I need...

[Photo Courtesy of pordescubrir.com]

A massive pabellon with mango sticky rice for dessert. Maybe a marroncito and bar of 85% dark chocolate to top it all off.

...Oh and some sleep would be nice

Racist much?

Sooooo I'm just going to jump right into it! haha This last week I have seen/ heard some blatant racism by pakehas. I was really shocked, not because I haven't experienced racism before (its plentiful in Los Angeles and comes in all shapes and sizes), but because of their understanding or explanations for it I guess. Monday night Arely and I had dinner with the university youth pastor and his wife at their house. usually we are accompanied by our 3 Maori friends and a Korean couple, but everyone else was busy this week so they were stuck with the two crazy Latinas haha. Just kidding, they really are a great and hospitable couple, and we are not always crazy. After dinner we were discussing a lot of topics and crime came up, because I feel insanely safe here in Dunedin. I feel safe in Los Angeles, but in New Zealand I don't have to be nearly as vigilant about my surroundings. The pastor (who was shocked that there was a lot of crime in LA... seriously?) claimed that Dunedin was so safe because there aren't many Maoris here, and informed us that the atmosphere is much different on the North Island, where the majority of Maori reside. This claim did not shock/ irk me so much as what came out of his mouth next. He started the phrase off with "I don't want to seem racist but..." which is usually a nice warning for you to brace yourself for a racist comment, and finished it with "it's just in their blood or something." I tried with all of my might to not have my jaw drop and go into a complete sociological rant on minorities and crime rates, so I did what I usually do when I am restraining myself from going completely mental: I clenched my jaw, went dead silent and listened. At the very least, a personal lesson in Kiwi culture and mindset could take place and I should pay attention to his explanation. He spoke about how Maoris (and Polynesians) were the majority of prison occupants in New Zealand, more specifically North Island, which I believe; and how even though he grew up in a region of the North Island, becoming acclimated to Dunedin has made him feel uncomfortable in his home town because of the Maori presence. As I have not studied sociology in New Zealand I felt that it would be inappropriate for me to speak on the matter because I was not equipped with the proper intellectual weaponry and so I made a few polite remarks and moved on in the conversation.

Then Tuesday night came around and the news was showing a story of a fight that happened between two young girls in a large shopping center somewhere in North Island. Kelsey and I were surprised that it was even televised, but apparently these two girls were older than most of the girls that have been terrorizing the local shop-owners and because the tape was caught on tape and the police were there it was a story. These two girls happened to be Maori, and apparently so were all of the other little girls that have been beating up shop owners in whatever shopping center it was. I personally was shocked that police or security personnel presence in the center hadn't increased since these tenders have apparently had an issue with teen violence for a while (according to the news report). But what Kelsey and I found almost comical about this news report was the implication that all young female Maoris in the region were participating in this violence, which the news linked to gang affiliations, all from a fight that was most likely provoked by the presence of the news cameras in the first place (which the news station quickly/quietly admitted, itself). We laughed off just how politically incorrect the whole thing was, and I just threw out the common sense suggestion of greater security presence and maybe providing these girls with a productive activity/ organization to release their wiggles through. But then our Kiwi host (who claims to have some Maori heritage, which I believe for the most part) said something along the lines of "well if all they see is their parents doing the same thing in the bars and at home, its not really a surprise that these girls are fighting in malls." REALLY?! Even a person who claims to be Maori and participates in certain cultural practices doesn't defend her own? I would think that she would have greater insight into the community and see that this was probably an exaggeration of something that was happening in a certain region. But I guess not.

Being the person that I am, I decided to look into the matter and see why these people (of mostly European descent) had the views that they did of the country's largest minority group, or 14% of the population. With some surface research, it seems : over 50% of Maori are currently living in the poorest regions of the country; they compose almost half of the prison population in the country; less than half of them meet the minimal qualifications to pass high school; they have higher unemployment rates and levels of disease (which includes alcoholism and drug abuse); and they have lower life expectancy rates.

