Friday, March 27
Today I went to Ingle Farm where I had a house visit in the morning. It was a really good visit, next week we are making lasagna- I've never done that before so it will be interesting. After my visit I returned to the office where I did a bit of work then went into the city with Lynette, another student intern from Canada. We did a few agency visits so we knew of some resources for clients we meet with. After seeing a couple agencies we went to the central market where we got some fruit and veg, then caught coffee before heading our separate ways. It was a beautiful day so I decided to walk back to where we're staying.
Hilary and Ellie went to Mt. Gambier this weekend with Jess who is from Glynde church. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to go. I really wanted to go on a road trip and see other parts of Australia, but because I was sick earlier this week I was exhausted and didn't know if that was the best decision.... so I decided to stay home.
When I got back it was around 8:30 so I had some tea and watched a little television. It was really good to be able to sit back and relax and have some time to myself.
Saturday, March 28
I slept in... sort of today. Since I've been here I have yet to sleep through the night, it's very annoying. When I got out of bed I cleaned the house a bit and went on a nice walk. Later that afternoon Beibei came by and picked me up and we went to an Asian grocery store because we wanted to have hot pot for tea. Hot pot is where you use a special pot (Rice cooker if you don't have a hot pot) to heat up water and hot pot sauce that has a bit of oil and seasoning in it- we had chili flavored!
After heating up the water you put fish, meat, veggies, tofu, etc. in the pot and when it starts to boil the things you put in the water should be ready to eat. You use chopsticks and dig around until you can pull something yummy out. You don't put it all in at once, so you spend a lot of time putting food in, letting it cook, getting it out, eating it, putting more in, etc. I have never eaten so much tofu in my life, it was really good! I had regular tofu (white block), dried tofu, and fried tofu.
We hung out for a while then cooked tea for her friend, Friday. We dropped it off at his work then came back to Beibei's house and I stayed the night. It was really nice to spend some time with her!
Sunday, March 29
Beibei and I woke up around 7:15ish so that we could make it to a market at Gepp's Cross Trevor Market. It is a really big thing on Sunday mornings... and it is very fresh and cheap! Cars are lined up from 7am-at least 9am to get into the market, we parked and walked there to save time. There are heaps of fruit and veg stands and other various stands that sell just about anything you can think of.
After the market we went back to Beibei's house to have breakfast and get ready for church. Beibei lives very close to Glynde church so she dropped my off on the way to the church she attends in the city.
At Glynde I met up with Helene and her family. After the service we returned to her house where we had lunch and then went to a kite festival at Semaphore Beach. Helene's mum was in town so she joined in on the fun! I have never been to a kite festival before. On one side of the jetty (pier) there were professional kite fliers who had very expensive and elaborate kites. On the other side of the jetty people who came to the festival could fly there kites and two professional kite fliers had kites that carried lollies with parachutes up in the air are when it reached the top it released all the lollies... the kids had a blast. They were also doing it with teddy bears, but those had to be returned.
After spending a bit of time at the beach we returned to Helene's house where we had tea and then she dropped me off where I'm staying. It was a very nice and relaxing day.
Monday, March 30
I was at Ingle Farm again this morning. I spent some time in the morning writing a paper that I haven't been able to write because of lack of time and being sick last week. In the afternoon a mums with twins/craft group comes in and I help out with that. In the afternoon I worked some more on the paper. It was a pretty quite day at the Family Zone Hub.
Karen dropped me off at the Magill site and I waited around until Hilary arrived from the Blair Athol op shop. The two of us walked to Lorinda's house and sat outside until around 6:30. It was nice to have some down time and chat about each other's weekend.
Lorinda is in charge of organizing the playgroup that I help out at at Glynde Church on Wednesdays. She is a very sweet, kind, and gentle woman. When we got there Bethany (11ish mo) and Sophie(3) were finishing up dinner and shortly later Lorinda's husband, Tim, arrived home from work.
After the kids dinner we played and danced in the living room. haha. It was a lot of fun. Then a bit later Ellie arrived from spending the day at Calvary. Tim got out his guitar and we played/sang a bit. I played and sang the song "El Espiritu De Dios Esta Aqui." I was surprised I still remembered it. While everyone else continued to play/sing Lorinda put Bethany to bed then shortly later I put Sophie to bed. She was such a sweetie!
Around 8:30 when the kids were in bed it was a bit quieter so we could sit down and have tea. It was really good! Lorinda made a pasta dish that had eggplant and tomatoes in it. After quite a bit of conversation Lorinda was kind enough to drive us back to where we are staying. I had a wonderful time at their house.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A week over due! -sorry
I'm not re-reading any of this... so there may be heaps of grammar and spelling errors... and I'm okay with that. haha.
I am really impressed with Wartburg right now (can you believe I said that?! Normally I'm saying how much I dislike the place)... earlier this week the students protested a lot of frustrations they hold toward the college because many students feel like their complaints aren't being heard... the students declared it an "outfly" day... check out the article in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier: http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2009/03/25/news/local/doc49ca3d98b8d3f636088054.txt
Thursday:
Like most Thursdays Helen drove me to Magill and Karen picked me up to go to Ingle Farm. When I arrived at Ingle Farm we found out that our speaker cancelled so we had no plan for what the Afghani women's group was going to look like today.
We whipped up some ideas and decided to have another cooking day. This week we made butterfly cup cakes. They are basically cupcakes with the center cut out, and filled with jam and whip cream. A lot of Australian desserts have jams or creams in them. We also discussed a swimming date that will come up at the end of the term. The Afghani women love to swim, but oftentimes are unable to because it is culturally unacceptable to be seen by men when they are in their bathers (bathing suit).
After the women's group I had a meeting with Chelsea who is an intern in charge of some events at Ingle Farm, a young Afghani woman who works with LCC and helps us translate, and another student intern who is in charge of an African women group on Wednesdays.
My afternoon house visit cancelled because she said she was sick. I'm not sure if she really was sick, or just needs some motivation. Either way, I hope she starts feeling better soon and is up to some more visits in the near future.
I helped out with random tasks around Ingle Farm for the remainder of my time there... one neat thing that they have is a library filled with toys, books, videos, and other child necessities. Anyone can check the things out for free, what a good way to use the resources!
I can't think back far enough to what I did for the rest of this day. :)
Friday:
Today I went to Ingle Farm with the intentions of doing a home visit right away, but the mum was having some difficulties and I was unable to visit. I hung around and helped out at a creche until I caught a bus and made it back to Magill by lunch time. This afternoon was a fun day because everyone around Magill has been working extremely hard these days and decided to spend a portion of our afternoon at Cleland National Park. At the park we saw tons of animals! Lazy Kangaroos who were sprawled out on the lawn, koalas, Tasmanian devils, lizards, birds, dingos, emus, wallabies, and heaps of beautiful scenery. (Pictures to follow). It was a lot of fun!
After we returned to where we're staying Helen invited us to go to Brighton Beach, her favorite! When Peter got home the five of us went to the beach and arrived just in time for the sunset! We had a great view of the shore and sunset while we ate our tea, it was lovely! After tea we got ice cream and then took a nice walk on the beach... very relaxing.
Saturday:
This morning came early! Jazz who is in charge of camping ministry picked us up at the house at 8:15 to make it to a camp training by 9. We got there a bit early and hung out until others arrived. This camp training is required for people who are planning on helping out at the YPOUT camp April 17-20. We thought it was going to go until 4:30 pm, but because we had other child safe training we were able to leave at 1.
Some girls who we met at FUEL who were also at the training were kind enough to drop us off in the city. El and Hil decided to head back to the house, but I took this opportunity to spend some time in the city when the shops were open (they normally close at 5). I called it retail therapy. haha. I only bought a couple things... and I'm justifying the purchase because they were on sale.
When I returned to the house I made dinner and the three of us decided to watch a movie Hilary got from the video rental place down the street. I don't recall what the name of the movie was, but it was an Australian film and it wasn't all that bad. We decided to call it a night because we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow.
Sunday:
I woke up this morning at 7 and wasn't feeling well, but after a while I was able to fall back asleep until I woke up again at 9. The three of us had to catch a 9:44 bus in order to catch a 10:55 train that took us to Belair. We arrived in Belair and Yvonne (head of LCC) and her husband, Richard, were awaiting our arrival.
We took a scenic route through the hills and vineyards until we arrived at one of their favorite wineries where we did a wine tasting. I've never been to a winery, so it was a new and very fun experience. You are able to taste any of the wines they have and nibble on a few things (this place had olives, cheese and crackers, and figs).
After the first winery, an olive tasting at an olive grove, and another winery we had lunch. We got back into the car and headed towards another winery. I was feeling fine until we started going on the really windy/up and down roads. I started to get a little car sick and just tried to breathe deeply and kind of closed my eyes. All of a sudden I threw up! I have never thrown up before in a car, no matter how car sick I've gotten. I felt absolutely terrible! When we arrived at Yvonne's house I got sick again, my stomach settled down when we weren't in a moving vehicle I and felt much better.
After watching a bit of a movie we went to Reality, which is a more modern service at Yvonne's church. We returned to their house after the service and some of their friends came along a bit later. Richard made homemade pasta... it was really good, but I was nervous about eating it since I wasn't feeling the greatest! After a while Yvonne drove us back to the train stop and we returned to Adelaide. When we got back into the car I started to feel sick again and actually threw up later that night at our house. I think I got sick from a combination of being exhausted, driving on curvy roads, I have one of the many bugs that are going around Adelaide right now, and wine didn't help any of it.
