flowers, chai, saltwater, and nuns.

So last friday, we had student day.
At 7:20 in the morning [of course before I was awake, I like to sleep in until the last minute before breakfast] the fire alarm in the house went off. We knew of course it was a drill so we strolled outside and stood around waiting for it to turn off. We were expecting to have a normal day, of classes but instead they told us that it was student day. So classes were cancelled and we were to pack a bag with a bathing suit, towel, clothes, and camera. So we did that, ate breakfast and then left to Christchurch, which is 2 hours away from us in Geraldine. When we got there, they took us to the Botanical Gardens, really cool, [there was a random UFO in the middle of the gardens, weird] and then out for lunch to a buffet restaurant. And then they drove us far away to....the beach! And it had been a little bit cold that day, only about 20 degrees, so I wasn't sure if i wanted to swim, but then we touched the water and it was beautiful. I love the ocean way too much to not go! So we went swimming and the waves were decent so it was really fun. Then we went to a cafe and I had a chi tea in a bowl. It was massive. I love it. Then they took us to "The Beatitudes" which is a community with nuns. So there was 4 sisters and a brother there to show us around and we got to attend a Shabbat with them. It something they do every friday to Sunday and we just stayed for the friday night. They shared their testimonies with us and then encouraged us to be apart of the whole night, so do what they did and join in completely! We sang songs, and read some stuff in Hebrew and sang in Hebrew. It was so fun and they are just out there and energetic. It was a worship time that I have never experienced before. Then at one point we got up and danced around and laughed. It was so fun. Then we prayed together and then they fed us supper. So we got to talk to them[two of the sisters are from france so I was speaking to them in french and it was so fun, it all came back to me! And I enjoyed it cause I wasn't forced to do it.]. It was a fun day. We were all so tired by the time we got home but it was worth it.

Here are some more pictures! Isn't it great that I have internet access, you can see all my pics.