Build Day 3 - 5 Layers of clothes!

What has amazed me most so far in New Zealand is the people.  You can sit down at "tea time" with anyone and they will practically gush their life story!  Today I talked with a retired woman, Olive-Anne, at lunch.  I told her that I loved New Zealand and would like to live here at some point in my life, for some amount of time.  She immediatly offered me a place to stay if I did decide to come back down, I don't think she even knew my name at the time haha.  Then she told me all about growing up in Auckland with 5 brothers and sisters.  She told me where they're all living now with their kids.  What her kids are like and her grandkids.  She told me that she met her husband, Richard, in Christchurch (a city), was engaged a week later, and married 12 weeks after that.  They are still married 37 years later.  She told me all about what her parents thought about her getting married so quick and I'm a complete stranger to her.  Amazing amazing people I can't say it enough.  My team... they are awesome, I have so much fun with them.. .You can kid around and just have a blast and then have a totally serious enlightening conversation with them.  Today on site there was a team of 5 of us putting up a nailing strip for the soffit and facisa to go up.  We would do something and feel pretty good about it and then our forman, Les (it was his 55 birthday today, great man, always has the hugest smile on his face and Laurie said it best that he truely wears his heart on his face) ANYWAYS, we would do something and Les would come over and say uh oh that's wrong, well how do we fix it.... Well... you gotta take it all off......haha...and he'd say it with  a smile.  so we'd take it all off (easier said than done) and we'd do it right.... well by about the 5th time he said "take it all off" for the 5th different project, still with a smile and laugh.  We were ALL still laughing about it, cause there's nothign else you can do..That one wall took us 3/4 of the day, we've got a picture with it finished by the end of the day.  It feels great to be working with all these peopel towards this common goal.  Just great.  It was also great to call my mom tonight and find her sleeping.. I asked her what time it was and she said 2 in the morning, but really it was 10 at night haha.  I don't think that she'll remember our conversation, she asked who she was talking to and I said Jenna and she asked "Jenna from New Zealand"  Yes mom....Someone on my team today when we were discussing high points and low points of our trip, said their high point was how happy everyone is, and how I totally crack her up.  So that made me feel good... Now I'm missing dinner with everyone to chat here with you folks.. Just wanted to say that I'm missing everyone, thank you so much for your endless support, I'll be sure to write again soon!

Jenna

ps and i'm sure the kiwis will be excited to hear about melting ropes together!