You have no
idea how happy it made me. My letter from mom with literally a hundred
questions that I will try my hardest to answer, a lovely letter from Rebeka’s
boyfriend Bart (thanks buddy, love you too) and my sweet sissy Beks. Thank you
to Dominic and Angelina for my sweet card for Dakota, it touched my heart! AND
THANK YOU MOMMY FOR THE PRETTY PURPLE FLOWER, THE NAIL POLISH, THE FESTIVE
DECORATIONS AND THE…SOUR PATCH KIDS. I have suddenly become everyone’s best
friend here on base. Beth asked me “Are those American lollies?” oh how I adore
Kiwi lingo.
Then, we had
our last lecture with Beryl and we sadly bid her goodbye and I rushed back to
my cottage to pack for the weekend trip to Raglan. Being I had about 10 minutes
to do so, I was pretty frantic. So I ignored the knock on the cottage door and
continued my rushed packing. But Tasia answered and came into my room and said “Hannah,
you have a visitor!” So I stomped to the porch and upon seeing Jacob Van Zanten
(whom we affectionately refer to as Van) demanded “What do you want?”
And then he
put on his boy band face and began singing a remixed version of “What Makes You
Beautiful” to me. And I stood there, so incredibly confused as he serenaded me.
Then he finished, handed me an invitation to some dinner thing, I hugged him
and he ran away.
Turns out
the boys are planning some fancy dinner thing for the girl on November 7th
and all the girls were invited via scavenger hunts, secret packages, and chocolate
surprises. There is a lovely air of mystery about it and it’s absolutely
MADDENING. I just want to know what’s going on RIGHT NOW.
So yeah.
Then we
drove to the beach and the red van had wonderful, deep, meaningful
conversations about bioethics, evolution, Slurpees and nose rings.
Then we got
to the beach house.
It was
wonderful.
There were
three bathrooms.
THREE.
AND A TV.
YOU KNOW HOW
LONG IT’S BEEN SINCE I’VE SEEN A TV???
Plus, there
were hammocks and rooftop porches and lovely verandas and I was so happy.
So we
happily settled in, watched Soul Surfer and ate Dutch pancakes for dinner. Then,
being the restless peeps we are, some of went for a walk in an attempt to play
in the ocean.
We found a
playground instead.
Typical.
After we
satisfied the 6-year-olds inside each one of us on the seesaw, slides, and tire
swings we went back to the beach house.
Then Matt
and I wrote a ballin’ song on the roof. It’s no biggy. You’re awesome Matt.
Then I went
to bed.
Saturday
morning, Janessa woke me up! I had to make PANCAKES. Yummy! So we made
pancakes. On a really bad stove. The heat wasn’t really optional; it kind of
did whatever it wanted. Yeah.
But breakfast
was still yummy.
And Schnegg
is so funny. The entire morning, while we were making breakfast I was
constantly laughing at his silly antics. I think his French accent just makes
everything he says that much funnier.
Then, we
went to THE BEACH.
Raglan is a
surfers’ beach, which mean that there we HUGE waves. Just incredible –
lifeguards advised us not to go far in the water because to rip was so strong.
Oh, and one
more thing. It’s a black sand beach! The sand is volcanic and magnetized and
black and it’s so different from any sand I’ve ever seen! It sparkles in the
sun and is just so dazzling!
So we spent
a few hours at Raglan – just relaxing and watching people ride by on their
horses or families play in the low tide pools. Then Matt and Schnegg and I went
for a walk and we had fun collecting shells (or I had fun finding them and
putting them in Matt’s pocket) and I awkwardly stood by as Matt and Schnegg had
a male modeling photoshoot. It was weird.
Oh yeah.
I got
sunburnt.
In October.
How weird is
that?
Then we went
back to the beach house and relaxed while Johanna made THANKSGIVING DINNER.
I joined
Hannah and Schnegg on the roof and it turned into the MOST AWESOME jam session in
the history of jam sessions. I think we wrote like 5 different songs and
remembered like 3 of them. It’s funny how the genre slowly changed from folk to
gospelish to jazz and everything in between. Schnegg is an incredible guitarist
and Hannah has the most beautiful voice EVER and I don’t think I could ever get
tired of just jamming with them. They’re both just so beautiful.
Then we had
THANKSGIVING DINNER. Early for the Americans, late for the Canadians.
It was soooo
good. I had a food coma. We said things we were thankful for. I loved it.
Then I listened
to some of Steph’s wonderful songs. She’s got such a talent for conveying heart
messages in song. I just love listening to her play!
Then Jacob
and I worked on the song I think I want to record for the album. He’s wonderful,
I think I found my John Paul White in life. And then we worked on another song I
started writing.
Then we all
watched a movie and hit the sack.
Today, we
got up late, relaxed, packed, cleaned and left the beach house. We got coffee,
and I think I had about 5 cups of the delicious poison today. Guys, coffee is
such a huge part of the culture here. You can’t just buy a cup of joe. Drip coffee
doesn’t exist. You got your Flat Whites, your Mocha Lattes, your Vanilla
Lattes, your Double Dirty Mochas Extra Foam, but no straight-up coffee. And iced
coffee? It’s for babies. So yeah. Coffee. I had a lot of that. Which means,
halfway into our road trip, I had to pee. Not your regular, “a bathroom break
would be great right now” but a “IF YOU DON’T PULL OVER RIGHT NOW, I’M GOING TO
SOAK THE SEAT” kind of pee. I was miserable as we bumped over every obstruction
in the road. And we finally pulled over at Hamilton Gardens and I got to use
the ladies’ room.
And then we
finally went home.
And I was
tired. All I wanted to do was sleep. So I skipped dinner. But then there was
the normal Sunday 7 o’ clock pm meeting. Dangit.
So Elisa and
I trudged up to the A-Frame.
And then I was
on the Hot Seat.
If I haven’t
talked about it before, we do it every Sunday night. One boy, one girl, free
game. Tonight was the one night I definitely didn’t want to be on the hot seat.
First of all, I looked like I’d been hit by a truck. My hair was crazy, my
sunburnt skin made me look like a tomato and my crooked glasses and Elisa’s
oversized sweater just finished off the unkempt look. Nope, I definitely didn’t
want to be the center of attention for 29 other people. And I didn’t want to be
encouraged. I was in a moping mood. So of course tonight would be the night where
my name was called. Yep.
And I discovered
something. The hot seat isn’t about making Hannah feel better. It’s about
confirming God in Hannah. Woah. And I feel like it’s also for the encouragers –
I often like people after I encourage people and my heart for them. The hot
seat is so we all constantly have hearts for one another and I love that.
So yeah.
Insomnia.
Peace out
girl scout.
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