So I've Fallen in Love...

...with New Zealand, that is.

I've only been here twenty-four hours, but already I love it. An old friend of my grandmother's, Judit, picked me up from the airport and is allowing me to stay with her and her family for my first two nights. She's absolutely amazing and sweet, and her family has been welcoming and so very warm. To use her words about New Zealand, "the blues are bluer and the greens are greener." Everything is vibrant, memorable, striking. They live a five minute's walk from this drop-dead gorgeous beach, and the phrase I kept repeating when I first arrived in Scotland echoed in my head: "I cannot believe you live here."

Shakespeare Regional Park, Auckland

In the afternoon I got to hang out with Judit's daughter and two of her friends, who were sleeping over in honor of the American girl in town. Kiwi thirteen-year-olds are uncannily similar to thirteen-year-olds in the States, except with cooler accents and much greater interest in Lord of the Rings (they speak all the dialects of Elvish, to give you some idea). The Kiwi accent, by the way, is extremely charming. If you're ever having a bad day, I highly recommend listening to a New Zealander speak on YouTube or something. Automatic happiness.

Apparently when Judit was living in New Jersey, she met my mom and me at my grandma's house. No one remembers but Judit, though, so we all kind of doubted that the event actually happened until Judit pulled out, in a devilishly excited sort of way, a photo album with these...

Tell me I wasn't freaking adorable

I was two at the time, and now she sees me all grown up and without those awful bangs (or fringe, as she'd say). Small world, right?

Sorry, Mom :)