Lucky Me!

Hello from New Zealand! I guess that by now you all have assumed that I arrived safely, and you are probably wondering what I think of it. Well, its okay, I guess...

 JUST KIDDING! THIS PLACE IS INCREDIBLE!!! I knew after a half hour of being here that I made the right move. None of the other places I have ever been have incited immediate feelings of comfort, contentment and confidence in my trajectory. I could sit here and describe to you how beautiful it is, but I will just show you instead.

This is my view as I walk to work (more on the job later!)

and this is the view from my room (more on the house later, too!!)

Elliott and Caitlin sharing fish and chips from the lookout up the street

Caitlin's birthday dinner (we are not as awkward as we seem)

Wellington Farmer's Market

View from my dining room window

plants that look like animals!!!

My walkway

Preparation for our Thanksgiving feast

I made those delicious mashed potatoes (not from a box!)

Caitlin's apple pie (P.S Caitlin is the best!)

The cemetery I walk through on my way to work

SO, I live with two lovely friends of Caitlin's, Chris and Rachael. Its just great, everything about it- I have absolutely no complaints. I can watch the sunset over the mountains and ocean from my window, and as soon as it grows dark I can see all the lights of the city. My room is cozy and private with a built in desk and  a big oak door. The yard is full of beautiful plants and I don't live too far from my new work.

 Speaking of new work: I am temp-ing downtown in a high rise building for the New Zealand government Department of Labour (HA!) I interpret collective agreements between private employers and unions. Though it is far from my dream job, the work is actually very interesting. Also, I get to pick my own hours, and it pays well. My new coworkers are all very friendly and welcoming. Everyday at 3pm we gather in a little circle to do the day's quiz in the newspaper together. On Fridays at 4pm, bottles of wine are opened in our office and we gather around again to drink together before parting for the weekend. 

I feel so lucky to have had all of these wonderful things happen already, and so lucky to have Caitlin and her friends. Frieda, Sam, Krystina, Lee, and Caitlin's boyfriend Elliott have made things so easy for me, and I am incredibly thankful! Things aren't perfect with the aspects of my life that lie outside of this small island that I have thrown myself on, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that good things will continue to happen, and that all the bad stuff will cease. 

I'm here!!! (But we are going to pretend for the sake of this last Virginia post that I am there still)

((This post is also titled "Best friends and Dinosaurs.")) Katherine surprised me and came down on a magical bus from the Big City! We spent one glorious day together in Winchester where we visited the infamous Dinosaur Land (ok, so it isn't exactly infamous, but its a pretty awesome place with an undeserved lack of notoriety). Dinosaur land has pretty huge models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (and lots of other things that are neither dinosaurs, nor prehistoric- see tree with face and King Kong). These models come complete with cool fake blood and 1970's fur. 

After Dino Land, we shopped (like we do) and had drinks in the happenin' downtown Winchester (the "happenin' " is sarcasm, and why do I like parentheses so much today?!) It was the best Tuesday I have had in a very long time (not sarcasm).

Less than a week!

Right now I should be packing. I should be weeding through my enormous piles of clothes and shoes. My arms should be busy lifting boxes and rearranging my stuff in our already overcrowded garage. None of these things are happening though. Instead I am sitting on my bed, surrounded by it all, trying yet another avoidance tactic.

Welp, I will skip over most of the boring GRE stuff. To surmise- in the end, I studied pretty hard, but still didn't do as well as I would have liked. I am retaking the test in 60 days from New Zealand. After I finished taking the GRE and left the testing site where the most rude women I have ever met were employed, Maria, Sarah, and I spent the day together. It was fun and funny to be with them, until about 10:00 pm. At 10:00 pm, Maria and Sarah forced me into a theatre where I "watched" Paranormal Activity 3. Now, I placed quotes around "watched," because the majority of the movie I spent hiding behind my sweatshirt and watching it's blue stitching instead of the pointlessly terrifying movie on the screen in front of me.

The next day I left for West Virginia. I made a little stop in Winchester and had a goodbye dinner with the wonderful Lori, whom I will sorely miss, and then headed to Lars' and Liesel's. This visit was a little different. Liesel was at work all day Wednesday and Thursday, so I got to spend some quality time with Lars. I now know at least 100 more facts about the Civil War (this will impress you: I can now tell the difference between the three types of Confederate Jackets, ha!), and was thoroughly charmed and endeared by him.

I shot my first gun on Friday. I have always been pretty petrified of guns; the mere sight of them used to make my stomach curl. I don't like being afraid of things, so that day, I not only looked at one bravely, but I held multiple guns, and even shot one! Liesel documented the big moment for me. I can pretty safely say that I will never own a gun; I can definitely say that I will never shoot an animal, but I have to admit that it was pretty fun.

