Waiting for Karma to Kick In..

Hazel aka my mini-me

Well today marks my official two month anniversary of being in Australia and also marks one of my luckiest days ever. Not only did I make it to my 9am lab, but we got to "observe" aka just play with kids for two hours, then I made it to my 12pm where we got back our exams that I thought for sure I bombed undoubtedly, to my surprise I got a 69 which on Australian scales is actually pretty good. I went to go get a celebratory drink in the tav which then led to an intense game of pub quiz/skipping my 2pm class. But it was totally worth it, not only did we make "honorable mention" in the boat drawing portion but we also won a miniature pony, jim beam lanyards, and free jim beam and bourbon... reinforcing the fact that good things happen to those that choose drink over class. But we're getting ready to embark on our big journey in a few short days, so there's a lot of last minute planning going on but for the most part we're all set! We don't really have it set in stone where exactly we'll be staying at during this 11 day endeavor but we do have two cars, nine people, two tents, six ipods, speakers, a fairly accurate map, and enough goon (cheap wine) to make it to Coral Bay. We leave Thursday assuming Lindsey and I can safely drive the cars from the middle of Perth to the guys' house in Mt. Claremont in one piece.. Bahh so close! So excited! We've pretty much established the dress code for this trip to be solely swimsuits and the outfits we bought for our "op shop" (goodwill equivalent) party this past Friday. There's hardly any room for bags with all the sleeping bags and goon boxes so the four of us girls all have to share one bag so it should be really interesting to see how hygiene works out.  But back to this weeks events!

They start em' young here :)

  So I can't really remember what happened this week due to the fact that my brain is officially fried but one big event was my host aunt's birthday which was a lot of fun. It was just the family over but her kids and Hazel and Aaron get along so well and they had one big dance party. We successfully taught Hazel not only how to do the classics such as the disco, the lawnmower and the shopping cart, but we also introduced her to the bricklayer, big fish little fish, and many other classics. It was quite the good time to say the least.

Aaron in his Woody mask
He's got a matching Buzz one as well :)

Aaron and his marble kit that he can
play with for hours on end

Dropping trou in the middle of the bar.. no big deal

 Another big event was the Op Shop party which led to lots of (barely) memorable moments. At one point I just remember looking around the dance floor and seeing all the guys standing in a circle with their pants at their ankles, apparently its the standard procedure for when a certain song comes on.. definitely cant complain about that one :) But the next day we had another surfing lesson. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it but definitely still need some work. The guy, Phil, could tell as soon as we all walked up that we

The aftermath of the night before

were having an "off" morning seeing as we could all barely open our eyes and our group of 20 had dwindled down to about 8 but other than a seaweed invasion it was really good. We move beaches when we get back from the trip seeing as the waves will be better at Scarborough so I might die there, but no worries Mom you can still have Bertha! I've also fallen in love with rugby since I've been here, sorry American football but you just aren't cutting it for me here. Unfortunately I have to miss the US play Australia on Friday since we'll be on the road but I'm sure we can all predict the outcome of that one..
                       

  As far as life reflections I've decided I'm essentially screwed when I get home. It'll be winter, it won't be Australia, and I have to graduate.. maybe..note to self: check on graduation status this week. But fortunately I've been doing a lot of research and have figured out a few different options on how to get out of the US immediately following and even get paid for it so watch out world here I come.. hopefully. I'm still super torn about whether or not I should just suck it up and do nursing school now with Sare-Bear or just get out there for a little while and see what happens.. Oh well. I've been racking my brain to figure out a way to extend and stay the year in Australia but that means renewing my visa, finding someone to sublet my apartment at home, selling a kidney to afford it, and figuring out how to graduate from here.. so plan b just go to nursing school here in Oz (Australia)! Or they have a program here similar to Teach for America that I need to find more info on ASAP.

