SPRING

It's spring in New Zealand now, but I'm having a hard time remembering that it's not fall. Fall has my favorite activities and I'm totally bummed to be missing them. I want to go to the Elegant Farmer to eat caramel apples and be tempted by mini pumpkins every time I go to the grocery store. And of course there's the Halloween thing... which doesn't exist here. I WANT FREE CANDY. I want those gross waxy tiny pumpkin candies. SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE SOME FOR ME!!!! (or send me some... HINT.)

The weather has been very strange. I never know what to wear. It's not warm by any means, but the air is so humid that every time I walk around outside, I end up sweaty and disgusting but still cold. I'm in a constant state of adding and removing layers. The wind has been intense, so much so that inhibits by ability to walk right... you can't lift your legs too high when you walk or you'll trip and fall! HA. And of course there are those pesky tsunami warnings that get canceled all the time.

Walking around Wellington in the early evening after the sun sets smells so sweet. Like flowers and rain. Lately it's been raining during the day and then it stops at night and everything is really silent and still. It's my favorite time. I like to stand on my back deck and see the lights of the city start to come alive.

My lectures are just about over (2 weeks left) and then begins our exam period which lasts for like a month. Hopefully I'll be able to do some more cool things in that time because lately I've been writing a lot of papers and having my soul sucked out by school.

Look what was on the desk in on of my lectures today:

snow thugs






OH MY GOSH. I almost forgot about a really great part of spring! Probably my favorite thing about my school here is the fact that in one of the buildings there is this little glass enclosure that is kind of outside kind of not (I think the roof of it is open, but the walls of it are inside this building) and these little lizards live there!!!! It has been so cold all these months that they have been hiding in their little tubes, but now that it's a little warmer they have been outside, hangin out on their rocks and stuff. They are called Tuatara. Okay, I just looked them up on Wikipedia, and apparently even though they resemble lizards, they are actually from a distinct lineage of reptile. SORRY FOR THE MISINFORMATION. They are often called "living fossils" and have a lot of features retained from ancient creatures. WOW this wikipedia page is actually really interesting! You should probably read it. Read the section on Reproduction it is so fascinating!



Anyway, the important thing is, that they are really really cute and I always nerdily stand there with my face against the glass staring at them. I WILL MISS THEM SO MUCH!!!