Monday:
I took today off. I wasn't very thrilled about the idea because I hate to miss things like work or classes. I didn't throw up any more today, but my stomach and digestive system are still pretty messed up. :(
I woke up early to let Helen know I wouldn't be coming to work and skyped a bit. Helen and Peter let me stay in their house a bit longer to skype while they went to work. It was really nice because I was able to talk with Stephen, my mum, and Amanda and Kayley skyped with me at the Bakers! It was really nice to chat with everyone... it was the first time I was able to skype with Amanda and Kaylee- it was wonderful to catch up on their lives!
After skyping I went back to the house and took my bedding into the living room and sprawled out on the floor. I watched a bit of tv and ate some toast then slept for a while. They are doing construction across the street so I wasn't able to sleep for too long without being woken up.
Helen and Ellie arrived in the evening with some crackers and other things that are good for an upset stomach. Helen told me to take tomorrow off and Ellie decided to take tomorrow off because she was feeling a bit exhausted. When Hil got home we had dinner and watched another Australian film.
Tuesday:
Today I tried to sleep in... so much for that. I got up and made breakfast because I was really hungry when I woke up. I think I shouldn't have had so much to eat because I needed to lay down a bit because my stomach was feeling a bit queasy. Ellie went over to Helen's and used the Internet while I hung out in the living room a bit longer.
When Ellie returned we ate lunch and decided to go on a walk because I have been sick of staying in the house for the past couple days. Ellie was kind enough to give me some medicine that calmed down my stomach- I think I have too much acid or something.... I felt much better after I took the meds.
We walked to Target (it doesn't sell groceries here) to look around. We stopped at a fruit and veg, then coles to get some groceries. We returned to the house and started to cook when Hilary got back from Sefton Park. We had dinner then I walked to Helen's where I caught Peter and asked him what Helen's favorite type of cake was- it is her birthday tomorrow! I know birthdays are a big thing their family so I wanted to make her something special. Once I found out I walked to coles again, got some things for a cake and cake/pudding cupcakes, and baked them before I went to bed!
Wednesday:
Helen gave me a lift to Magill this morning and I was planning on walking to Glynde Church, but Emily offered to give me a lift- it was very nice of her! Playgroup was very nice, I really enjoy getting to know the mums... Lorinda invited me and the girls to tea next week!
I had a meeting with Pastor John after playgroup and we discussed evangelism and how we were going to approach a visit we had this afternoon. There is someone who is new to the church who wanted to know more about getting connected, he moved here with no family in Australia, and he wanted to know more about Jesus. After our meeting Diane who helps out at playgroup and is part of the Glynde congregation dropped me off at Magill.
I had lunch and we celebrated Helen's birthday! Yvonne was there, I felt so embarrassed... it was the first time I've seen her since I got sick. Emily made long noodles for Helen's birthday and we brought the cupcakes to work. It was quite the feast.
John picked me up for the visit and were at the man's house for 2.5 hours. He is a really nice guy, but I think that English was somewhat of a barrier. After the visit John dropped me back off at Magill where I got caught up on a few things before Helen and I headed home.
Helen invited the three of us to join her for a birthday meal... it was a very kind gesture! Hil wasn't feeling the greatest so she decided to stay behind, but there were 12 of us who went to a nice restaurant. After the meal we returned to Helen's house where Helen opened her gifts and we had cake and ice cream. It was really nice to join Helen on her birthday! :)
Thursday:
Today I got a lift with Helen to Magill, then Karen dropped by to pick me up to go to Ingle Farm. The Afghani women group was on the agenda for this morning. We had a speaker come in and talk about breast cancer and cervical cancer. At first another worker and I were nervous about the topic because this cultural group is more closed about certain topics, but it ended up being quite a good session. In Australia it is suggested that women get proper tests every two years to prevent these cancers and other diseases. In fact, in Australia these tests are free. I wonder how many cases of cancer would be caught sooner if the US had free tests.
I was supposed to meet with a family this afternoon, but it turns out that one of the kids has hand foot and mouth disease so I wasn't able to go. Instead I hung around and did some tasks around the office and chatted with one of the other student interns about her experiences at Ingle Farm.
I got dropped off at Magill and was planning on taking a bus home, but instead Helen was kind enough to drop me off near the house on her way to catch coffee. When I arrived Hil and El were getting ready to go to the Mitcham Shopping Centre because on Thursday the suburb shops are open "late" or until 8.
The three of us looked around the mall then went to Foodland. When we got home Beibei stopped by and we chatted for a while, had some tea, and did a Bible study. I am really thankful to have met Beibei.... we might go to a boxing class tomorrow!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
work, DRIVING, world's largest rocking horse!
Monday:
Helen drove me to Magill this morning, I am very fortunate to have someone who lives down the street who often goes to the Magill office too! The traffic was a bit bad this morning because the Eclipsel (sp?) which is a car racing thing that is set up in the city. They close down a lot of the streets, so people are all in a hurry to get to work and find different ways to get to their destinations.
Right before we got to Magill, Beibei stopped by and dropped off some sushi for me for lunch- she is so nice! After getting the sushi out of the fridge Karen arrived and I hopped in her car and we drove to Ingle Farm. There was a mix up about whether or not I was going to be there, so I didn't have a house visit in the morning (but I will on Mondays from now on). I am also in charge of setting up, and helping out with a craft group that comes in every Monday early afternoon. Karen had to pick her son up from school early so she drove me to the Magill site that is just down the street form her son's school.
At Magill I worked with Helen and tried to figure out some advertising for her Dreams and Dramas pre-marriage course she's offering in April. We were placing an ad on Facebook, then when we hit the "submit" button at the end it said there was an error. After toying around with it and giving up we decided to head back to Highgate.
Ellie spent a few days in Kristy's beach where she helped out with a budget training session overnight, so it was just Hil and I tonight. Hilary is making a few very cool videos (check out her blog to see if they're up), and I went on a nice run into the city before calling it a night.
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Tuesday:
Yesterday Helen and Helene said that they would appreciate some assistance around Magill tomorrow to get some marketing work done, so I rode with Helen to Magill this morning. When I got there everyone ran in a different direction to work on various work things. During this time I signed up for courses at Wartburg next year. I ran into some complications because a class that I thought was being offered really wasn't, so I spent a bit of time figuring out what I needed to graduate.
Paushali (she works at Magill 2 days a week doing administration things), Helen, Helene, and I had lunch then a couple of us went on a walk around the block. It was a beautiful day! After our walk we returned to the office and I began to go through the materials for a pre-marriage course for Helen. After a few minutes I picked up the job of beginning a newsletter up-date that Helen sends to all of the couples that have done counseling and pre-marriage workshops through her services.
Helen and I went home early (6:30) and I returned to an empty house. Hil and El went to the supermarket to buy things for dinner/green foods. They made green eggs, green mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green beer (it was St. Patricks day here). They put up a sign to advertise the "pub" they made. Haha... I don't know how they ate the green eggs and mac and cheese.
While the girls continued their St. Patrick's day celebration I took a spin in Helen's car! I was told that I will probably need to borrow someone's car on Friday to do house visits, so Helen was kind enough to offer her car for me to practice on. I thought it would probably be best to at least be behind the wheel of a car before I'm driving around Ingle Farm in traffic. At first it was a little weird because I wanted to make sure I didn't get too close to cars that were parked on the left side of the street... but I picked up on it pretty quickly.
It isn't all that different than in the United States because when you're driving on the right side of the road there is a line on your left side, and when you're driving on the left side of the road there is a line on your right side. You just have to make sure you're sticking close to the line. haha. The hardest thing for me to adjust to was the fact that the blinker was on the right side of the steering wheel. So when I tried to signal for a turn I was putting on my windshield wipers. I think I will try to practice driving one more time before I'm driving around Ingle Farm.
Yay for the experience of driving in Australia!
Wednesday:
I left really early to try to avoid the traffic from the Eclipsel (sp?) car racing. However, it was not necessary because it was the quickest and easiest bus ride I've ever been on! I got to playgroup about an hour early so I decided to walk around until people started to arrive.
There were quite a few children and mums at play group this week, it was really good! Lorinda organizes play group and has two children, Sophie and Bethany. Sophie just turned 3 and is very cute! Lorinda tells me that Sophie will be talking on her play phone at home saying "would you like to come for tea," then Lorinda will ask her who she was talking to. Sophie tells her mom that I'm coming over for tea (dinner). haha. It is so sweet! Lorinda actually called me up this week and invited Hil, El, and me over for tea next Monday. Lorinda and her family are all very nice people.
After play group I was dropped off and Magill and just as I was checking email I was informed that everyone was going leaving to go to other sites to do work. Helen was at Sefton Park all day, Emily was out working as well, Helene was on her way to Sefton Park for the afternoon and Di was going to Gumaracha to do an introduction. Di's job is to find people who don't have visitors in nursing homes and pairing them up with a volunteer.
My options were to be locked in Magill all afternoon, go to Sefton Park with Helene and wait until her meeting was over, or go with Di to Gumaracha a look around a bit until her introduction was over. I figured since I've never been to Gumaracha I should seize the opportunity. Gumaracha is home of the world's largest rocking horse. I was going to climb it, but it cost $2 and I wanted to see what else was around (and I'm glad I did!) There was a toy store where they make toys and sell souvenirs from Australia. After looking around a bit I saw a door behind the cash register that said "Free, just ask a staff member to open the door." I asked about it and went through.
The door led outside to an area sort of like a petting zoo. The area was fenced in and had alpacas, goats, lamb, sheep, peacocks, ducks, black swans, other random birds, and kangaroos. All the animals were free to roam wherever they wanted! There was a foot path, but because the animals weren't caged or separated from me or each other I could really walk where I wanted(there were also mini horse/donkey animals and emus that were fenced in other places). It was weird because I could approach and pet kangaroos, I was a little bit scared at first because they weren't caged, and I was the only person out there for a while until other viewers came.
