Te Papa Museum

A few weeks ago, Shani and I went to Te Papa Museum, New Zealand's premier national museum. It boasts 4 floors and houses all kinds of exhibitions including geographic, space and other natural exhibits. We were interested in the Maori section and so focused on that here.

A waka (canoe)

Intricate carvings

Close-up of guardian (fertile!)
Inside the waka

As I mentioned in previous entries, a marae is a meeting place, where the community gets together. It is made up of a series of buildings, including the wharenui (big house), the store house, the wharekai (eating house) and other smaller buildings.

Powhiris are done in front of the wharenui.

The Wharenui

Entrance to the Wharenui

Inside the wharenui (not many wharenuis have so much carving inside. Some Iwi have more carvings in their wharenui than others; it all depends on the skill and number of carvers in each Iwi. Some Iwi are better known for their warriors, others for their carving skills, others for their waka constructions etc...)

Close-up of one of the carvings (with abalone or paua used for the eyes)

Carvings on the backside indicative of mokos (tattoos) (see entry on Mitai Maori Village in Rotorua to see a real moko on a chief's body)

More carvings inside the wharenui


The storehouse, where food was stored for the Iwi; this one was donated by the Te Arawa Iwi; the size of the storehouse showed the mana (prestige) of the Iwi; this is a large one, which indicates the wealth of the Iwi.

Close-up of carving by the storehouse

After looking at the wharenui and the storehouse, we went to the Marae, the main entrance to the complex of buildings. Things in the museums are not set up in exactly the way things would be set up normally, but it gives you an idea of the different buildings found in Maraes. The marae at Te Papa is quite unique. They opted for a modern version of the traditional structure.

Modern Marae

Close-up of Modern Marae

Below: a video of the Marae

Below: a video of the sound of a conch used in traditional music; note the difference with the way Haitians have used it

Below: a series of different traditional Maori instruments and what they sound like

Below: using gourdes as instruments

I highly recommend going to Te Papa when in Wellington. It's a beautifully made museum, very modern and free! This is the first time I've gone to a museum that was free. They accept donations, though, so donate freely. There are many other exhibits to see, so I hope to return and see some of the other ones before leaving Wellington. Hope you enjoyed the abridged tour.

Feijoa

Cuba St. Carnival

I arrived in Wellington on February 18th. It's crazy to think that I've been in one place for three months and that I've already spent almost 9 full months in New Zealand. Time really does fly by...

I stayed at a backpacker's for almost 3 weeks, going through the same shock that I had gone through in Hastings. I'm really not the backpacker type of person. For one or two days, fine, but not more than 3 weeks in any one place. It's just too much for me. Since then I've found an apartment in Newtown, a cool neighborhood not far from downtown Wellington. I live with two guys in a duplex. I'm currently working at the regional hospital, cleaning in the Neurosurgery ward. It's a trippy place and my favorite time is spent speaking to patients and their families. I'm learning a lot about the brain and getting lots of advice on where to visit in the South Island (I'll be heading there in July).

Anyway, on the weekend of my arrival in Wellington there was a Carnival happening called the Cuba St. Carnival. It's put on every other year. So it was just pure luck that I was there at the right time. I wanted to check out the Kiwi version of "Carnival". It was certainly really interesting! I had a great time just watching and listening to all kinds of music. I also watched the whole parade. I think it was the first time in my life that I saw a parade from start to finish. Yes, I was actually one of those sad people waiting at the barriers so that I good get a good view.

That night there was a Southerly wind blowing and though February is still technically summer, it felt like an early winter. It's funny, when in the Southern hemisphere, that you would be happy to get a Northerly rather than a Southerly, it just seems wrong somehow!

Enjoy the pics and vids below.

Actress promoting a play (Manners Mall)

Skeleton walking the streets (Courtney Place)

Graffiti artist painting a city bus (I have since seen this bus riding through the streets. It's really cool!)

Ecuadorian Native Americans putting on a show (did they wear this type of clothing in Ecuador? Hmmm....)

