Crazy days...

The last few days have been pretty fun filled. Wednesday, I went down the river in downtown Christchurch on a paddle boat. We did the usual...fed ducks, tried to get them to eat off our hands, avoided getting splashed. It was really fun. We saw a group of little baby ducklings in the park and they were so cute! They would eat straight from your hand. Real fun. We also had a picnic that of course consisted of Tui. I tried a new fruit, a fijioa, which is really delish. Sara's dad grows them in his backyard, along with apples and pears.

Thursday was a bit of a quiet day. I ran and caught up on some reading. Boring, really. Went to a retail store for furniture and bought Sara's dad a table. It's for Sara, really so she can paint, but we put it in his house.

Friday was neat. I got Sara to drop me off downtown and I just kind of strolled around a bit. Looked in some shops and took in the scenery. It's really a cool city. That night we went with Tracy to the Casino and we all came out on top. I just played the slots, and I won $30! Sara and Tracy both played Black Jack. People are weird in Casinos though, one lady kept trying to tell me how to play and it made me mess up. How many different ways are there to play slot machines? I mean, I just pushed random buttons.

Saturday was really fun. I went with Tracy to Sara's and Megan's game, then we went to Tracy's boyfriend Matt's game. Sara's team won and her and Megan (the goalie) both scored goals. Matt's team lost, but it was still fun to watch. Then, we went to the clubrooms (after a shower). Clubrooms are like a room that the soccer club rents out and all the teams go there to drink and give awards for best game and best player every Saturday night after the games. Kinda cool really, there's nothing to compare it to really because it's just a big room and a bar that gets filled up with only people connected to the club, so everyone knows everyone else, and it's really neat.

Afterwards, we went to Marcia's birthday party at a restaurant called Pepperoni's. It was so good! Cheese pizza, reminds me of home. It was a BYO restaurant. We all brought a bottle of wine with us. I ended up getting sleepy and passed out in Megan's bed while everyone else went to town. Sara ended up back at the Casino and 4AM and won $140. She put her only $50 on a blackjack table and got blackjack. How random and something that only she would do...

This morning everyone woke up and went to see Tracy's game. Sara's mom also plays on the team, and Tracy's mom and dad are coaches. It was hilarous! It's the lower league so everything is a bit bootleg. Tracy's dad was the coach/linesman and was strolling up and down the line smoking a cigarette. HA! Then Sara's mom completely took out this girl right on the line. I don't think she touched the ball that much, but she got a good piece of that girl. So funny. We slept the rest of the day away after eating fish n chips for the first time since we've been here. Really great waste of a day.

This coming week I'm pretty excited. I've got an interview with a Temp agency on Tuesday that seems promising, if that doesn't work out I'm turning to gambling. Sara's friend Renee has something planned for my birthday on Sunday, and I'm starting two-a-days. I kicked a soccer ball today for the first time. Felt good. Everything's looking up.

Missing everyone back home, I'll call sometime this week :)

LOVE,
Caitlin xoxo