After Di's introduction she rang my work mobile and picked me up. Along the way home we drove through Lobathol and stopped at the bakery (one of three strong German towns still around). At the bakery Di and I shared a small custard tart and I had a coffee (plain coffee with a bit of milk is called "short white").
It was about 4:30 when we were getting back into town and Di didn't want to return to the office so she was kind enough to drop me by the house. Hil and I hung around until Ellie returned from Calvary and we had dinner and watched a few Australian reality tv shows. "Farmer Wants a Wife" is kind of like the bachelor, but there are three farmers living on separate farms in Australia and have women on their land competing for the love of the Farmer. haha. Even though I'm on the opposite side of the world it seems some things never change.
p.s. photos soon to come!
Helen drove me to Magill this morning, I am very fortunate to have someone who lives down the street who often goes to the Magill office too! The traffic was a bit bad this morning because the Eclipsel (sp?) which is a car racing thing that is set up in the city. They close down a lot of the streets, so people are all in a hurry to get to work and find different ways to get to their destinations.
Right before we got to Magill, Beibei stopped by and dropped off some sushi for me for lunch- she is so nice! After getting the sushi out of the fridge Karen arrived and I hopped in her car and we drove to Ingle Farm. There was a mix up about whether or not I was going to be there, so I didn't have a house visit in the morning (but I will on Mondays from now on). I am also in charge of setting up, and helping out with a craft group that comes in every Monday early afternoon. Karen had to pick her son up from school early so she drove me to the Magill site that is just down the street form her son's school.
At Magill I worked with Helen and tried to figure out some advertising for her Dreams and Dramas pre-marriage course she's offering in April. We were placing an ad on Facebook, then when we hit the "submit" button at the end it said there was an error. After toying around with it and giving up we decided to head back to Highgate.
Ellie spent a few days in Kristy's beach where she helped out with a budget training session overnight, so it was just Hil and I tonight. Hilary is making a few very cool videos (check out her blog to see if they're up), and I went on a nice run into the city before calling it a night.
----------------
Tuesday:
Yesterday Helen and Helene said that they would appreciate some assistance around Magill tomorrow to get some marketing work done, so I rode with Helen to Magill this morning. When I got there everyone ran in a different direction to work on various work things. During this time I signed up for courses at Wartburg next year. I ran into some complications because a class that I thought was being offered really wasn't, so I spent a bit of time figuring out what I needed to graduate.
Paushali (she works at Magill 2 days a week doing administration things), Helen, Helene, and I had lunch then a couple of us went on a walk around the block. It was a beautiful day! After our walk we returned to the office and I began to go through the materials for a pre-marriage course for Helen. After a few minutes I picked up the job of beginning a newsletter up-date that Helen sends to all of the couples that have done counseling and pre-marriage workshops through her services.
Helen and I went home early (6:30) and I returned to an empty house. Hil and El went to the supermarket to buy things for dinner/green foods. They made green eggs, green mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green beer (it was St. Patricks day here). They put up a sign to advertise the "pub" they made. Haha... I don't know how they ate the green eggs and mac and cheese.
While the girls continued their St. Patrick's day celebration I took a spin in Helen's car! I was told that I will probably need to borrow someone's car on Friday to do house visits, so Helen was kind enough to offer her car for me to practice on. I thought it would probably be best to at least be behind the wheel of a car before I'm driving around Ingle Farm in traffic. At first it was a little weird because I wanted to make sure I didn't get too close to cars that were parked on the left side of the street... but I picked up on it pretty quickly.
It isn't all that different than in the United States because when you're driving on the right side of the road there is a line on your left side, and when you're driving on the left side of the road there is a line on your right side. You just have to make sure you're sticking close to the line. haha. The hardest thing for me to adjust to was the fact that the blinker was on the right side of the steering wheel. So when I tried to signal for a turn I was putting on my windshield wipers. I think I will try to practice driving one more time before I'm driving around Ingle Farm.
Yay for the experience of driving in Australia!
Wednesday:
I left really early to try to avoid the traffic from the Eclipsel (sp?) car racing. However, it was not necessary because it was the quickest and easiest bus ride I've ever been on! I got to playgroup about an hour early so I decided to walk around until people started to arrive.
There were quite a few children and mums at play group this week, it was really good! Lorinda organizes play group and has two children, Sophie and Bethany. Sophie just turned 3 and is very cute! Lorinda tells me that Sophie will be talking on her play phone at home saying "would you like to come for tea," then Lorinda will ask her who she was talking to. Sophie tells her mom that I'm coming over for tea (dinner). haha. It is so sweet! Lorinda actually called me up this week and invited Hil, El, and me over for tea next Monday. Lorinda and her family are all very nice people.
After play group I was dropped off and Magill and just as I was checking email I was informed that everyone was going leaving to go to other sites to do work. Helen was at Sefton Park all day, Emily was out working as well, Helene was on her way to Sefton Park for the afternoon and Di was going to Gumaracha to do an introduction. Di's job is to find people who don't have visitors in nursing homes and pairing them up with a volunteer.
My options were to be locked in Magill all afternoon, go to Sefton Park with Helene and wait until her meeting was over, or go with Di to Gumaracha a look around a bit until her introduction was over. I figured since I've never been to Gumaracha I should seize the opportunity. Gumaracha is home of the world's largest rocking horse. I was going to climb it, but it cost $2 and I wanted to see what else was around (and I'm glad I did!) There was a toy store where they make toys and sell souvenirs from Australia. After looking around a bit I saw a door behind the cash register that said "Free, just ask a staff member to open the door." I asked about it and went through.
The door led outside to an area sort of like a petting zoo. The area was fenced in and had alpacas, goats, lamb, sheep, peacocks, ducks, black swans, other random birds, and kangaroos. All the animals were free to roam wherever they wanted! There was a foot path, but because the animals weren't caged or separated from me or each other I could really walk where I wanted(there were also mini horse/donkey animals and emus that were fenced in other places). It was weird because I could approach and pet kangaroos, I was a little bit scared at first because they weren't caged, and I was the only person out there for a while until other viewers came.
After Di's introduction she rang my work mobile and picked me up. Along the way home we drove through Lobathol and stopped at the bakery (one of three strong German towns still around). At the bakery Di and I shared a small custard tart and I had a coffee (plain coffee with a bit of milk is called "short white").
It was about 4:30 when we were getting back into town and Di didn't want to return to the office so she was kind enough to drop me by the house. Hil and I hung around until Ellie returned from Calvary and we had dinner and watched a few Australian reality tv shows. "Farmer Wants a Wife" is kind of like the bachelor, but there are three farmers living on separate farms in Australia and have women on their land competing for the love of the Farmer. haha. Even though I'm on the opposite side of the world it seems some things never change.
p.s. photos soon to come!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
work, beach, SUSHI
Friday:
Today Helen drove me to the LCC Magill site where Karen picked me up to go to Ingle Farm. When I arrived at Ingle Farm I went on a house visit to a new family that I will be working more intensively with for the rest of my time here. This family has a 2ish month old baby that won't settle and the father works long hours, so the mum just needs some time to get caught up on things around the house. So, I watched the baby while the mum did her thing, then the two of us chatted for the rest of my time there. The mum is very nice and I'm looking forward to learning more about her in the future.
When I returned after the visit I did some stuff around the office and got to know the people and Ingle Farm a little better. I was supposed to have another visit this afternoon, but I called the mum and she and her baby were both throwing up, so we rescheduled our visit for next week. Karen was kind enough to drive me back to Magill at the end of the day where I got caught up on a few things there (I'm doing some office work for the people at Magill).
Helen drove me back to Highgate where Hilary returned from the op shop with heaps of kitchenware. We now have more than 3 plates, cups, forks, knives, spoons, etc. :) Hil and I went across the street to Concordia College (a private high school) where they were selling all sorts of food and the clubs were represented in effort to raise money. We caught tea (dinner) there and then walked to the supermarket to get a few things we were missing in the pantry. We were all quite tired so we hung out for a bit, and called it a night.
Saturday:
My body won't let me sleep in!!!
I woke up at 6, 7:30, then finally around 8:30 I rolled out of bed. I tried to get some extra rest because I could finally sleep in, but it failed to work :).
Ellie and I decided that we wanted to go to beach today and I requested Glenelg Beach because I've heard from many people it was the best beach to go to in the area. We caught a bus into the city and right when we got off the bus to get to the tram to Glenelg it started to pour. What are the odds that the day we decide to go to the beach it decides to rain?! We decided to brave the weather and go anyways (the rain doesn't usually last long here). When we got there we put our towels out and began to soap up the rays. However, I was freezing almost the entire time from the cloudy weather, wind, and occasional sprinkle or two. We left after a bit and decided to do some shopping in the area before heading back to the house to start tea. Hil, El, and I had tea and watched an Australian film named something like "All My Friends Are Leaving Melbourne."
Sunday:
Helene dropped off a microwave at our place this morning and took me the Glynde church where Beibei joined me for church. Beibei is a young adult from China who has lived in Australia for the past 7 years for her studies. I met her at FUEL last week and we hit it off very well. After church Beibei (pronounced bay bay) and I went shopping to make things for lunch and tea. After hitting up the grocery store and fruit and veg store before going to the fish shop where she used to work.