Body painting (all the women were topless and only had a thong underwear on. You wouldn't know!)

During the parade; a couple simulating a bathroom scene (not sure how this relates to Carnival, but whatever makes them happy!)

Below: an alien ship during the parade

Below: Caribbean and Korean Drummers

Below: Dam Native (Maori old-school band) concert

Below: A Reggae-ton band, The Jinteros

Below: Spandex-clad chicks doing a synchronized dance

Below: ballgowns and flowers

Hope you enjoyed the show!

Random Surprises - Eating Worm

This really has nothing to do with New Zealand except for the fact that I experienced my first Tequila worm in New Zealand. Kia Ora!

p.s. It was crunchy because when we extracted the worms, we weren't quite ready to eat them and so put them in the fridge! Bloody amateurs!

My First Powhiri

My reason for returning to Hastings before heading south, apart from seeing Shani again and catching up, was to attend my first powhiri. A powhiri is a traditional ceremony that can be performed in many different contexts. In this one, I was invited by Shani to a powhiri celebrating the beginning of the university session at EIT (Eastern Institute of Technology). As I may have mentioned, Shani is studying Maori Policy in Te Reo Maori (in the Maori language). Much of the study she's told me about is learning more detail about her people's past traditions and concepts of government etc...

I was thrilled when Shani invited me to this ceremony. I had wanted to experience something authentic and not "touristy". There is something to say for the touristic experiences. They show you what the locals think are important in impressing the audience and in showing the most inspiring aspects of their culture, and it provides you with a rough base on what things used to be like. I was happy to have seen the ceremonial stuff in Rotorua, but I was even more excited to see the real stuff...what is being done today; how the Modern-day Maori embraces his or her history and puts forth the spirit in a world that has become so technologically oriented.

So here's my little journey. I now belong to a Marae. The name is Te Ara o Tawhaki (The Path of Tawhaki). The picture above shows my marae.

To explain how this is, you have to know that when you have never come onto a marae, there is a process that must be respected. Traditionally, though I believe that different Iwi (tribal groups) might have slightly different ways of proceeding, there will be one woman or a group of women on the marae grounds that will sing to you. In this case, they started the ceremony with the blowing of the conch and then the women sang. Basically what they are singing is a karanga, a welcome to the visitors onto their marae. As they sing, the visitors start walking through the threshold of the marae grounds.

From the visitors' perspective, one woman is chosen to represent us and responds in song, thanking the hosts for inviting us on the grounds. Women always enter the marae first because their song opens up the spiritual pathways. The men follow.

Then, in this case and because it is a school, the students did a haka for us.

Below: the woman welcoming us again after our representative thanked her, followed by a haka

Once inside the grounds, the men sit in front of the women. They are the protectors of the women (who are the bringers of life and the strongest link to the spiritual world) and they also do the speaking during the meeting or "hui".

After all the talks, the visitors approach the hosts and we hongi or kiss, it's up to the host to determine what will be done. I was really nervous because I didn't know what to do when, especially because I was to find out that everyone had their own system! I did a hongi with most of the men and kissed the cheek of most of the women.

The hongi (which is basically joining the foreheads and noses and the breathing in of each other's breath) can be done in many ways, I was to find out. Some people closed their eyes, some looked at me until our noses touched (making me cross-eyed), some wrinkled their noses as they approached me (with a smile, it was quite cute, actually). It was so varied, but it was always, the holding out of the right hand for clasping, the other hand holding the right arm as a kind of steadying and then the foreheads touching followed by the noses touching.

I must have hongied at least 20 people. It was really exciting, a bit scary (because I didn't want to screw up), but mostly quietly spiritual. It was beautiful.

People giving each other the hongi or kissing

After the hongi, we were invited into a hall for refreshments. In case you haven't noticed yet, kai(food) is a huge part of the Maori traditional lifestyle and that suits me just fine! All ceremonies are followed by the breaking of bread, so to speak. It's a way of bringing everyone together.

So as we walked into the hall, we were greeted by a song from all the students encouraging us to eat.

