New Zealand

Kia Ora from NZ! It seems like a lifetime ago we were in warm and humid Fiji. New Zealand is colder - but very crisp. The students have been in their hoodies, and are wearing many layers to stay warm. We spent the night in the Maori - very exciting. Then we heading to the Full-on where everyone had to take a "leap of Faith" from the top of a telephone pole into the air toward the trapeze bar - Kyle managed to get to the top despite his fears. Melina had no difficulty doing the wire walk, and Molly and Kelsey tackled the "black ice" that was on the log walk about 30 feet overhead. Many good pictures to post and share on this amazing day. Alex and friend Rick did the corporate ladder climb reaching higher than any team- using each other to propel higher and higher. I've got a short video of that to share and will post all the videos as soon as I get to a place where the computers are not run on modems as they are here.

We met our home stay families yesterday, and each has warmly welcomed us into therir homes. Some students are paired up with others, some are just one USA student in a home with other NZ teenagers. Everyone got together this morning at the school and all were smiling. This part of the program is so special, each student will have many memories to share - we got to do a workout this morning with the primary school students, then we split up and attended each or the classrooms. Students asked questions and our delegates were more than happy to share information. This afternoon we went to the penisula for a picnic lunch on the beach then headed to a local shopping mall so that students that needed warmer clothes could buy some at their local "Walmart!". We back at our homestays for the evening - and at my home we have 3 boys, one is a 7yr old that is currently asking for another game of UNO! (which he beat me at last evening) Internet is still very difficult to access right now so this might be it for the next few days. Happy Father's Day to all back home - we love and miss you and are doing fabulous. You can be most proud of your students!