Jen:

Right now I’m sitting outside in the hostel’s courtyard. Liz is still sleeping (rightly so, because it IS only 8:00). To my left in the courtyard is the “spa pool”; next to that is the rack full of kayaks and mountain bikes; straight ahead and above is the deck everyone has tea on after we finish cleaning; to the right is the rest of the hostel building, white and covered with red and pink flowers.; and finally, behind me are tons of exotic trees (Liz has seriously gone crazy trying to figure out what kind of trees they all are.)

Right now it’s about 55 degrees? The weather here so far: SUPER cold during the night (probably around upper 40s) and pretty hot during the day (low 80s?) We’ve heard that the weather will only be getting warmer, which is welcome news because the comfortors on our beds aren’t thaaaaaaaaat warm. Last night, Liz used the airplane blanket and I put on another layer.

Notes on Paihia so far?

It is BEAUTIFUL. We seriously walk out of the hostel, and within 2 minutes we are staring at the Bay of Islands. The water is clear and a bright blue. The beaches are warm and clean. Looking out over the water, you can see a few of the “144 islands.” In the distance, it looks like volcanoes and rolling hills are just popping out of the water. At night, the sky goes through the color spectrum: yellow then orange then pink then light purple then purple then dark blue then even darker blue. …It is amazing.

Everyone we’ve met, for the most part, has been very friendly. The girls from Peru who are doing the same work are really friendly and helpful.  Ryona, the manager’s daughter, loves to hang out and make us watch her climb the trees. Tommy, a 19 yr old Aussie who is friends with the Peruvian girls we work with, invited us over to his apartment for a homemade dinner last night.  There’s already a potluck barbeque in the works for next Thursday.

The onnnnnnly problem with Paihia:

There’s no work yet. Some of our new friends that we’ve met have been putting in applications for weeks now and haven’t really been finding very much. However, that’s supposed to change…..hopefully. The first cruise ship comes in October 16 and I guess when that happens, then the town gets insane. We heard that 1000 people a day come into Paihia. So in the next few weeks, supposedly all of the restaurants and cruise ships will be hiring. 

And Liz and I need jobs….badly. It is pretty expensive here. Even with the exchange rate that is in our favor, it is ridiculous. We went to the grocery store yesterday to get enough for 4 days or so and we were SHOCKED. So…….we will be eating ummm, a lot of pasta and rice dishes(It SO reminds me of Ireland) and not snacking.  :) 

The one good thing about the job situation is that it’s definitely showing us how foreigners literally “follow the jobs” in another country. It’s definitely a good life experience to be a part of that; that is for sure.

Alright. It’s cold. And I actually have this stupid cold that has me blowing my nose every two minutes and sneezing all over this laptop so I am going back to bed.

Bye!