Today was a day of food and fellowship! :)
Beibei bought two thin slices of a fish I have never had before and did a fabulous job of preparing it! We also had some Chinese buns and some Middle Eastern rice she received as a gift from a friend. After cleaning up I cut veggies and Beibei cut the fish for our sushi extravaganza. We made sushi with salmon, shark, prawn tempura, and crab meat! It was all very good. Beibei also cooked something called "potato pancake." She steamed potatoes then pureed them with carrots, spring onions, and minced pork. Then Beibei put them on a frying pan. Potato pancakes are an Asian dish that I have never had them before. I would have never thought of making a dish like this, it sort of reminded me of hash browns. Throughout our entire day of cooking we drank green tea and had really good conversation. Beibei is the type of person who can make anybody laugh, I really enjoy getting to know her. She wants to take me all over Adelaide and the surrounding area! We are already planning trips to Victor Harbor, Borossa, Clealand (sp?), and possibly even Kangaroo Island! Next week she wants to teach me how to make Chinese dumplings, I'm excited for another adventure!
We then cleaned up after our long day and went to Para Vista where we attended the contemporary young adult service. The service was very good and I ran into 8 people who went to FUEL the week before, it was really nice to see them all again. Richard, who I met at FUEL, and his little sister gave me a ride back to Highgate because they live about 5 minutes from where I'm staying.
Today Helen drove me to the LCC Magill site where Karen picked me up to go to Ingle Farm. When I arrived at Ingle Farm I went on a house visit to a new family that I will be working more intensively with for the rest of my time here. This family has a 2ish month old baby that won't settle and the father works long hours, so the mum just needs some time to get caught up on things around the house. So, I watched the baby while the mum did her thing, then the two of us chatted for the rest of my time there. The mum is very nice and I'm looking forward to learning more about her in the future.
When I returned after the visit I did some stuff around the office and got to know the people and Ingle Farm a little better. I was supposed to have another visit this afternoon, but I called the mum and she and her baby were both throwing up, so we rescheduled our visit for next week. Karen was kind enough to drive me back to Magill at the end of the day where I got caught up on a few things there (I'm doing some office work for the people at Magill).
Helen drove me back to Highgate where Hilary returned from the op shop with heaps of kitchenware. We now have more than 3 plates, cups, forks, knives, spoons, etc. :) Hil and I went across the street to Concordia College (a private high school) where they were selling all sorts of food and the clubs were represented in effort to raise money. We caught tea (dinner) there and then walked to the supermarket to get a few things we were missing in the pantry. We were all quite tired so we hung out for a bit, and called it a night.
Saturday:
My body won't let me sleep in!!!
I woke up at 6, 7:30, then finally around 8:30 I rolled out of bed. I tried to get some extra rest because I could finally sleep in, but it failed to work :).
Ellie and I decided that we wanted to go to beach today and I requested Glenelg Beach because I've heard from many people it was the best beach to go to in the area. We caught a bus into the city and right when we got off the bus to get to the tram to Glenelg it started to pour. What are the odds that the day we decide to go to the beach it decides to rain?! We decided to brave the weather and go anyways (the rain doesn't usually last long here). When we got there we put our towels out and began to soap up the rays. However, I was freezing almost the entire time from the cloudy weather, wind, and occasional sprinkle or two. We left after a bit and decided to do some shopping in the area before heading back to the house to start tea. Hil, El, and I had tea and watched an Australian film named something like "All My Friends Are Leaving Melbourne."
Sunday:
Helene dropped off a microwave at our place this morning and took me the Glynde church where Beibei joined me for church. Beibei is a young adult from China who has lived in Australia for the past 7 years for her studies. I met her at FUEL last week and we hit it off very well. After church Beibei (pronounced bay bay) and I went shopping to make things for lunch and tea. After hitting up the grocery store and fruit and veg store before going to the fish shop where she used to work.
Today was a day of food and fellowship! :)
Beibei bought two thin slices of a fish I have never had before and did a fabulous job of preparing it! We also had some Chinese buns and some Middle Eastern rice she received as a gift from a friend. After cleaning up I cut veggies and Beibei cut the fish for our sushi extravaganza. We made sushi with salmon, shark, prawn tempura, and crab meat! It was all very good. Beibei also cooked something called "potato pancake." She steamed potatoes then pureed them with carrots, spring onions, and minced pork. Then Beibei put them on a frying pan. Potato pancakes are an Asian dish that I have never had them before. I would have never thought of making a dish like this, it sort of reminded me of hash browns. Throughout our entire day of cooking we drank green tea and had really good conversation. Beibei is the type of person who can make anybody laugh, I really enjoy getting to know her. She wants to take me all over Adelaide and the surrounding area! We are already planning trips to Victor Harbor, Borossa, Clealand (sp?), and possibly even Kangaroo Island! Next week she wants to teach me how to make Chinese dumplings, I'm excited for another adventure!
We then cleaned up after our long day and went to Para Vista where we attended the contemporary young adult service. The service was very good and I ran into 8 people who went to FUEL the week before, it was really nice to see them all again. Richard, who I met at FUEL, and his little sister gave me a ride back to Highgate because they live about 5 minutes from where I'm staying.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Work and my visit to McDonald's with Mary.
_________________
Some people have been asking for my new address.
So, here it is!
Morgan Pahls
35 Winchester
High Gate, SA 5063
________________
Wednesday:
Today I got up and rode the bus to the city with Ellie where she caught the train to Calvary and I caught another bus to Glynde Church. The bus I wanted to take was 15 minutes late, which was annoying because I can never really rely on this form of transportation.
When I got to playgroup I helped set everything up because the women who normally volunteer these tasks from the congregation had a women's meeting and were unable to help today. The group of kids was pretty small this week, but we had quite a bit of fun anyways.
After the playgroup Lorinda dropped me off at the Magill LCC site where I did a bit on the computer then worked with Helen on trying to get some of her pre-marriage courses advertised online. After a bit of frustration because the Internet wasn't properly working I worked on a flier that can be used in church bulletins to advertise these courses. Helen then had to get home because she had something going on that evening so she dropped me off that our house just up the street where she's working.
Tonight I decided not to go to the young adult group, I was quite exhausted from the day. Hopefully it will work out next week!
Thursday:
Today Helen was kind enough to give me a lift to the Magill LCC site where I was supposed to meet Karen who was taking me to the Ingle Farm LCC site (her son goes to school just up the road) instead of attempting to find my way through the crazy, messed up bus system.
We arrived to the Magill site and I waited for Karen outside the office for a while and decided to try calling her mobile in case she forgot to pick me up and I needed to catch the bus or if she misunderstood me on the phone yesterday when we made the plans for pick up at Magill and not Hosanna Heights where I used to stay. I got response so I went inside to figure out the bus route and a while later she was knocking on the door and explained that she had car trouble that morning. This was too bad because she was supposed to be at an important funding meeting at 9:00am in Ingle Farm and she ended up being a bit late.
Karen took me back to the Magill office where I stayed a while longer and wrote a few messages to some friends who I haven't been able to catch up with lately. I left the office around 6:45 and got into the city around 7:15, found some sushi and waited at the bus stop for the next bus to High Gate, where I'm staying now.
Right before the bus came a homeless women asked me if I wouldn't mind getting her a hamburger. I took her up on the request and we walked to McDonald's which was a few blocks away. I really enjoyed the conversation I had with this women (named Mary). She was very real and I could sense that she wanted to share her story. So I asked her about who she is, where she's staying, what she's been up to these days. I really enjoyed chatting with her and I hope she has better luck in the future. Some people may be sceptical to things that this population may choose to share with others, but I don't really care if everything she said was true. I just know that she was a women in need of a meal and wanted to share a bit of her life with me, and for that I am grateful.
It was about 9:15 by the time I got home and Jess (from Glynde Church and FUEL) was at our place watching tv with Hil and El. I hung around a bit while attempting to write the paper that I have to have done for my religion across cultures course I'm taking at Wartburg, but I was quite tired and decided that I probably wasn't making any sense. Hopefully I can have the paper sent in tomorrow!
Some people have been asking for my new address.
So, here it is!
Morgan Pahls
35 Winchester
High Gate, SA 5063
________________
Wednesday:
Today I got up and rode the bus to the city with Ellie where she caught the train to Calvary and I caught another bus to Glynde Church. The bus I wanted to take was 15 minutes late, which was annoying because I can never really rely on this form of transportation.
When I got to playgroup I helped set everything up because the women who normally volunteer these tasks from the congregation had a women's meeting and were unable to help today. The group of kids was pretty small this week, but we had quite a bit of fun anyways.
After the playgroup Lorinda dropped me off at the Magill LCC site where I did a bit on the computer then worked with Helen on trying to get some of her pre-marriage courses advertised online. After a bit of frustration because the Internet wasn't properly working I worked on a flier that can be used in church bulletins to advertise these courses. Helen then had to get home because she had something going on that evening so she dropped me off that our house just up the street where she's working.
Tonight I decided not to go to the young adult group, I was quite exhausted from the day. Hopefully it will work out next week!
Thursday:
Today Helen was kind enough to give me a lift to the Magill LCC site where I was supposed to meet Karen who was taking me to the Ingle Farm LCC site (her son goes to school just up the road) instead of attempting to find my way through the crazy, messed up bus system.
We arrived to the Magill site and I waited for Karen outside the office for a while and decided to try calling her mobile in case she forgot to pick me up and I needed to catch the bus or if she misunderstood me on the phone yesterday when we made the plans for pick up at Magill and not Hosanna Heights where I used to stay. I got response so I went inside to figure out the bus route and a while later she was knocking on the door and explained that she had car trouble that morning. This was too bad because she was supposed to be at an important funding meeting at 9:00am in Ingle Farm and she ended up being a bit late.
