Living Below the Line

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would start this blog back up seeing as I abandoned it after Christmas last year, epic fail. This time I want to document my five days living below the line. I'm raising money for VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad) who send teachers to the pacific to help educate and bring people out of poverty. So far I've raised $363 and my goal is $400! Hopefully with your support I can reach my goal. Thank you SO much to everyone who has donated so far, your money truly is going towards a fantastic charity.

Today I went shopping for my meals for the week and I've ended up with:

2 cans of chopped tomatoes @ $0.65ea = $1.30
2 cans baked beans @ $0.59ea = $1.18
2 cans spaghetti @ $0.59ea = $1.18
1 packet brown rice = $1.99
1 500g packet spiral pasta = $0.89
1 500g packet macaroni pasta = $0.89
2 loaves bread @ $1.65ea = $3.30

For each of the five days I'm doing this I'm only allowed to spend $2.25 total on all my meals so $11.25 for the entire 5 days. It's going to be tough! If I think this is tough for five days, I can't even fathom what the 1.4 billion people living in poverty feel like living like this day in and day out. I am so fortunate to afford what I currently eat - even as a student I eat pretty well! (and the coffee shops do very well out of me).

So tonight I'm pigging out on all my favourite things - you would think I am not allowed to eat them for the rest of my life. Will update you tomorrow on how my first day goes!

You still can donate here: http://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/pippa

Dublin

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all celebrate it in style.

I've had a great time in Dublin so far, we arrived at 8am on the 20th and it was pitch black - the weirdest thing! I have been staying with Claire's family and they have looked after Talia and I so well and I am so grateful that I got to spend Christmas with them as they spoilt us like mad.

We met up with Phil on Christmas Eve and had a few drinks with his mum and then went to his local pub. It was very merry and the Christmas spirit was in full force.

Myself, Tal and Philly

Christmas was great. Unfortunately there has been no snow here yet so I was not to experience a 'white' christmas! But it was certainly chilly compared to the 26deg back at home - it was perhaps 10 at max.

We woke up to stockings absolutely brimming with presents - and our names on them too! It was very exciting - I love christmas!

After managing to pack all my  stuff into one suitcase and to the absolute 23kg max limit, I think I will be wearing many layers on my flights to take all my stuff around!

We went around with the Slevin family visiting all their relatives and doing sambuca shots after breakfast. I'm definitely in Ireland. It was awesome.

We went back to Claire's house for christmas dinner at around 6pm. It was delicious and had all the trimmings. Tal and I added a downunder touch by making dessert - bread and butter pudding and a kiwi pavlova! I have done the pavlova to death now, Mum's never fail recipe is certainly not failing.

Boxing day here is called St. Stephensons day and we spent it at the races. There were unfortunately no winnings :( . Everyone was dressed up to the nines - they love fake tan here and the more orange you are the better! I felt very, very pale. After the races, we went with Phil to his friends house for a few drinks and then to a "pub". This was more of a tropical inspired nightclub than any pub I have ever been in haha, I did enjoy the lightup dancefloor and the DJ even gave me a shout out thanks to Talia telling him it was my birthday haha. Guys! How could you forget I was born on Dec 26! May 30? Never.

Lol.

On the 29th it was Phil's 21st birthday party so Simone arrived from Denmark and Fiona from Scotland and Aidan came down from Mognahan. It was fab to have some of our exchange crew from CH all together again for who knows how long!! It was sad not having our entire group there, but we were thinking of ya'll! It was a very messy night and we stumbled in the door around 7:30am. It was still pitch black outside however, the sun definitely does not rise early here!

So as it is 2012 tomorrow, I thought I would sum up my 2011 a little! I have had the most wonderful adventures of my life and have met so many amazing people that I just can't imagine living without. The title of my blog is certainly true - I have had so many adventures and I can't wait to keep having more and more. I have no regrets and my only resolution is to keep travelling! I have caught the bug and the world is my oyster :) .

January 2nd sees Simone and I travelling to Copenhagen then I'm heading down to Spain by myself to do a tour for two weeks on the 6th where I will meet up with the beautiful Virginia and Julia. Wish you were there too Fatima!!

