A great outcome for many parts of the world

Today, New Zealanders celebrated Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks on the harbour. Many were also celebrating Barak Obama's win for the presidential elections (being 16 hours ahead of the US East Coast, we learned the election results this afternoon). I was concerned that I wouldn't return home if McCain and Palin were elected, so I am very relieved that I can come home anytime after January.

This Saturday, New Zealanders will have their own national elections, but many have indicated a greater interest in the US outcome.

More Fieldwork Photos

My most recent fieldwork visit was in Central Otago on the South Island. In addition to some beautiful scenery, the area is well known for producing some of New Zealand's best pinot noir and pinot gris wines. Cheers!

Field Work

Months are slipping by and I haven't written on my blog! (I don't know if anyone noticed, actually). Anyway, I have been traveling a lot with work over the past several weeks. I am auditing the local government sector with respect to its responsibilities to provide potable drinking water to its constituents. This used to mean that territorial authorities would just have to provide reasonably clean water to the ratepayers living in each district. However, with a recent change in legislation, water is being more stringently regulated. This is true of water quality regulations (for protozoa, bacteria, etc.) and water quantity (allocation among competing users). I can't discuss the findings yet, but I'll issue a report to the New Zealand Parliament in 2009. I can tell you that the field work has taken me to large and small councils around the North and South islands. Here are a couple photos, in case you are interested.

Tu Tangata - 30th Anniversary

For 30 years, Maori and Pasifika high school students have celebrated their unique cultures through an annual event called "Tu Tangata". Tu Tangata literally means, "stand, people" but more generally means, "be someone". It was pretty inspirational to see these students enjoying their heritage and doing very well at something. Here are a couple photos:

Solomon Island Dancers

Here is a short video of one of my favourite groups - the Solomon Island dancers. The Solomon Islands will host the next Pacific Arts Festival in 2012, in case you would like to start planning your trip!

Samoan Dancers

I bought a video camera just before going to the Pacific Arts Festival and just figured out how to downsize the video from high density to a windows media file which can be posted on the blog (this means relatively poor quality, but you can get the idea). This is a dance troop from Samoa, and they are doing a slap dance called the "sasa". You may notice some of the movements represent fishing and other activities related to food preparation and survival. These dances were used to pass stories from one generation to the next.

Fijian Dancer

This guy was one of the funniest of the dancers - from Fiji

Samoa - 10 years later

After attending the Pacific Arts Festival in American Samoa, I spent 10 days in Samoa. In the late 1990s, I had spent three years in Samoa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching Chemistry, Math and Physics at a school in a village called Moamoa. I was concerned that 10 years of change could have taken the country in an undesirable direction, but was very pleased to experience that most changes are positive - and most other things haven't changed.

There are 2 new traffic lights, but apparently one hasn't been working for at least 3 months. There are lots more cars and cell phones, but there is also a ban on plastic bags (they have all been replaced by the ubiquitous biodegradable "Samoan Bio-Bag"). The police band still marches from the police station to the government building each morning and plays the national anthem while raising the flag. Afternoons in the villages are characterised by rugby and volleyball games and spontaneous uproars of laughter. Sundays are still reserved for God, and the singing in every church is of professional caliber - simply amazing.

I met up with several former students in town, many of whom are working for the government (Water Authority, Attorney General, Fisheries), private sector (e.g., architectural firms, hospitality industry), and a few who are carrying on the fa'asamoa (Samoan way) to the next generation by preserving the art of traditional tattooing, or teaching the Samoan language and culture in schools.

I have posted a few photos. If you would like to see more, click here.

10th Pacific Arts Festival

Malo le fa'amalosi! (to your strength). I just returned from the 10th Pacific Arts Festival in Pagopago, American Samoa. While checking in for my flight from Samoa to American Samoa, I was asked to step on the scale (along with my my bags)! Presumably, they do this for each passenger to make sure that the net weight of the 12-passenger plane doesn't exceed the limit. To me, this was a clear sign of the beginning of a new adventure....

The festival was wonderful. Although it was not well organised, it was brilliantly executed thanks to the groups from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, New Zealand, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Solomon Islands, and other Pacific Island countries. The photos posted here are of the performers from Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, and Fiji. For more photos, click here.

Returning to Samoa

Talofa! I'm heading to Samoa this evening and will arrive there this morning (returning to New Zealand on 05 August).

Beautiful Day

Wellington's climate is kept mild due to currents of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Some say that this has been one of the warmest years - and today was a perfect day. I woke up early and went to the waterfront markets where fresh produce, meats, breads and the daily catch of fish are sold. Here are a few photos.

water treatment facility tour

One of the audits I am working on requires me to travel around New Zealand to see whether the local government entities are sufficiently planning for future water demand. This can be done either through tapping into new sources of water and increasing treatment and reticulation capacity or by managing demand through encouraging conservation. Today marked my first visit (to the Te Marua water treatment plant in Wellington). On this visit, I saw coagulation, flocculation, separation, filtration and chlorination. Here are just a couple photos of the process.

