The almost ending of the first month

Kia ora my fellow earth inhabitants!

It is currently 19:48u on sunday the 28th of February over here. Since the first month is now almost coming to its end, I figured it was time to blog again. Once again...lots has happened since the last time I spoke to you guys. I will just highlight some of them over here.

For starters, on the day that I posted my last update I went to an amazing concert given by a band called 'Orchestra of Spheres'. I am not sure how I am supposed to describe their music to you guys, but it was awesome! An equal level of awesomeness can be ascribed to the drive over to the concert. It was in a little church in Te Aroha and on our way their I took lots of beautiful sunset pictures and pictures of the hills surrounding the road. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL.

Like I said in my last post, I was going to meet Hira (a tattoo artist who provides Maori tattoos for tourists), and so I did! I went to see him on the 21st, and do not regret a second I have spend with that man! He told me about how every single shape and symbol in a Moko (Maori tattoo) has a meaning and that all those meanings derive from old Maori tales. I spent about 2 hours in his shop and even got a good deal out of it. We exchanged phone numbers and he is going to text me whenever he gets a tourist in his shop seeking for Moko. I am very much looking forward to meeting tourists in his shop and hope that the first one will soon come along. To speed up the process I will try to find another shop to cooperate with me. If this all does not work, I will probably expand my research topic to souvenirs that are Maori culture specific. But that is really a last resort.

On the day to day level, some things have happened aswell. Karin (my host) and I went to the city council to get me a busking license (license to be allowed to make money by making music on the street). We had to visit some stores who wanted to give me an autograph so that I can play in front of their shops. It worked out and I have now three places were I can play untill thursday. I'm thinking of going busking tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how that went. Furhtermore, I have had the opportunity to sing some songs at the night market in town. The people really like my performance, and I put the guitarcase in front of me which eventually led to me getting 17 dollars out of it!

The rest of my week has mostly involved writing my first field report to send to my supervisor back home. I needed to index and analyze all the data I had gathered (fieldnotes from observations, small talk and the interviews with the tourist and Hira). This took a lot of my time away from me, but I am glad to say that I have now finished it and will be able to hand it in tomorrow!

Other than that I have walked around a bit in Rotorua and made some pictures. All the pictures will of course soon be uploaded on Facebook. I am still feeling homesick, and I am missing a lot of things. I miss making music with the lovely guys from the band, I miss seeing everyone at university and most of all I miss my sweetest, dearest, lovelyest boyfriend very very very much. Luckily, my mom will arrive in 2 NIGHTS sleep now! I can't wait to see her again and give her a great, big, warm hug!

As you might have noticed, I have come out to the world when it comes to my poetry. I have been writing poetry since I was about 12 years old, and kept on doing so since. During the period of my depression I wrote a lot and during my travels here in New Zealand I keep writing as well. I am actually considering to improve my poems, and maybe try to make a book out of it when I get back in the Netherlands. But, let's think about that later, shall we!

For now, I will just try to enjoy the beautiful country that I am in, and two days from now, I will do exactly that together with my mom!

Haere rā and kisses from Rotorua!