It’s rainy and a cool 12 degrees C (54 F) here in Kaikoura. That means it’s a good day for coffee, wool socks, and a fire in the wood stove. For those of us who have been missing flip flops, shorts and warm weather, the good news is that around 8 PM on Friday Oct 16th we will be landing at the airport in Apia, Samoa and stepping off of the airplane into the 22C (71F) Samoan night. Clearly the wool socks will be staying at home.
You may be wondering how it is that we’ll be arriving in Samoa five hours from now when we are all still at the Old Convent, and most of us haven’t even packed yet. This is the beauty of the International Date Line, Samoa and New Zealand share the same time, only they are one day apart. So, when it is 8 PM on Friday in Samoa, it will be 8 PM on Saturday in New Zealand. The only drawback to this is that we lose an entire day on our trip back from Samoa and will arrive back at the Old Convent around lunch time on October 24th.
This week Mick Duncan returned to Kaikoura to teach the second week of Sustainable Community Development. Students were able to hear Mick tell about the years he and his family spent living in a slum in the Philippines and also to learn a little about what empowerment and coming alongside the marginalized might look like once they return to their homes in the States.
On Wednesday Rich Pennisi (Messiah ‘12) celebrated his 20th birthday. In recognition of this exciting event the Old Convent hosted the 1st Annual Richard Pennisi Classic, a decathlon in Rich’s honor. The events included, leg wrestling, arm wrestling, Marmite eating, Frisbee throwing, thumb wrestling, a Dutch Blitz Off (doubles style) contest, paper airplane throwing, handstand contest, rock-paper-scissors, and a terrestrial synchronized swimming contest. There was a lot of sacrificial marmite eating, some fantastic Frisbee throws, and an epic arm wrestling match between Stephen Dickson (Westmont ‘10) and Rich.
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