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I went out to the Auckland Domain today, maybe one km from our house.  I've been craving some nature, and the Domain is a really big park.  It's situated on an ancient volcanic cone (not that I could tell by looking; I learned this by reading the sign at the gate).  The highest hill is the site of a pa, a Maori battle stronghold, called 'the hill of bitter memories', where a grudging peace with the colonists was forged after the musket wars.

It was so green and beautiful.  Perfect weather, huge mature trees, a surprise over every hill.  I laid down in the grass for a while and watched the clouds.  I haven't done that in a long time.  It was silent except for the wind and the occasional distant truck.  Birds chirped and an unidentified critter scuttled past in the dry leaves.  A jogger ran by, barefoot.  Down in the valley was a fountain, lined with stones where a white-headed duck preened herself next to a nest full of gray fluffy babies.  Two large formal greenhouses housed tropical and cold-weather plants in stunning profusion. 

I breathed deeply and felt good.  It was a chance to just Be Here.

I wish I hadn't forgotten to bring my camera.   So I'm placing this here to make myself remember to bring it next time and update you with plenty of pretties.

The tamarillo

Tamarillos were advertised at Foodtown as, 'Great for dessert.'  I picked one up for about a dollar.  Here it is on a saucer.

 

I sliced off the stem and halved it.

The skin is tough and bad-tasting, so we scooped out the flesh with a spoon.  It had the texture of a tomato:  firmer flesh on the outside, with seed-containing jelly on the inside.  The seeds are tough.  Its flavor was also similar to a tomato, and the jelly was quite sweet, reminding me a little of a passionfruit.

Didn't strike me as dessert-like, particularly, but it was certainly pleasant.  I found recipes for nice jams and puddings, if I should ever have the urge to experiment further.

We have colds.

I wish I could report big-exciting-fun things that we've been doing, but unfortunately there's not a lot to report.  We're all four sick.  Not to worry, family, it's not the flu or anything awful, it's just a run of the mill cold.  We kind of expected it, since our flights were just big incubators filled with all manner of unfamiliar bugs.  And also since kids are naturally such spectacular vectors, putting their hands and mouths on everything.

So we've been laying low, pushing the fluids, cuddling the little boys a lot.  Arram is particularly upset about it, since this is literally the worst thing that's ever happened to him in his life.  

Arram's nose was stuffy, and his laborious, noisy breathing was breaking my heart.  So I went out and bought this contraption, since I couldn't find the bulb syringe we usually use for clearing his nose, and bulb syringes apparently do not exist here.  You put the big end in his nose, and the small end in your mouth (yes, mouth), and suction the nose clean.  There is a gizmo that prevents mucus from getting into the tube.  It actually works pretty well.  The first time, I just thought about patch-clamping cells... (gotta get a tight seal...)

I'm already starting to feel like I'm on the mend, so hopefully the others won't be far behind.

Even if they're sick and goopy, they can still be pretty cute.

Kiwi's kiwis

Back home, I only knew about green kiwifruits.  Fuzzy ones, the size of a couple of golf balls.

I found gold kiwifruits here.  They are as big as a good-sized apple, and have a pointy bit on one end.  They aren't fuzzy.  The flesh is yellow, sweeter, and less acidic, almost papaya-like.

They're a hybrid, developed exclusively in New Zealand over a laborious 11-year process.  (Now that's  devotion to your fruit salad...How many companies can you think of that spend 11 years on R&D for a single product??)

They cost about ten cents apiece.

Amiri's a smart guy.

I was all proud of him a couple days ago, that he'd learned the alphabet all the way through.

Today I realized that he also knows the complete Arabic alphabet too.  Not just to sing the alphabet song, but he recognizes the written letters too.  And, he recognizes and uses a lot of Urdu words. 

Holy cow, our kid is effortlessly bilingual.

Things are different in New Zealand

Here are some things noteworthy to an American:

There are some items here that have different names.  Same package, same logos, different names.   Aquafresh toothpaste is McCleans, Sun Chips are Grain Waves.  (Like Hardee's-Carl's Jr., I guess!)

