Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Day 2 - Differences




Today was a needed day of rest. We crashed hard last night at 7:30 local time and slept in until 7:30 this morning. Sleeping on a plane just doesn’t cut it. The agenda today pretty much revolved around food. We got up and cruised on down to our new favorite bakery. We both ordered large tall blacks for coffee. Unsure of what they were we were pleased to find out they were just strong americanos. Our other choices were short blacks and flat whites. It is taking a little bit to get used to the lingo here.
We then walked back to the accommodations and grabbed our trusty steeds to go to the grocery store. I love to go food shopping in other countries. No matter what the cultural differences are, we all still have to eat. The components of a grocery store are all still there, just different parts making them up. We ended up buying a little conservative, but I did manage to slip in a tin of corned beef. They pretty much can any meat down here (any fish, lamb, pork, beef), but tuna and corned beef won out this round.
The store was in a Maori neighborhood so there were some choices that you wouldn’t get at other stores in New Zealand. There were several types of taro root (starchy root that resembles a large turnip of sorts). My goal is to try and figure out how to fix it before we leave. The market outside also had quite a few choices of greens, bananas and believe it or not, kiwi fruit.
We stuck out like sore thumbs at the market, but people are always so friendly. A butcher pointed us to the bike rack that was inside a courtyard near the market. Leslie and I both became involved in a soccer match between two young kids using that corner as their field and I finally got a comment about my height from a youth hanging out with his friends. It is rare to go too long in another country with out someone saying something.
Until next time ponder this quote by Carl Jung I read on the back of a cereal box:
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
CK

1 comment:

uncle fishguy said...

CJ you get comments about your height even around the family. Keep you eyes open for the fishing spots, we may make it to New Zealand some day. Pedal hard and have a great stay in New Zealand.