I helped out with the Afghani women's support group where we did a cooking lesson today. We made scones!
______________
Here is the recipe:
3 c flour
1 c lemonade (lemonade is sprite here)
1 c heavy cream
You put the flour in a bowl, make a well in the middle and poor in the liquids. Then you mix it until it is doughy (not very damp- we needed to add more flour). The next step was to lay the dough out about an inch thick and use a cup to cut the scones into circles. Bake them on a baking sheet (with baking paper) for about 10 min at 220 Celsius. The scones should be brown and hard on both the top and bottom. Most people here eat scones with butter, jam, cream, or a combo of a few of them.
_____________
The scones were pretty good, I think they tasted the best after they cooled down completely. I have never heard of making scones with pop!
Karen took me back to the Magill office where I stayed a while longer and wrote a few messages to some friends who I haven't been able to catch up with lately. I left the office around 6:45 and got into the city around 7:15, found some sushi and waited at the bus stop for the next bus to High Gate, where I'm staying now.
Right before the bus came a homeless women asked me if I wouldn't mind getting her a hamburger. I took her up on the request and we walked to McDonald's which was a few blocks away. I really enjoyed the conversation I had with this women (named Mary). She was very real and I could sense that she wanted to share her story. So I asked her about who she is, where she's staying, what she's been up to these days. I really enjoyed chatting with her and I hope she has better luck in the future. Some people may be sceptical to things that this population may choose to share with others, but I don't really care if everything she said was true. I just know that she was a women in need of a meal and wanted to share a bit of her life with me, and for that I am grateful.
It was about 9:15 by the time I got home and Jess (from Glynde Church and FUEL) was at our place watching tv with Hil and El. I hung around a bit while attempting to write the paper that I have to have done for my religion across cultures course I'm taking at Wartburg, but I was quite tired and decided that I probably wasn't making any sense. Hopefully I can have the paper sent in tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
FUEL and day off-ish
Friday-Tuesday:
We had today off to prepare for FUEL camp. FUEL is a young adult camp for 18-35 (+) year olds. In the morning I did some laundry, went on a walk, and attempted to rest a bit until Simon and Jeremy Schulz came over to Helen's house for Tea (dinner). After tea the five of us finished packing and loaded up the vehicle for our trip down to Mylor where the camp was being held.
The camp was a good experience to meet new people who live throughout south Australia. There were daily worship services and a guest speaker who does a radio show, he was quite entertaining. There was a 70s night where most people got dressed up in 70s gear and had a nice dinner, then we went to the town hall to watch a Christian comedian. He was pretty good, but for some reason I don't usually laugh when I'm watching comedians. After the show a lot of people stuck around for a 70s dance... I learned the disco! :)
Another fun thing we did was the amazing race. The camp staff put it together and it involved water, air, driving, walking all over the place, and much more. It started off in Mylor and then went to Mt Barker for the rest of it. It was quite a lot of fun! Later that night we attended a contemporary church service in Handorf (the oldest German town in Australia).
The best speech was given by the comedian on the last day we were there. He talked about "being the person God created you to be." The funny thing is that I had a dream last year where I woke up with that saying in my head... word for word. So even though I'm not exactly sure what this means, I know I was there and am here for a reason, even if I don't see it right now.
Jeremy and Simon took us back to Helen's house where we are house-sitting for her Monday afternoon then Hilary and I decided to walk to the grocery store while Ellie used the computer. When we returned the three of us packed everything up and were able to move into our new place down the street. The new place is very big and looks a bit funny to have us in there because we have very little things for the amount of space we have. Helen, Helene, and the man who is in charge of the house are great for offering various things that we can use in our space.
Tuesday:
I tried to take a day off today, but I think my body is used to going, going, going, so I wasn't able to rest much. I slept in a little bit then got up and watched a little tv, they get Ellen here. Out of all the shows, why Ellen?! haha
I then headed into the city where I moseyed around and then ended up at the Magill office where I tried to get back on track with emails, blogs, etc. After a bit the office was closing and I decided to walk home. It was very nice, but I should have found a more productive route. I ended up walking the bus rout into the city, then from the city to our house. I'm sure there is some shorter way to get home via walking.
When I arrived we headed over to Helen's house to try to get the Internet working, mine worked for a bit at Helen's house. Unfortunately it is no longer working, so I'll have to see if there is some way to get it back up and running.
We had today off to prepare for FUEL camp. FUEL is a young adult camp for 18-35 (+) year olds. In the morning I did some laundry, went on a walk, and attempted to rest a bit until Simon and Jeremy Schulz came over to Helen's house for Tea (dinner). After tea the five of us finished packing and loaded up the vehicle for our trip down to Mylor where the camp was being held.
The camp was a good experience to meet new people who live throughout south Australia. There were daily worship services and a guest speaker who does a radio show, he was quite entertaining. There was a 70s night where most people got dressed up in 70s gear and had a nice dinner, then we went to the town hall to watch a Christian comedian. He was pretty good, but for some reason I don't usually laugh when I'm watching comedians. After the show a lot of people stuck around for a 70s dance... I learned the disco! :)
Another fun thing we did was the amazing race. The camp staff put it together and it involved water, air, driving, walking all over the place, and much more. It started off in Mylor and then went to Mt Barker for the rest of it. It was quite a lot of fun! Later that night we attended a contemporary church service in Handorf (the oldest German town in Australia).
The best speech was given by the comedian on the last day we were there. He talked about "being the person God created you to be." The funny thing is that I had a dream last year where I woke up with that saying in my head... word for word. So even though I'm not exactly sure what this means, I know I was there and am here for a reason, even if I don't see it right now.
Jeremy and Simon took us back to Helen's house where we are house-sitting for her Monday afternoon then Hilary and I decided to walk to the grocery store while Ellie used the computer. When we returned the three of us packed everything up and were able to move into our new place down the street. The new place is very big and looks a bit funny to have us in there because we have very little things for the amount of space we have. Helen, Helene, and the man who is in charge of the house are great for offering various things that we can use in our space.
Tuesday:
I tried to take a day off today, but I think my body is used to going, going, going, so I wasn't able to rest much. I slept in a little bit then got up and watched a little tv, they get Ellen here. Out of all the shows, why Ellen?! haha
I then headed into the city where I moseyed around and then ended up at the Magill office where I tried to get back on track with emails, blogs, etc. After a bit the office was closing and I decided to walk home. It was very nice, but I should have found a more productive route. I ended up walking the bus rout into the city, then from the city to our house. I'm sure there is some shorter way to get home via walking.
When I arrived we headed over to Helen's house to try to get the Internet working, mine worked for a bit at Helen's house. Unfortunately it is no longer working, so I'll have to see if there is some way to get it back up and running.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Language differences
As you probably know, people in Australia speak English as well. However, there can be quite a few differences in the words we use and the way they are spelled and pronounced. Take for example the letter "r," sometimes it is silent while other times it is thrown at the end of a word when it is spoken. The American English word "butter" is pronounced "butta," but the American English word "idea" is oftentimes pronounced "idear," the word "Australia" can be pronounced "Australier," and the word "thinker" is sometimes pronounced "thinkerer." Some Australians have told me that they do this because they are lazy in speach... I don't know if it is lazy or what.
Other words are also pronounced differently such as: "schedule" is pronounced "seshedule" and "assume" is pronounced "ashume."
Also, a lot of words are spelled exactly as they sound. Examples of this are the American English word "tire" is spelled "tyre," or the word "spoiled" is spelled "spoilt."
Here are some words and phrases that are used here:
(Australian English = American English)
How are you going?= how are you doing?
good on you= good job, good for you
no worries= this phrase can be used anywhere really... your welcome, no problem, whatever, don't worry about it, yep, etc.
once a fort night= every 2 weeks
mind you/mind this= keep in mind
stubby poles= power line poles
take away= to go (ordering food)
time table= schedule
pulling in= ordering (as in food)
errata= error
car park= parking lot
skull it= chug it
tablets= pills -this one isn't so different
tender= grant
opposite= across from
ute- any type of truck
mums- moms
bits and pieces= odds and ends
stone fruit- fruit with pits
hen =bride to be
buck= bachelor
fringe= bangs
tick= check (as in check your name off the list)
mark= grade (school related)
diary= planner
creche= childcare [pronounced crey-sh]
bingle= fender bender
dodgy= sketchy/ unsafe part of town
tea= the drink or dinner
sauce it out= figure it out
parcel= package
lollies= candies
biscuits= cookies
boot= trunk (of car)
capsicum= green/red bell peppers
no dramas= no big deal
crossed= mad
cheesed off= mad
joblake= snake
tomato sauce= ketchup
ad break= commercial
straight away= right away
straight= black ( as in coffee)
bogan= red neck/hick
mobile= cell phone
winge= complain
rubber= eraser
plaits= braids
chuck= chicken
wind screen= wind shield
bits= pieces
dirting= off roading
heaps= lots (only a South Australian thing)
bottle shop= alcohol store
yank tank= junker car
getting on= aging
bloke= man
lift= elevator
Other words are also pronounced differently such as: "schedule" is pronounced "seshedule" and "assume" is pronounced "ashume."
Also, a lot of words are spelled exactly as they sound. Examples of this are the American English word "tire" is spelled "tyre," or the word "spoiled" is spelled "spoilt."
Some letters are said differently as well... so when you are singing the ABCs and you get to the letter "h" you say "hay-ch" and the letter "z" is "zed." I don't think any other letters are said differently, but I could be wrong.
