Thursday, 26/8/10
I only had 4 hours of sleep. I didn't sleep till about 12amish. Woke up about 4am and gathered the rest of my stuff. I had my small suitcase and small duffle bag. Met everybody at the bus stop by the student union building. It is early in the morning, freezing cold. We went in 2 vans, 22 of us representing Te Waiora o Waikato, University of Waikatos' Māori Student Association. We left at 5:15am and it is a 6-7hr drive. We stopped off in Taupo to eat breakfast at McDonalds. We stopped every so often for a toilet break. It was about 11:30am, went to the New World store to get some food for lunch. We ate lunch at Otaki. Got to see the Tasman Sea, pretty nice, but wasn't a beach. Then we arrived in Wellington, finally! It was cool, very city like with l
ots of tall buildings, really cemented city. It was kinda cluttered. We arrived at Tapu Te Ranga Marae at 2:30. Pōhiri, welcoming started at 3:00pm. We were all dressed in our Waiora polo shirts and we also got hoodies. Roopū (group or association) from different unis started to arrive. Roopū like Ngā Tauira from Vic Uni; Manawatahi from Massey Uni, Palmerston North; Te Akatoki from Canterbury Uni, Ngā Tauira Māori from Auckland Uni and Te Roopū Māori from Otāgo Uni.
It's passed 3pm and we had to wait for Ngā Tauira Māori from Auckland to come, because they came early and decided to go around Wellington. Back home we say Hawaiian time, but here, it's Māori time! The wāhine would all walk in first, followed by the tāne. We were all settled in the wharenui. It is not a traditional marae, but adheres to the protocols. Then the whāikōrero began with the kaumatua of the marae. Then, each roopū had a person to do the whāikōrero on behalf of each group, followed by a waiata. After each that, then the kaumatua spoke about his life and how this marae was built. Pretty much the whole marae was made from recycled material. There are 9 sleeping areas. We then settled into our rooms for the weekend. We settled in and then headed back to the wharenui which became the wharekai. Yum! Chicken, mash potato, broccoli, carrots, steamed kumara with bread and butter! Tonight was Māori-oke night. A hall was rented for everyone to come, sing and socialize. I got to see how the Māori party. Didn't sleep till 3am.
First Hawaiian protocol from Matua Mau(me/Uncle Bobby)We have a match. When I lived in town, in Kalihi, after selling lei for the various graduations, Auntie Dora & Lisi held party, usually after midnight. There was usually beer and singing. Then the police would arrive, called by the neighbors because late Sunday night became early Monday am. This was annually during graduation and was to be expected. However, everyones moved away and the house is no longer Akau's. Just reminiscing.
ReplyDeleteOkay, from someone who is totally clueless. Have you seen Tasmanian Devils? Not the one in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. The real kind? Those things are mean, grumpy, I don't know how dangerous. I think they are zoo'ed in(caged in zoos). Thank you for the map and the enjoyable highlights.