It’s been a bit over 2 weeks since I last updated y’all! Let’s begin with the week between Mid-term break and our Wellington field trip (the week before last).
This week was full. Honestly, the adjustment back to work mode after break was a bit rough. Thankfully we soon settled into our regular patterns of class and meals and things got easier. The highlights of the week were: hearing about the students adventures, talking with my brother on the phone, walking with a friend (and her lovely doggy), cooking dinner with my small group, and a fun night as the audience for the filming of a Maori TV gameshow.
The weekend was a mix of rest and preparation for the Wellington trip! We headed off on Monday (with a delayed ferry departure). This week-long trip is a part of the Sustainable Community Development course. It’s always busy and fun! We travel around the area from Wellington, to Lower Hutt, to the Kapiti Coast near Waikanae. The ferry rides to and from the North Island are a great time to see birds and dolphins.
My favorite part of the week was visiting the Common Unity Project. It is a lovely, multifaceted community center which includes a gorgeous learning garden, working farm, café, zero-waste/local art store, sewing room, workshop space, and more. I found it super inspiring to see how this place has become established and continues to grow. I encourage you to look it up! They have some tools for creating similar spaces in your own neighborhood.
We also talked with folks from the Lower Hutt City Council (about urban planning and decolonization), saw Te Papa (the national museum), visited Ngatiawa River Monastery, and explored Wellington. I always love spending time at Ngatiawa. It is a contemporary monastery where a community of people (connected to Urban Vision founded by the Duckworths) do life together and welcome people who are tired and at the margins of society.
On our final full day of the trip, we visited L’arche Kapiti! This is a branch of the international L’Arche organization that brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities. It a beautiful thing to see how all kinds of people learn from one another by living together. We made it back to Wellington after that and spent the arvo exploring. I stopped by a few food spots and used bookstores before heading back to the hostel for the night. We departed on the ferry home early the next day.
It is currently partway through the student’s third (and final) week of Sustainable Community Development. Next week I’ll be the TA for our Terrestrial Ecology course! It takes place along the West Coast of the South Island. It will be wonderful to nerd out about amazing land and the beings that call it home. I just need to brush up on my plants before we go. 😉
I’ll update you again when we return. 🙂
There and back again Brush 