Items are smaller in general.  They have much less packaging.  The soaps are extremely concentrated.  They don't even advertise this; it just seems to be the norm that your itty-bitty bottle of dish soap is going to last you a year since you need only just a drop.

There are very few Target or Walmart type stores.  The Warehouse, maybe, would count.  But there are only three Warehouses in Auckland.  Can you imagine a city of 1.4 million with one three Targets?  A Costco type of thing is unheard of.  Stores are smaller and specialized.  You need appliances?  You go to an appliance store.  You need toiletries?  You go to a chemist.  Furniture?  Guess.

People are smaller here.  Thinner, I mean, on average.  And I noticed everyone at McDonald's drinking Happy Meal sized drinks.  I wondered what sort of special deal this McDonald's must be running, that all the adults are buying kids' meals, until I realized that that's just the standard size, not the 44-oz super gulp.  Oh, and the Starbucks?  They had big signs all over advertising their 'short' size drinks.  You know, the size that's kinda their 'secret menu' back in the States because everyone wants a bucket-size?  I think there might be some sort of a correlation here.

You know when you're walking on the sidewalk, and someone is approaching you from the other direction, and you both have to pick a side and move over to pass one another?  I naturally tend to go to the right.  Locals go to the left, so that means we veer toward each other and I've ended up doing that, 'Oh, excuse me, go ahead' dance a number of times.  (They drive on the left here; I suspect that's what's up.)

They have no pennies here.  And I haven't seen a 5-cent piece yet, although I think they exist.  Shops just round up or down to the nearest 10 cents for each purchase, and it evens out over time. 

Man, are they nice here.  So there's this street that's all torn up with construction.  There's orange cones and barriers and general confusion.  There are orange signs all over bossing you around:  "Slow", "Lane Ends, Merge Left", etc.  Then you struggle out of the construction area and back onto the intact street.  There is one final orange sign strapped to a post.  This one says, 'Thank you'.

This is what I'm doing right now.

I found an open Foodtown but I got confused by the prices. So I made a spreadsheet to help.

NZ $ per liter	US $ per gallon		NZ $ per kilo	US $ per lb
1.40	4.00		1.00	0.34
1.50	4.28		2.00	0.68
1.60	4.57		3.00	1.03
1.70	4.85		4.00	1.37
1.80	5.14		5.00	1.71
			6.00	2.05
			7.00	2.39
			8.00	2.74
KEY			9.00	3.08
NZ$ to US$	0.753977		10.00	3.42
US$ to NZ$	1.3263		11.00	3.76
Litre to gallon	0.264172052		12.00	4.10
gallon to litre	3.78541178		13.00	4.45
kilo to lb	2.20462262		14.00	4.79
lb to kilo	0.45359237		15.00	5.13
			16.00	5.47
			17.00	5.81
			18.00	6.16
			19.00	6.50
			20.00	6.84

Updates on the kids

Arram has his first tooth.  He has been a little grumpy, with red cheeks.  He LOVES solid food now, and gobbles down huge adult-size servings, just like his brother did.  He alternates between crying loudly, and smiling like a charmer.  He is still having trouble with the time change; he is taking his first nap of the day already, at just 8:30 AM.

Amiri is a big boy now, always asking to 'Amiri help!' when we're doing anything.  We invent ways to involve him.  He can say the whole alphabet now, and amazes us with his continual acquisition of computer skills.  The other day, he went to Target.com, typed 'elmo' into the search bar, and then put an Elmo doll into his basket.  What a little monster!  (At least he hasn't bought anything on Ebay lately.)

Our first 24 hours

• We're on the 5th of 18 floors.  We have a view of an alley on one side, and the historic Symonds street cemetery on the other. 

The view from Amiri's room.

