Weekend!

My paper is finally done, turned in, and I am finished with schoolwork for at least forty eight hours! :)

I thought I'd write a quick post just letting you all know that my laryngitis is a lot better. I have some semblance of a voice and although it's turned into a pretty wicked cold, I don't feel as awful as I did the other day. Now, it's a matter of getting my sinuses cleared up and not coughing every ten seconds! But, I'm sure that'll run its course.

Today, I'm going to go take a long shower then get my nails done with Sam M then go see a play with Megan and a bunch of other people. I figured a nice low key night would be good before waking up early to leave for Melbourne tomorrow morning.

I will blog all about Melbourne as it happens, I'm so excited to get there and see another part of this amazing country. When we get home the crunch starts again as we have another paper due and we need to study for finals, but between Melbourne and that crunch I'm heading to Cairns for some snorkeling, skydiving, and white water rafting with Megan. That will be SO much fun and there will definitely be a long, detailed, and exciting blog about that.

I'll leave you with a picture of the kind of fun we have here. Yes, that's me in a shopping cart being pushed down a hill.

G'day from down under! :)

Sick in Sydney: Part Two

I'm sure most of you know by now that there was a massive dust storm here in Sydney. We woke up yesterday morning thinking it was the apocalypse, the end of days had finally come. It was a deep blood red, the entire room was tinted that really creepy color. It was incredibly unsettling - all the pictures you've seen are spot on, they're not Photoshopped, I promise.

I was supposed to go on a filed trip with my Aboriginal Studies class to the Botanical Gardens and then out to one of the smaller islands in Sydney Harbor. Unfortunately, with my allergies and asthma I got a call that I was not permitted out of the building until at least 5pm when the dust would settle. So, I was quarantined in my room all day, watching Gilmore Girls DVDs and starting to study for our exam. It was not fun and really frustrating to be cooped up. But, the winds were pretty terrible - sometimes up to 60 km/per hour and it was way too risky for me to go traipsing around Sydney with that kind of air quality. I was coughing and sneezing all day, but I didn't think much of it. Man, was I wrong.

This morning, I woke up skwaking a bit with a sore, dry throat. I've been fighting a cough for about a week so I didn't really think much of it, nothing exciting, that's for sure. But as the morning wore on and almost immediately as I stepped outside I realized I had little if any voice. I sounded awful by the time I walked to BUSC, not realizing that the air quality was still terrible. Our program director told me that while the "safe" level of dust particles in the air is 200, the air in Sydney today is still 1200, making it six times the appropriate level for good air quality. My voice just got worse and it still is hard to talk beyond a raspy whisper. I have my really low register voice but it hurts to talk that low. So, I decided to head to the doctor with one of our program managers - Caroline. A nice physician saw me and immediately (and obviously) diagnosed me with laryngitis exacerbated by my dust allergy. I got an inhaler and an antibiotic, though I'm not advised to take it unless I start coughing up stuff because of my history of sensitivity to antibiotics. I got a bunch of cough drops and am on complete vocal rest - perfect because today I'm supposed to be giving a presentation on the Aboriginal Creation stories. Fantastic. Thankfully, I have a note from the doctor saying I'm not allowed to speak and my wonderful friend Natan is going to be giving my part of the presentation. I'm upset I won't be able to vocalize my part of our group's presentation, but I did do the research and prepare some slides for it, so hopefully our wonderful professor will understand. I'm sure she will. Especially because I'm going to be continuing to work with her on an independent study on Aboriginal religion for the rest of the semester, I think she knows I do my work, voice or not!

To be slightly political for a second: the health care system here is so far superior to ours it's not even funny. I never really thought about it that much, but then having to experience it, universal health care, is not what people think. I waited for five minutes. I saw the doctor for as long as I needed to. They didn't rush, I wasn't pushed to the end of any line, and even though I'm not a member of their system, even being a foreigner, I was only charged $50 for my entire visit. How is that possible? It was a great experience and really helped me to continue forming my opinion on this health care debate. I was taken care of like a human being, treated with compassion and kindness, and given what I needed right when I needed it, no questions asked. Just something to think about.

The rest of the week is pretty hectic again. Today I have class in the evening and then tomorrow I will be spending all day holed up in my room writing my research paper. Saturday it's due and we're seeing a play, then Sunday we leave for Melbourne! I will definitely be blogging about that as it's going to be a great experience. But for now, send good vibes my way and hopefully I'll be able to speak well in the next couple days. :)

G'day from down under!

Let's Go Outback Tonight!

Wow, what an adventure. Red desert, big rocks, bright sun! It was a fantastic trip.



