Author: Brooke Paulsen
In a moment, time is irrelevant. Because before there is thought about running out of time or being on time for the next experience, the moment is gone. But if you don’t think about those things, a moment can feel like eternity; or at least, much longer than its definition. This feeling depends on the content of the moment and its importance. After around 36 hours with the students of Whenua-Iti, I can speak for all of us when I say it felt like we were with those kids for weeks, maybe even months. Every moment we spent together was saturated in such love, information, and empathy that there was not time to even think about the experience coming to a close. On May 15th, we had to say many painful goodbyes. How could we be so distraught about leaving the kids in such a short amount of time of knowing them?
At 7 am, we were packed up and having our last meal in the Wharekai. Our usual: toast, cereal, yogurt and fruit, that I surprisingly continue to be excited for when I wake up. Shortly after we said our Karakia, a prayer before our meal, the students from the ages of 15-18 sleepily walked in for their daily morning stretches and mindfulness. In the commotion of getting packed, getting cleaned up, and getting ready to go, we were sure to stop and address a very special birthday in our midst. It was our wonderful Shannon’s 21stbirthday so not only was she showered in gifts but she was sung the happy birthday song loudly throughout the Wharekai. She was given gifts and ‘Happy Birthday’ necklaces that, once put on, were not allowed to come off. After breakfast, we congregated in the Whare for our last debrief while the Whenua-Iti kids were eating breakfast.
We packed up the trailer and our bus with all of our possessions and got ready for our closing ceremony. The Whenua-Iti kids and Matua Mike gathered inside the Whare, and we walked inside and sat down on the floor. Words in Te Reo (the Maori language) were exchanged and we sang our last waita, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” As they sang their waita, “Hallelujah” in Te Reo, tears began welling up in my eyes. I had already cried around 5 different times at that point during the last 36 hours, but this time was the most overwhelming. I was sad to be leaving, but I was also happy about the time we had spent with the kids and wish we had more. Maori people are constantly portrayed negatively in politics and media, and a lot of people are not proud of their heritage. Us coming to the Marae and learning from them was some of their first experiences with teaching, and I felt so lucky to have learned from them. I hope that they continue to learn and continue to teach people about their beautiful culture. It became time for the last Hongi, and Matua Mike, their instructors, and the kids all lined up leading out the door. By this point, tears were streaming down my cheeks and after almost every Hongi, I was embraced with a hug while words of love and encouragement were exchanged. I finally got to the end of line and I didn’t want our time together to end.
For the next couple of minutes, there were photos taken, more group hugs exchanged, and it became time to officially leave the Marae. We learned that if a group was special enough, the people of the Marae would Haka, or perform a war dance, as their visitors were leaving. The kids began to haka and my tears resumed. In this video (CLICK THIS HYPERLINK), you can see my true ugly cry coming out. As our bus drove away, the kids continued, we had learned that they were not going to stop until we were officially out of sight.
We all sat on the bus, me and a few others in tears, and listened to the remaining plans for the day. We were headed to the Nelson airport to officially leave the South Island and head to Auckland airport where we would then be renting vans and driving around 2 and a half hours to Raglan, a small surfing town.
We arrived at the airport and said our last goodbyes to Jonie, our fearless Whenua-Iti leader who had taught us so much about the Maori culture, the relationship between the Maori people and the New Zealand government, and how to continue to be fearless and effective leaders in our everyday life. Her and I walked an extensive amount of time together on the Abel Tasman trail and I found her lessons and experiences valuable and applicable to my everyday life back in America. We thanked her with a card and a friendship bracelet and made our way into the Nelson airport.
After a short plane ride filled with an array of emotions, we finally arrived in Auckland. We got lunch in the airport and then loaded our vans. I, as a co-pilot, a job granted to me and a few others (Justin, Sienna, and Aislinn), was in charge of making sure the vans were loaded up properly, directions were clear, and great music was being played throughout our journey. I rode shotgun in the van of our fearless leader, Dave. All I can say is that I lived. We rocked out to 70’s and 80’s music, singing at the top of our lungs for two and a half hours straight, passing pastures filled with cows and sheep (which we were all VERY excited about).
As we were rolling into Raglan, it started to rain, weather we were very much used to in Portland and the first 6 days of our trip. It is a cute, sleepy beach town, with international wave chasers scattered around in big VW vans and hostels. We arrived at the Palace Backpackers, a big hostel right on an inner harbor. We were all exhausted, emotionally and physically, but we lugged everything in, picked our bedrooms, and settled in. We had a bit of free time as our ‘Top Chefs’ went grocery shopping for the next couple of meals.
All of a sudden, Harrison and I remembered something incredibly important, the second to last episode of Game of Thrones had just premiered and although we could technically wait… we really could not. We ran to Dave, jumped up and down and as a Game of Thrones fan himself, we convinced him to let us watch the episode. In total, there was five of us all huddled around a small laptop in one of the bedrooms shushing everyone who passed by the room who was being too loud.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant of Shannon’s choosing in order to celebrate her 21stbirthday. She chose a small restaurant called ‘Left Hand Break’ hidden inside of an interesting, smoky club filled with weathered old men drinking beer and playing pool. We not only had a fantastic meal, but we showered Shannon in singing, praise, and questions about her last 21 years on this earth.
When we got home, sleepy and ready for bed, we finished our evening off with cake and ice cream, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Shannon for the fourth and final time. Afterwards, some of us moseyed into bed while some of us stayed up playing cards and continued to further our relationships and bonds within the group.
The first portion of our trip was incredible. It was adventurous, electric, and there was never a bum moment. We all continue to surprise each other with our ability to adapt and unify, and I think we are all excited for the next portion of our trip. We were relieved to be getting a bit of break in sleepy ole Raglan, but we are ready for the adventures ahead.