My future bedroom which also acts as the family dining room

  In other news, I will be moving in with the Brits the second week of October which means leaving my amazing host fam which I'm super upset about. But the guys have generously offered up their living room to me and Lindsey to live in rent free in exchange for 1 homecooked meal a week each and cleaning.. which is hopeless. I'm super excited to spend my last months here with them as they've truly become my best friends here, now we just need to convince Maria to move in and life would be perfect. Their house is everything I could ever dream of and more.. there's huntsmen spiders (deadliest spider in Australia) chilling in the living room/Lindsey and mine's future room along with several roof leaks, a pile of porn that could last until the millennium that they found on the side of the road, the shower has about 4 minutes of hot water and turns off if another faucet in the house gets turned on, the kitchen sink is out of commission due to the leak in the pipes that have rotted the floor, so all dishes (also found on the side of the road) are done with cold water in the "laundry" room sink, there's a line out back to hang the clothes on which you have to trek through in knee high-lizard infested grass to get to. Its honestly everything I could ever dream of and more, Lindsey and I are looking at it as extreme indoor camping.. but living with them should leave me with enough money for a few more roadtrips and also let me enjoy these last months to the fullest. I've already shared the sad news with the host fam and now all thats left to do is to find a mattress on the side of the road for Lindsey and I and to clear the porn out of our future dresser. Unfortunately I looked into sending my big suitcase home so I didnt have to lug it around but the cheapest I've found is about $480.. not feeling that so much so I'll just have to lug it around which should be super. I also need to call about moving my ticket. I have managed to make a doctor's appointment this week.. riveting I know. But this is my first doctors appt since my high school physical and even that consisted of my aunt filling out my form in her living room for me. I absolutely loathe going to the doctors and am a firm believer in how magnificent the body is and its ability to self heal with time and alcohol assistance. But it's gotten to the point where I can't swallow and can't breath at night because my tonsils are so swollen so I guess it's about that time to suck it up and check out what the Australian physicians have to offer. No worries mum, I got it all under control :) But I think I've written enough useless info and successfully avoided writing my 45 minute presentation on Sex and Lust Metaphors in the Chagga Tribe which is actually pretty fascinating. But I love you madre!

PS- I think the post office discovered the soup you sent me and confiscated it seeing as its a miracle in a can.. please send more?