Hope you all ring in the new year with happiness.

Only 1 month until I am back in NZ - am unsure how I feel about this.

And here ends the blog for 2011! Bring on 2012.


xx

EUROPE!

Hey everyone, just letting you know I'm in Ireland (if you can't tell by my excited facebook posts already!)

We have pretty bad jet lag at the moment so watching lots of movies and eating lots of food :) neither of my phones work so will have to get a new one and will let you all know (those of importance of course haha) my new number. Went into town this evening and had a bit of a look around - it's really cool I love hearing all the accents!

Claire's family are looking after us extremely well - so so good to have nice food and they are all so lovely!

Will update you all some more later battery is going flat

Lots of love
Pip xx

Oh the Places You Will Go!

Goodbye UNC, see you later friends. Keep this is mind as you move on to life post-UNC!

Congratulations!
Today is your day,
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains, and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sites!
You'll join the high fliers!
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to says so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lunch
wuth an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're dark.
A place that could sprain both elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you should go in,should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quaters? Or maybe not quite?
Or go around and back and sneak from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long and wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most usless place

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where boom bands are playing.

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not.
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, theres a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the whether be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though you arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many stray birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with you left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent garanteed!)

KID YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Alenn O'Shea
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So... get on your way!

Dr. Seuss

Every Goodbye Makes the Next Hello Closer

This time next week I will be on a plane to Ireland so I thought I'd take the time before life gets hectic with packing to thank "ya'll" in America for my amazing, wonderful and slighty insane time here.

I decided to go on exchange on a whim, I've always wanted to do it but never had the guts to actually go and sign up. I think I was having a shitty day at home when I decided to walk into the office and just sign myself up. I chose North Carolina purely based on how pretty it looked in photos - I had never heard anything about the school nor knew exactly where North Carolina was in the States but one review from a student caught my attention when they said it was your typical  'all-american college experience'.

Boy, were they right. I can't say I'm going to miss the stench of the Frat houses but I sure will miss the school spirit and everyone that I have met throughout my time here. I expected that I would have made more American friends here, but I guess that's what you get when you live on an international floor. I can't imagine a better group of people than the ones I've met! You are all amazing people with wonderful lives ahead of you. My time on exchange has taught me to take every opportunity with two hands and an open mind won't go astray. This has been the best experience of my life and I absolutely have no regrets.

I truly can't believe how fast the time is going, it feels like only yesterday Knic and I were wandering down the streets of Dunedin going to the travel agent to book our tickets to America. It was only a couple of weeks ago we were running through Times Square in New York trying to find the theatre Billy Elliot was in so we could make it on time and now look - I am about to head around the world to get home! 


My favourite city that I have visited so far would have to be Washington D.C. I don't know why, I just really, really like it. I've seen so much of America but there are so many more places I want to visit! I just don't have enough time (or money..) so Americans, never fear, I will be back at some stage to continue my journey throughout the remaining states. It's a promise.

Amanda Lidis, you deserve special mention for being the best room mate I could have ever asked for. I don't think I would have enjoyed myself as much if we weren't besties right from the beginning. At least you are only "across the ditch" and I have a reason to visit Australia now, but it's going to be super hard trying to fall asleep without our late night talks. Words escape me as to how thankful I truly am for your friendship! (And your wise words in times of need hahaha). Can't wait to tell all at your 22nd :) ;)

Knicole, wow. How were we not closer at school and uni?? I love that everyone thinks we're sisters when we go travelling by ourselves together and you are so super amazing. I have had the best time, and I'm glad you have shared it with me!!! I'm sad that someone else will have to hold your hand on the plane home - I hope you are not too scared! I will be in the big airports all by myself haha. I love that you are not afraid to be yourself and homygaaawwwdddd I am so proud of you being all grown up and getting a job in Australia - even if it means leaving me in NZ. Guess I'll just have to come visit you monthly!! I'm really going to miss you Knic.

Camille - you're a babe. SUCH a babe. I have no words because all I want to do is just hug you and scream drunken things that don't make sense. Skype me daily please? Oh my god, seriously move to NZ. Probably with some rice wafers, that would be nice. Ok but seriously, you are beautiful and amazing and smart - so smart I think you should find a time travelling device so we can actually figure out what we get up to on the town?? This is not good-bye.

