Umu, Auckland Blues Rugby!!

On Saturday we took part in an Umu to thank our host families. In the morning we prepared the food to be cooked in the hot rocks. In our waiting time we learned to make poi balls and flax flowers. Finished products were really impressive-you'd think we were locals! Unfortunatley not all of our host families could attend but those that were present really enjoyed the food, entertainment, and good company. Brittany and Mallory performed a special dance with their host family sister, Natalie. Cheryl and Becca's host family grandma performed a Tongan dance. As the picture shows, we all took part in learning to move our hips too! We sang Te Aroha as a group too. It is a special song for all of us because of the meaning. The Umu food was amazing. Chop suey, kumara, hokey pokey ice cream, fruit galore, bread, chicken, etc.... the list goes on. Every feast we have is out of this world. Late afternoon we attended the Auckland Blues/Perth Western Force rugby game. It was really great to see rugby finally played in person.

Helping Hands, Pacifca, Muriwai 4 wheel drive, Pacifica

What a great week we had! On Friday we went 4 wheeling at Muriwai beach. The sand dunes, lagoons, and sea fishing made it an unforgetabble experience! Saturday we all did our part with the Helping Hands service project. Every stake and ward in New Zealand participated in the nationwide service project. Our ward helped clear an overgrown bamboo field along Ranui Primary School. The bamboo was very thick and up to 10 feet long! Some of us chopped the bamboo and others carried it into a huge bamboo pile. See the above picture! There was a real feeling of unity that came with the service.

We also attended Pacifica! I can't think of a better way to celebrate the cultures of the Pacific islands then by attending this amazing festival. We all got to try ice cream out of pineapple, chop suey, pork buns, coconut rolls, and the list goes on!

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Primary Schools

Congrats to everyone on finishing another exciting and adventurous week!
It has been so good to see a New Zealand in classroom. I think we all went in with the assumption it would not vary much from our own schooling experiences. However, each day proves to bring something new and unexpected we haven't seen before.
I know all of us are enjoying morning teas. I am beginning to wonder how we ever lived without it! Teaching swimming is also proving to be a new adventure for us. We are all very blessed to see the Maori culture incorporated into the classroom and schools on such an important level.

Field Trip

During our science class we took a "field trip" to Pak-n-Save, a grocery store close to the chapel where we have church. There we took a look and different fruits and vegetables in order to get a better understanding of how to teach science. Lots of fun! Great to get out of the classroom for a while.

Sky Tower

Many of us took the train down to Auckland to see the city and The Sky Tower. The Sky Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and is right in the middle of Auckland city. We all went to the tallest portion of the building. It was a great group activity, made complete by elevators with glass bottoms so we could see just how high up we were going.