Ok, tonight will be my last night in Christchurch. Woohoo! Not that I don't like New Zealand, but madre mia, it is an expensive place, and I don't have the money to be dropping cash like that.
Lets see...Well, we did end up going to the beach, but it was a bit cloudy and I put on some sunscreen so I wouldn't burn, and therefore my legs are still white. I am trying to think of other things I have done, but when you are trying to conserve your dinero there really isn't much to do. I walked around the city. Went looking for sandals at ten different store, no luck. I am looking for chacos. Did you guys know that the K-Mart's here are a bit trendy instead of ghetto? Well, they are. Had some sushi and then some delicious Indian food. Mmmm. You know I have been spending almost all of my money on food. Eating out and buying at stands. I love food! More walking around. Yesterday was an awesome day. Raining all day. Yeah! Spend some time with Caitlin and Ezra, just happened to bump into them. Went to some Mexican food place called Alva Rados. I don't think they realized that is one word. The food was okay. What is to expect from Kiwis making Mexican food? not much, I had some weird nachos. But, I did have three margarita slushies at two different places. Mmm, deelish. And that has been pretty much the extent of my travels.
Oh! I learned some New Zealand history today. I am a bit confused with my emotions, I really don't know how I feel of what I just learned. So here it is. Apparently the "Te Tiriti o Waitangi" (Treaty of Waitangi) which is the treaty that 'united' the Maori and Brits has been under scrutiny for the past two decades, because the treaty that has been used isn't really the final draft. So, there are some people claiming the the Maori and English version do not say the same thing. And that the old versions are giving the Maori more power and taking land and power from the Brits, or something to that extent. Now, the part that I am bit confused about, are my feeling, because the whole who was here first always pop ups. But apparently people are loosing there land that has been in their family for generations, and we were talking to this guy who says that the treaty that is being used is not even the final draft. The final draft has been kept hidden in the archives and people are using the notes that were used to make the final draft, and the notes say very different thing. Or something like that. I really don't know much about it, but the guys also told us that some of the Maoris were cannibals, and the last recorded cannibalism act was recorded sometime around 1843. Cool. Oh, and that the people fighting for the Maori power are big corporation who will end taking the land away from the Maori, or something. Now, why such a big deal. Well, because according to these two guys, the government has giving out an obscene amount of money (maybe a million?) to somebody so they can tour around the country explaining the treaty, which according to these guys are lies. So, that is what I somewhat learned.
Did this make sense?
How about you guys look it up:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0512/S00154.htm (Article on exhibition "Treaty 2 U)
www.onenzfoundation.co.nz (Foundation of the guys that lost their land, they are Kiwi not Maori)