Ashley Pileika - you have welcomed me into America and your home with open arms. I could not have asked for a better "friendor" as you have gone well out of your way to make me feel comfortable in your country. You are amazing. Your plans for life are incredible and I hope you achieve every single one of your goals - I will push you otherwise, push you until you can't be pushed no more!! Please come back to New Zealand, I can't believe we didn't meet in Dunedin!!! Louis and I will need an actual American to celebrate Thanksgiving with next year, it just won't be the same without you.

Tal, Claire, Simone, Virginia, Julia, Phil, Aidan and Louise you aren't getting any mention because I am seeing you in Europe and we are going to have exciting times, not sad goodbye times!! :)


To my floor at Granville Towers East - wow you guys are a crazy bunch.
Eryk, I just love everything about you,
Alfie - you are one passionate Spainard (I hate your accent, haha),
BRADLEY GYNGELL... you are the luckiest person I've ever met in my life, visit me in NZ or else.
Tegan - good luck for your new job and let me know if you ever open a halloween makeup store - I'm sure Louise will be first in line.
Ana - te quiero mas de la vida
Pris! - You are wonderful, gorgeous and super sweet. Thankyou for struggling through linguistics with me :) I hope you have a safe trip home to wee kiwi!!!
Jaime - your hair is amazing, I will miss you and your salsa skills!!
Ethan - your hair is also amazing, as are your fort building skills!
Josh - I swear you're still doing a social experiment on us all - you're fab.
The Danes - thanks for the copious nights of entertainment and destruction.
JOE - You are the sexiest asian.
Ken Lee - You are one of the nicest people ever, I'm so glad to have met you!

To my non-floor mates -

Peppermint Patty - You are adorable, it is likely we will have to have a baywatch slow run and hug when we leave each other :(
Kelli - you are a goddess, enjoy your time in England - you will have the time of your life!!
Fatima! - Gracias por todo :) eres hermosa y guapisima y lo siento mi español es muy malo porque hay muchas palabras me gustaría decir a ti pero mi cabeza me duerme.

Kattieeee - I can't wait to see you over easter, it has been a blast getting to know you (and your baking skills!) you are truly an amazing person :)
Dani - you're hot. Smoooking. Enjoy second semester here!!
Sarah - I love you.
Alistair - All Blacks, All Blacks, All Blacks.. what? :P Have a safe trip home mate, keep in touch, you go all right.
Jordan - Just putting it out there, I probably will eventually marry you.
Nathan - See you back in Dunnaaaaaz in May. As long as you aren't forced to stay here out of your own free will...


To anyone I have missed - I'm SORRY. It is unintentional!! I will say goodbye in person :)

We will have to say goodbye to Time Out!

So as you can tell, I love all of you from the very bottom of my heart.

Lol.

As I have already said, this has been the BEST experience of my life. From getting absolutely mortal in Miami to study sessions in the UL I can't think of a better group of people I'd rather spend six crazy months with in the land of the free. You all hold a special place in my heart and I will never forget my time in Chapel Hill for the rest of my life.

I'm a tar heel born, I'm a tar heel bred and when I die, I'm a tar heel dead.
So it's rah rah, carolina lina, rah rah, carolina lina, rah rah, carolina lina, GO TO HELL DUKE!

Good luck for all your futures, I look forward to seeing what you all achieve in life - I know you are all going to be something and someone amazing.



We only part to meet again.

BYE!!!!!


Onto new adventures now.. next blog will likely be from Ireland!


Keep in touch, all of you!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry Potter World and Orlando!

Hey guys!

In the weekend I went to one of the most magical places on Earth, Harry Potter world! It was AWESOME!!!

Lou, Phil, Knic and I headed down for the weekend in Orlando - I've come to realise that if you were to be lost in America you truly would have no idea where you are, the cities are so alike! Apart from New York and Boston, Orlando looked like any other city we've been through - lots of concrete and lots of highways. It also is basically a resort town, belonging to Disney. I'll give you an example of what it's like to drive down the highway - hotel, hotel, theme park, hotel, hotel, fast food chain, fast food chain, fast food chain, hotel, hotel, theme park, fast food chain, hotel, theme park.... etc.