After getting chips and queso and margaritas on Thursday night, Megan and I met bright and early on Friday morning to head to Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory. We got to the airport and right off the bat the day started off rocky! Orbitz had never confirmed my ticket change and I was left in a bit of a bind. Thanks to a kind sales agent I was able to get checked in and get a boarding pass but that lead to two hour long phone calls with Orbitz, one before we left and one when we got there. Needless to say I was pretty pissed off. Thankfully after those two long, all on hold phone calls I got my flight change confirmed. Unfortunately, despite all the crap Orbitz only gave me a $20 travel voucher. So, moral of the story - please don't use Orbitz anymore! Travelocity and Expedia are much better so please, after all the hell they put me through in almost ruining my vacation, the least I can do is warn others! Back to the good part.

After working that out we got to our hostel - which was beautiful! Totally not like any other hostel I'd ever seen. We checked in and started exploring the entire resort, made up of three hotels, the hostel, and a camp ground. First we had lunch at the canteen at our hostel. While we were eating it started to downpour, but it was still sunny. So surreal to watch the water absolutely pelt the landscape, creating lots of red mud but then stop as abruptly as it began. Really cool. After lunch we went to the Uluru lookout near our hostel, it was a little hike but great views of Ayers Rock. The mud was crazy, but it was pretty cool how fast all the plants started to flower and turn green even with five-ten minutes of rain. Then, we went shopping for souvenirs and artwork by the Aboriginal people that live around Ayers Rock. I made an ill-advised purchase (impulsively) then returned it, but also got two beautiful books on Aboriginal myth and spirituality that will really help my religion project, not to mention they're so interesting and fun to read. I also got some great post cards, so let me know if you want one! We wandered around for a couple hours then headed back as the sun set. We saw an amazing double rainbow, it was almost perfect. It was quite the welcome to the desert.



By 6pm we were starving so we headed to the buffet at our hostel which had traditional Australian foods - emu, crocodile, barramundi, and kangaroo! It was quite the dinner, not to mention delicious. I was pretty much obsessed with the curry crocodile, it was fantastic. The kangaroo was good, too - but our favorite part was the deserts. Sticky toffee pudding! After a delicious dinner we headed back to our room and got ready for our long day, which meant falling asleep as early as we could!

Saturday morning we got up around 5am to start our day of tours and hikes. It began with a sunrise Uluru excursion, which included breakfast while watching the sunrise over the rock. It was gorgeous, the sun and horizon were filled with color.



Then, we drove/hiked around the rock learning about the Aboriginal people who live there (they still have full ownership of the rock and the lands surrounding it, but they lease it to the Australian parks service, you can't take pictures of certain things because of sacredness of the location) and their history. It was a five hour tour and we learned so much about where we were. Both Megan and I decided not to climb Uluru because the Aboriginals ask that you don't. It's available to but it's incredibly sacred to them as is the path you climb on and neither of us felt it was respectful or right to climb when they so sincerely asked us not to. After the tour we went to the cultural center where more beautiful Aboriginal art was on display. I got a bookmark painted with the symbol for waterhole which I'm going to use in my religion project. Within the cultural center you're not allowed to take any pictures at all and the women will take your camera and smash it if you do. It's not a joke to these people, it's their home and their religious places, we felt very humbled and lucky to be there, learning about a community that has been there more than 50,000 years. We then got dropped off, grabbed some lunch, rode a camel (yup, we went on a camel ride!) then got back on the bus for our hike on Kata Tjuta (that's pronounced ka-ta ju-ta), or the Olgas, an even more sacred site for the male Aboriginals. It was by far my favorite part of our trip. Not only did we get to see vast swaths of different landscape including the beautiful sand dunes and scrub but we hiked right into the Olgas and got to see them from the inside. Unfortunately, the stories surrounding Kata Tjuta are sacred to the Aboriginals and they're not shared with anyone but their boys who are coming of age. The Aboriginals can shut down the tours at the drop of a hat if they need to perform a ceremony, and we're only allowed to tour a certain part of the rocks as others are like a cathedral to them. If nothing else we both developed an even deeper respect and awe for these people who wile assimilating into 21st century existence keep their heritage and history so close. It was a fantastic hike.



Afterward, we got to see and pet some dingoes then went on our last hike and tour of the day - Uluru Sunset. After a short walk/hike with the setting sun we drove out to the lookout point and watched the sunset and the rock turn colors. Unfortunately there was some cloud cover so it didn't change as vividly as it usually does but we sipped some champagne and watched as our day came to a close right where it began - Uluru, Ayers Rock.



We went back to the hostel and had to fantastic Outback burgers, a couple Strongbows, listened to some music, and took long, hot showers. After a day filled with sunscreen and bug spray (the flies are killer in the desert, yuck) we both needed it! By the time our head hit the pillow we were out.

