Exciting things are hard to come by if you've been doing the same thing with the same people for too long! I have been absent in the blogging world for lack of anything exciting to report, but it is time for at least some meager updates.
Actually, lately I have been fascinated with this one type of customer that has been making use of the rental shop at Whakapapa. We have been graced with the visits of several people of African descent. It is obvious that they know nothing of the snow, and when asked, they will say they have never even seen snow before. Yet they speak near perfect english. Some well placed questions have resulted in the interesting fact that every single one of these guys/girls have lived in Auckland or another big city in New Zealand for at least three years, having immigrated from all sorts of African countries. That was a strange thing to hear. I wasn't expecting people of Africa to come live in a non-third-world country. I have also noticed that they are not lacking in the "bling" department. (In other words, they are wearing very expensive jewelery, not least of which were earrings the size of my fingernail that looked like real diamond, and golden teeth decorations, also known as a grill.) In my opinion, these people from Africa had to be very rich to make it to New Zealand in the first place, and they look like they are still in the money. The funniest thing is that for several days in a row now, some of these guys have taken it upon themselves to flirt with me. We were in innocent conversation about how to put on a boot or something, and all of a sudden, the guy showed me the form he filled out, point to his phone number, and said: "This is my number, can I have yours?" Let me tell you, that is a strange situation to be in. That guy in particular would not give up. He told me would only come back if I was going to be there, and he asked for my email when I told him I didn't have a phone. I'm not sure what it is about the way I look, but something but be very attractive to rich guys from Africa. I guarantee you that I am not looking my best when I am fitting people with boots at the Rental Shop in my smelly uniform, and the guy didn't have much else to go on. We never talked about anything but business, and I probably didn't make clever conversation the way some of the other staff can do with their customers. Another guy kept finding me and making me help him with his gear, finally asking my name and shaking my hand, even though I wear a name tag, and it clealy says "Alissa." I think he just wanted to introduce himself. And I am told I have a nice smile... but only by these rich African dudes. It is all a mystery to me.
Anyways, besides that, the world is a happy place. Jon told you about the Hangi, made by some of my Rentals friends. That has been the highlight of my last weeks. We really learned a lot about the people living out here in the bush. Most of the people here seem to live on farms (or near them) owned by their family and extended family. Some farms tend to be quite large because so many people are co-owning them. In Ricky's case (he's an older guy working at Rentals with us) he says one of his cousins is managing the farm. They could support themselves just by living off the land, but as Ricky says, they also want to be able to buy things from stores! Which means that I'm pretty sure Ricky is a farmer when things need to get done on the farm, but he takes the odd job (like "Rental Attendant") when he wants some cash. I haven't met a lot of people here that feel the need to excel at anything. In fact, there are plenty of really old people that are very happy doing seasonal work for Mount Ruapehu. One guy works at a gas station in the summer time, when he's not working at Rentals. What a strange lifestyle. There is an absolute lack of ambition in the corporate world. But there is also not that much desire for possession. Sure, people will spend $1000 on their snowboards, but when the money runs out from their minimum wage jobs, they'll just wait for the next paycheck till they can afford to spend again. And there isn't much worry about getting the money. If they don't have money, they always have the farm and the huge family to fall back on. There doesn't seem to be any real poverty here from what I can tell.
Perhaps the lack of ambition, though, is what causes the inability for New Zealanders to marry. Seriously. At 16, the girls here look and act fully mature, and it is likely that they already have a baby or two. But they almost never have a man. The exception is Zion (he works at Rentals), who has a pregnant girl(friend). I am not sure if they are married. Either way, they would call each other partners, like they all do in New Zealand. Even happy couples tend not to marry. I have yet to find out why that is. But, single mothers are no worse off than the rest of us. They leave their kids with someone at the farm and go to work just like the rest of us. And it's not like they are working for the money. In fact, I don't know why single mothers here bother working. Maybe to get away from the family. On several occasions I have overheard Leiana (a rentals cashier) say that she wouldn't mind working one day less so she can spend some time with the kids. She also says she doesn't need the money, and that she comes to work because she finds the environment fun. I can name about 4 or 5 girls off the top of my head that are younger than me and have children already. I am always baffled with the way people handle life here. I must become more familiar with the way they grow up.
Now I have gone and spent way too much time writing this. Hope everyone at home and elsewhere is doing well.
Shout out to my mom who is back from her travels in Europe and has gotten back into her routine life and teaching job. We hope you are settling back into the working lifestyle!
Goodnight y'all!
Jalissa
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After so many years of life, I have seen too many people with solid "ambition" who are always diving into a realm of greedy capitalistic pigs' world. Money is necessity to live, but the more you get, the way more you would spend. Well, you already have so much money can not buy. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAhahaha it is hilarious to me that you are getting a taste of Africa in NZ. I cannot count the number of well-dressed African men that hit me up for "my contact" in taxis, internet cafes, restaurants, hikes, or simply in passing on the street. And we all know how unusual it is for me to get male attention. I can only explain it as their culture - in Africa, asking completely random people for their number is a perfectly legitimate dating mechanism. Interesting also that they seem so well off, but I have been dumbfounded by the amount of people I met who had extensive travel experience but minimal intelligence or history of wealth. Come to think of it, I was very confused about levels of wealth in Ghana. It was hard to tell whether people were simply Ghana-rich or actually relatively wealthy, as they seemed to have very different priorities as far as spending was concerned. Point being, your African encounters intrigue me.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the lack of ambition and desire to marry is correlated with merely a greater level of contentness and satisfaction in life than we find in America? In which case it could be a compliment, rather than a critique, to their way of life. Or perhaps it is mere laziness. Either way, interesting observations.