That week I went to a few really excellent shows, stood on the roof of an opera house, smelled and watched others consume Ramp Wine, scraped paint off a 100 year old barn, looked at real estate far too expensive for my currently humble means (most remarkably a house on the river built in 1780, that I would love to live in), admired the changing leaves on the tallest of trees, read, and wrote. I love that farm, almost as much as I love Lars and Liesel.

On Saturday, I met up with Carolyn, and we hiked the C&O canal trail. The scenery was just beautiful, and the company was just perfect. That night I drove my little van back to Hampton Roads and went to celebrate Sarah's birthday at a local club. I ended up having a really great night and I even managed to avoid talking about anything intellectual with uninterested strangers.

Lars' Confederate Jackets hanging from trees so that they would weather more naturally

"I could stand here all day contemplating the hell out of these jackets!"

(or something like that)

Lars and Liesel!

a still from the little video of me shootin' gunz!

Lars' band 'The Fox Hunt' in Winchester

The fall in Virginia (or West Virginia) is better than fall anywhere else

The C&O canal trail

Simone was home!

all grown up.

I leave for New Zealand in less than a week from now. I am growing a little more anxious as each day passes, but I am mostly just tremendously excited for my new life to begin.

Can I leave yet?

Back in Virginia Beach...

I have been just a little bit down lately. I am trying my very hardest to kick off this blanket of negativity and sadness that I seem to place myself under every time I return home, but it is proving pretty difficult this time around.

I spent this past week at a beach house with my grandparents, dad's four brothers and my cousin Ryan and her boyfriend. It was really nice to be out of Virginia Beach, and my uncle's crude jokes and matriarchal grandmother's clever but biting criticisms kept me laughing. I spent a lot of time in my room that week, studying and watching and reading far too many news programs, becoming red in the face with anger most days because of our country's stupidity. I have never been very political, but with my generation's current reactions to the turmoil our economy is facing and the despicable greed and depravity that allowed it to happen cannot remain a passing headline for me. I certainly don't know enough about the way Wall Street, and our economy in general works, but I do know enough to be certain that the way its being run now is not at all acceptable or just.

I don't want to harp on depressing current events, but the condition of the Outer Banks (where the beach house was located) is still pretty disasterous after the hurricane. All throughout Salvo there are gigantic piles of pieces of houses, fridges, toys, cars, trash, etc - remnants of Irene. Much of Rodanthe is still underwater, and the towns are eerily vacant, even for this time of year.

But, here is something beautiful that was happening not too far away:

It was really wonderful to spend some time with my cousin Ryan. Though we are vastly different, we managed to find a lot of common ground and had many great conversations and laughs. I mentioned that we are different; Ryan is a domestic goddess. She spent a lot of time cooking and preparing elegant alcoholic beverages. She spent the majority of her downtime with her nose in home decorating magazines, every once in a while murmuring something like "Wow! Crown molding really does make a difference!"

Some other highlights of last week include a hilarious rendition of 'Under Pressure' performed via skype by Tim Berryman, Uncle Eric's cheesecake (the most delicious cheesecake I have ever eaten), and a beautiful collection of shells gathered during my many walks on the beach. 

After the beach I left straight for Shepherdstown, West Virginia. After a six hour drive I arrived at the Prillaman farmhouse and Liesel and I went straight to the garden where we chatted while picking beans and pumpkins. That night Liesel, Lars, a few of their friends and I went to this really incredible little hippy-ish commune-ish place called 'Folly' where we listened to some really beautiful music being played from a stage surrounded by creepy marionettes and gigantic painted Tarot cards. It was a really great night. 

The next day Lars had to go off to the Farmer's Market, and Liesel and I went to Harper's Ferry for a hike. Harper's Ferry is a neat little town with a lot of history and natural beauty. It's where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet, and the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers combine. We hiked the Maryland Heights trail with her doggies in tow.

We were very exhausted that night. After seeing Lars' finger dance, laughing too much for my sunburned lips to handle, and eating delicious food from their garden, I went to sleep all the while dreading my return to Virginia Beach. I really love those two and Shepherdstown. I will hopefully return for one last visit before New Zealand. 

Here are some pictures of the farm and other cool things (like cute babies).

Rachel and baby Jude

all of Graham's mushrooms from my mushroom photoshoot, such beautiful little things

Liesel's Birds

a really cool caterpillar

the creek in the Prillaman backyard

a great old barn on their property

ha! 

That is all for now. 24 days til New Zealand, and in a couple of days I will be 24 (eesh).