This morning, we slept in but woke up to our cell phones ringing - Qantas had changed our flight! We were originally supposed to go from Ayers Rock to Perth then Perth to Sydney. This is akin to going from Lincoln, Nebraska to San Diego, California, then back to Boston, Massachusetts. They decided to change the flight and send us direct - a god send for Megan who has to give a presentation in class tomorrow at 10am! We woke up happy to have that travel time off our shoulders then took one last hike through the desert. After our hike we grabbed a big breakfast and went to the Visitor's Center just to get a little more information about what we had seen all weekend. Plus, we wanted to explore the nicer hotels in the resort. We walked to the Sails in the Desert, the ultimate luxury hotel and walked through the Mulgara Gallery where I finally found a beautiful piece of Aboriginal art that actually fit my price range! Plus, it was a limited edition painted by an artist who was being featured this month at the gallery. It's beautiful and I'm so happy I bought it. It's something I can carry with me forever - not to mention it symbolizes the birth of womankind, which I think is fitting. :) I'm so happy I bought it. (The one I returned was a lot bigger but I took a picture of it and it's now the background of my computer - I'm kind of obsessed with Aboriginal art now, it's gorgeous) After our wanderings we got back on the shuttle and headed to the airport. I slept and read most of the way, which was nice because I can do a little work tonight and I have the energy to blog for all of you! We got some of our favorite curry at @ Home Thai then parted ways. All in all it was a wonderful weekend - relaxing but a cultural experience of another people and a land so sacred and historical that to this day they cherish it. It was beautiful and I'm so glad I did it.

This week is kind of nuts! Tomorrow I have class, then a break on Tuesday, Wednesday we have a six hour field trip then three hours of class, Thursday I have a quiz and a 20 minute presentation on Aboriginal Australia, then Saturday I have a 2000 word research paper due before we leave for Melbourne as a program on Sunday. It'll go by really fast but I'm excited to get going! :) I hope you all had a good weekend!

G'night from down under!

Australian Adventures

I'm sorry I've been so lax about my postings this week! It's been relatively uneventful, filled with class, writing a paper, and trying to get over this cold.

Though, I guess something kind of big happened on Wednesday. I got my internship! Fremantle contacted Daryl on Monday and sent their regrets - they couldn't take an intern. Since most of their day to day operations have been relocated to South East Asia there wasn't really anything for me to do in this office. I was thankful for their honesty and consideration, it's still a nice connection to have somewhere down the road. So Daryl emailed his contact at Showtime Monday afternoon and by the end of class I had an interview. It was like lightning! Wednesday morning I got up early, got dressed in my nice professional outfit (which I realized my white, French cuffed shirt had a small stain on the sleeve as I put it on, I covered it awkwardly with my hand most of my interview) and went to my first class before my interview. It went by pretty slowly, the longer I sit the more antsy I get so by the time Daryl came to pick me up at BUSC I was ready to burst. Of course, my interviewer was still on an international conference call when we got there so I had to wait some more. But that was fine because the interview seemed great. They have so much going on at Showtime Australia! Not only do the license and program American-made content but they produce their own as well. That, to me, is the most exciting. I get to be in an environment that is filled with both creative people and business people - the combination I hope to embody. I'll be working with two executives, following their day to day operations in addition to being given some projects of my own. I'm really excited as they seem open to allowing me some independence and a window into pretty much everything. Not to mention the DVD library they have there, I'm going to buy a sleeping bag and just camp out in there! It sounds like a really fantastic opportunity and I'm lucky to be putting it on my resume.

Afterward, Daryl and I went and got a coffee and chatted for awhile. He's a really great mentor and I'm really grateful that he's my adviser. He's so knowledgeable and willing to share all of that knowledge, which is a huge help. It was nice to just kind of sit and listen to his stories - he did a lot of documentary work during his career so he was really interested in my work with Carl and Tia as well. I think I'll eventually do something big with docs, they seem to be popping up everywhere in my life! I'm excited to be able to explore everything at Showtime, their programming lineup is amazing: from Dexter to Grey Gardens to documentaries. I'll be watching the Emmys on Monday (they're on at 10am Monday here!) with my fingers crossed for Showtime programming!

After that I just bummed around all day, finishing a paper about the programming differences and successes between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and PBS/CPB in the States. I love my major. :)

I also love my minor! Since I'm taking an Aboriginal Australia class here, Professor Zank (my religion adviser) said if I wrote my paper in the class on Aboriginal religion I could count that as a religion credit. Well, the professor who's teaching the class here is so awesome she's helping me take it a step further. Not only am I writing a research paper on Aboriginal Christianity she's going to help me create a multimedia presentation on the evolution of Aboriginal spirituality - from the time in the bush to missionaries to where they are now. She's going to take me through the community throughout the semester to give interviews and hear stories, and hopefully I'll be able to go out with her to her people's lands and see a ceremony. If not, I'm sure the information I gather here will satisfy Professor Zank and be a great show of my quest to create a religious studies aspect out of my experience here. I'm very anxious to speak to people about their concept of religion and spirituality, it sounds so interesting and thought-provoking. It'll be a lot of fun.

