arrival

After too many hours in airplanes and airports, protected from breezes and sunshine, after waiting in long lines to declare or not declare the crazy things I brought from home, after the kiwis washed my boots and said things to me in adorable accents, I walked out into the New Zealand sunshine. The humid air caressed my skin. Just try to wipe the smile off now, I thought.

The short bus ride to the hostel gave me time to absorb and remember.

The last time I was here, I felt so at home. I even shed some tears saying goodbye as the plane took off for home and the islands grew distant in the window. And I missed the place I never really knew. I stopped wanting a baby after that. I stopped paying my mortgage, I stopped wanting the east coast and goats.

It has taken so long to unravel myself from Michigan, and it has taken so much energy and will, that I forgot about where I was heading. Sort-of. A side effect of being so easily distracted is that the big picture only comes in spurts.

So, it did not feel like coming home exactly. Not yet. What is home anyway? If it is where the heart is, then my home is scattered all over the planet. I am in love with it all, except China. :)

Anyway, last night I slept in a dorm with 3 boys and a gal, I on a top bunk.

I had the best fish and chips in Auckland at a restaurant boasting locally sourced produce. I paired it with a New Zealand beer that tasted like lemonade and beer together. It was really good.

I am storing nearly half of the things I brought so I can be lighter. I am listening to some boys speak english in some accent I don't recognize, one of them is german, the others I can't say. I haven't heard an american accent in a couple days. And it's exactly what I wanted.

The sun is shining outside and the mission today is figuring out cell phone service, bus schedules and where we need to be at 10 am tomorrow.

Peace

Love

and

Sweet Sweet

Kisses