This past week has
been pretty standard with class and homework and lots of just hanging out with
friends. I have started to become really
close to a few people and I love the relationships that I am forming here! One of these awesome friends named Audrey
loves baking and NZ eats lot of pumpkin.
So we decided to combine the two and create some yummy pumpkin
cookies. Now before I arrived here,
pumpkins were only good for jack-o-lanterns, roasting the seeds, and the
occasional pre-packaged pumpkin pie. But
pumpkin is huge here! So we bought a
fourth of a pumpkin at the farmer’s market and decided to go for it. Of course, we had to do a little preliminary
internet research since we didn’t know how to get a physical pumpkin into any
form to put in cookies, but they turned out delicious and were super easy to
make so I’m sure they will be popping out of our ovens quite frequently! That was probably a little boring, but we
have all been raving about them all week.
We also had our
complex flat dinner this past week so that was nice to socialize and it was my
night to cook so I lucked out with a free meal from uniflats. Thursday night we went to town for the night
with a big group and afterwards I had a warm snuggling session with Erin,
complimented by chai tea and NZ cookies at 3:30am. Friday was a relaxing day and I went to bed
early because Saturday we decided to get up and watch the opening ceremony of
the Olympics live at 8am. Getting up was
difficult, but I’m glad I watched them live and it was so exciting to cheer for
2 teams in the country parade! Afterwards,
Anna, Kelly, Erin, Emma, Rachel, and I hiked Mt. Cargill, part of the extinct shield
volcano right outside of Dunedin. It was
a steep hike up, taking a little less than 2 hours, but totally worth it! Nerdy
Warning: As a biology major, I was also excited to watch the vegetation change
from giant and almost majestic looking trees to shrubbery and fern growth near
the top. Erin and I also climbed a few
trees on the hike up and we even found a nature-made swing (I did wake up with
bruises on my hips from it though). Once
we reached the summit, the 360 degree panoramic view left us all
speechless. It was a perfectly clear day
and the view of the Otago peninsula, the harbor, and the endless mountains that
span the country was amazing. Sorry, I
am literally running out of words to describe this country. Coming down was a little muddy and rough on
the knees, but we all made it back into town super happy. That night we watched the Olympics and went
into town with some of Erin and Rachel’s flatmates. And on Sunday I attempted to do some work,
but I was so exhausted from the weekend, that most of it waited until
today. 
So now I am just hanging out at the flat, watching the Olympics with the flatmates. Unfortunately, the time difference is not the most convenient from England, meaning we get the random events at prime time here (we are watching the horse events now). But it’s still fun nonetheless! Go New Zealand and America J
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