Australians also shorten up almost any word they can of, such as:
poly= politicians
ute= utility vehicle
bekky= breakfast
Here are some words and phrases that are used here:
(Australian English = American English)
How are you going?= how are you doing?
good on you= good job, good for you
no worries= this phrase can be used anywhere really... your welcome, no problem, whatever, don't worry about it, yep, etc.
once a fort night= every 2 weeks
mind you/mind this= keep in mind
stubby poles= power line poles
take away= to go (ordering food)
time table= schedule
pulling in= ordering (as in food)
errata= error
car park= parking lot
skull it= chug it
tablets= pills -this one isn't so different
tender= grant
opposite= across from
ute- any type of truck
mums- moms
bits and pieces= odds and ends
stone fruit- fruit with pits
hen =bride to be
buck= bachelor
fringe= bangs
tick= check (as in check your name off the list)
mark= grade (school related)
diary= planner
creche= childcare [pronounced crey-sh]
bingle= fender bender
dodgy= sketchy/ unsafe part of town
tea= the drink or dinner
sauce it out= figure it out
parcel= package
lollies= candies
biscuits= cookies
boot= trunk (of car)
capsicum= green/red bell peppers
no dramas= no big deal
crossed= mad
cheesed off= mad
joblake= snake
tomato sauce= ketchup
ad break= commercial
straight away= right away
straight= black ( as in coffee)
bogan= red neck/hick
mobile= cell phone
winge= complain
rubber= eraser
plaits= braids
chuck= chicken
wind screen= wind shield
bits= pieces
dirting= off roading
heaps= lots (only a South Australian thing)
bottle shop= alcohol store
yank tank= junker car
getting on= aging
bloke= man
lift= elevator
Random things about Australia:
- it is manditory to vote, if you don't you get a $50 fine
- people walk on the other side of the sidewalk and escelator, just like driving on the opposite side of the car and street
-often times Australian's call "American English" "American." So, I speak American.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New Schedule..
Wednesday:
Today I took the bus to Glynde church for the first time since we've moved to Helen's house. I was a little nervous at first because I h ave never had to figure out public transportation from her house, but because I took that 2 hour walk yesterday I felt more comfortable figuring out the bus stops from here.
Anyways, eventually I made it to Glynde church where there were fewer children than normal, but I really enjoyed observing Ellen, one of the young girls at playgroup. She is from Asia and didn't know English when she arrived in Australia (she's about 3 years old). When I first arrived to help out at play group she was beginning preschool and hadn't had much exposure to English. At first she didn't understand most of what I said, but now after only a month she is able to better understand people speaking English to her and is able to better express her personality. It has truly been an amazing thing to see.
After play group Diane, Sigrid, and Lorinda (she has Sophie and Bethany) had a meeting with Pastor John so I watched Lorinda's kids so she could focus on the meeting. Bethany fell asleep in my arms and Sophie and I sang songs... I loved it! haha. Then Diane dropped me off at Magill.
At Magill I cleaned up after a training session and helped Helene with some office work until El, Helene, and I went to Blair Athol for a central Africa cultural diversity training.
Joe was doing a second cultural diversity training, this time on central Africa. I didn't get quite as much out of this session, but I did find some interesting facts about Africa:
-there are 2.7 million African refugees in the world (29% of all refugees in the world)
-23 of 53 African States are in conflict or suffering civil wars, this is about 45% of the continent
After cleaning up after the training I went with Helene back to her house and had dinner with the Schulz family. Jeremy, Simon, and I went to the young adult group from Glynde church. There were a few new and different faces, it was really good.
Thursday:
Today I woke up early and had a interesting trip to Ingle Farm. The public transportation is really, really bad in Adelaide and it took me a hour and 45 minutes to get across the city... during the bus ride we got on these fast tracks where the bus driver doesn't need to steer or control the speed. It is kind of scary because it looks like two slabs of cement (similar to what train tracks look like) but it doesn't look like the bus is actually connected to anything.
Anyways, because the buses were not on time it took much longer than it should have to get to Ingle Farm- good thing I left early! When I got there I helped set up for the Afghani women group and waited around until they strolled in. There were only a few women there this week because they were a funeral in their community. The translator told me that in their community you can miss all the weddings in the world, but you never miss funerals.
The topic this week is how to feed your children and how to get a healthy meal plan. The women had never heard of the food pyramid because it is a relatively new western thing. So, the women all got a copy of the food pyramid, information about hidden sugars, what to feed children, when to use toothpaste, etc.
After the session I went on a walk then Kathlene, who is in charge of home visiting, dropped me off at my first home. It was a really good experience. I met with the mum and we talked about forming goals and finding ways to reach them. There is no routine in the house and due to depression there is little being done at all. We made goals like: the kitchen table will be cleaned off this week (it is piled high), and she will prepare dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays with a little help from her husband (she doesn't know how to cook), the mum will get out of bed at a decent hour, and start the day off writing an affirmation about herself each morning. These are a lot of goals based on her past, but I'm looking forward to encouraging her and working alongside her on her journey to getting well and taking her life over.
I then joined Kathlene for two more house visits. One of the visits was very, very difficult to see. The young family is in major debt, but using what money they do have for things like tvs and computers. Which is not a good thing, but the thing that is most heart wrenching is that the baby is not having her needs met. Kathlene and I chatted after the visit and decided that we needed to report the baby to the abused/neglected hot line. My heart aches for that child, and I would love to put her in my purse on my way out. It was really hard to leave the 5 month, helpless baby there.
After we returned to Ingle Farm I looked up the bus route and started to find my way home. I got a scenic tour of Adelaide because I got on the right bus, it was just going the wrong direction. haha. The minute I sat down I knew I was going the wrong direction, but it was too late and I figured I'd eventually get to the city, and I did!
When I got back I hung out for a while and then went on a long walk in the opposite direction than my walk yesterday. I now know how to walk to the city. I returned, watched a little tv with Hil and El, then skyped for a while. It was nice.
Today I took the bus to Glynde church for the first time since we've moved to Helen's house. I was a little nervous at first because I h ave never had to figure out public transportation from her house, but because I took that 2 hour walk yesterday I felt more comfortable figuring out the bus stops from here.
Anyways, eventually I made it to Glynde church where there were fewer children than normal, but I really enjoyed observing Ellen, one of the young girls at playgroup. She is from Asia and didn't know English when she arrived in Australia (she's about 3 years old). When I first arrived to help out at play group she was beginning preschool and hadn't had much exposure to English. At first she didn't understand most of what I said, but now after only a month she is able to better understand people speaking English to her and is able to better express her personality. It has truly been an amazing thing to see.
After play group Diane, Sigrid, and Lorinda (she has Sophie and Bethany) had a meeting with Pastor John so I watched Lorinda's kids so she could focus on the meeting. Bethany fell asleep in my arms and Sophie and I sang songs... I loved it! haha. Then Diane dropped me off at Magill.
At Magill I cleaned up after a training session and helped Helene with some office work until El, Helene, and I went to Blair Athol for a central Africa cultural diversity training.
Joe was doing a second cultural diversity training, this time on central Africa. I didn't get quite as much out of this session, but I did find some interesting facts about Africa:
-there are 2.7 million African refugees in the world (29% of all refugees in the world)
-23 of 53 African States are in conflict or suffering civil wars, this is about 45% of the continent
After cleaning up after the training I went with Helene back to her house and had dinner with the Schulz family. Jeremy, Simon, and I went to the young adult group from Glynde church. There were a few new and different faces, it was really good.
Thursday:
Today I woke up early and had a interesting trip to Ingle Farm. The public transportation is really, really bad in Adelaide and it took me a hour and 45 minutes to get across the city... during the bus ride we got on these fast tracks where the bus driver doesn't need to steer or control the speed. It is kind of scary because it looks like two slabs of cement (similar to what train tracks look like) but it doesn't look like the bus is actually connected to anything.
Anyways, because the buses were not on time it took much longer than it should have to get to Ingle Farm- good thing I left early! When I got there I helped set up for the Afghani women group and waited around until they strolled in. There were only a few women there this week because they were a funeral in their community. The translator told me that in their community you can miss all the weddings in the world, but you never miss funerals.
The topic this week is how to feed your children and how to get a healthy meal plan. The women had never heard of the food pyramid because it is a relatively new western thing. So, the women all got a copy of the food pyramid, information about hidden sugars, what to feed children, when to use toothpaste, etc.
After the session I went on a walk then Kathlene, who is in charge of home visiting, dropped me off at my first home. It was a really good experience. I met with the mum and we talked about forming goals and finding ways to reach them. There is no routine in the house and due to depression there is little being done at all. We made goals like: the kitchen table will be cleaned off this week (it is piled high), and she will prepare dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays with a little help from her husband (she doesn't know how to cook), the mum will get out of bed at a decent hour, and start the day off writing an affirmation about herself each morning. These are a lot of goals based on her past, but I'm looking forward to encouraging her and working alongside her on her journey to getting well and taking her life over.
I then joined Kathlene for two more house visits. One of the visits was very, very difficult to see. The young family is in major debt, but using what money they do have for things like tvs and computers. Which is not a good thing, but the thing that is most heart wrenching is that the baby is not having her needs met. Kathlene and I chatted after the visit and decided that we needed to report the baby to the abused/neglected hot line. My heart aches for that child, and I would love to put her in my purse on my way out. It was really hard to leave the 5 month, helpless baby there.
After we returned to Ingle Farm I looked up the bus route and started to find my way home. I got a scenic tour of Adelaide because I got on the right bus, it was just going the wrong direction. haha. The minute I sat down I knew I was going the wrong direction, but it was too late and I figured I'd eventually get to the city, and I did!
When I got back I hung out for a while and then went on a long walk in the opposite direction than my walk yesterday. I now know how to walk to the city. I returned, watched a little tv with Hil and El, then skyped for a while. It was nice.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
moved out!