Tonight we're off to get margaritas and chips and queso as a celebratory dinner for finishing our papers! I've been looking forward to it all week. Seriously. The Flying Fajita Sistas have the best queso I've ever had. I'm stoked. Tomorrow Megan and I are going to the Outback - to Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon, two beautiful natural phenomenons in the desert, dead center of the continent. We're being true backpackers on this one - no luxury resort for us! We're getting their early tomorrow then hiking Kings Canyon, doing a sunset tour, then back to a little hostel to sleep. Then early, early Saturday morning we're getting picked up to do an entire day's worth of hiking, exploring, and climbing on and around Ayers Rock. Then, at sunset we head to an observatory to check out the amazing stars you can see in the middle of the desert. Sunday we don't leave until later so I'm going to hit some of the Aboriginal cultural centers to start my research and check out the artwork. It's going to be a whirlwind but wonderful trip. I'm so excited!

I should probably go start getting ready for dinner and finish packing. I'll be without internet until Monday morning so I'll update then with pictures from the Outback!

G'night from down under!

Sick in Sydney

Well, the plague of the Sydney Internship Program Fall '09 has finally caught up with me. I thought I could avoid it but I was wrong. Though, as the evening wears on I do think I'm going to be one of the lucky ones who doesn't get it too awfully.

I felt it last night but ignored it, assuming it was just from all the salt water I ingested over the weekend. But this morning, the sore throat, congestion, and sinus headache could not be ignored. I'm sick. I had a fever, too, which I haven't had in ages. I called my mom for immediate motherly reassurance, which she happily provided (sometimes you just need your mom) and fell straight back asleep after talking with her. When I woke up again I knew I needed something to clear my sinuses so I texted MJ and proposed our favorite meal: yellow curry. Man, did it do the trick. I felt a lot better after eating a heaping serving of spicy yellow curry with rice, veggies, and chicken. I think my body was happy, too. Protein, carbs, and vegetables all in one glorious serving. Thank God for MJ for coming with me, it was exactly what I needed, plus we were the first ones at the restaurant when it opened. The waitress asked us if we were eating breakfast or lunch with them! We then trekked to the shopping center where I bought some Sudafed - same brand here, thank God - and, exhausted after my excursion, went back for an epic nap. I woke up to a voicemail from my internship adviser - I got an interview with Showtime Australia! Yay! It's less of an interview and more of a "let's meet you so we can double check you'll fit in with our office culture but you're basically already hired" or so says Daryl. I'm really excited about the job, it has a lot of potential for production, management, and development, which is exactly what I want. Plus, once I finalize my internship here I can repolish my resume and send it out to my boss for second semester so she can also finalize my position in Los Angeles. It'll be nice to get that out of the way. After running to BUSC for class I headed back home to eat another nice spicy food - sushi. I figured after three water bottles, two cups of tea, and the curry, the wasabi would be the icing on the cake. Again, it did the trick. I can definitely breathe easier than I have all day, I'm hoping this means that I am getting over it fast. Though, I did have to postpone my date with Ben for fear of both of our healths. Next week! It'll give me more time to finish my paper, though, since I need to turn it in early before I leave for the Outback on Friday. Tomorrow will be Pilates, paper, and laundry day - if I'm feeling up to that last one. I think with another good night's sleep (this time with the aid of Sudafed PM) and another couple liters of water I should be okay. It just sucks being sick on another continent - thank goodness for Sarah and Abby being on Facebook chat this morning so I had sympathetic ears to whine to. :)

I'm off to watch some Curb Your Enthusiasm before taking my meds, tomorrow will be less eventful still, so stay tuned for a health update.

G'night from downunder!

Belated Update

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a few days! It's been insane, but amazing! I'll go day by day.


Thursday: Boring day but fantastic night. It was Megan Jackson's birthday so we went out hardcore. After taking (and acing!) my quiz I showered and got dressed in my new outfit for her birthday dinner and drinks at Cargo. I got a beautiful black banded high-waisted skirt and a gray shirt with gold coin detailing around the collar. I wore black tights, my Tory Burch leather jacket, and my black peep toed heels. I felt really, really good and was so excited to go out. We all left for Cargo around 8:15pm after giving Megan her cake and singing happy birthday. She was so surprised! The lounge was fantastic - they gave us two bottles of free champagne to start us off and were more than willing to take pictures of all us screaming girls. We started off with $5 champagne cocktails and then went to Pimms Lemonade after the promotion ended. It was fantastic just to hang out with all the girls, have some cocktails, and laugh all night. It was so, so much fun. I chatted up the bartender all night, being a big idiot. LoL But towards the end of the night I met a great guy named Ben. We talked for an hour while everybody else was dancing and drinking and we ended up exchanging numbers. It was a fantastic, fun, exciting night that I'm so glad I was a part of. Great friends, great time!



