Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Adventuring:

Over the weekend Heather and I went on a three-hour bus ride down to Waitomo. Waitomo has caves that you can walk or raft through to see the glowworms that live inside. I really had no idea what to expect. When we go there I got a little nervous about floating though a cave in the dark. We each had a black inner tube that we sat in to float through the caves. We walked through the water at some parts and floated through others. We started out by doing a sort of practice jump into the water. You have to stick your bottom into the tube and jump backwards into the water. I was too worried about flipping backwards to give any thought to the temperature of the water. It was shockingly cold! So much so that my hands hurt just from being in it for less than a minute. Luckily the water did not feel as cold in the cave, despite being told it was colder inside of it. I guess I must have gotten used to it. That, or I was having too much fun to think about feeling cold.

I was a little worried about jumping off the dock backwards and down into the water.

In the cave we wore wetsuits, socks, boots, and a helmet with a flashlight mounted on it. The wet suits were so stiff and uncomfortable! It was difficult to move in them. When we were inside, we saw an eel! It made me a little uncomfortable to think there was an eel swimming in the water with me. I was careful not to dangle my fingers in the water, I didn’t want the eel thinking they were food! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. It was strange to see an eel in the wild because I have only ever seen them on TV and in aquariums.

Bruno and Rodrigo from Brazil

 One of our two guides, Chris

Is anyone else wondering why I am the only one who was given a yellow helmet? Maybe they knew I needed to be watched carefully. After all, I did flip myself backwards on accident. I couldn't get back in my tube and the water was too deep to stand in, so Chris (the guide) had to help me back in!

The man to the far right spoke only German. There was also a couple there with us from Australia.

 At different points throughout the rafting tour we would turn off our headlamps so that the only light we could see was the bioluminescent light coming from the glow worms, which aren’t actually “worms.” While rafting through the cave we learning that glowworms are not “worms” at all, but are actually maggots. How exciting… (yuck!).  They are the larval or maggot stage of a fungus gnat fly. Regardless, it was so awesome looking! It really did look like a starry sky!

 

Our "we survived" photo!

And of course, after rafting through the cave for nearly three hours, we also went for a little hike around while waiting for our bus for home.

During the mandatory 30 minute break in the middle of our bus ride, when all we wanted to do was sleep, we were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a festival going on with music and asian food! 

Teaching:

This week I have planned for three reading groups and two math groups. I am excited for the opportunity to work with these children using my own plans. This will hopefully help transition me into next week where I will be doing my full time teaching and planning. I am actually excited for it! Before I came to New Zealand, I was worried that I wouldn’t feel prepared to teach full time at my new school since would have to start full time teaching shortly after arriving. Even though I have only been in the classroom for 7 full days, I feel good about taking control. I love that I feel so comfortable in the school and have caught on to things so quickly!

On a side note:

I've been noticing how truly difficult it is to always be switching from work and school mode to vacation and adventure mode. It is definitely difficult to find a balance and to have the ability to be trying to plan and think about teaching while being out and adventuring. As is trying to plan adventures for your weekend while you also need to be teaching and be in teacher mode.

Māori Fish Hook

At the end of my trip to Rotorua this past weekend, I received a thoughtful gift from the principal. He gave me a small, woven bag made from the flax plant I have pictured in my previous post. Inside of the little bag was a necklace. The necklace is shaped like a Hei Matau (Māori for fish hook), carved from bone. The fish hook is a Māori symbol. Shaloh, the Māori man who we spend time with on Saturday night, had a similar necklace and explained that the necklace must be given as a gift and is not supposed to be something you get for yourself. I found it very interesting and thought that I would like to have one. For that reason, I was genuinely surprised and excited to receive one as a gift!  