On Friday Knicole and I got into Disneyworld for freeee because her lovely friend Natalie works there. We went to the park called 'Epoc' which Walt Disney originally created to have all his staff there but instead turned it into a futuristic park.

I'm going to update with pictures later on because the internet down on campus at uni here is going ridiculously slow for me today!

Ok, so where was I, Epoc! We went on all these amazing rides - one of them was a simulator that made you feel as though you were going into space. It spun you around so you got into the G force field or whatever it is called and it literally felt as though your brain was going into your stomach. The ride had a 3-D screen infront and you felt as though you were actually in space - it launched you up into space and you felt like you were going so fast even though we were just spinning in this simulator. The weird thing is though that you didn't even feel as though you were spinning! I didn't even know that was how it worked until after we got off the ride.

We also went on this future ride where you got to choose your own future, I sent an email home Mum and Dad from this ride of what Knicole and I's future is going to turn out to be like! We had to put in on the screen where we were from - Invercargill made the map, boom! And then went around this little track that went through history to now and to what they think the future will look like.

In Epoc they have part of it as different countries. We went to the United Kingdom and ate fish and chips and got a photo in a red telephone booth, went to France and had a look around at the shops, in Japan we got some of the yummy chips we used to eat when we were actually in Japan, in China we watched some amazing performers - one girl was en pointe on a man's shoulders, in Norway we went on a ride about the Vikings in a boat, watched some Mexican men sing christmas carols in Mexico and in Germany we saw a christmas tree with pickle decorations!

We then headed over to Hollywood studios to go on the Aerosmith rollercoaster - it was insane. The first time I've been upside down in a rollercoaster and the entire time Aerosmith was pumping in your ears. The carts were shaped like a stretch cadillac too and it was inside and you did it in the dark while neon lights were flashing at you. Knic and I were holding on tight!

Finally, we went and saw the christmas lights - they were amazing! They also dance to music - I will post a video when I put up pics so that you can see! Very cool - Gimblett Cr has something to live up to now!!!

By this time, Phil and Lou had arrived, so it was time to catch the shuttle bus back to our hotel. Unfortunately no one told us that the shuttle wouldn't be arriving for another two hours so Knic and I were stranded in an empty parking lot for a good hour until Phil rang and said when it was arriving - hero. Saved us another hour of waiting, but we lost "a few quid" (as Ben and Lou would say) on a taxi home.

The four of us went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant and had massive amounts of food and good banter before heading back to our hotel and chilling out to be ready for our amazing day at universal the next day!

HARRY POTTER WORLD WAS AMAZING. It was everything you could want and more! We were lucky because Justin Bieber was doing the Christmas Parade at Disney world that day so the lines were really short - apart from Ollivander's wand shop which had a line about an hour long!!

We first went on the duelling dragons rollercoaster ride. This thing is ridicoulous. Your feet are dangling and you corkscrew, go upside down, go close to the ground etc. at 64 miles per hour. That's over 100kmph. Phil managed to trick me and say we were going on the baby rollercoaster, until we reached the part where you actually have to sit on the seats. The rollercoaster has two sets of tracks, one blue and one red. The rollercoasters used to go at the same time but things kept falling out of people's pockets onto the other rollercoaster so now they go alternatively. The blue one is slower and the red one is faster, guess which one we did - yup the red. Lou and I were sitting behind Knic, Natalie and Phil and all I could hear from Lou the entire ride was PIIIIP, KNICCCCCC, PIIIIIIP haha and all she could hear from me was AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Expletive.

It was the best ride though and I would definitely go on it again!

After that we had lunch at the three broomsticks and then went on another virtual ride in Hogwarts castle. This one was soo coool!!! We went travelling through Hogwarts with Harry on his broomstick and again you were in another simulator so it felt like you were falling and then you would spin around and you would be in the real world if you know what I mean so there are puppets around you that look really real - dementors were flying at us, spiders dropping down on us and the whomping willow nearly smacked us over. I felt sorry for the poor boy sitting in our capsule as he got really scared - if I was that small I definitely would be too!

