I'm in Bangkok Thailand right now, and I've never felt more lost and confused in my whole life. I'm sure I've gotten ripped off a billion times, but I have no idea so I guess it doesn't really matter. Well, it's not that bad. I arrived last night at around 9 pm and got in an illegal taxi. I attempted to speak thai, and my driver attempted to speak english. We didn't get much further than "how are you?" He dropped me off somewhere around Ko San Rd. You could tell because that's where the white people are. I am staying at Peachy Guest House. It's really nice for 200 baht (about 6 dollars). The bed was hard as a rock though. I think it was actually just a board with a sheet over it. I got up early this morning and took a walk around. The food here is so good and cheap. I think it's the main reason why I wanted to go to Thailand in the first place. First I had iced coffee, then a watermelon smoothie, then some honey roasted seasame nuts, the some spicy green beans and chicken, then some fresh orange juice. The orange juice is probably the best I've ever had. I did some shopping in between and got a massage. I think that's pretty good for one day in Thailand. I'll have to come back here one day. Who's coming with me?

Well part 1 of my trip is coming to an end. Part 2 is about to begin. I'm back in Auckland, and it's like a dream. Or maybe I have entered a timewarp, I dunno. It's like it's October again and I have just arrived to New Zealand. Nothing has changed, but everything has changed. I feel a mixed bag of emotions. Anticipation for what is to come, regret for what I didn't see, and fulfillment for the way everything turned out.

It's hard to believe four months have gone by. That's 1/3 of my trip. It's also funny how I remember my life very clearly in these months. the places I've been, the people I've met are still very fresh in my mind. I remember the American poker boys who came to Auckland to compete and blew 10,000 dollars at the Sky Casino in one night. They brushed it off by calling it a "disappointing night." Leoni, the lady who walked with me in Napier on her lunch break for a total of 10 minutes to show me the way to the top of the hill. Mika, the Japanese girl in Queenstown who I met on top of a 1500m mountain. Louie, the yacht owner who invited us on to his boat that came from Washington D.C. where we drank cheap wine. And so many more characters. This proves that I really had to get out of DC. where everything was a blur and my life was becoming to comfortable. I was like a cat nestled by the fire. So comfortable that I would probably never have left. Not that I don't miss home or don't want to come back. I do. But now is not the time. When it's time, I'll know. It might coincide with the downward slope of my bank account.

A really disappointing thing that happened was when Jota and I tried to copy pictures from my camera a couple days ago. Half my pictures were deleted which, to put it midly, was frustrating. But I have salvaged some and I will post what I have left on facebook.

Today I take the train to Waitakere to meet Phillip and chill on the beach. My last full day in New Zealand.

Wow, this is why you should never plan anything more than a couple days when you travel. We ended up spending the next week at Paradiso. Ayelet left on Wednesday because she was tired of waiting for the car to be fixed. Understandable. But it was still sad to see her go. I hate goodbyes. Sometimes I don't even say goodbye to people just to avoid it. I spent most of my days lounging around by the pool. Nights were spent meeting more characters. Sebastian G. was one of them. (I originally had his full name, but I feel like he is the type of guy to google himself). He was a large German man who referred to himself as Sea Bass. He even put "sea bass" on all his belongings, just like my mother did on my tupperware for summer camp. He wanted to apply to the Department of Conservation in NZ and forced me to read his hand written cover letter. Ugh. Then he arrogantly self-proclaimed himself as the "Indiana Jones of the forest" (whatever that means). What a nerd.


Anyways, Paradiso is always nice, but enough is enough. After the Saturday market in Nelson, we all got in the supposedly fixed car, and headed for Christchurch. We didn't make it much further than Blenheim when the water pump blew. Unfortunately I had already booked my flight from Christchurch to Auckland, so I had to get to Christchurch somehow in a couple days. I unexpectedly had to say goodbye to Diego because he wanted to stay in Blenheim to pick grapes and Jota and I wanted to go to Picton. I am going to miss Diego more than I thought. He's a good friend with an extreme love for Borat, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and cigarettes. And he thinks my accent is really funny. Imagine that.

So Jota and I went to Picton and stayed at a really nice hostel called the villa. We just spent our last couple days relaxing, selling hammocks, mountain biking (which I am terrible at. and by terrible I mean i fell in to several thorn bushes), and eating subway. It's strange how I really love subway now. No wait, I always loved subway. I just never had anyone to go with me as much as people do here. There are a lot of things here in NZ that I will miss though: Tim tams, being able to walk around barefoot in stores, flat whites, i'm sure there is more. I will make a list.

Today I said goodbye to Jota. It was unbelievably hard. On a good note, he has asked me to come to Brazil in May, so I think I will spend less time in Greece than originally planned, but I will still be gone for a year. Right now I am in Christchurch. It's my last day and night in the south island. I have a flight to Auckland tomorrow. It's getting tough now. I've just realized how comfortable I am in New Zealand. A little too comfortable...

So Jota, Diego, Ayelet and I hit the road back to Golden Bay, the land of hippies. Unfortunately the car has been having a lot of problems. Basically it's a piece of crap. It can't really make it up hills and between Motueka and Takaka is a mountain. So, we ended up making stops every 5 minutes or so to let the car cool down. A lot of nice people stopped for us to help but there was really nothing to be done. We finally made it over the hill and got to Takaka.

