Visit to Maori Tribal House

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The internet connection that I have for the next week isn't all that great so I can't upload pictures to my blogs. I don't want to leave them all until I get home so I'll post the blogs without pictures and then add the pics in later.

We arrived at the Maori tribal house, called a Murae (pronounced mer-eye), and everyone was extremely welcoming! They said some greeting prayers in Maori language and then welcomed each of us formally by shaking hands, touching noses and then touching foreheads.

The Murae was a big square room with no furniture besides some chairs stacked in the corner and the carvings on the wall. We were given mattresses and pillows to set up here for the next couple nights. That’s right, 31 students, both professors, and their families were all sleeping in the same room for 2 nights. They asked not to put pictures from inside of the Murae on the Internet because it’s their sacred place but I have a bunch on my computer to share when I come home.

The first day (11/19/12) was pretty brutal and I thought I was going to hate the rest of my time here. We were given a REALLY long presentation about their crazy radical views on conservation of New Zealand wildlife that seriously borderlines environmental terrorism. When that was finally over we relaxed a bit in the sun and learned a song in their language. Then, we learned about “bush medicine” through a demonstration of the way that they turn herbs from the forest into various medicinal concoctions. It was really interesting but I’m not sure how much trust I’d put into their healing methods. They claimed that some native leaf was more powerful for treating cancer than chemo is but I’m not buying it.

After EIGHT hours of these presentations, we were served dinner. These Maori people may not be the best at presentations but wow they sure know how to cook!! There were a variety of entrees to choose from including chicken, venison, fish, mussels, etc. that they caught themselves. Things were looking up! At night they let us ask some questions about their tribe and beliefs and then we all hung out in the Murae until it was lights out.

The next day (11/20/12) was so much better than the first. We went white water rafting on class 4 rapids! No one fell out of the boat but we all got soaked. When we reached a calm stretch a bunch of us jumped in the water and floated alongside the raft. It was without a doubt the coldest water I’ve ever swam in! My body was warm because they gave us really good wet suits but my exposed arms were almost numb.

On Wednesday (11/21/12) we went paddle boarding! It was the perfect day for it too because the weather was really nice. I didn’t realize it before coming to NZ but it rains more often than not. The boards were so much sturdier than the long boards for surfing so it was easy to avoid falling off. Leave it to me though, I was the only one in our group that fell! I wasn’t paying too much attention and next thing I knew I was flying sideways into a tree. The water was just as cold as it was for white water rafting but the weather was so nice that I jumped in again before turning in our boards.

We had another nice big meal before saying our goodbyes and then headed back to Rotorua for the night. We didn’t have schoolwork that night or next morning so we had a party at the hostel to celebrate. When 31 people are living together for 3 months there’s bound to be some disagreements and wow they blew up that night! It was Leah’s 21^st birthday too so it was a little out of control but we still had fun and it was definitely a memorable night.

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Photos

Murae
The building on the left is the Murae where we all slept. The building on the right is just a meeting room

Bush Medicine
Gary is teaching us how to make medicines from NZ plants

Welcoming Feast!
Hare (pronounced Harry) is saying an opening prayer in Maori language as Gary puts final touches on the food