Last Weekend in Auckland for a While

Since I've been back from the East Coast has been quite exciting. I went over to hang out with Beth's friend Lesley and her family on Saturday afternoon. She gave me some great new book recommendations and told me about Black Grace, a great New Zealand dance company. If you guys get the chance to see them, Lesley says DO! And Beth, if they come to the Twin Cities, I say we plan an outing! We had such a fun time talking over biscuits, cake and tea that I lost track of time and had to rush off to the dance workshop. The workshop was ENTIRELY worth rushing for, however. It was just me and a guy from Spain, so we got all sorts of personal attention. We learned how to "pop" and breakdance and do a mixture of hip hop and haka moves. I'm not ready to perform them just yet, hehehe, but it was exhilerating to be out there dancing again, especially learning a new style. I'm going to go back to another workshop tonight before I leave to go up north tomorrow morning. I can't wait! It was such a cool environment. Everyone was really encouraging as me and Nicolas, the Spanish guy, tried to master the new moves. And afterward, we stuck around and watched the Toa Toa Urban Maori Pacific Dance Championships. There was only one team competing in this heat, so we got to see both of the professional troupes there, Torotoro, the New Zealand Hip Hop Haka group and Tau Fuata Niue, the Niuean dance company, perform as well. These are the two companies that will be performing the Pacific Island portion of the United States of Celebration performance that I'm so excited about. I bought a ticket for the USoC performance while I was there and the girl hooked me up with a seat 2nd row and center. Yay! Hopefully there's nobody tall in front of me. I actually wanted a ticket for Wednesday night, but didn't notice until I got home that she'd accidentally given me the wrong date. I was going to try to exchange it, but I decided that maybe it was meant to be because this way, if I love it enough, I can always attend one of the Wednesday performances as well.

Sunday was spent lounging around. I was staying in Jane's room while she was away for the weekend. When I woke up, after writing in my journal, I picked up 'Cunt', the book she had lying on her bedside table and started reading it. Three hours later I finally got out of bed. It's a book that many people have recommended, but I've never actually gotten around to reading. Well now I see why they recommended it. Its good! If you want an account of a woman's personal feminism in plain, forthright terms, you've got it right there. I'm still working on it eagerly.

Today I'm over here using the internet, then on to the Auckland Museum to see their design exhibit and then off to dance workshop number 2. I'll be posting East Cape adventures as I get the chance. I don't know how much access I'll have to email for the next couple weeks while I'm up north, but I'll definitely make a good effort to keep you all up to date.