I was really happy to finally leave Motueka. I am getting antsy to start traveling again. Another problem arose when we found out that Diego's visa was going to expire in like...two days, and he didn't have all the things he needed to reapply. So most of our time in Takaka was spent fixing the car and dealing with that. I also unintentionally went to Abel Tasman AGAIN, for the third time, with Ayelet. We did the upper tip which was really beautiful and there were hardly any people. I feel really bad for Ayelet. She isn't having a great time in New Zealand and all our plans are kind of messed up because of the car. We can't go more than 100 km in one direction without serious problems. So now we are here in Nelson, in good old Paradiso, waiting for the car to be fixed. The craziest people stay in Paradiso. The other night we all made dinner together, and this Asian guy Mac was staring hungrily at our food. So we were like...ummmm do you want some? He was not shy about helping himself to our dinner at all. And then when we asked for a beer or two, he couldn't spare one. How rude.

With less than two weeks left in NZ, I'm not sure what I will do. I really want to start going north and see things I missed on the way down, but I really want to spend the rest of my time with Jota too. Maybe I will compromise and do half and half. Having a boyfriend while traveling is something I think I cannot emotionally deal with again. It just going to be really strange to be separated from someone who you have spent practically every day with for three months. But we will see what happens.

I am a murderer! A couple days ago we all decided to go a little north to Takaka and travel around. We saw the "pu pu" springs (funniest name ever), which is apparently the clearest fresh water spring in the southern hemisphere. No swimming though...so it was only kind of exciting. Then we wanted to go fishing. A little advice for everyone. Never go to a fishing farm to catch a fish. The real challenge is not catching one. And they are expensive - like 18 dollars a kilo. And all of them are more than a kilo. I don't even like fish! But I do like fishing, so I did it anyways. I caught one within 10 minutes. The worst part though is that I had to kill it. When we got our poles I said to Jota "you are going to kill it, right?" But then when he found out that involves stabbing it in the head, he declined. So I took my dull paring knife and stabbed its brain. It was the worst experience in the world. That coupled with the fact that it still didn't die after several stabbings. On the upside, I actually ate the fish. It was actually not that bad. I have decided that I will eat fresh salmon from now on.

So Israel is looking pretty bleak. But I am still going. Every Israeli I've met says that the cities will always be safe. I just can't go north or south. So I think I will only go to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the dead sea. I just think it's amazing that every country I have planned to go to has had some kind of situation. I don't believe in coincidences either.

And a total turn of events, I decided to not take the apple thinning job. Why? BeCAUSE. I don't feel like it. Haha, no because 1. When you just start out, you don't make that much money anyways (and I would only work like one week), 2. I would like to travel again for my last three weeks, 3. Ayelet needs people to travel with, and I like her. 4. Ultimately I don't NEED the money. I want it, but don't need. I will work in Greece and make much more. It's just a shame that I didn't use my visa because I can't get the working holiday visa again.

The hostel, "Motueka backpackers," we are staying at was voted the second worst in the south island. I haven't seen the rooms because I've been staying in a tent...but I don't think it's that bad. I mean, sure, it looks like a halfway house, and there are 2 spoons, 1 fork, and the carpet looks like it's from the early 1900s. But hey, I think if you want to go stay in a fancy pants hostel that gives you everything, you have plenty of options.

Yup got my ticket sorted. Only cost a couple extra hundred dollars. But that's okay, I also got a job. I'm going to work on an apple farm thinning apples. Which basically means I pick the bad ones off the trees so the good ones can grow more. I'm so excited. If I'm really good I can make up to 1000 NZ dollars a week! And since I really only have like one week, that is what I'm going to have to do.

Jota and I finally left Christchurch. I liked it there, but I was getting pretty bored having nothing to do. Jota's hammocks finally came in and since we had to go north to Takaka for the Canaan downs music festival, we decided to base ourselves in Motueka. It's a pretty beachy town right before the Abel Tasman and Takaka.

New Years was so nice. Jota, Diego, Kristal, Zepe, Kristal's family and I spent it in a valley on top of a mountain. So many campervans and hippies and tents. Everyone was just really happy to be there. New Years we just spent dancing under the stars till it got light out. It kinda sucked because it was raining new years eve so of course all our stuff was wet but you know, it was still an experience, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Mainly I was just happy to have people to spend my new years with. I also met up with Marina and her friends at the festival. That was kind of a relief for me because, to be honest, being the only one who doesn't speak Portuguese in a group is a little difficult. The upside is that I can now understand what is being said maybe about 50% of the time, but I still can't really say anything. Learning French has helped since a lot of the words are similar.

So we spent three days and night camping on top of a mountain, and now Jota, Diego, and I are in Motueka. Mostly I just hang around our beat up hostel while the guys sell hammocks. Diego met and Israeli girl and we have become friends fast. She said I can come to her kibbutz when I go to Israel. :) So now I am just passing the time till I start my job. Then I will begin to make my way up north toward Auckland again. Sigh. I will miss New Zealand.