Monday:
Today was supposed to be a day of rest after a long weekend of work and fun!
I attempted to sleep in, but that was rather unsuccessful. I woke up and was able to skype with Stephen and my mom for a while, it was nice to chat because I wasn't able to communicate with Stephen for about a week. I know this may sound menial, but not being able to chat for a week really throws off my communication back home. So, it was especially nice to catch up.
After skyping for a while I walked to Magill where I worked on my blog, did email things, and got into communication with LCC people about some new work plans. In the afternoon Ellie and I went to Blair Athol to help out and attend a cultural diversity training. The speaker, Muj, is from Sudan and came here 7 years ago for studies. He is in the process for trying to become an Australian citizen because when he fled his country to study he also left so he wouldn't have to be involved in the war. Most people who are 18 or 19 in Sudan are required to fight in the armed forces for 2 years.
Muj spoke to a group of mainly teachers to educate them on how to work with and understand the Sudanese population and why they may find difficulties while working with this population. Some interesting things I learned are that Sudanese people don't look authorities in the eyes (Muj has never looked his father in the eyes) so when Australian (and American) authorities are interacting with this population they may not understand while the minority group doesn't "respect" the person in authority when they are actually respecting them by not making eye contact. Also, most of the Sudanese youth (girls in particular) are expected to cook, clean, look after younger siblings, go to school, pay bills, find their own transportation, do homework, and so much more. So, the youth may be be exhausted during the day and find it difficult to pay attention in school because of lack of sleep and being overworked. Additionally, in Africa there is more of a community focus on raising the child rather than just the parents, so when parents are called to speak with the teacher after school because their child is causing a problem they don't understand it. The parents think that the teachers should take responsibility and discipline their children during school. It is also common for African males to physically abuse their children and wives because it is culturally acceptable. In Australia (and the US) the refugees don't understand domestic violence, they've never heard of it before. Another interesting fact that I learned is that since 1958 Sudan has been in conflict except for a brief period of peace from 1972-1983 (ish?), so the youth have seen a lot of things that they shouldn't have to see and it has influenced their behavior and how they interact with others. There are a ton of other interesting things that I learned in this session to keep in mind when working with this population, it was very, very interesting.
After the session Ellie and I helped wash tea cups and disassemble to room. Helene then dropped us off at Magill where I stayed and filled out an application for a job next year... it is a long application and I was at the Magill LCC site with Helen (who was getting things put together for her leave of work- her daughter Sara is getting married this summer in Melborn).
Helen dropped me off at Hosanna Heights and I hung out with Hilary while Ellie used by skype. I then hung out and did some research until I hit the hay.
Tuesday:
Today I walked to Magill... in the rain. It rained and rained all day. Helene told me that this was the first "good"rain since August. I don't really like the rain here, though. It smells bad because it is cool water cooling extremely hot cement, and a lot of the cement is dirty from months and months without water. So smells and is very dirty. It did, however, cool things down quite a bit.
After checking my mail and getting my head together Emily and I went to the domestic violence self defense /support group. I really, really enjoy this group of women.
We began our session by going around and sharing opportunities of saying no and taking space this week. The women were amazing in what they shared, some of the events may seem menail to most people, but the are HUGE steps in their lives.
Everyone then went around and stood up in front of the group, introduced themselves, and gave themselves an affirmation. I can see a huge difference in some of the women from last week to this week, the women also recognized it and gave thanks to the group for building them up. This was so encouraging, and I am so glad I was able to be here today to see it. So glad.
We then practiced the moves the group has been learning over the past few weeks and had a tea/snack break. During the break one of the women was speaking with the martial arts instructor about a particular hold she was in at one point in time and what she should have done to get out of it. This was hard to see. One very friendly and gentle woman came up to me and told me that you never stop learning. Of course this is something that I've heard before, but she was explaining to me that she is 46 and has always been a good girl who did everything can do to please others. She told me that she is just learning that it is okay for her to say no, stand up for herself, to have an opinion, to be happy with who she is, to love herself, to be powerful. Wow. How is this learned? hmm... she is very wise and has got me to thinking...
After morning tea we went into another room and learned what to do if you are being attacked against a wall. We learned how to land against a wall without being knocked unconscious and how to fight back when you are being pinned against a wall because it is a lot harder. One young woman had to leave the room because it brought back too many vivid memories. I can't even imagine the pain. Other women openly spoke about being in certain positions and not knowing what to do to escape. This was hard to hear because they are all beautiful women who don't deserve to have experienced these things.
These women are so strong, so much stronger than I can even explain.
We then practiced kicks again with martial arts pads and Emily dropped me off at Magill. We had lunch and I spent some time trying to get caught up on my blog... the blogger website has had lots of problems lately.
I walked back to Hosanna Heights early afternoon (in the rain) and quickly finished my packing. Helene showed up at Hosanna Heights and somehow or another Hilary, Ellie, and I managed to pack all of our belongings and fit into her car. We have acquired quite a few things as a whole and were jam packed! haha.
Helene dropped us off at Helen's house where we are house-sitting and taking care of her cat until she gets back from Sara's wedding. Hil, El, and I got situated and I went on a 2 hour walk around the area to become acquainted with my new surroundings (the house we will be moving into next week is only down the street). When I lived at Hosanna Heights I learned about my surrounds my running and walking all over the place, and I need to do that again so I know what's in my area.
I then attempted to relax by taking a candlelit bath, but it didn't seem to relax me at all :(. Ellie and Hilary watched Grease (we have a TV at Helen's house) while I typed this blog and attempted to figure out the new bus route for tomorrow!
Today was supposed to be a day of rest after a long weekend of work and fun!
I attempted to sleep in, but that was rather unsuccessful. I woke up and was able to skype with Stephen and my mom for a while, it was nice to chat because I wasn't able to communicate with Stephen for about a week. I know this may sound menial, but not being able to chat for a week really throws off my communication back home. So, it was especially nice to catch up.
After skyping for a while I walked to Magill where I worked on my blog, did email things, and got into communication with LCC people about some new work plans. In the afternoon Ellie and I went to Blair Athol to help out and attend a cultural diversity training. The speaker, Muj, is from Sudan and came here 7 years ago for studies. He is in the process for trying to become an Australian citizen because when he fled his country to study he also left so he wouldn't have to be involved in the war. Most people who are 18 or 19 in Sudan are required to fight in the armed forces for 2 years.
Muj spoke to a group of mainly teachers to educate them on how to work with and understand the Sudanese population and why they may find difficulties while working with this population. Some interesting things I learned are that Sudanese people don't look authorities in the eyes (Muj has never looked his father in the eyes) so when Australian (and American) authorities are interacting with this population they may not understand while the minority group doesn't "respect" the person in authority when they are actually respecting them by not making eye contact. Also, most of the Sudanese youth (girls in particular) are expected to cook, clean, look after younger siblings, go to school, pay bills, find their own transportation, do homework, and so much more. So, the youth may be be exhausted during the day and find it difficult to pay attention in school because of lack of sleep and being overworked. Additionally, in Africa there is more of a community focus on raising the child rather than just the parents, so when parents are called to speak with the teacher after school because their child is causing a problem they don't understand it. The parents think that the teachers should take responsibility and discipline their children during school. It is also common for African males to physically abuse their children and wives because it is culturally acceptable. In Australia (and the US) the refugees don't understand domestic violence, they've never heard of it before. Another interesting fact that I learned is that since 1958 Sudan has been in conflict except for a brief period of peace from 1972-1983 (ish?), so the youth have seen a lot of things that they shouldn't have to see and it has influenced their behavior and how they interact with others. There are a ton of other interesting things that I learned in this session to keep in mind when working with this population, it was very, very interesting.
After the session Ellie and I helped wash tea cups and disassemble to room. Helene then dropped us off at Magill where I stayed and filled out an application for a job next year... it is a long application and I was at the Magill LCC site with Helen (who was getting things put together for her leave of work- her daughter Sara is getting married this summer in Melborn).
Helen dropped me off at Hosanna Heights and I hung out with Hilary while Ellie used by skype. I then hung out and did some research until I hit the hay.
Tuesday:
Today I walked to Magill... in the rain. It rained and rained all day. Helene told me that this was the first "good"rain since August. I don't really like the rain here, though. It smells bad because it is cool water cooling extremely hot cement, and a lot of the cement is dirty from months and months without water. So smells and is very dirty. It did, however, cool things down quite a bit.
After checking my mail and getting my head together Emily and I went to the domestic violence self defense /support group. I really, really enjoy this group of women.
We began our session by going around and sharing opportunities of saying no and taking space this week. The women were amazing in what they shared, some of the events may seem menail to most people, but the are HUGE steps in their lives.
Everyone then went around and stood up in front of the group, introduced themselves, and gave themselves an affirmation. I can see a huge difference in some of the women from last week to this week, the women also recognized it and gave thanks to the group for building them up. This was so encouraging, and I am so glad I was able to be here today to see it. So glad.
We then practiced the moves the group has been learning over the past few weeks and had a tea/snack break. During the break one of the women was speaking with the martial arts instructor about a particular hold she was in at one point in time and what she should have done to get out of it. This was hard to see. One very friendly and gentle woman came up to me and told me that you never stop learning. Of course this is something that I've heard before, but she was explaining to me that she is 46 and has always been a good girl who did everything can do to please others. She told me that she is just learning that it is okay for her to say no, stand up for herself, to have an opinion, to be happy with who she is, to love herself, to be powerful. Wow. How is this learned? hmm... she is very wise and has got me to thinking...
