Ecoutché, Adado, Thank you and goodbye!!!! Thank you for the memories, the adventures, teaching me how to eat Yam pulli with my hands and pumping the water for me. Thank you for being patience while I stumbled along with my French, and for the laughter while I tried to speak Tcha. But it is time to say goodbye. How do I say goodbye to a village, a culture, a school and people, who I know have changed my life forever? How can I explain to a child why I have to leave, why I can't stay with them longer. My last [View Full Entry]

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The sun shines on Koko at 6.30 each morning, though the roosters seem to think it should be 5 as that is when they start to crow their morning chorus. I tend to wake about 7 to the crows or the crying child Angelo from next door, or to the children already arriving at 7.30 to start sweeping the school yard. School is meant to start at 8am, but this can be a flexible as sometimes the teachers just dont turn up, or they forget to bang the bell (an old orbital saw from a wood mill which they bang with [View Full Entry]

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How to describe another world of new feelings, sights and smells, while sitting in an air conditioned room with a cold beer?? My world here is very different to home in New Zealand, but different in a wonderful way. It has now been just over a month, and I have two months still to go. Every day is a learning experience, the way of living here is just so different on every single level, but when I say different I do not mean better or worse, just different. Where am I? Benin is on the west coast of Africa, next to [View Full Entry]

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It is hard to know the words to choose to begin describing this new adventure of my life, but I guess its just easiest to start at the beginning... So my last week in Montpellier flew past, every day at school with an awesome class of people who became great friends. We had an awesome night on out final thursday, all meeting up for goodbye drinks, lots of laughs and languages around the table (sorry I forgot the cd with the photos on it, they are no longer on my camera, will post them next time). But studpidly of me I [View Full Entry]

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Julia (German), Katrin (German), Julia (Swiss) and myself signed our lives away to hire a car for the weekend. We picked up the car (was silver no idea what sort... but was brand new had only done 450ks so far) early sat morn and headed off in the Provence region direction, map in hand and GPS ready to guide us. Both Julias were not keen to drive so me and Katrin shared it, may sound easy but trust me leaving Montpellier in a new car, on the right side of the road for the first time, in a manual, in ridiculous [View Full Entry]

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Avignon My French school has a sign up sheet of various things and trips they organise, and on Friday arvo we all piled in a bus to Avignon, about an hour and half drive from Montpellier. As the wonderful Wiki told me: 'Avignon is subject to violent winds', which we definately experienced.... was real cold as well. But we battled the weather and explored the village. In 1309 the city was chosen by Pope Clement V as his residence, and his huge castle is dominant over the whole village. Its sits up on the hill within the city walls (from the [View Full Entry]

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Je màpelle Silvia Je suis Néo Zelandaise J'ai vingt trois ans Je reste à Montpellier trois semeine Je vai Benin. By the end of my stay here in France hopefully I will have taught you a little bit of French... So I caught the train from Herrliberg on Sunday, with my huge 20kg pack... The little local train to Zurich and then the fast one to Geneva. In Geneva the train that I had wanted to catch was already full and only a couple of seats left in first class.... Well I had to get to Montpellier, so the first class [View Full Entry]

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Spring is a season I have always felt is never really appreciated in New Zealand. Winter just sort of slides into Summer, and without acknowledging it we are suddenly enjoying the warm weather. But here in Switzerland it is a totally different feeling, emphasized in Omi's beautiful garden. I arrived to a clear crisp spring day, sit till had a bite to the air, but the sun definitely had potential to be warm. Even though its March the flowers are already poking their heads out. This time in the past there is still heaps of snow, and the Oster glocken (Easter [View Full Entry]

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So a travel blog.... Its weird sitting here writing and not quite knowing how this whole travel blog is gonna work out. I figure its the best way to record my adventures for myself, but also for those of you back at home. Hope I manage to keep you entertained and informed, with a few laughs along the way. So we shall see... Where to start?? After a month of enjoying the sun and living at home in Paekakariki the 25th of feb jumped at me very quickly and all too soon were we all at the airport. Its a weird [View Full Entry]

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