Top of the Morning to you, eh?

It's around 7 am and I find myself awake alone in the living room of the shared bunkhouse all the volunteers reside in. Normally we would all be up by now, scarfing down some breakfast and getting ready to head out into the rainforest for two 4 hour shifts of work, but alas after not getting into the valley until a little after 11 last night they have afforded us the rare opportunity of getting to sleep in. It was amazing to wakeup this morning and get my first real glimpse of the valley and where I will be spending the next 5 months seeing as it was too dark out last night to get any real sense of what the valley looked like. Last night as our van drove up the steep, ever-winding, bumpy "road" to the valley inbetween thoughts of 'i hope our van loaded with kayaks (filled with seaweed nonetheless) and about 1000 pounds of gear and people doesn't topple over' all I could think was I've arrived...this is it and I couldn't have felt anymore at ease at the notion of the direction my life would be taking for the next 6 months. It's funny how many people told me how easy my transition would be considering it is an English speaking country--apparently they didn't realize English through the mouths of the British, Germans and New Zealanders sounds a heck of a lot more foreign to me than Spanish..between all the knickers, blokes, cheers, watles and sippers I find myself nodding my head, smiling and relishing in the fact that for once I'm not the only one who appears to make no sense. I can't get over just how friendly New Zealanders are and how if you show the least bit of acknowledgement of them, a nod of the head, a smile you are most definitely guarenteeing yourself an hour long conversation consisting of their life story, some random anecdote about America and 'the hood' and ending with both of you feeling a bit more connected and the world a friendlier place (and yes just like Miss America, I too want world peace.) The volunteers range in age from 18 to 25, three from England and two from the U.S. (myself included.) There are also the three leaders which consist of Jon, Dagma (a red-haired German woman who reminds me of a younger Miss Frazzle or whatever her name was from the popculture 'classic' "The Magic School Bus,") and Mike (an overly muscle inflated short asian man who continues to whine about a jaw ache, but refuses painkillers on principle alone.) The hardest thing thus far about being here is that there is nobody who shares my same passion for trashy American popculture--to think these people actually want to talk about politics, the future of the environment and how they can make a difference. Personally, I'd much rather kick back and watch the latest Paris Hilton drama unfold. Till next time, cheers, chip chap cheerio, groovey, and all that other mumbo jumbo!