After morning tea we went into another room and learned what to do if you are being attacked against a wall. We learned how to land against a wall without being knocked unconscious and how to fight back when you are being pinned against a wall because it is a lot harder. One young woman had to leave the room because it brought back too many vivid memories. I can't even imagine the pain. Other women openly spoke about being in certain positions and not knowing what to do to escape. This was hard to hear because they are all beautiful women who don't deserve to have experienced these things.
These women are so strong, so much stronger than I can even explain.
We then practiced kicks again with martial arts pads and Emily dropped me off at Magill. We had lunch and I spent some time trying to get caught up on my blog... the blogger website has had lots of problems lately.
I walked back to Hosanna Heights early afternoon (in the rain) and quickly finished my packing. Helene showed up at Hosanna Heights and somehow or another Hilary, Ellie, and I managed to pack all of our belongings and fit into her car. We have acquired quite a few things as a whole and were jam packed! haha.
Helene dropped us off at Helen's house where we are house-sitting and taking care of her cat until she gets back from Sara's wedding. Hil, El, and I got situated and I went on a 2 hour walk around the area to become acquainted with my new surroundings (the house we will be moving into next week is only down the street). When I lived at Hosanna Heights I learned about my surrounds my running and walking all over the place, and I need to do that again so I know what's in my area.
I then attempted to relax by taking a candlelit bath, but it didn't seem to relax me at all :(. Ellie and Hilary watched Grease (we have a TV at Helen's house) while I typed this blog and attempted to figure out the new bus route for tomorrow!
Monday, March 2, 2009
A very much needed photo update!
I'm not quite sure why the formatting is so weird on this post, sorry if it makes it difficult to read!
______________________________________
Weekend in Renmark and road tripping home.
We visited the World's Biggest Orange! Be Orange!
You can never escape Wartburg College.
Monash Adventure Park: Me, Julie, Tariana, and Ellie.
Monash Adventure Park: Gabby, Tariana, Me, and Ellie
We crossed into Victoria for a photo!
Me and Ellie at the "How's the Serenity" boat.
Watch the Australian Film, The Castle, to get the joke.
Me, Gabby, Ellie, Julie, and Tariana standing in a dry fountain... it was a gift from Renmak's sister city in China.
Evidence that I ate Kangaroo!
It was yummy!
Bron, Brian, me, Tariana, Gabby, and Ellie out for coffee after dinner in Renmark. Ellie and I stayed and Bron and Brian's house while we were away.
_____________________________________________
Easter Bilby
In Australia they changed from having an Easter Bunny to an Easter Bilby.
This is a chocolate bilby, it is similar to a bunny, only uglier!
________________________________________________
Hilary and my adventure to Grange Beach!
Catching some rays... LOVING IT!
I was eating rice cakes... this was just prior to being attacked by the seagulls!
For real. haha.
Hil and me with hair blowing all over!
Me and Hil, we asked someone to take this pic... the man was there with friends that just arrived from Canada! They came from ice and snow too!
I found a dead crab... yuck!
I found a dead crab... yuck!
I <3 Stephen
Somebody was wind surfing and had to walk their kite thing back up shore to catch more waves.
The water was so beautiful!
_________________________________
Magill Interpretive Trail
This is the path at the interpretive trail... at every station there was information about Adelaide and the surrounding areas.
I almost fell off the bridge trying to get this photo!
haha.
______________________________________
Play group!
Play group... Bethany, Sophie, Scarlett, and Ellen.
Me and Bethany at play group, she is the cutest baby- ever.
_____________________________________
Coffee and the city.
Macchaitos in Australia are not the same as Starbucks in the US. They are more like an espresso shot with a bit of froth on top. A new experience.
40s swing dance night.
Me and El hanging out with Hil and Matt in the city one evening.
El and me dressed up!
We were a bit confused because the stairs disappeared!
Showing off my skinned knees in a dress!
I tripped running... yep.
Lucky 7 (the 40s swing band) it is kind of hard to see the dancers in this picture, they were really good!
________________________________________
Free Pancakes
At Cafe Primo they give you a free pancake with every entree... yummy!
___________________________
The Valentines Flowers Stephen sent me!
I have the best Fiance EVER!
:)
______________________________
Trying a few new things.
This was chocolate covered honeycomb... not too bad.
Chocolate covered gummy worms... an interesting thing.
Me and Hil eating the chocolate covered gummy worms.
I don't have a pic of me eating turkish delight... let's just say it wasn't a favorite of mine. :)
____________________________
A couple of Random pictures from the city of Adelaide.
Just for you, Amanda Jane :)
American Apparel in Adelaide, Australia... who knew!?
This statue is often referred to "Adelaide's Balls." People were shocked that we didn't see them when we were in the city. It took us intentionally looking for the balls to spot them.
____________________________
Helen, Peter, and I spend a 13.5 hour day driving south of Adelaide so Peter do a few counseling sessions and Helen could do some networking... here are a few photos along our way!
Best fruit stand.... EVER! :)
This is Aggie from the fruit stand. He is Greek and knows how to grow some amazing fruit! I'm holding up the free peach he gave me for being such a good customer. haha.
This is the great Murray River. It is the main water source for most places in Australia. As I mentioned in a previous post, if it stops running or gets too low Adelaide and many other cities won't have any source of water.
This is a picture of some of the landscape on our way up to Berri, it is beautiful!
It might be kind of hard to see, but part of the drive is very rocky land. This makes the land almost useless because people can't really live here.
Beautiful view!
We took the car ferry across the Murray River on our way to Wakierie and Berri.
The highways were lined with trees, but after about 20 feet from the road most of it was dirt and rock.
__________________________________
Lamingtons, and Australia dessert. Di from the Magill office made these for us... they were very yummy!
------------------------------------
Cricket Game!
After the game... this is a portion of the trash on "the hill." Starting in May Australia is going to stop using plastic bags when you buy things from the stores, I wonder if they'll do anything about all the plastic beer cups... it is highly unlikely.
The cricket field... the game goes from 2:30pm to 9:30 pm!
Hil and I decided to have a familiar American experience, we got hotdogs and chips (fries) at the cricket game.
This is photo of us sitting on "the hill" at the cricket game. As you can see there are a few security guards needing to keep some very excited fans under control.
:)
Somebody was wind surfing and had to walk their kite thing back up shore to catch more waves.
The water was so beautiful!
_________________________________
Magill Interpretive Trail
This is the path at the interpretive trail... at every station there was information about Adelaide and the surrounding areas.
I almost fell off the bridge trying to get this photo!
haha.
______________________________________
Play group!
Here are a few pictures of some of the kids that come to the playgroup I help with every Wednesday.
Play group... Jack one one of his sisters, Bella.
Play group... Jack one one of his sisters, Bella.
Play group... Bethany, Sophie, Scarlett, and Ellen.
Me and Bethany at play group, she is the cutest baby- ever.
_____________________________________
Coffee and the city.
Macchaitos in Australia are not the same as Starbucks in the US. They are more like an espresso shot with a bit of froth on top. A new experience.
Sipping on my macchiato. haha.
40s swing dance night.
Me and El hanging out with Hil and Matt in the city one evening.
El and me dressed up!
We were a bit confused because the stairs disappeared!
Showing off my skinned knees in a dress!
I tripped running... yep.
Lucky 7 (the 40s swing band) it is kind of hard to see the dancers in this picture, they were really good!
________________________________________
Free Pancakes
At Cafe Primo they give you a free pancake with every entree... yummy!
___________________________
The Valentines Flowers Stephen sent me!
I have the best Fiance EVER!
:)
______________________________
Trying a few new things.
This was chocolate covered honeycomb... not too bad.
Chocolate covered gummy worms... an interesting thing.
Me and Hil eating the chocolate covered gummy worms.
I don't have a pic of me eating turkish delight... let's just say it wasn't a favorite of mine. :)
____________________________
A couple of Random pictures from the city of Adelaide.
Just for you, Amanda Jane :)
American Apparel in Adelaide, Australia... who knew!?
This statue is often referred to "Adelaide's Balls." People were shocked that we didn't see them when we were in the city. It took us intentionally looking for the balls to spot them.
____________________________
Helen, Peter, and I spend a 13.5 hour day driving south of Adelaide so Peter do a few counseling sessions and Helen could do some networking... here are a few photos along our way!
Best fruit stand.... EVER! :)
This is Aggie from the fruit stand. He is Greek and knows how to grow some amazing fruit! I'm holding up the free peach he gave me for being such a good customer. haha.
This is the great Murray River. It is the main water source for most places in Australia. As I mentioned in a previous post, if it stops running or gets too low Adelaide and many other cities won't have any source of water.
This is a picture of some of the landscape on our way up to Berri, it is beautiful!
It might be kind of hard to see, but part of the drive is very rocky land. This makes the land almost useless because people can't really live here.
Beautiful view!
We took the car ferry across the Murray River on our way to Wakierie and Berri.
The highways were lined with trees, but after about 20 feet from the road most of it was dirt and rock.
__________________________________
Lamingtons
Lamingtons, and Australia dessert. Di from the Magill office made these for us... they were very yummy!
------------------------------------
Cricket Game!
After the game... this is a portion of the trash on "the hill." Starting in May Australia is going to stop using plastic bags when you buy things from the stores, I wonder if they'll do anything about all the plastic beer cups... it is highly unlikely.
The cricket field... the game goes from 2:30pm to 9:30 pm!
Hil and I decided to have a familiar American experience, we got hotdogs and chips (fries) at the cricket game.
This is photo of us sitting on "the hill" at the cricket game. As you can see there are a few security guards needing to keep some very excited fans under control.
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