• Unpacked somewhat haphazardly.  In addition to the broken hardside suitcase, the zippers were badly damaged on two others, and I had to break in to them.  Felt very smart for having used on-their-last-legs luggage that we planned to throw away anyway upon arrival.  Three pieces from our Craigslist sale are still in great shape, though, and will be our new permanent luggage.
• I fed the kids (thank you, Air Pacific, for the baby food… we had to throw away our homemade food at BioSecurity) while Adnan went out for TP and kebabs, which turned out to be oversauced and unappetizing.  Oh well.
• Showers.
• In bed by 8 pm, which felt like 2 am.
• Tears from both kids at bedtime due to being overtired and having just HAD IT.
• Crying in the night from Arram and judicious withholding of picking up, in order to re-establish good sleeping habits.
• Woke at 8 am feeling human again, but BOY is it cold in here.  Bundled up.  Amiri looks so cute in Nanijan's hand knitted blue sweater.
• ANZAC biscuits and tea for breakfast.
• Looked up bus timetables, made a shopping list, gathered up the kids and headed off for Foodtown.
• Bus is 50 cents a ride, kids are free.
• Made it to Britomart, asked some questions about the free bus route (just around the harbor, not useful for from-home travel), buying pre-paid rides at a discount (you buy them from the bus company that services the routes you want).
• Walked to Foodtown.  It's closed and boarded up.  Curses!  Commiserated with a couple visiting from the South Island who had the same objective and same What-The? expressions.
• Walked the other way on Quay (pronounced Key) street to The Barrow, a hoity-toity store we found three years ago.  Bought some cheese, pasta, etc.
• Arram slept the whole time, feet flopping away in his Baby Bjorn.  Strangers smiled when they saw him.  Amiri held hands with Dad but wanted to hold hands with Mama because she lets him dawdle more.
• Home for naps, internet research, planning.
• I made Arram some Weet-bix and pumpkin baby food.  He gobbled it up and demanded seconds.
• I took a walk down Karangahape, the (in)famous K Road.  Lots of nice shops and interesting things.  The motorway was jammed with traffic when I crossed the overpass.  Worried until I realized it's Labour Day weekend and everyone is trying to get out of town.
• I had been feeling nervous (Did we do the right thing?  Will everything be ok?) until exploring K Road.  It was comfortable and reassuring that we are not, in fact, in the middle of nowhere, and it will all be all right.
• Ate spaghetti and better kebabs for dinner.
• NZ TV is not especially engaging.  America's Next Top Model is a hot show.  More internet research, and finishing up some freelance work, beckons.
• The laundry came out well, even if it did take about four hours.

Our new apartment

What it has:

• Two bedrooms, one bath, one kitchen/living room, balcony
• Two king beds with bedding
• A really nice shower with HOT water
• Snack-sized fridge/freezer, oven, and 2-burner stove

• Enough pans, utensils, and small appliances to cook a pasta dinner, or fry some eggs
• Plates and silver for four
• A big table where we can all sit down to dinner together
• A couch and big comfy chair, and flat-screen TV
• A Euro-style all-in-one washer/dryer (that does just a double-handful of clothes; we'll do at least a load a day)
• A 'green' attitude: all electric outlets have on/off switches, there's a note on the wall to conserve, and you have your choice of toilet flushes.

 Push the small button for a small flush, and the big half-moon button for a big flush.

What it doesn't have:

• Space: an unfortunate design means that an unacceptable proportion of our 53 square meters are occupied by the front hall; thus, there is not enough space to even walk between the bed and walls on two of the three sides.
• Toilet paper: After traveling for 28 hours, the last thing we wanted to do as the first thing we did was to find a convenience store.
• A lock on the balcony door: We risk home invasion by Spiderman.
• Heat: Um, yeah. The building simply does not have a heating system. We were warned that central heating is unusual in NZ, but we did think that "Heating Included" on the website indicated that heating would be included. No such luck; it's not available. It's 60 during the day, and 30 at night, and would be nice to have heat indoors. It was suggested we should purchase plug-in heaters, and get used to the weather, what are you, pansies from California or something?