A Swift Slap of Reality

 Well I didn't think that it was conceivably possible but I have actually hit a slump in Australia. I'm not sure if its the combination of not being able to breath/swallow or coming to the realization that I'm graduating when I return home but I guess you could say I've hit a wall. Granted it was a very low wall built most likely of sawdust as it was merely a half-day slump but one that I never saw coming regardless. I hadn't talked to Amanda in quite awhile but we skipped our uni responsibilities for the day and went into Perth to go walk around and enjoy. It was much needed "Amanda Time" but it also made me realize that I do have to go home at some point. I feel like I've lived in such a utopia since May and a glimpse of reality set in yesterday. This past summer was honestly the best one of my life and I think that it's completely attributed to the people I was constantly surrounded with as well as the complete euphoria of knowing Australia was only a few short months away. I went to work everyday with my best friends and came home to my best friends while back at home and then came straight to Australia which is completely undescribable. I have the best friends here as well, an amazing host family, and I have the chance to explore the world all on my own. However, reconnecting with Amanda made me realize that there is life after Australia and it's something I need to figure out sooner rather than later. In a little over a week I'll be going on an amazing 10 day road trip up the north coast with all of my best friends that will include everything from camping and hiking to surfing and whale watching. However, upon returning from the trip it will already be October and will mark a 2 month milestone until I have to return. Also, most of the nursing school applications that I've looked at are due in November which gives me little time comparatively to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. So after being faced with all these grand life decisions I was fortunate enough to have a night in with friends to put my mind at ease. Along the lines of everything happens for a reason, my friends host dad read my horoscope that basically read to the effect of "stop stressing about your life outcome and live for the moment". I've decided to take this as one gigantic sign pushing me into the direction that I've been leaning towards all along, I'll apply for a few nursing programs all around the country as a back up but apply for teaching english abroad programs as well as several nonprofits and just take a year off. I don't plan on finding an apartment for next year or making any type of living arrangements even though I no longer have a room at my house but I'm sure things will fall into place as that's the way that things usually work out. If all else fails I've resolved to get some sweet ass dreads and just backpack until work finds me.. fool proof!
 But anywho, this past week and a half have been pretty solid as usual. We were able to finally make it into a bar with everyone at one time which is no easy feat. Sorry to continue on about the bar scene here but it just completely bewilders me sometimes. I've already expressed my contempt at the price differences but the overall idea of being kicked out or not let in on the basis of having "too" much just baffles me. In good ol' Chambama the more plastered you are the better, it just means they can collect some innocent drunks $5, rely on them to think they're invincible and buy a few drinks once inside only to spill them and be carried home.. overall a great business deal on their part. Here however, if it looks like you've had more than two drinks prior to coming you aren't getting let in at all, they also check bags, do an iris or fingerprint scan, and take your picture. They also cut you off and wont sell you beer if they think you're within a few drinks of reaching your limit. Absurd. I've almost been not let in on numerous occasions because they think I've reached my limit based on how big my eyes are.. it takes one of my british friends to explain that that's just the way my eyes are and that I've just got the patented "glazed American look". This past week however we were able to see the differences in dress codes. Our friend Alex wasn't let in based on the fact that he was wearing khaki shorts. Seeing as there was a group of like 12 of us we decided it wasn't worth it to give up and go home so I donated my leggings I was wearing under my dress and he stripped down in the parking lot and put those on instead, fortunately the bouncers were so impressed at his attempts we got in everywhere we went.. such a good night! Especially since he put the leggings on inside out so his tag was sticking out, he was definitely one of the most popular people at the pubs :)

Stevo's package and all it's glory

 Also this week was Lindsey's birthday and words can't express how jealous I am that she gets to spend her birthday here, so I've decided to celebrate my half birthday.. whoo hoo September 21st! Only I've decided I'm no longer going to age so I will be celebrating the 6 month anniversary of my 21st birthday instead. Ingenious. Cards and tomato soup sent via mail are highly encouraged :) I also received my first package this week from Stevo which was a God-send. I had mentioned to him beforehand the bizarre phenomenon of them not having red solo cups here or cheap ping pong balls so sure enough, a few days later I get a little bit of heaven on my doorstep. I debated immediately chucking the gift at the sight of the last name he assigned to me (Stevo-you're still in trouble for that one) but upon reading the content description I couldn't contain my excitement any longer. I think Catherine was amazed at how happy a pack of 50 red plastic cups and a few dozen ping pong balls could make me but I don't think people not from the US or Canada fully appreciate their potential. So I plan on busting out my amazing gift this weekend :)
  This past weekend I also got to go surfing for the first time ever.. and I'm still alive! In one piece! I was a little bit concerned with my severe lack of balance and inability to swim but the instructors were super helpful and it's one of those "just go see what happens" learning techniques anyways. We made the mistake of going out the night before of course and had to wake up at 8am to go hop on a train to the beach so we were all a little groggy but it turned out to be an amazing day. The weather was perfect and they gave us all wet suits and a foam board to learn on. It was only $25 which included renting all the stuff and 1.5 hours in the water which is by far the cheapest we've found and ultimately a good thing considering. Phil, the owner guy, just operates out of his van that's parked in the parking lot by the beach and is really nice. After we all went surfing we just spent the day at the beach, playing weird british rugby type games in the water and had a huge barbie (there was about 20 of us) later on in the afternoon. Btw, they don't have hot dogs here, they think they do, but they're impostors, don't be fooled. We were all completely wiped by the end of day so we all just had a chill out night over a few bottles of wine and some good ol' mac n cheese.. which is totally different here as well. But we're going again this Saturday and then we'll be up the North Coast next Saturday for our term break trip and hopefully surfing up there. We also found a really great deal on kite surfing too so I picked up my broski and Jake some tickets for it as well for when they come down and visit.. super pumped!