Teaching & Travel (to Rotorua)

Teaching

I have really been enjoying being at Cockle Bay and being with my year ones! I really love the community at the school. The teachers have all been very nice and welcoming. I have had the chance to work with a few different reading groups on my own. Today I was also able to work with one of the math groups. It went over really well and the children and I both enjoyed it. I learned about a new strategy for developing a sense of number, or imagery, that was interesting to me and seems like a fabulous idea. The children start off by using their fingers to count for addition and subtraction, then you transition them to doing it behind their backs, then finally with no fingers at all. Doing it this way helps them to be able to imagine their fingers, which in turn helps the children to “see” the numbers.

In the mornings the year one children have fitness. All of the year ones go outside at the same time and split into groups. The groups are just as big as a class, but it just mixes the children up. They do all different things. My class ran, skipped, jumped, and galloped back and forth. I love that they were able to be outside for the beginning half of the day, and that they were able to be barefoot if they wanted to be. I even took off my shoes! But that was because my shoes were getting wet from the grass.

Today a student presented me with a list of words that he made at home. The list was of words Americans spell differently. The titles were “American spelling” and “correct English spelling.” I will add a picture of it soon, but forgot the list at school!

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Travel

This past weekend I was given the chance to go to Rotorua with the principal of the school (not the one I live with, he's the DP), his wife, and my friend Heather. He was visiting family and offered to give us a ride down there. Rotorua is about a 3 hour drive south of where I am staying. It is a beautiful area and has a large Maori village (I'm not sure if it is considered a "village"). It also has natural hot springs and bubbling mud pools which are created from geothermal heat. Once we got there, he took us around to a few places.

Geothermal hot spring

Blue Lake

 A redwood in the redwood forrest! 

One of the places he took us to was a Maori village where we met to Maori men and talked with them for a bit. Turns out he knew the one man, Shaloh's, cousin. He showed us what looked like a sewer lid and pulled it back for us. Inside was boiling water! You could also see water bubbling up from the cracks in the cement. 

Many of the Maori people living there also have a bath house. The water in the bath house is a naturally heated geothermal tub of water. They also use the geothermal heat to cook food and heat their homes.

It is so hot and volcanic around that area, that bodies actually have to be buried above the ground. If buried under the ground, the would cook from the extreme heat. The whole area also smells like a combination of a lit match and hardboiled eggs. That is because of the sulfur being emitted continuously.

One of the Maori men that we met, Shaloh, took us on a hike and told us a few things about the Maori culture. One of the things he did was teach us the Maori greeting that is "the most personal way to greet someone, other than kissing them." To greet someone in this way you stand facing them, hold their right hand with your right hand, and place your left hand on their shoulder. The other person does the same. You then lean in and touch your forehead and nose together once, then a second time. The second time you hold, then take a deep breath in together. The word for this greeting is "hungi." I felt a little uncomfortable doing it, but it also felt very close, personal, and even calming. It is definitely worth a try!

The entire weekend was fabulous! We ended up staying in a great backpacker. It was really big and we shared a room with two girls from Germany. They told us that they had just finished up their studies for primary education. It was so exciting to talk with girls in our same position, but from another country. It is fun to see how similar you can be to someone, regardless of culture or the country you are from! 

Just a few more pictures from our trip to Rotorua...

Zorbing!!

Yoga on the beach with Shaloh, just for fun :) 

Marks in the stone from where the Maori people used to sharpen their tools a long time ago!

"Harakeke" or flax. The Mauri use this to weave with. 

 

The covering of a walkway, made to resemble the bottom of a Maori canoe. 

I am slowly beginning to figure out the busses around NZ!

Sheep! I still need to touch one!

"Mamaku" or black tree fern.

Waiting for the bus...

Hot springs! 

Some different things

One word; Milo.

Milo is a drink similar to hot chocolate (but better) that I have discovered and love! I have no idea if we have it in the US or not.

Two words; canned chicken.

I mean really, that’s where its at! Do we have canned chicken in the US? My first encounter with it was here, and it really is good! I’ve had it on a salad and on a sandwich. Its good any way you eat it.

I have also noticed that the yogurt here tastes slightly different and I like it more! I don’t know what it is, but it’s just better.