Cook Islands

I've been pinching myself every morning for the past month. I've been waking up to sunrises like these, thinking its too surreal to be living in the Cook Islands.

I'm staying on the main island of Rarotonga, which has the only international airport, and the most tourists. With ten thousand people, its the most populated of the 15 islands that makes up Cook Islands. We have two grocery stores, one bookstore, eleven fish n' chip stations and fifteen churches. Perhaps that gives you an idea of the girth and the religious fervor of the people of the Cook Islands. To get an idea of where the country is located, find Hawaii, then head south for about 7000 km. Those tiny dots are the Cook Islands.

The sheer isolation of the island geography was initially daunting, but its hard not to be charmed by the small community feel to Rarotonga. In my first days walking around the main town area, random people on the street approached me saying 'hey you're the new intern from Canada? Welcome!' and there are always open invitations to family birthdays, community socials and dinner parties from virtual strangers. It's easy to feel like you're cut off from the rest of the world, but the sheer generosity, friendliness and amazing hospitality of the Cook Islanders have made me feel like I have a home in the middle of the Pacific.