I've been home for two days, and already I wish I could go back.  At the beginning of the trip, I remember Dr. Swanson telling us that when we got home, it would seem like it were just a dream.  I believe him now.  It really does seem unreal to think that I spent the last month of my life in New Zealand.  Hence, this semi-reflective blog of reminiscence.

However amazing I thought this trip would be before we left, it was nothing compared to how amazing it actually was.  You could barely look anywhere without seeing something beautiful…it made it difficult to sleep on the bus knowing what amazing scenery was constantly passing by (though somehow, we all found a way).  Perhaps equally amazing is the sheer smoothness of the entire trip.  I had my doubts when setting out with thirty college students (many of whom have an invincibility complex).  I figured someone was bound to end up either in a hospital or a jail cell before the trip was over.  Nope…through some miracle we all made it out almost completely unscathed--which anyone would count as miraculous if they saw our hike up Broken Hills or our rafting through Waitomo caves.  Quite impressive from a bunch of wilderness amateurs if you ask me.

Something that also surprised me was--get this--I LEARNED things.  Quite a lot of things that I was much more interested in than I realized.  Of course you always learn so much about culture when you travel abroad, and since New Zealand is bicultural, we got a double dose of Kiwi folk and Maori.  I could rant for quite a while about how cool both are, but I'll refrain for the sake of not dominating the blog.  That aspect of the learning was just natural…you can't live in another country for a month without learning about the people.  The academic part (aka, the part that reminded us all that we were actually taking a class) was pretty amazing as well.  Getting to experience up close the plants and animals that are so wildly different from our own was just another reminder of the many wonders of evolution.  It's a shame humans had to go and mess up such a beautiful process.  There were so many other topics we covered--genetically altered food, thermophiles at the bottom of the ocean, the medicinal properties of manuka honey (which I plan to remember when I'm a doctor some day)--it was hard to keep track of it all!  In a good way, of course.

All in all, this was probably the most amazing and memorable month of my life.  I still can't believe all the things I got to do and see, and I can't wait to go back to do it all again.  And now I'll wrap up the sappiness with a kudos to J. D. for such a brilliantly planned trip…of course now I think I would expect nothing less from a kiwi.

Cheers!
Brandi