Otara and Pasifika

Lots of markets with lots of people today!

We had an early start to our day today. JJ came and picked us up at 7:15 to go to Otara Market. Otara is an outdoor market, but not your typical outdoor market. It has a fruit and vegetable section, lots of jewelry, clothing, food stands, etc., but then it is also home to many unique stands: some that are filled with socks (i truly have never seen so many socks), or some that are jampacked with old, used appliances, or even a few stands you could buy contact lenses out of the back of an old, sketchy van. And if those are the kind of stands at the market, you can only imagine the kinds of people at the market. It was quite an interesting cultural experience.

To continue on in the cultural experience category, we made our way over to the Auckland Pasifika Festival. We went to the opening concert on Thursday night, but today was the day of the festival. The park was divided into sections, referred to as villages, for all the different islands. Within each village, there was a stage for performing, traditional food of their region, and lots of stands set up with items of their island. There was Tahiti, Tokelau, Fiji, Tuvalu, Samoa, Kiribati, Niue, Aotearoa (NZ), Cook Islands, and Tonga. It was neat to see the people and their traditional clothing/dances/music/jewelry/souvenirs. One of my favorite villages was Tahiti because of their highly entertaining performances. We're even thinking of adding one of their dances to our list of things to learn!

In addition to the village stages, there were a couple big stages set up. One of these was called the "Emerging Artist Stage" for all the up and coming local artists--singers and dancers. We were fortunate enough to see a few groups, one being an RnB/Acapella group, "The Talent." These four guys were so entertaining, and they actually sounded really good, too. They sang some original songs, and then they did a few covers. The last one was the best: they started off saying how they were going to end with a really special song to all them, one that has helped them get through all the trials and tribulations in life. With such a serious and solemn introduction, we were not expecting what came next...they sang, "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus! It was hilarious. They really got into it, adding their own harmonies, echoes, and dance moves; we realized that there may have been quite a few people who didn't know it was a Miley Cyrus song and just listened to it thinking, "What a nice and inspirational song." So funny.

We spent the rest of the day taking it easy, trying to get homework done. With less than 2 weeks left in the schools, and only a little over that to get all our assignments done, I'm definitely feeling the symptoms of senioritis, or something. It's hard to sit and have the motivation to just get it done. I think I have 2 2-page papers, 2 more lessons, a detailed log of 12 hours spent with one of my students, a case study final, and a huge paper summing up everything before I am home free. Crazy, crazy. To "take a break" from homework, Anna, Jess, Christine, and I enjoyed a night at the park, watching the sun set and the stars appear as we enjoyed some peanut butter M&Ms. Even though we definitely don't have the fun and crazy social life we have back home, life sure is good :)