I'd been so excited to have my parents come visit me in Vanuatu. One of the things I find hardest in Peace Corps is being away from family. In the States, even if you don't see your family all the time, you text them, you call them--you feel like you're still part of the family. Sometimes in Peace Corps you feel like you're out on a limb. It's true but it doesn't make you feel all that great.
So on December 14, I flew from Port Vila to Auckland. It was a really bizarre experience. I made the following list of things I found strange:
Grapes
Kiwis
Escalators
Moving walkways
Water fountains
Those airport toilets with the seats that automatically sanitize themselves for your protection
Those hand driers where you stick your hands inside
So many people (so many white people)
Actual buses, not mini buses
Street signs (streets have names??)
High ways
The cars all look so nice
I got into Auckland a day before my parents did, so I stayed in a hostel in the Central Business District. That first day I did no sight seeing; I walked around in repetitive circles looking at everything. It was just so weird for me going from Tongariki (which is an incredibly sleepy little island) to Vila (a sleepy little town) to Auckland, which felt like a real city.
I ate a burrito at a Mexican joint by the hostel and went to this underground supermarket. Being in that supermarket was really disorienting because there was so much to purchase and so many choices to make. In Vila, there's one grocery store chain, two stand alone grocery stores, and a bunch of Chinese stores, but they all basically sell the same set of products. You can buy Oreos in Vila but not Chips Ahoy, Doritos now but not Fritos, there's a few standard brands of cheap wine, et cetera, et cetera. So to be in this grocery store with what looked like fifty brands of yogurt and twenty-seven brands of cereal and however much hummus and garlic spread and bread and whatever was just really confusing. I don't want to sound like I'm this anti-materialist girl from the bush after a year + in Vanuatu, but this experience has made me question why we have so much stuff all the time in the developed world. Who needs to choose between that many brands of cereal? I walked around in a circle for about an hour, then bought a packet of strawberries and a bottle of wine.
After that, I went to see the new Hunger Games movie at this big cinema. It was also super confusing -- I couldn't figure out where to even buy a ticket. It turned out that you had to buy them at the concession stand. (At this point, I started to feel like a total yokel.) Good movie, also pretty intense after being in a country that doesn't have a movie theater.
Left that, walked around in a circle for a few more hours, then got a sandwich at Subway. In my room at the hostel, there were three nice American girls, two nice Irish guys, and a drunk and weird Frenchman. So I went out and got a few drinks with the Americans and the Irish guys, which was really fun and also just a big change from VU. Went to bed...
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