  Our "term break" (aka spring break) plans are finally starting to come along and I'm super excited! As of yesterday it was over 80 degrees in Coral Bay which is one of our stops along the trip. We officially have two station wagons booked and ready to go thanks to Lindsey. The shaggin wagons also come with a tent each, as well as cooking gear, mosquito nets, and a table and chairs and seeing as there's 10 of us going it was super cheap to rent them out for the full 10 days as opposed to shelling out for a plane ticket. We've also decided to decorate the cars too before we go so we've picked up some sweet as Australian flags to stick out the window. We've been looking for US, Canada, and British flags to fly as well so we're all represented but no such luck..shocker. Our tentative plans right now are to leave Perth around 4 or 5pm on Thursday night and start the 17 hour trek to Karijini National Park. We'll be stopping places both Thursday and Friday night to stay along the way but there are few concerns with the drive. The first one being the whole issue of not being able to drive at dusk, dawn, or night due to the overwhelming kangaroo problem, especially where we're going which is essentially the middle of nowhere for a solid 15 hours. There kangaroos are very similar to our deer, minus the fact that they're like 100lbs heavier and a few feet taller and can do way more damage to your car then turn around and roundhouse kick you to death. Well not so much the last part but I'm sure it's been done. But yeah, they travel in packs/herds of anywhere from like 30-100 so if we get caught in the dark during a kangaroo street crossing party.. could be disaster. Another disaster is the fact that I'm one of the 5 drivers. I looove driving and would consider myself a good driver considering I've never had a ticket.. a few warnings yes, but no tickets! But they drive on the opposite side of the road here on the opposite side of the car, I still find myself bracing expecting to go straight into oncoming traffic on the bus when we make a right turn, but there's a few brits on the trip so they can remind me and I'm planning on marking a big L on my left hand as a constant reminder. But our first stop on the trip is Karijini National Park which looks absolutely breathtaking
!

Coral Reef :)

 We plan on spending a few days there to hike and go see all the waterfalls and such. Camping will be interesting as you can't have fires at all so we're not quite sure how to work out the light situation seeing as we'll have no electricity whatsoever and the bugs are also really bad here so should be a good time eh? They also don't have treated water and its like $2 for a 40 second shower.. which I take to mean as (a) drink lots of beer to stay hydrated and (b) lots of swimming! But after that we'll head on west and slightly more north to Coral Bay which is park of Ningaloo.

At Coral Bay they have everything from snorkeling and surfing to whale watching as we're going at the perfect time of year I guess as far as marine life goes.. although I think we just missed the sea turtles laying eggs.. oh well maybe next time :) After Coral Bay we're just gunna wing it and see what happens. There's a lot of cool places down the coast on our way home and we'll have about 4 days to get from Coral Bay to Perth and it's only a 14 hour drive-ish so we're hoping to stop at Monkey Mia and the Pinnacles if time allows. We figure we can camp wherever and everything we've seen is super cheap, only about $10/night so thats about $1/person. We're not too concerned about finding a place to stay as much as we are about finding a place to fill up on petrol.. apparently petrol stations are scarce on the way up with the way we're taking.. which is the only way I might add.. so if you see a station you absolutely have to stop and fill up because you have no idea when the next station may be.. and although spending all of break camping out along The Great Northern Highway with the gigantic kangaroos seems like a blast, I really really wanna go hiking and surfing as well :) But we leave exactly one week from today and I'm super pumped.. Catherine and Ed are letting me take one of their sleeping bags and then all 4 of us girls are sharing one bag to put our stuff in as there's like zero room in the cars. The guys have already forewarned us that due to the heat they'll be living in their boxers the whole time (including the 17 hour car ride up) and not wasting the money on showering, alcohol only.. should be a good time.. until they die of sun poisoning and dehydration.. but alls well that ends well right?