Friday: After all of our excitement we all felt a little under the weather Friday so I laid low, got some yellow curry (my new favorite hangover food)for lunch and then packed for Surf Camp. After some sushi, gelato, and a two hour bus ride we arrived at camp and all crashed pretty hard. It wasn't very eventful except that before I left I finally received my new cell phone which means I can again BBM, text, and receive calls from the US - so call me! Plus my mom sent me a beautiful card and a picture of the two of us from my senior photos. It's old, but I'm glad I have it here.

Saturday: Up bright and early to learn how to surf! After a big breakfast we all got fitted for wet suits and learned how to carry our boards down to the beach. Let me tell you, they are not light! Man, I was tired just from carrying the 9 foot board all the way from our cabins to the beach. We split into groups - our leaders being Shane (Shane-o), John (John-o) and 14-year old Brett (Brett-o) - and started the slow but positive process of learning how to surf. We started on the beach and got the basics down, how to paddle, how to get in the right position, where our feet were supposed to go. It was hard, my hip is really restrictive in some ways, surfing apparently being one of them. It's almost impossible to bend the way it needs to so I can pop up on the board. It was really messing with my position and how I needed to learn to stand. We started mostly with just pushing ourselves up onto our knees - which I proceeded to do most of the day despite learning how to stand in our second lesson. Thankfully, the instructors are really great and recognized my issues pretty fast. Shane-o saw me struggling and showed me a different way to come up, a slight modification for my hip since it was really starting to bug me. After that, I totally was able to get up. Mind you, these are tiny waves and my balance still wasn't perfect but I rode some in! We had a great time in both of our lessons - a total of six hours in the water. It was exhausting! We had a big dinner and some ice cream after much-needed showers. In the evening we got a slide show of our first day and laughed at how ridiculous most of us looked. Seriously, wet suits plus wobbly uni students equals some hilarious faces - guys and girls! Some people went out to the pub after dinner but our group decided to crash, which we totally did.



Sunday: Woke up bright and early again! Another big breakfast, though a little slower this time as we were sooooore. We went out again in the morning and this time I was much more successful! I rode so many! It was so exciting - being in the water, the waves, being with friends. It's amazing. Most people know I'm a total fish - ocean, lake, pool, once I'm in you can't get me out and this was no exception. The water was cold but it was so refreshing, especially because it was about ten degrees hotter today than it was on Saturday. I love the ocean. Even if I hadn't been surfing I would've enjoyed myself just being in such blue, beautiful water on Seven Mile Beach. I know it's not the most intense surf, but it was a great learning experience. We had a great lunch - Australian way to eat burgers = beet, pineapple, and sweet chili sauce, SO GOOD - and afterward we went back out for our last surf. I was really satisfied with my morning surf and the waves were nearly nonexistent so we all just messed around - lined our surfboards up and walked across them in the water, made a fort with the boards and tried to keep people off, and yelled at the instructors to do tricks on the waves that managed to appear every once in awhile. It was so much fun to watch them surf, too. We had one last wave (which I rode then face planted in the shallow water) and sprinted back to camp to get showers in before our second two hour bus ride. I slept most of the way back to Sydney then we went to Scubar with the group for free pizza and beer. Most of us were exhausted so we had a piece of pizza or two, a sip of beer, and bailed. I'm still sore, my shoulders are killing me from paddling and my legs are wobbly from all the work. I'm glad I have Pilates on Tuesday!



All in all it was an amazing, unforgettable weekend. A bunch of us are planning on taking another weekend during our internship to go to Surf Camp again because we had such an amazing time and we want more practice! It was so much fun - going out for Megan's birthday, the day after curry hangover food, surfing all weekend, and just enjoying my time in Australia. This week is pretty low key: laundry, paper writing, dinner with Ben, and then The Outback over the weekend! I'll post as much as I can and if anything exciting happens you'll be the first to know. :)



G'night from down under!

PS - Our group picture looks like that because our team name was the Mighty Hermit Turkeys, don't ask me why.

Sunny Sydney

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday! It was a pretty uneventful day. I had an amazing Pilates session with Cynthia Lochard and felt so much better afterward. My body has been killing me lately; hip, knees, shoulder, the whole gambit. With all the traveling everything was just out of whack. Thankfully, Cynthia has a great eye for issues and even after one hour long session I felt a lot better. Good enough to swim for an hour today! I forget how good my whole body feels after a nice long swim. I'm going to keep going now, especially since Abby and I are starting the Game On! diet in a week or so. It's going to be intense, and I love to win! Hopefully my pool pass plus weekly sessions with Cynthia, not to mention surf camp, hiking, and traveling will keep me in good enough shape (and earn me enough points) to compete with Abby.