Hmmmmm for some reason this sounds familiar. Oh, yes! Why of course... The United States has the highest fraction of it's population in prison, in the world, most of which is composed of minority groups. As of 2007, on average: Black Americans were 12% of the general population and almost 45% of the prison population; Latinos/ Hispanics were 13% of the general population and almost 20% of the prison population (I'm sure the numbers of Latinos has risen significantly in the past few years thanks to tighter immigration laws and the rapidly increasing/ undocumented numbers); and White Americans were a little less than 70% of the general population, but only about 35% of the prison population. Now do these numbers suggest that crime is in our blood as minorities? I guess you could try and make this argument if you really wanted. I would be the first to donate my blood to this research project, and I'm sure some of my friends and fellow minorities would do the same in the name of "social science."

I will not deny that the majority of crimes are committed by minority groups. However I will say that what you really have to look at is the distribution of and access to resources of these minority groups. Most minorities live in poor regions usually because they have either moved into a foreign territory with very few of their possessions or their specific group was disenfranchised by a government or external group. Those who have few resources tend to go into survival mode and do all that they can to get by. Sometimes this means forfeiting educational opportunities in order to provide for the family. When the next generation comes along, even if they excel in school or at a specific skill/art, sometimes their parents are unable to help them in their school work or afford their talent and so the child falls behind. If no one from the community steps in to support and/or help the child (and their parents) to move forward, then the chances of the children getting stuck in the same cycle as the previous generation are very high. This model applies to communities of poor whites as well. Granted this is a very overgeneralized explanation of a social cycle, and there are the cinderella stories of those individuals that are extremely motivated to excel (such as that of my father) and pockets of different minority communities that raise children as a community and work to lift each other up or families that work together to gradually move up the social ladder; however there is truth behind the outlined cycle and many children are caught. Crime is most likely prevalent in these communities because some people are looking to make money quickly or make it to the next meal, or there is a lack of hope and so the consequences of crime are reduced relatively, drugs and alcohol allow one to escape their reality and simultaneously lead to higher rates of violence, etc. I am not a sociologist and so I cannot comment in greater depth on the causes and consequences of poverty on a community. However, seeing as to how most people living in impoverished conditions are statistically more likely to experience and participate in crime, regardless of color (for reasons described above and more) I would say that the claim that crime "is in their blood" can be laid to rest. Declared false, if you will. And the parental example, while important and influential, is not the sole cause of peer violence.

Now that my full opinion and explanation (which really comes off as a rant, I apologize) have been voiced , I wish I could tell, or better yet show, these white Kiwis how much of a socio-economic impact something like a community center or even something as simple as a boxing gym would make for those Maori girls on the news or on North Island in general; and what would happen if they were given equal access to educational resources/ tools, sports and art programs and some financial resources. I feel like I would just be laughed off as someone who doesn't understand the situation, and I will admit that I am not a scholar of sociology or history of NZ. And maybe I don't see the whole picture, but that doesn't mean that I can't see that certain issues shouldn't be treated with racism. People need to seek out and understand the real roots and causes of the problems within their communities and those that they come into contact with. It's basic respect.

I am very very sorry that this is structured as a rant, but it is something that I really had to get off of my chest. It is very important to me that everyone is treated with basic respect, and racism is highly disrespectful in my book (and in general I hope haha) so it struck a nerve. I hope that this does not skew your view of Kiwis in general either, as the majority of them are extremely friendly and open minded/ liberal (another reason that this mini surge of racism was pretty shocking). I also apologize for my grammar. I know it's horrendous, maybe even heinous, in this post. Bear with me.

OK! hahaha Other than that(!) I love you all, am praying for you, and will probably start counting down the days until I get back to the Golden State soon haha. I ask that you pray for the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, Pakistan, the Gulf Coast, the Troops annnnnd my friends' employment in the fields that they want :) Thanks people

♥

Insanity and Fun

The two can easily be mixed as I'm sure many of you know haha. The combination is much easier when you are in a car for long periods of time, not really having a set agenda, weird sleep schedules, and spending A TON of time with the same people. For example, a road trip down the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand with your flat-mates, another international student from France, and a crazy Kiwi. But before I discuss our trip briefly (because I really am too lazy to type 5 semi-witty pages worth of adventures) I would just like to apologize in advance for any massive grammatical errors ... it happens.

OK! So back to insane fun, or insanity funny, or was it insanity and fun... whatever, you get the idea. So on Saturday of last week (a.k.a the 28th of August) the parties named above, and I, embarked on a long long car ride up the 1 Highway. And from now on everything will be super duper short.