Where The Hell is Matt?

I thought I was well-traveled, until I heard about Matt Harding. If you haven't seen his website, Where the Hell is Matt, or his dancing video, please check it out... this guy danced in 42 countries with thousands of people - and got paid for it! The smile this video has put on my face - and will likely put onto yours - is well worth it! Enjoy....


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Winter Solstice

Today, at 6:46 pm, marked the Winter Solstice - this is when the Sun is at its most Northerly point in the sky. At the middle of the day on June 21, it reaches its lowest altitude, from the Northern horizon, for the year.

In the Northern Hemisphere, most consider the solstices to mark the first day of a new season. In New Zealand (and some other countries of the Southern Hemisphere), however, the first day of the new season is generally considered to be the first day of the months of the Solstice (e.g., June 1st for winter). I was initially mistaken when I assumed the 21st to mark the first day of winter, as you will notice from blog comments. At any rate, I'm looking forward to days getting longer over the coming months.

Interestingly, Wellington is 42 degrees south of the equator and Boston (my home town) is 42 degrees north of the equator. Despite that, Wellington's maritime climate is remarkably mild with temperatures generally between 40 - 80 Fahrenheit.

Ka Mate, Ka Mate!

I went to Auckland for the weekend to watch the All Blacks play against England. The event started with a re-enactment of a battle which looked something like the Battle of Hastings, followed by the All Blacks' famous haka. The final score was the All Blacks 37 - England 20.

If you would like to try the haka at home, you better learn the words (NB: vowels are just like English long vowels, and the letters "wh" sound like a soft "f"):

Ringa pakia! (Slap the hands against the thighs!)
Uma tiraha! (Puff out the chest!)
Turi whatia! (Bend the knees!)
Hope whai ake! (Let the hip follow!)
Waewae takahia kia kino! (Stamp the feet as hard as you can!)

A, ka mate! Ka mate! ('Tis death! 'Tis death!)
Ka ora! Ka ora! ('Tis life! 'Tis life!)
Ka mate! Ka mate! ('Tis death! 'Tis death!)
Ka ora! Ka ora! ('Tis life! 'Tis life!)
Tēnei te tangata puhuruhuru (Behold! There stands the hairy man)
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra! (Who will cause the sun to shine!)
A upane! Ka upane! (One step upwards, another step upwards!)
A upane! Ka upane! (One step upwards, another step upwards!)
Whiti te rā! (The sun shines!)



Note: If you are looking for the Gingerbread Haka, watch this:

Matariki - Māori New Year

The Māori New Year just began, and is marked by the rising of a constellation of seven stars called "Matariki". There are two explanations of the name Matariki: mata-riki (small eyes) or mata-ariki (chiefly eyes). In Greek mythology, this same group of stars has been referred to as "the Pleiades" (the Seven Sisters).

For the Māori, the rising of Matariki signaled a time to celebrate and prepare the grounds for the next growing season. In the 21st century, New Zealanders celebrate in a variety of ways, including dances, songs, and plenty of hangi (food cooked in a ground oven).

Yesterday, I went to Te Papa museum to watch Torotoro, a dance troup from Auckland, perform

Soweto Gospel Choir

On Saturday night, Teki and I went to see the Soweto Gospel Choir perform in Wellington. The show was spectacular and reminded me of days spent with Mark and Bridget in South Africa a few years ago.

The Big 3-4

Today I turned 34 years old - but I'm only 5 years old in "southern hemisphere" years.

How Big is Your Footprint?

New Zealand has very strongly promoted a "green" image, and I have been generally impressed by the development of renewable energy resources, including wind, hydro and geothermal energy production. Regrettably, Prime Minister Helen Clark just scaled back her commitment to a carbon emissions trading scheme (perhaps she is concerned about the reaction from the agriculture sector in an election year). Clark's decision was a disappointment to many.

On a more positive not, I found inside of a box of breakfast cereal a paper showing the cereal company's CO2 emissions per Kg of production, broken down by emissions source (electric, gas, land and air travel). This paper also contained a list of ideas for the consumer to make his or her home more sustainable.

Catching Up, Ten Years Later

I just re-connected with a friend of mine from Samoa (Petelo). We met in 1998 in Apia and haven't seen each other since. Only recently did I learn that he is living in Auckland.

Over the past 10 years, Petelo lived in Los Angeles, Seattle and Wellington. I lived in Boston, Indiana, and Washington DC. Meanwhile, a lot has changed in Samoa (some positive and some negative). Over dinner, we talked about those changes and laughed at some of the things that haven't changed. We also talked about the people and places we both knew. I'm looking forward to returning to the islands this July.