tenth blogpost.

It all started with my walk to another campus this morning. Completely underestimating the 2.17 mile walk (remember all of those hills I talk about), I showed up to class just in time, but found some students sitting out in the hall. I asked if the class inside the theatre was the class I was supposed to be in, and as it turns out, the 15 or so students outside were in my class too. I found it odd, since class should be starting, but took a seat a resolved myself to think that the other class was just running late. The professor of the class inside the theater finally came out after seeing a handful of students peeking in the windows, and advised us to go look in the other theatres - that maybe there was a mistake on our schedule assignment. Come to find out, the people outside were not even supposed to be taking that class, and they were not going to let us take it. Extreme miscommunication since I spoke with an advisor about my final enrollment in my classes just yesterday. While the other students angrily headed out to storm the main office, I tried to explain my situation from the top rows of the lecture hall. "I have to take this class to graduate. This is a direct equivalent of a class I signed up for. Blah, blah, blah." Completely frazzled, I was instructed ot wait until the end of the lecture ot speak to the substitute lecturer since apparently our real one wasn't there.

I guess I could not tell how out of it I was, but an older Maori lady gently grabbed my arm and urged me to sit down next to her. A million startling thoughts were keeping my mind from being anything but at ease, but I was jolted back with a note from the lady written on her paper that read, "My dear, are you okay?" I nodded that I was fine and gently touched her arm in a gesture of assurance. I guess I will find out over the next two hours if I am okay.

The next chance we had to chat during a discussion period, I saw that she had already written her name, address, phone number, office numberm and email on a small piece of paper she was handing to me. Such extreme kindness from someone who doesn't even know my name. Come to find out, she is a co-lecturer for this course, and she has assured me that she would work as hard as it took to make every right for me. Wow.

I don't remember spacing off again, but I still found it hard to focus. Again, she nudges my arm and has something written in Maori on a slip of paper:

E toru nga mea
Nga mea nunui
E ki ana
Te paipera
Whakapono
Tumanako
Ko te mean nunui
Ko te aroha.

I smiled at her indicating I did not know what these words meant, so she translated them for me.

There are three things
Greater than all
It is written
In the Bible
Belief
Hope
The greatest of all
is love.

After the lecture ended, she gave me a huge, 'grandmotherly' hug, and told me not to hesistate calling her if I needed anything at all while I was here - even a hot meal. I didn't know how to thank her and tell her how encouraged I had been over the past two hours, but I am beyond grateful for her elderly love.

The woman in the bright red hat, hibiscus flower tucked in her hair, who wrote in her notebook back to front was my angel today.