Whakatauki and lolly cake

It's just gone 7pm. Outside the falling rain makes a rhythm almost musical, the sun long since having disappeared for the day. I need milk. Contemplating the 7 minute walk up the road I decide the two minute drive is embarrassingly preferable so I settle here to update my blog.
I made lolly cake today. A quadruple batch actually. Next weekend is our international festival of cultures and my role is supplying 100 servings of lolly cake. Yay sugar! It has been quite the process finding equivalent ingredients to replace eskimos and malt biscuits as well as settling for inferior coconut - apparently desiccated coconut isn't a thing here. My housemates have happily obliged in being experimented on, which has helped me come up with something of some resemblance. But now I'm just rambling.
Update on life here - I've been so busy I've barely noticed I'm missing out on my third summer in a row - thanks guys for all the beach posts! But joking aside, it's been an awesome couple of weeks. Last weekend I had training for Bethel Global Response, a disaster relief organisation started by Bethel Church. It was so inspiring seeing just another aspect of the amazing things I get to be a part of here, another of Kris Vallotton's dreams, the things that man thinks of! I have another training for it later this year after which I'll be ready for deployment, something I've always wanted to do but never known how to. It's unlikely I'll get the chance before I leave but if I do decide to come back for another year I will almost certainly have the opportunity to get in there and help with disaster relief, so exciting!
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It is an inspiring place to be. They always seem to be coming up with new creative and innovative ways to serve the community more effectively, to get involved and bring hope and positive change. This last week has been a roller-coaster of emotions, but every time I pause and reflect, I am struck with gratitude for the people I have around me, those who have gone before me, and those who have supported me from a distance, with your prayers, your thoughts, your kind words.
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One of my favourite whakataukī (Māori proverbs) has been on my mind a bit lately: "He waka eke noa", which basically translates as, "We're all in the same canoe." There has been a real focus in class, particularly the last week or two, on coming together in unity. There is so much power in unity, and it is so simple if we put connection above our self-justification. I'm so thankful for the people I get to have in my waka. I'm not always the best at showing it, but once you're in this thing with me, we're in this together. That will never change and I am always here if you need a shoulder to lean on. If you're reading this, it's because I value having you in my life. Let's do this!

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