Today was similarly uneventful. Morning was relaxing, then off to the pool, then some sushi for lunch, then an epic nap, then class! We all got together tonight and had a massive study session as we have an exam tomorrow. The good thing is its open book and open note so I took about six extra pages of notes from all of our readings. I'm hoping that'll serve me well. Tomorrow night we're all going out to Cargo Bar for dinner and drinks for Megan Jackson's birthday. That should be incredibly fun! I'm still debating what to wear, but I know I want to finally wear my peacock feather headband that my mom bought me in New York when she visited. It's going to be a really fun night - $5 pizza, martinis, and champagne drinks! :) I don't go out very often, but I do look forward to it when I do. MJ's birthday will be a celebration for us all.

I'm going to head to bed - tomorrow we're going on a tour of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's studios with my media class and then I'm gonna probably study some more before our exam. I'm sorry I'm not very exciting - but after a small pause in blogging this weekend for surf camp (no computers allowed near the beach!) I'll have lots of stories to tell.

G'night from down under!

Home Again, Home Again

Well, I'm back in Sydney after my whirlwind adventure in the City of Sails. It was fantastic. I couldn't have been happier with the experience, from seeing dolphins to sailing all of Father's Day. It was a wonderful way to honor Dad.


Now that I'm back in Sydney there's not much going on! I was exhausted after my early flight and ill-fated all nighter. It was not a smart idea. But, I literally passed out the second I got on the plane (with Zed faithfully being my soft pillow!) and didn't wake up until we landed. That to me is flying paradise. I got back to the dorm and fell back asleep until the mid afternoon when I showered and went to class. There's a great little cafe next to the BUSC (BU Sydney Center) and I had a great sandwich. They have these tiny mini baklavas that I'm obsessed with. They're delicious. It was a nice boost before a three hour lecture. The current CEO of ASTRA (the Australian pay television conglomerate) came and spoke with us, which was really interesting. She was a fantastic speaker and I got her card so I could ask her some questions and hopefully get to know her a little better. She basically had my dream job - Director of Programming - for the former ABA (Australian Broadcasting Association) here and I would love to pick her brain for advice. She was really engaging and despite being exhausted I was easily awake and took tons of notes. I love the fact that classes here are so geared towards our interests. There's no bullshit here - it's information I know I'll use. After class Sam and I went to the grocery store because eating out so much is quickly tapping me out. So, I got some non-perishable healthy items like tuna and rice cakes along with some produce. I'm going to get a different produce item every week so I never have anything go bad. Plus, I found these tiny Nutella packs that go perfectly with an apple. Heaven! I'm pretty tired and a little sad I haven't been able to get a hold of my mom in the past three days to share my adventures with her. Hopefully I'll get to talk to her in the morning. I'm so anxious to tell her how well everything is going. Mom - if you're reading this, turn your cell phone on! :)

Tomorrow I have my first Pilates session with Cynthia Lochard, Level I instructor. I'm so excited. My body is basically calling out for Pilates and I'm ready to get back on the machines. My joints hurt so bad and my shoulder is still all wonky from traveling, I'm sure Cynthia will straighten me up in no time. I'm also going to go sign up for my gym membership - just getting a pool pass, though. With my body feeling like this the last thing I need to do is get on a treadmill or elliptical and blow my knees. Thankfully, Sydney is known for it's PT (or physiotherapy, as they call it) and my good friend Sam is studying with one of the best here. I have offered to be her test dummy for everything so I'm wicked excited to have her play around with my knees and shoulder. Plus, I get a new theraband out of it! I'm a huge dork. Ha!

It's nice to be settling into a rhythm and schedule here. Hopefully I'll have internship news soon, but for now I'm really enjoying the pace of the week and traveling on the weekends. Surf Camp on Friday - good thing I'm meeting with Cynthia before, I can't wear knee braces in the water! It's good to be home in my little bed with my pictures surrounding me. It might not be fancy, but this place is definitely turning into a home away from home.

G'night from down under!

City of Sails, Day Three

I repeat my sentiment from yesterday: I would move to Auckland in a heartbeat.

Today started pretty much the same as yesterday - snooze button! I love big hotel beds and I soak up all the time I can spend in them. So after sleeping in I headed out for another day around Auckland. I decided to leave early enough for some exploring before sailing today. So I headed down to Queen's St and walked for awhile, got lost on High St, and found a cute little Maori boutique and bought a tiny little stuffed kiwi that I'm also mildly obsessed with. After walking up and down Queens Street for awhile I decided to head back toward the water for some brunch. I found a little cafe called Sierra and hunkered down for some food. It was amazing. I had French toast with bacon and bananas - not a combination I would've originally chosen but it was perfect. Plus, their portion sizes here are so much smaller so you can finish what's on your plate without feeling like a glutton. I also had the best chai latte I've ever had. I took my time with breakfast, reading my book, savoring my meal, and listening to the Beirut CD on shuffle at the restaurant (Kiwis are Beirut fans, who knew?!). It was the perfect start to the day. I then went and checked into my America's Cup Sailing Experience and read my book on the water before heading out at two. The boat was beautiful, it was raced in the '95 America's Cup by the Japanese and man, she was beautiful. Big, powerful, and smooth. We didn't have crazy winds so there was no keeling, which was sad, but it was a beautiful two hour sail. That boat sure does move. I got to man the helm for about 35 minutes, tacking three times, and supervising while they pulled the jib down and the kite up. It was sunny, warm, and a perfect, brilliant sail. The crew was nice and friendly, really informative and conversational. Being used to smaller boats I was a little out of my element cranking those huge sails up but it was quite the experience and I wish I could do it every day. I think the only other place I'm ever as relaxed as I am on a boat is in a barn around horses. There's just a peace about it - water, wind, winches. It's irreplaceable and definitely in my blood.