After that we split up because Lou and I wanted to have a look at some more shops in Harry Potter and we carried on to the other parts of Universal. There are lots of different sections like Jurassic Park, Super hero land, Comic book land, Dr Suess land etc. They are all really cool and different and have lots of great rides!

That night, we went to a dinner and show with unlimited alcohol for $30. It was awesome. The show was set in the 1920s with the chicago gangsters and restaurant was set up like a speakeasy. Everyone called us dollface and we had to knock three times and say a password to get in. It was lots of fun and we had seats right by the stage. They took a picture of us as we arrived and then turned it into newspapers, keyrings and case files. Knic and I both bought a keyring of the four of us in a mugshot.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and went swimming! Swimming in December! It was so warm in Florida that's for sure!

We came back to Chapel Hill on Sunday and this week we have finals :( boohoo!

Less than two weeks until I leave for Ireland!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer holidays back home

will post photos and videos soon

xxxx

Thanksgiving!

If there is something worth celebrating in America, it is definitely their love for copious amounts of food. This is a tradition that I will most likely bring home with me - it was so good!

My first ever Thanksgiving involved a roadtrip up the East coast with "some of my favourite humans" a.k.a Ashley and Claire. Ashley actually studied in Dunedin last year and her kiwihost, Louis, is doing an internship in D.C. so we set off to pick him up. After a very entertaining night at his flat (all I can say is Marine, bunny and gun) we carried onto Connecticut to Ashley's house - but not before the 50 mcNuggets challenge.

If there is something that must be achieved while in America, it is obviously the challenge of eating 50 chicken nuggets. For the low price of about $10 I'm not sure why more people don't indulge in this delictable feast........

Yes, we managed to finish them. It was a struggle but we are no quitters.

After rolling out of Maccas we carried on our merry way...

Barbara, Ashley's Mum/Mom, warmly welcomed us into her home and it was SO nice to be in an actual home, not a dorm or a hostel. We arrived pretty late (it took us around 8 hours to get to Connecticut from DC) off to sleep in a REAL bed it was!

The next day was Thanksgiving! And how thankful we were for Barbara's cooking! We had an 18 pound Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (Claire's speciality), sweet potato and marshmellow casserole, green beans and water chestnuts and lots more! My favourite dish was the green beans and water chestnuts - can we get water chestnuts in NZ? They are so good!

A special mention must be made here to Tucker, the Pileika's dog. He has, what one may call, a certain affection for me.

The next night, we thought it was necessary to dance off all our excess weight from eating the entire day so we jumped on the train down to NYC. Here we met up with Louis' and Ashley's friends from when Ashley and co. were in New Zealand. It was good to be able to see the nightlife side of NYC this time. At one bar you could even do shots out of syringes.. Ashley's fear of AIDS has gone up ten fold.

We managed to stay out all night long, a fitting tribute to the city that never sleeps. At 5.30am we caught the train from Grand Central back to Conneticut.. we are now offical nomadic travellers it seems..

Catching up on some sleep in the Connecticut train station

That night, we went to Boston! We ate some traditional Boston food such as clam chowder (so good!) and Boston Baked Beans - nothing on Watties. It is a city that I definitely want to go back to as we only saw it at night time, I wish I had a million more days in this country.

In Boston we saw this amazing group of street performers who jumped over about 5 people, Louis included. This video shows it about halfway through, sorry it's on its side.

On Sunday we started a 15 hour car ride home, arriving back at Chapel Hill at 4am on Monday morning and to a stackload of assignments. Luckily I'm avoiding reality again this weekend and heading to Harry Potter world in Orlando! Wingardium Leviosa! Oh yeah, I'm a little excited.

Claire, Barbara and myself outside the Pileika's house

I'm sad to say this is one of my last posts in America, I'm in the process of finalising all my documentation and completing exams. However, I'm so excited about Europe!! My contiki is all ready to go - now to pack my life into a little suitcase again. Those who know me personally will know what a struggle this actually is for me!!

But life is always better when travelling.

Hasta luego mis amigos, un beso y abrazo grande