post-birthday celebrations

i am officially twenty. it seems to have gone by so quick, it only seems like yesterday that i was blowing the candles of my first "-teen" birthday. but to celebrate before stepping into the doors of adulthood, we had a week of fun and irresponsibility (what was once known as ISP week).

i'm twenty!!!

the weather's warmed up considerably, now that the first day of spring has come and gone. despite the freak wind storm we had yesterday, we run around barefooted and delight in the sun's rays just a bit too much. last week we were given off to dedicate to finishing the bulk of our ISP papers. but in between research and analysis here's a list of stuff we did: slept on the porch, banana nutella crepe's, mickey mouse pancakes, the transformation of the staircase into a super slide, long bike rides, eggs in a basket, skipping stone's past the animal park, labryindth, fort building, paint balling, trips to the candy shop, gas station magnum bars, real life-pac man, mortal combat, mario kart, whale watching, cliff hiking, ultimate frisby...a whole bunch of spontaneous, irresponsible stuff, to commemorate the end of being a teenager.

banana-nutella crepes

the labyrinth

we also experienced our new zealand homestays this weekend. i got placed in a farm family with tommy and matt. my farm family consisted of an elderly couple, 3000 sheep, 150 cattle, 30 hens, 20 dogs, 2 cats, wild deer, wild goats, and a billion sandflys. i actually don't know how else to describe it.

the 3000 acre farm (or part of it)

i've been assessing all the damage done to my body from this trip. after paintballing and the fact that i'm not graceful like a swan i've counted three minor scratches, 13 bruises (i currently have 8 bruises on my body-i look like a battered drug addicted wife), and probably a three digit number of sand fly bites and scars.

paint balling!

on sunday we celebrated my birthday for real. the staff had prepared a spa night in my honor, Los Ramos Spa. ha. full service spa with massages, facials, mani/pedis, haircuts and fun. on monday we celebrate bry's birthday and went paintballing for the second time. and on tuesday we had laura's birthday where we had euro-trash fashion night. lol. today we have a break. but tomorrow is thanksgiving dinner, and on friday we celebrate professor Brett's birthday!

euro-trash runway show

i guess this is the cliffnotes version of what i've been doing for the past three weeks. i'll try to update more frequently, considering that i'll be back in the states in three weeks.