Kia ora

I’m spending the bulk of my fieldwork this summer in Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand.  Christchurch is approximately the antipodal point from where I was last year: Morocco. It takes roughly eight hours of travel time from New York City to Casablanca. It takes nearly 40 hours door to door to get to Christchurch from my house in Connecticut. Passing through five different airports in one go can take the joy out of traveling, but the South Pacific holds a special geographic and cultural place in my heart. I lived in the Wellington area for a time as a child, and returned to this part of the world for university study as well as to conduct my dissertation research, with a number of shorter trips thrown in. I've visited many of the countries and islands in the region, and have been fortunate enough to introduce my own children to this part of the world. I’ve continued to work here since my employment at Quinnipiac, and so my association with the region now spans three decades. Epeli Hau’ofa referred to this part of the world as “our sea of islands” and there is nothing more awe inspiring than the view from the plane when you come in for a landing anywhere in the Pacific. My task right now is to simultaneously conduct rapid-fire fieldwork and figure out if I want to travel with students to this part of the world. I’ve taken students to Morocco in 2010 and 2012, and had wonderful experiences. But that is because we spent a total of 16 hours in roundtrip transit. I’ll let you know what I decide at the end of my time abroad. Aroha, Professor Haldane