notes from the road

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Over the bridge and through the woods, to the North Island I go.
Left my ice-cream pal behind in Picton and hopped on a bus to Nelson where I was greeted by an “I love Dana” sign and my favorite Scot (Louise).  Went to the outdoor market in Nelson, where I resolved that if I can’t eat it or read it, I’m not buying it.  So I bought a used book – The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and ate a lot of sushi.  (Since there are so many Asians in NZ, there are so many sushi restaurants and stands.  MMMMMM.)  Got picked up by a cute German (Edgar) and made a stopover in Motueka for a few days to celebrate his 23rd birthday, and now after a few more bus rides and a ferry ride, I’ll arrive in the capital of NZ on the North Island.  A little city by the name of Wellington.

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I used the “n” word in the presence of Germans.  No, not that one.  Nazi.  To be more specific, I actually called a German a Nazi.  Um, oops.  OK, so it was just a “food Nazi”, but still.  It slipped out.

Edgar had just picked me and Louis up in nelson so we could spend the weekend with him.  The van ride over he’s diving in the front and some duetch chick is riding shot gun.  A conversation about cooking ensues.  And then the slip up.  Silence.  Louis and I look at eachother like “oh crap.”  More silence.  But I mean, the guy lectured me on how to peel a carrot.  And “food Nazi” has a better flow then “anal retentative food fellow.”

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Ferry = ship of death – I was so sea sick I wanted to puke my guts out.  3 hours of nauseating bliss.  At least it was pitch black night when I went, so I could admire all the beautiful landscapes…
Louise and I bought some $2 speakers to plug into an i-plog.  That’s some quality sound, let me tell ya.  We could almost hear the music as we sat on a bench on the observation deck of the ship, watching the lights of Picton fade from site and eating some stale roles that we bought for 50 cents on the boat from hell.
I must admit, leaving the South Island tugged at my heart strings a bit.  It’s been my
home the past 5 months (holy crap – I’ve been gone 5 months!!!!!!).

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Cities in NZ are shite (is it still cussing if it’s in another language?  OK, I know it is… but I think the word sounds cool.  so F’ it.  The cities (Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington) are pretty small with absolutely nothing extra special or interesting about them.  Architecture is nothing to write home about, museums are boring, shops are so-so, and there are a million cafes that all serve the exact same thing.  Same drinks, same cakes, same muffins.  It’s weird.
I was planning on looking for work in Wellington, but after 10 min of hard job searching, I decided I’d rather work in the NZ countryside.  Bay of Plenty – kiwi land, on the east coast of the North Island.  A place where kiwi picking and packing jobs are supposed to be a plenty.

The sad thing about my Wellington work plans going to shite (last time – I promise), is that I was supposed to meet up with Carolina next week to have one last hoorah and with Edgar in a month to take a road trip up to Auckland.  So I guess the last time I said goodbye to them was the last time I’ll ever say goodbye to them.  Tear :/

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Ummm.  So I’ve been writing this last blog in bits and pieces over the course of a few days.

An interesting turn of events.
I got off the bus in Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty (seriously, who names their town after vomit?), looked around, and decided it wasn’t where I wanted to be.
So I bought a plane ticket home a few hours later, hopped on a bus to Auckland (I have logged so many hours on buses the past week it’s ridiculous) and I’ll be home Monday night.  Yeah.  Haha.

I think I get a thrill out of impulse decisions or something.

I did say a quick prayer and decided if the plane tickets weren’t insane, I’d take it as a sign.  After the ticket eats up the remaining funds in my bank account, I’m pretty much at a nice solid zero.  Which isn’t too awful bad for not working 5 months I suppose.  I really did plan on working, it just kinda never happened.

While the decision to come home was spontaneous as combustion, much thought has gone into where I want to be and what I want to accomplish throughout the length of the trip.  And part of me is torn.  But the rest of the world isn’t going anywhere.  I mean, who knows how long the Middle East will exist, but the rest of it should be golden.  I might still travel later.  I really do want to see South East Asia.  Maybe I’ll go on a mission trip or study abroad.  But for now, I want to be home for a bit.  No clue what I’ll do, or how long I’ll stay.  I do know that I love Ohio and also that I don’t have a car – so if anyone knows of a good deal or a car I can borrow for a few weeks – lmk : )

As for this amazing blog – I’m going to go back and edit and revise the crap out of it and see if I can make this jumbled mess into something publishable.  Here’s hoping.

And call me.  See me.  Shower me with your love and affection : )
My cell is still 933.9924 and I should have the line connected in a week or so.

Thanks for reading!  Super a lot.