Wake Me Up

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I feel like a hibernating bear forced to wake up prematurely. All I want to do these days is sleep and then sleep a little more. I didn't post last night because I was SLEEPING. Yesterday was rather uneventful because I was sleeping:-). I did however manage to finish the laundry, style my hair so I can go out in public again, and submitted a couple way overdue interview reports to Anne J. at the office. I've been thinking about all the fun and quirky things we saw, heard, and did over the three weeks so I'm working on a list to add to this post a little later today so check back.

First known settlers were Maori and were left alone until Captain James Cook arrived in the 18th century. Captain Cook should have sailed on because the Maori warriors killed and ate nine members of his crew. After that traders and others came and fights errupted. They wanted to trade muskets for fruit and pigs. This period was known as the "Musket Wars".

-capital city is Wellington
-largest city is Auckland
-languages are English and Maori
-majority of people are Christian
-New Zealand means, "Land of the long white cloud"
-30 percent of the land are forests
-90 mile beach is only miles long
-first country to see the sunrise
-"kiwi" is either a bird or a native
-ostrich steak and black swan carppacio do not taste like chicken!
-new zealand has two national athems- God Save The Queen and God Defend New Zealand
-there are nine sheep to every human in New Zealand
-there are 9 billion beef and dairy cattle
-Sir Edmund Hilary was the first man to reach the peak of Mt. Everest- his face now adorns New Zealands $5 bill.
New Zealand has a lot of animals and birds. It actually has the worlds biggest flightless parrot. The worlds oldest reptile. The biggest earthworms. The smallest bats. The only native land mammals. The oldest trees.

- New Zealand has the highest car ownership rates in the world

++Cook Island facts and observations:

Every Cook Islander holds dual citizenship with New Zealand
The population of the CK is shrinking because the young people are leaving typically for NZ or Australia in search of better jobs and opportunities. The young woman we met upon our arrival at Etu Moana, Theresa (manager) is off to Australia for two years leaving her three young children in the care of her husband while she earns a degree in "beauty therapy." Her hope is to return to the Cooks and start her own business but she will be the exception if she returns because most do not.
What we call "to go or take out" at a restaurant the Cook Islanders and the New Zealanders call "takeaways"
Many New Zealanders believe the original inhabitants of NZ came from the Cook Islands
There are laws prohibiting the buying or selling of land. Ownership is hereditary; land can be leased, but outsiders are not allowed to own land. Land is divided among the descendants after the death of the owner. As a result of this system, a family may possess several plots scattered over an island.
The people tend to be large and the children look like sweet toasty marshmallows (brown and pudgy). Everyone looks well-feed and healthy, and it's no wonder because there's no shortage of fresh fruits and seafood on the island.
Most people ride motorbikes so you will not see many cars just a few vans for shuttling around tourist.
There are very few non-Maori living/working in Aitutaki it seems the Maori run 95% of the island and it seem to run efficiently from what I was able to observe over just six days.
I also loved how the Maori don't "kiss up" to the tourists. They have a lot of pride in themselves and their culture but aren't bending over backward to impress or educate tourists. I felt right at home in my brown skin in Aitutaki! A few asked if I was from Nouvelle Caledonie (New Caledonia) French Polynesia (Melanesian Kanak) apparently I look a bit like the darker brown folks there:-) I never really felt like a tourist, I never felt like an Islander, but I always felt completely comfortable and welcomed by all... I want to go back:-)

I still owe you guys a post about that amazing church service at the Cook Island Christian Church on our final day on the island.., no worries I have great notes and great memories so a post is in the works.