Things I forgot to mention...

So after returning from our trip up North, all 3 study abroad houses got to do a Torchlight Tour of the old Fremantle Prison. This prison was running for about 100 years and just shut down in 1991. This was not just an ordinary historical tour, but a dark, scary, haunted tour. We got to see the prison cells with everything intact, the recreation yard, the kitchen, and the gallows. 44 people in total were executed within the prison and the 1 female of the 44 was named Martha. Martha murdered her children by making them gargle hydrochloric acid. Martha has been known to haunt many buildings around Freo. What a coincidence that the ghost of Cleos was given the name Martha within the first week of the semester...The tour was a really cool experience. I got a good laugh (and scare) out of the actors who jumped out at you and gave a 'personal' account of what it was like being in the prison. Our tour guide Pete, ended the tour by asking why he hadn't seen any of us American students out at The Orient (the bar across the street from our dorm)...clearly we don't like hanging out at places with 50 year old men (sorry Dad). So instead of seeing him at the Orient, he stalked us at The Newport two nights later. Creepy.

walking into the prison tour; either Cat is a good photographer or the ghosts were after us on our way in...

Earlier in the day before going to the prison tour, all of the study abroad students took part in raising money for a Leukemia foundation. One of the Port Lodge students shaved him head and everyone donated a few dollars. Most of the Cleos kids died a streak of their hair and also got everyone to donate a few dollars. Overall our group raised about $220.

Thursday and Friday were fun nights out. Thursday we went to the Claremont. The upstairs part where we usually hang out was closed, but we made our own dance party on the main floor. Friday night my Australian friend Martha came out with us and we went to The Newport and the Clint for a little bit. There was a slight casualty involved being taken down out of a cubby hole in the wall by an intoxicated friend, and an injury along with it, but all is well, nothing too serious.

Brendan, Cory, Tai, and Cat at the Claremont.

Tai Georgia and I, drinking at the beach before headed to the club!

The girls in Cleos before going out.

Me, Phil, Rachel and Tai. I'm not ticklish at all...

Catching Up

BROOME: Broome has definitely been one of my favorite experiences since being here. The week was filled with so much learning about the Aboriginal people and getting a first hand experience of their culture. Colin and Maria Morgan are an amazing couple who have dedicated their lives to teaching anyone and everyone who is willing about their culture. We learned about things ranging from health care, politics and rights, to cultural aspects like the Dream Time stories and Aboriginal ways of life.
The colors of the outback are unreal. The red dirt in the desert, and the blue ocean is beautiful. 

We had two days between Broome and our North Excursion for Autumn (Spring) Break. Nursing students didn't have that week off, so I had class and tutorial on Tuesday and had to take our 2nd exam before leaving Thursday morning. The only exciting thing to happen in these 2 days was going to see the Titanic in 3D with Shane Burke, best history teacher ever.


