apple picking update: still hard, hard, hard. my entire body is sore for all of my conscious hours. it takes a break from hurting while i sleep, but then kicks back in the moment i wake. we are intensifying our farmer’s tans and eating about three apples a day each.

living in the tiny caravan update: still fun, fun, fun. we have bonded with the three asians living next door, err, umm, next car over. without their solicitation, we have started word of the day vocabulary lessons. words they have learned so far: exhausting, obligation, strangle. things are going very well.

malcolm and lindsay update: still love them, love them, love them. last night the four of us came into the hopping town of napier for their annual art deco festival weekend. everyone (really, everyone except us and maybe six other people) was dressed up in boas, suspenders and paperboy caps, and sequins. it was so neat! it felt more like being in the 1920s than a weird halloween because everyone was a part of it.

robin and me update: still happy, happy, happy. we are leaving napier in a few weeks to meet my family in auckland while they visit and then off to the south island again and back to one of our favorite new zealand homes, carolyn’s.

just me update: still me, me, me, but more and more i am becoming kiwi. there is a certain way of life here called “bogan” that i am very much embracing. “bogan” is a term that is a bit fuzzy on definition, but i would most closely associate it with “redneck” at home. bogans don’t wear shoes, often times have mullets or rat-tails, wear bathing suits a lot as actual outer wear. with unprecedented gusto, i support all aspects of the bogan lifestyle. my favorite is not wearing shoes. into grocery stores, shops, the bank. you don’t have to wear shoes anywhere! all of us are enjoying the foot freedom. the other day going into the grocery store, malcolm, robin and i all neglected to put on our shoes even though we had them in the car. it’s great. also, i bought my very own jar of marmite the other day! what happened?

while apple picking is such hard work nowadays there are many silver linings to life. one such being that i get a lot of ipod time. ipods, for those of you pre-gen X, are tiny machines that hold all of your music for you. how do i explain this so you may understand? it’s as if all of your tapes - or records - have had the music taken off of them and moved to a little shiny box. it’s magic. let’s leave it at that.

in addition to the lovely periods of music time, when the four of us do get off of work we are so excited to see each other it’s like an everyday smiley reunion! and then when we get home, we make dinner and laugh for four hours and then go to sleep.

maybe the most important thing i have learned in this past week is that anything can be fun if i am with people i love. and thankfully, i am. the second most important thing i have learned is always, always, ALWAYS wash your produce. people like me are picking it, and trust me, i am dirty when i am doing it. i think i heard malcolm sneeze into his bag of apples last thursday. just wash your fruit, okay?

love,
maggie