After a great two hours we headed back to the mooring and I sat to read my book for the hour and a half between the Cup sail and the dinner cruise. But the crew had another plan for me - they saw me by myself and when the finished taking care of the boat, invited me out for a drink. They were all great and we had a lot of fun laughing over beers. I'm Facebook friends with one of the guys and I hope he'll come visit in Australia when he has time between Uni classes. The dinner cruise was just as great. There were only five people (including me) so it was really intimate and nice, not rushed or too touristy. Dinner was very tasty and I drove the Pride of Auckland for another 45 minutes or so while I talked with Pablo, our captain. All the crew on these boats are fantastic, great sailors and passionate about what they do. We went out until around 8pm, watched the sunset over the largest yacht club in the southern hemisphere, sailed under the harbor bridge, and watched the full moon rise over the water. Beautiful. Afterward, I was freezing so I hopped in a cab and back to the hotel. I should've gone right to bed because a cab is picking me up at 5am to make my flight, but that's so not going to happen. Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter! I'll nap when I get back to Sydney, I don't even have class until 4pm.

It was a wonderful memorial to my dad and there's something about this city that clicks with me. The people, the boats, the water - all of it just kind of feels like home. I'm so hoping I can come back here one day, maybe even permanently. We'll see. It was a happy father's day, I felt Dad everywhere.

I'm leaving early so I might take a quick nap before the cab comes, back to Sydney I go!

G'night from kiwiland!

City of Sails, Day Two

I would move to Auckland in a heartbeat.

I've never been to a more beautiful city. Don't get me wrong, I love Sydney already and I'm sure I'll love everywhere else I'm going in the next semester but this place feels like home to me. It's amazing.

The morning started out pretty uneventful. I slept in an extra hour and then headed out to navigate my way to Viaduct Harbor. It wasn't hard at all, everything is mapped out well here and most roads lead right to the water. I grabbed some ice tea and sultana toast (my new favorite thing) then walked along the water for a little while before going on the boat for the Whale and Dolphin Safari. The water here is bright green, almost fluorescent, it sparkles like it has diamonds on the surface. It felt really good to be back on water, the smell of it, the feeling of a rocking boat, I love all of that so much. It was a good hour and a half out of the main harbor until open water and the ride was gorgeous. I sound really redundant here, but I can't really describe it any other way. We passed a dormant volcano, plunging cliffs, and rolling hills. I took so many pictures that look the same, but each one has so much color it's hard not to keep snapping. We got all the way out to an area dotted with islands and into "Whale Pass." Unfortunately, we didn't see any Orcas (it's the tail end of their season out here) but man, did we see dolphins! Tons of them! They're such playful and excited animals, they chased the boat in its wake, dove and jumped around the bow, and leaped around both the starboard and port sides of the boat. I literally was like a ping pong ball back and forth getting pictures of them all around. We also just kind of cruised for awhile, which was really great, too. I sat in the galley, drank hot chocolate, and read my book. I love the rocking feeling of being on a boat, I got my sea legs back really quickly and it just felt like home. I curled up and tried to stay warm (it's the end of winter/beginning of spring so it's cold and windy) while watching the scenery around me. We kept slowing to see dolphins so I'd run out, take pictures, then go back in. We were out for four hours and it went by so quickly. I'm so glad I decided to do it, it was a really breathtaking experience.

After that, I wandered back to the harbor and went to the Maritime Museum, which was really informative and interesting. I love knots and they had a whole section of different nautical knots. Dorky, I know. Then, I wandered up and down Queen's Street for awhile, hopping in souvenir shops. I was enamored by a sheep's skin mat that I couldn't stop petting so I decided that would be my little gift to myself. I love it. I'm going to take it everywhere. I've also named it Zed. (they say zed here instead of just the letter "z") It's nice being an anonymous person in a city like this. It's been nice to just be alone with my thoughts and my book. And not talking! I'm really enjoying the silence. Odd for me, right?

Tomorrow, I'm off for two hours on an America's Cup sailboat to race around the harbor then a dinner cruise on a sail yacht. It's their Father's Day here tomorrow, so I think it's doubly appropriate. Boats, eating, water, lots of things Dad loved.

