My trip to New Zealand was exciting, long but tiring. It started with a taxi ride to Lima’s International Airport. Our plane was leaving at 1am so we had to be at the airport three hours before that. My dad was in Colombia because of work, my mom thought it was too dangerous to come back from the airport alone (and we agree) so we took a taxi. We got our tickets and then passed through security and made it to the gates about an hour and a half hours earlier than anticipated. We sat down and I started falling asleep. However, my grandma decided that it would be a good idea to stay awake so we started to walk around the airport and look at shops until it was 1:00 am when we had to get in the airplane. I was a little hyper by then so I wasn’t as tired. First we went from Peru to Los Angeles and the flight lasted about eight hours. I sat in between my grandparents (the airplane had two seats then three and then two).  It was a little uncomfortable and I couldn’t sleep much because: 1) my grandparent’s heads kept falling on me and waking me up, 2) there was a computer in front of me and that was a big distraction and, 3) my neck hurt because my headrest was too flat. The service in the airplane was really good so I was fine with that.

When we reached LA we had my uncle Paco already there to pick us up. It was really nice to see him. We went to eat breakfast at IHOP. It was so yummy! After that we drove to his house that was half an hour away from the airport. It was incredible how close everything was to his house; he had banks, many stores and restaurants. At his house we took the suitcases out of the car and put them in the garage. When he opened the door, this little dog came running at us and started smelling us. It was the first Chihuahua I have actually liked. Her name is Joy. After playing around with her we all sat down in the living room and started talking. Then my aunt Claudia joined us. She’s a medical interpreter. We went to pick up my cousins from school and went to Hollywood and saw the Chinese Theatre (where there are the stars on the floor with the signature, hands and footprints of many amazing artists such as; Michael Jackson and the Harry Potter Cast.

) The Chinese Theatre is famous because it was the place where the first Oscars were given.  After this we were ravenous so we stopped in a McDonalds to get some food. After that it was a long way to the house and it was already 4:00 and we had to be at the airport at 7:00 pm. The rush hour in LA is terrible, even worse than Lima so we needed to head to the airport right away.

                

Our next flight was LA to Auckland (New Zealand), a 12 hour flight non-stop. This time I got the window so I slept a lot and the seat was really comfortable. The food was really good. Tips to fall asleep in a plane: Bring a boring book, read half a page close your eyes and fall asleep. Surprisingly the flight was the best flight I was in. You didn’t even feel the airplane, it was really comfortable. Now I am in Aotearoa which means “the land of the long white cloud.” I learned that that’s the name that the Maori, the indigenous people from NZ gave to this country. We are living in a small area which has really sweet residents. They are called Quakers.

The Quakers I met are people who respect a lot the nature, they grow their own food, and most of them are vegetarians. They are also peaceful and have a strong sustainability culture. One rule they have is that before you eat everyone stands in a circle holding hands and we all stay for some time in silence until one person that is holding your hand squeezes it and you squeeze the next hand and so on until the squeeze gets to the last person. Then we all let go and go eat. Doing this really brings peace into the room and lets you focus in that moment. You forget about what happened that day and just think about what you are doing right now “I am going to eat, talk and socialize with people that are really different for me.

What an honor.” In the Quaker settlement I had the opportunity to learn how to weave using flex or harakeke (Maori name) to make an ornamental flower.