SPRING BREAK: Thursday we were up and ready to leave by about 6:30 and walked to the train station to wait to be picked up by our tour guide. An hour late, the bus pulls up driven by Adam, our tour guide for the next 4 days. He was under the impression that we were a group of 16 Canadian nurses...so we just went with that. On the first day we drove for houuuuuurs. Only about an hour in we almost hit an emu running across the road. Our first stop was the Pinnacles, which is a desert full of pointy rocks sticking out of the ground. Nobody really knows how they got there or why they look like they do, but Adam's theory had something to do with fossilized tree roots...After the Pinnacles we kept driving for a while until we got to North Hampton where we stayed for the night. We stayed at a farm owned by our new friend Reg. There were also two Australian guys staying at the same place, so we taught them how to play King's Cup. It was a rough night for some, and I got to practice my nursing skills a bit... but overall a good night. We woke up (never had made it to sleep) at 4:00 the next morning to start driving to the next stop. We stopped along the way at Pot Alley and other look out points to take some pictures. We made it to Kalbarri National Park by about 10 and went for a nice hike through the park. Some people chose to go abseiling which I did not, but it was fun to watch. There was a beautiful stream running through the park once we had hiked down quite a ways. It was so hot so we took a break here before heading back up. We also got to see Nature's Window which is a big rock arch that looks out to the water. Then it was back in the van for a lot more driving. We made it to Monkey Mia but sunset. A wild dolphin came swimming right up to those who were standing in the water. After dinner, we met up with an Aboriginal man named Capes who took us to a sacred camp ground and taught us more about the Aboriginal culture. This particular land is called 'Gadhaagudu' which means 'land of two waters' in his language. This was probably my favorite part of the north excursion. I got the experience of throwing fresh fish on a campfire and cooking them for the group-they turned out delicious. I never knew you could just throw a whole fish on some coals, peel back it's scales and go for it. Capes taught us about medicine wood (sandalwood) and how it is used to ward off bad spirits as well as protect you from mozzies. He also told us the Turtle Dream Time story which tells us how turtles came to have the pattern on their shells. One of my favorite fun facts from the night was that in Aboriginal culture, a shooting star symbolizes one of their ancestors returning home. Day 3 was Shark bay, Stromatolites, and Reg's Beach House. Shark Bay was a short stop where we went to an 'aquarium'  and got a tour. Basically we drove all day with a couple short stops. When we got to Reg's house, he was ready to party. He knew how good of a time we had had two nights earlier at his other property. Another tour group was staying at his beach house as well. We went down to the beach after dinner and had a bonfire and everyone was drinking and having a good time. The next day we went to a wildlife park where we got to feed kangaroos, emus, horses, donkeys, rams, and all sorts of other animals. We got to hold a joey and play with dingos! The dingos were by far the best part. If i could bring one home with me and have it as a pet i would. Ending the trip at the wildlife park was ending on a good note. We made it back to Fremantle by about 7:30 Sunday evening. Back to school Monday morning, and back into the normal routine. 
Since the North trip, I've just been catching up on school work and hanging out in Freo. I can't believe I'm halfway through the semester already. I'm jealous of everyone back home who is just about finished with their semester. At this point, the weather in Portland is better than here in Freo some days. I'm afraid the beach days are dwindling. I'm missing friends and family back home! 2 more months and I'm back in Portland for the summer. I'm going to enjoy every minute I have left here in Freo (: 

Happy Easter!

There are a lot of trends in Australia that I have noticed, and yet to share with everyone. First of all, so many guys here have rat tails. The best are the bleached rat tails...lookin' good. I don't get it, its not attractive, at all. Also, guys' shorts are just that-short. At first I thought this was weird, being able to see guys' knees and thighs, but I've gotten used to it. I guess we're just much more conservative in the States, especially the girls. The shorts and skirts are super short. Everyone dresses cute everyday. I have yet to see an Australian girl wearing sweats or athletic shorts to class. I have definitely picked up on this and become so much less of a scrub. High buns and pony-tails are another big trend, when I don't feel like doing my hair, a high bun is usually what I go with. It's a little more put together than my "I just got out of the pool bun", but not much. 

As for what I have been up to this week...I have tried to manage my time wisely and get homework and studying in along with having some fun. Sunday afternoon some of us walked over to a Didgeridoo shop in Freo and got an hour lesson on how to play and the history of a didgeridoo. We were more into playing and less into learning, so really the only thing I learned is that didges are made out of branches of wood that have been hollowed out by termites and they come from the Northern parts of Australia and are used in ceremonies.

 The big Australian History paper was due Thursday and I pretty much had it finished by the weekend, so I spend some time at Bather's Beach on Wednesday. Later that evening our Australian friend Martha came over and we watched an Australian classic called Castle. It's a really dumb/funny movie (Dad, I think you would like it haha). After the movie Tai and I went out with Martha all around Freo. We weren't expecting a big night out but started at the Orient and ended up at The Newport, then the Click when Newport shut down. I survived my first experience of the Clink, and it really wasn't as bad as I've heard it to be, but thatm might just be because it was full of the American Study Abroad students. Thursday Tai and I went into City West where the outlet mall is and did a little shopping. I'm loving the summer sales and stocking up so I have a summer wardrobe when I come home to summer in June (: After shopping we took the train one stop to North Fremantle and walked to Leighton Beach. It was a beautiful beach, but extremely windy. 

Friday Tai, Georgia, and I did our typical coffee shop studying. This week we went to Breaks Cafe and spent hours studying. I was working on my Theatre paper that I just finished. 

We leave for Broome this Wednesday, so all our assignments for the week have to be turned in by Tuesday afternoon, so this weekend has been pretty hectic. On top of getting ready for Broome, we had our big Easter Celebration in Cleos since we will be gone over the holiday. We had a massive feast, and ten or so guests over. We also revealed who our secret bunnies were. I guess mine right, Hannah gave it away with her nursing references. My gift was a Joey pouch purse with a travel coffee mug and a coupon to go have a coffee with Hannah sometime (: Afterwards some of us went over to the Chapel for Palm Sunday Mass.