Time is just a flying by over here..Tomorrow begins week 6...absolutely crazy!
We got lots of news this past week. I guess it was around Thursday that we got the email that we WILL be going on to Cambodia for our semester break! It is with study Australia (my program provider). They had temporarily told us we may not go on the trip because only 3 people signed up....but after some emails telling them we really wanted to..alas they said YES! Should be a very neat experience.
Also on Thursday Addie and I went and did our first "job". We have a very good bit of free time here in Australia because our course load is so light. Therefore, we have been attempting to find jobs or do volunteer opportunities. Addie came across a house cleaning job this past week. She asked the lady if we could both come and just split the pay. So Thursday we went; very glad we both did because it would have been a bit much for just one person to get done. The grandma was there the whole time babysitting the lady's 9 month old baby. She was chatting with us the whole time...pretty interesting..typical Aussie =)
On Friday we went to Cape Pallerenda, a beach further down from the Strand in Townsville. It is a very nice secluded beach.
The international Student Center bussed about 120 of us international students down there for the afternoon. It was very nice. It is like a very natural beach. We chose to do the walking trail which consisted of the old Quarantine Station. This is where they would unload all the new shipments of people to Townsville and run them threw this place to check for diseases and what not. Then we hiked around the beach and took lots of photos. They also had lamingtons which are a lot like chocolate cover sponge cake covered in coconut. They also had tons of scones with jam and whipped cream! DELICIOUS!!!That night we went to an Aussie friend's house from Frisbee for his birthday party. Addie and I were both so exhausted, as I have went out quite a bit this week, therefore we left by 10:30 pm and I came home to crash!
Saturday morning I was finally able to sleep a decent bit. I have found myself waking up so early in this country, even on days when I could potentially sleep in. That was nice! We had signed up for a volunteering event for Saturday afternoon. It was a car show in Townsville and proceeds to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. It was a really neat idea; the entrants of the car show get a "playing card" in which they are creating a poker hand. Our job was to be at on of the stations around town, of which there were five stations. The car entrants would drive around town to each of the stations and draw one card out of a deck of 52.
We would then stamp there "playing card" with the corresponding card that they drew. At the end, all the "playing cards" get turned in to decipher who drew the best hand.
Today we had planned our first scuba diving trip! BUT, yesterday afternoon we had to call to confirm the trip and they said we had to cancel because the weather was making the water too rough. BUMMER, but indeed glad it got called off because today has actually been a bit chilly weather. We also had friends who snorkeled off Maggie Island and they said that the visibility was not good at all. We will be rescheduling tho!
Tonight at dinner, one of the girls at our table, Sanam, said that she was a beautician and offered to do our nails! We went straight after dinner and had a WONDERFUL girls night! It was soo fun! The room consisted of Sanam, Izzy, Caitlin, me, and Addie. Sanam is from Iran, Izzy from Canada, and Caitlin is from Indiana. We had so much fun learning Iran culture, listening to music (Izzy is quite the musician, she plays the guitar!), and Caitlin told us all about her scuba diving certification weekend!! Ohhh and of course, my nails are now painted a lovely shade of maroon [Go Aggies =)] , and my toes are french tipped! It is one of those occasions when you have to be there to enjoy the laughing that went on!! ahh, love those girls! Unfortunately, dinner was awful tonight so everyone was getting hungry. We tried to ring some of guy friends that are usually up for a late night mackers run, but for some odd reasons, of all nights, they did not want to go. Addie and I trekked over to their rooms to try and do some convincing....I ended up on a thirty minute chat with Sameer talking about the ways of the world and med school. Sameer is a 6th year med student (medicine is different here, it is actually an undergraduate 6 year degree). In the end, no mackers convincing went down, probably for the best! But an interesting chat to say the least. Back to the girls room I went...laughed a bit more and now I will be off to bed soon! Tomorrow I must get VERY serious about a paper I have due by Friday! Cheers till next time! Miss everyone at home and love y'all, Laura <3
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