I'm off to eat some fish and chips and warm up - it's cold here and I did not dress appropriately!

G'night from kiwiland! :)

City of Sails

I have been up a very long time so this post may be quick!

I started off the day early to catch my plane to Auckland. After a pleasant cab ride and getting through customs and security I headed off to New Zealand. I have to say, that even from the air it's a beautiful country. Absolutely gorgeous. So green and lush. The drive into the city had panoramic views of mountains and the harbor. I can't even describe the shade of green that this country is covered in. It's deeper than emerald and almost fluorescent. My hotel is right next to a beautiful park - St James Park - near Auckland University and off the man drag, Queen Street. I love my hotel room, with my big bed and the view of the water and all the sail boats. I was so exhausted after flying and dealing with customs (and sitting in traffic) I decided I'd do something both Dad and I loved to do: get room service and curl up watching a movie! It sounds simple and pedestrian - especially when in a foreign country - but it's so nice to relax and decompress after a day of traveling. Especially because tomorrow is going to be busy!

I start my morning off with a whale and dolphin watch around the North Island of New Zealand. It's on a big catamaran, which Dad loved. Plus, we did it in Boston when I was little and now I'm doing it again on my own! After whale watching I'm going to explore Auckland a bit, read on the harbor, in the park, possibly get dinner somewhere with a view of the water. I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna have to cut this short. But I guess my usual send off won't work, so G'night from kiwiland! :)

Quick!

This one will have to be a quick one because I'm off to class soon!


Yesterday was relatively uneventful but did mark the six year anniversary of my dad's death. It was hard to be so far away from my mom but I made the best of it. We started the day with a tour of the historic parts of the city, which was really interesting. The whole morning walking tour exhausted me so I went home, had lunch, then took a really solid nap. Then, shower and off to class.

After class was where the amazingness started. We all went to the Flying Fajita Sistas for Natan's birthday, which was so much fun. We got giant margaritas, quesadillas, queso fundido, and Mexican bread pudding. It was a feast, it was delicious, and Natan, Ariel, Megan, Sam, and I did a nice toast to my dad and his legacy. It felt really good to be around everyone and celebrating something instead of wallowing. Plus, my sail trip this weekend is a huge memorial for him and that'll be just me, my books, and his memory.

Sam and I also officially planned Fiji! Yay! :)

So yesterday, despite it's somber tone, was good. Good food, good friends, good memories. That's what it's about, right?

G'day from down under! (it's morning here!)

Planning!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a planner. I have to plan things out, I'm not very spontaneous and I don't like doing things last minute. Seriously, I hate it.

So, because of this I now have the rest of the first teaching period all planned out - every weekend is booked solid and I couldn't be happier! This coming weekend it's off to Auckland for some sail adventures for my dad. Then the next weekend it's surf camp - it's the following weekends I organized today. Sam and I went to Backpackers World bright and early and waited about an hour until Amanda was done with a client. We met up with my friend Megan who was also planning some stuff and decided Megan and I would do the Outback and Cairns together. When she first started bringing up flight prices I was really discouraged and disappointed. It all seemed way too expensive to even begin to commit to anything, and here in Australia prices only go up, there's no "last minute" deal. It's just a last minute pay through your nose deal. So we were at a slight disadvantage. So after another hour or two of basically being told my travel plans were ruined I left, a bit crestfallen. But, I realized, who's a better travel agent than I am? Who plans trips, finds flights and hotels, and does everything not only for her mother but for others as well? Oh, that's right. ME. So I got really revved up, ate my left over Indian food, and started my search. And boy, was I ever right. I found better flight prices, better excursion deals, and all around cheaper experiences. I need to trust myself more often! By 4:30pm, Megan and I had booked a weekend in the Outback visiting Ayers Rock, King's Canyon, and the Aboriginal Center (for my religion credit) for way less than Amanda quotes us AND a long weekend trip to Cairns (pronounced cans for all you!) for Labor Day. I was so excited, so was Megan! It's going to be an amazing couple days getting to see two parts of Australia we really wanted to experience. I'm also thinking of heading to the Whitsundays just for a couple days during Spring Break after Fiji just to see it, but that's for later. I'm so happy things are settled and I'll have a good, like-minded travel buddy with me for those two trips. Megan and I are going to have so much fun hiking in Uluru and snorkeling in Cairns! I'm so grateful that it all worked out. It's going to be a whirlwind five weeks!

We also had our first day of our required Australian Culture and Society class today, which was interesting. I think I can totally work it towards my religion credit and satisfy my adviser back at BU. Not only is one of our guest lecturers an expert on Aboriginal culture and can help me but I'm going to visit one of their most sacred spots to witness a ceremony. Come on, that has to count! :) Early to bed again tonight, we have an early field trip with one of our professors that I don't want to be groggy for. I'm starting to understand this whole early to bed, early to rise thing! Maybe my mother is onto something!

G'night from down under!