the name of Lalomanu. Here we would stay for the next several days studying the marine ecology of the area. We met up again with Brian Stockwell, our professor for the course from the Philippines. Brian was as stoked as ever, and with him we spent some nice time studying the reef fish, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests. Students were challenged to grasp a number of biological concepts, identify several families of reef fish, and understand the difficulties and purposes of reef, mangrove, and seagrass bed conservation efforts. But it was helpful to the students' understanding to be walking through, swimming in, and snorkeling about what they were studying in lecture.

Days were sunny and beautiful, despite this being the wet season in the tropics. Between our day trips to visit soft coral reefs and the mangrove and seagrass beds, our time was spent in the waters in the crystalline lagoon that sprawled to the breakers defining the darker blue waters of the Pacific, which in its own turn unreeled to the horizon.


This is a picture of a study break from morning class.
I'll call this: "A Regular Afternoon."

Faga Homestays

Our visit to Faga village was right in the middle of our whole experience. We had adequate time to acclimate ourselves to the tropical climate, the food, the mosquitoes, and have a small taste of the fa'a Samoa before we entered into three days of living in the company of Samoan people.

In our sojourn on both islands of Samoa, the Faga village homestay is where students more strongly delineate themselves not as tourists, but as travelers with deeper intentions. It is an opportunity for students to actually live within the care of a Samoan family in a village life setting, and attempt to catch glimpses of the Samoan way of life a bit closer to the interior.

After being welcomed into the village with a traditional Ava ceremony, students were taken by families about the village where they were given residence is a number of beach fales. All meals were taken with their host families, although some students were lucky enough to have their food served to them in their beach fales! Traditional Samoan food abounds, as well as the occasional meal prepared with special items such as cup-o-noodles, hot dogs and ketchup, and dough-nuts.

For the three days present in the village, students are given freedom of schedule to pursue any particular interests they have in either their host family or the Samoan way of life. Some students visited family plantations, some learned how to weave sitting mats, some spent significant time trying to learn as much of the Samoan language as possible, and some students greatly enjoyed just passing the time with their families during the day. And although three days is a short time, there is just enough to put fingers on the pulse of the way of Samoa; to witness the loving community care of a four month old, to hold sandy hands with young children in laughter, to regard the family elders in moments of family prayer and silence. It is quick but impressive and lasting.


The farewell of the village after our stay is the fia-fia, for which both CCSP and Faga village have spent long hours in preparation. And an added bonus was that our friends at Safua were in attendance as well, which added some energy to the already electric night. The fia-fia is an exchange of dancing and musical "items" back and forth for a couple of hours, and in the end proves to be a unique Samoan way of bidding farewell. We performed a number of American items such as Hanson's late nineties hit "MMMBop," Billy Joel's "For the Longest Time," and we even choreographed a strong and animated "Days of Elijah" song and dance. And we did all this exchanging of song and dance in our new shirts, lavalavas, and dresses graciously gifted to us as our families' guests.

For all of us, the highlight of the fia-fia night will not be easily forgotten, and will remain a steadfast memory in the rivers of our life experiences, just like the village homestay.

getting cultured

Beside being beaten upon by this magical waterfall, we all took part in an engaging week of cultural interaction where we were exposed to handicrafts, the resourcefulness of Samoan people and how they use coconuts, and countless other native flora for thousands of uses in their daily lives. We participated also in the preparation of the "umu" the earth oven that Samoans use to prepare their traditional feast. Coconut cream, fish, and roast pig, taro, palusami - these are just a few parts of the magnificent meals that we were eating all week long, all elements of the meal are things that Samoan people have in their plantations or in their waters. Amazing.