Getting here

Finally, a really good reason to get out of LA: we got official notice of being approved for Permanent Resident visas! So within the next month, we quit our jobs and sold 99% of our belongings in a massive Craigslist free-for-all which involved tricking Amiri into thinking that sleeping on a makeshift blanket-bed on the floor was lots of fun.

We shipped our stuff to the midwest in 15 boxes, and arrived ourselves with 2 suitcases. Then, we launched our North American Farewell tour, visiting Michigan, Chicago, and Bloomington. During this time we bought plane tickets, rented an apartment sight-unseen, and Ebayed off a surprising proportion of the contents of those 15 boxes. As time drew near for departing, we bought some luggage from Craigslist, and packed up. We fit all the worldly goods of four people into six suitcases (totaling less than 300 lbs).

We packed until the last minute and made it to Midway airport. Southwest happily shipped all our bags, plus the two carseats, for no additional charge. We had a worried moment when our flight was listed as 'delayed' on the board, but after talking to the gate agents, it appeared that that was in error-- we got on our flight as scheduled. We touched down in Kansas City, and then again at LAX. Arram cried a lot, unfortunately; I think his ears hurt. A 'helpful' passenger came over to talk to me, asking if the baby was hungry or wet, in a thinly veiled 'Shut your kid up, lady'. The two nice women sitting in front of me turned around and told me he wasn't bothering them, that crying is just what kids do sometimes, and people who have never had kids just don't understand.

We got our bags at the Terminal 1 bag claim and wondered how we'd get over to the International Terminal: 7 bags + 2 car seats + stroller + Amiri… clearly we didn't have enough hands. I spotted a man pushing a large cart loaded with luggage and asked how we could get one. He said, 'Just let me finish this, and I'll come and help you.' Turns out he was a porter employed by Southwest, and ended up carrying all our luggage right to the Air Pacific ticket desk. It was about the easiest time I've ever had at LAX. We tipped him well for having saved us a huge hassle!

We took a 747-400 to Fiji. We had bulkhead seats with a bassinet that snapped onto the wall in front of us. They served us special vegetarian meals (before anyone else! Yeah!) and Arram even got a special Baby meal with bottled formula and applesauce. We all had our own TVs to play with, of special interest to Amiri. The kids slept wonderfully. Arram was zipped safely in his bassinet, and Amiri curled up with pillows and blankets. Adnan and I slept somewhat less well, but what can you expect at 600 mph.

We had four hours to wait in Fiji. The stroller was checked with the other bags, so Arram was a heavy little package to carry around (wish we'd thought to put the Baby Bjorn in carry-on!). It was 5 am when we arrived, so it wasn't exactly hopping and we mostly just sat in the departures area. I bought a cafe latte (really proper coffee, served in china on a saucer even if you're not sitting at the cafe tables) and we had some Chicken Twisties, which we've been waiting 3.5 years for. :-)

We were delayed on our flight from Fiji to NZ-- first, a mechanical problem in the galley, and then a medical emergency forced us to return to the gate just as we were about to take off. (A young man had some sort of problem with feeling faint or something… a doctor who happened to be on board wisely recommended he not embark on a 3.5-hr flight over open ocean. He was promptly taken off the plane by wheelchair.) We eventually did make it off the ground, and after enjoying the hot breakfast, we caught our first glimpses of the Long White Cloud, and the green-green-green land below.

All our luggage arrived, intact! (OK, the hard-sided bag gave up and popped open, but at least all our belongings were still inside.) There was free coffee in the airport! And a friendly lady to chat with at baggage claim! The airport gives you those rolly carts for free! Things are looking good! We fit everything on two carts and were able to (somewhat awkwardly) get through BioSecurity with its sniffer dog, Customs, X-rays, and then out to ground transportation. We were welcomed several times as NZ's newest residents.

We took a van to our new home. Our luggage was unloaded at the top of a long stairway; hauling everything down to the reception desk was a pain. But we made it, and checked easily into our apartment. The internet was easily accessible, and we emailed our families the all-clear. We looked around. Whew! We made it!