Day 1

• Stopped at the Moeraki Boudlers and took way too many pictures
• Drove over 9 hours up the east coast, through Arthur's pass (aka a massive movie setting for LOTR) and into Greymouth
• Had (a delirious) dinner at a nice pizzeria, played card games, passed out

Day 2

• Had breakfast, drove up the West Coast to Punakaiki to look at the pancake rocks and go on a hike. Again, took too many pictures.
• Went to Monteith's Brewery, after changing at the hostel, and took a tour/beer tasting. I have never liked beer until I tried Monteith's... just sayin'
• Dinner at an Indian restaurant. It may sound boring but it really was hilarious. Then we went back and played card games and a knockoff version of Jenga again before passing out.

Day 3

• Packed up after breakfast and headed down the west coast. We stopped in Hokitika for a few hours and enjoyed the beach and local artists' shops.
• Stopped at the Bushman Centre in Pukekura (population: 2). Stopped at the Waitaha River and searched for hot pools to dig. Then we stopped at a small ton with amazing jade and whalebone carvings
• Went on a Kiwi stalk in Okarito!! We got to see a female kiwi in the wild and we heard 4of a specific subspecies of Kiwi of which only 250 still exist (the female we saw was of the same group). It was crazy awesome. And we saw a ton of baby possums. The tour guide was pretty pissed we were kind of late, but he got over it. I think he is just overly passionate about this kind of Kiwi. He used to work for the national conservation group so I guess I can understand.
• Then we finally got to our hostel in Franz Joseph and went out to eat. That was a super long day, but was so worth it.

Day 4

• We drove over to the Glacier tracks and then went on a nice hike up to a view point. Then we took another trek as close to the glacier as possible while still being free (you can hike the glacier... but it's way too expensive and we'd rather save our money for other ventures)
• Then Dan, Marion, and I went back to Okarito (which isn't far) and Dan and I ran the trails (at completely different paces because he is in the middle of training for a marathon) while Marion took photos and went to a nice lookout point. The scenery was breathtaking and the run was a great personal challenge but at the end of the trail I twisted my ankle pretty badly.
• Went back to the hostel, cooked a massive plate of tortellini and a head of broccoli, rested my foot. Arely, Kelsey and I went to a local bar after their failed glow-worm-spelunking and played pool. Tanya, I need another lesson because my skills are severely lacking.

Day 5

• Packed up and headed out to see Fox Glacier. The water was blue! Literally. It was very very ...cool (ahahaha! I am so very clever. Ok not, I wish)
• Stopped at a nice beach, a salmon farm and a pebble beach that was supposed to have penguins on it, but they were not there when we arrived. (I'm assuming it's because we got to the beach around high-tide time) Regardless, the scenery and ocean were beautiful.
• Then we finally made it to Queenstown! Where we got delicious Fergburgers (Velvet burger is better) and some amazing hot chocolate with fresh CookieTime cookies. We met up with some of Marion's friends who are living in town until the snowboard season is over and then going back to Europe. They let us stay at their (super nice and huge) flat for the night, so we dropped off our stuff and then headed out to a bar. We almost got into a bar fight, but decided that dancing was better.
• After the long and hilarious night was finally over we went back to the flat, hung out, laughed, and ate more delicious cookies. then we passed out.

Day 6

• We got up, and got prepared for the bungy day!! Arely, Dan and Marion all went bungy jumping at the Nevis center, and I went on the Nevis Arc, which is a massive swing (twice!). We all had so so so much fun. In the mean time Kelsey explored the beauty of Queenstown.
• Headed back to the flat, packed up our stuff, went to get some lunch, bought our hosts a present, and then we began the long drive back to Dunedin.

The rest of the weekend I was pretty much a bum. I caught up on some sleep, some TV shows, and some schoolwork in between posting and commenting on the hundreds of photos that we all have from the trip. And of course I watched the USC TROJANS BEAT THE WARRIORS!! I found a way to watch it live, albeit of poor quality. Sorry I'm so late in updating you all on the trip. But anyways, it's back to work this week because all of my term papers are due within the next 3 weeks. YAY! But I am trying to figure out if I can go skydiving this month so I will keep you all posted on that.

Since I am 19 hours ahead of the Golden Coast and only 16 hours ahead of the Big East Coast, you guys should skype me, because then we are talking in real time... which would make you a time traveler. And who doesn't want to time travel? You can tell all your friends and be cool.

Love and praying for you all.

♥Joshua 1:9