They stopped singing and with my plate of food I approached Shani to tell her about my experience and she smiled at me and they all started singing again! It was a really funny thing because I didn't expect it at all. Me and my little faux-pas!

Below: the singing encouraging us to break bread. There's Shani on the far left in the black t-hirt!

You may have noticed that they were saying "Haere Mai" which means welcome.

That's it! After that we ate and chatted and we left. It was a very cool experience. You would have had to be there to get the full effect, I was so afraid of offending that I didn't record or take pictures of nearly as much as I saw or experienced. (I'm gonna need to get over that shyness someday, especially when I've been given the green light to shoot all I want!)

See you next time!

Tirau

After traveling down from Northland by bus (this is back in February, sorry I'm so behind!), I arrived in Auckland. Shani and her niece were there to pick me up. We stayed at Amber's place for the night (a very sweet girl with a young daughter and partner)and left for Hastings the next morning.

As we traveled through the middle of the North Island, we passed by Tirau, a small town known for its corrugated-iron creations. Shani was kind enough to stop the car so I could take a few pictures. There are more creations throughout the town but it was not on our path so I'll just tease you with what I saw. Perhaps one day someone else will post pictures of other creations they will have seen.

This is the information site, how cute is that!

The Bone People

Not 10 minutes have passed since I finished reading "The Bone People" by Keri Hulme, a well-respected Kiwi author.

And it resonates within me. And so I must let it out.

There are moments in your life when something will take hold of you, drawing you in until you can not wait to be immersed in it every time you are separated from it.

Art has a funny way of doing such things.

I had heard of this author several times by several people, Maori and white New Zealander alike. So, being in Wellington now and planning on staying for a few months I joined the public library, figuring it would cost less and be less of a hassle to travel when it came time for me to move on again.

I go through periods of prolific reading and periods of absent escapism, where light-hearted non-heart-involving things are what I need around me.

For the past 5 years or so, I have veered away from what I would consider "real" literature, settling for the escapism-factor I felt I needed. My emotions too sensitive to any kind of pain, I looked for anything else to distract me from the difficulties I was facing in my own life.

Since arriving in New Zealand, I've made a pact with myself. Part of this journey is to open my mind again, hence the mindless jobs I've taken up (to allow my head to think of other things). I'm working the brainmuscles I've let atrophy in the past years and I'm reading art again.

When I first borrowed "The Bone People", I was not ready for it. I began to read and what I saw were words. Just a jumble of large, sometimes incomprehensible (her vocabulary is one of the most extensive I have ever seen) words printed on page after yellowing page. I stopped reading about 30 pages in and went on to read another book.

A few weeks later I picked it up again, determined to give it another chance.

Keri Hulme doesn't give you a book on a platter for you to nibble on while you chat with your friends. No, there is work to be done here. With all great literature, there is work to be done. You cannot open this book and expect to be entertained.

Instead you will be challenged...by the strangeness of the sounds she uses as words, the poetry interspersed with the prose...the omniscient point of view cut criss-crossed and diagonally by first person possessive where you enter the heads of three different people with no warning given and you must do the sorting out. Sometimes I would have to backtrack and reread a few paragraphs before the meaning showed itself to me.

But despite the work put into it, when I opened that book a second time, I stepped into a world that I was loath to leave.

The human condition:

Who am I?

What am I worth?

Where do I fit in, on this earth?

Where is my past and do I belong to it?

What is family and do we deserve each other?

What is love?...what is love...what is love...? How do we define something that is so utterly subjective? How do we find it and how...how do we maintain it?

As I sit here and think of what to write next, a plethora of ideas coming to mind, I think upon how it has changed me...this book...and tears come to my eyes.

We are human...we breath, we hurt, we laugh, we cry...we die. But before we die, we live. It is up to us to decide how we will live.

p.s. There are translations from Te Reo Maori to English at the back of the book with page references. I only realized that after I had finished the book. Use the translations as you go along. It'll add more to the understanding of the culture, the history and the people.