My Superb Homework Helper :)

Hazel's Portrait/Masterpiece of me

 Sorry this blog is forever long, Jacob and Rhea here's your mini novel yet again. I also forgot my camera for everything this week so sorry about that Rheanna, you might actually have to read.. scary I know :) But I did get a picture of Hazel after we had our drawing session. She decided that she wanted to help me with my bioenergetics homework which turned into a mini drawing lesson. She has discovered my glasses that I wore for the Geeks n' Freaks bar crawl and thinks its crucial that she wear them to see, lens knocked out and all. She also has developed quite the affinity for my green satchel and likes to wear that around the house as well so I find it usually with a few of Aaron's toy cars and a rolling pin from her play kitchen upon it's return but she's absolutely adorable. She loves to look at my pictures before she goes to bed so we usually make a deal that she can look at 3 or 4 pictures before she goes "none-eyes". She loves the one with my mom and me at the airport before I'm getting ready to leave and any other picture which involves someone giving me a "cuddle" which is much better than explaining to her why I'm drinking so many cans of "water" in my pictures. But the only pictures I managed this week are from our mini drawing lesson.. sorries! But they're super cute so enjoy! 

  Miss you mom! Love you!

Koalas and The Clap

Probably not a very fitting title for a blog but eh, can't win em all! So this past week flew by yet again and I feel as if I'm yet again sitting here in a daze trying to remember further back than just a few days.. must be something in the water. I still can't believe I've already been here for over a month now, totally just mind blowing. Also, we got an e-mail reminding us that we're nearing the halfway mark for the term, already 5 weeks down with only about 7 or 8 more to go which doesn't include the last two weeks which are dedicated to final exams. It's absolutely flying by and I'm just kinda left in a stupor trying to figure out how to pack everything I want to fit in before I leave into a few short months. I've been trying to figure out my solid plans for after schools out as far as travelling around for a few weeks and potentially moving back the date I fly home so I can backpack along the East Coast before I leave, however still not receiving my financial aid puts quite the damper on things. Ohh financial aid, you are my savior and the reason I can't sleep at night. I arrived into Perth July 20th, started school the first week of August, was supposed to receive my financial aid about 2 weeks into August since its disbursement goes by the U of I's class schedule and I'm sitting here the first week of September broke as a joke but happy as a clam. Fortunately, I have my mother on my side that has been calling for me seeing as making calls around 3am here to talk to someone during their business hours is a little tough. But after countless panic attacks and the sudden realization that I'm super broke halfway across the world everything is right in the world. I have applied for several jobs but seeing as I'm only here on a student visa for a few months it's not looking too promising. My next bright idea was to sell my eggs which I looked into in the States and you could make around $3000 for, however its illegal to pay egg donors here so there goes that idea. But if all goes as planned I will be receiving my financial aid tomorrow :)

  This last weekend was all in all a pretty successful one as most are proving to be here. We went to an AFL game on Friday night which was quite the experience. AFL is honestly the coolest conglomeration of sports as it combines American football and soccer with rugby and many rules that seem to only exist for this particular game. The game atmosphere was really cool and the stadium was absolutely packed even though the home team, Fremantle aka Freo, was expected to get absolutely annihilated which turned out to be the case. The final score was something like 150-46 pretty outrageous. But one of the major perks of the game are the super sexy players that rock short shorts :) The short shorts and capri look thats popular on guys is one that I am definitely starting to be a huge fan of. Catherine and I were so mesmerized when we were watching The Blacks lose to Australia earlier in the week, oh aussie boys how you have my heart... But after the game we followed the crowds and went to a pub downtown called Paddy McGuires that is quite possibly one of my favorites. They usually have a live band that plays and its just a small bar full of people just kicking back, drinking a pint, and just having a good time. Plus the last few bands have played The Killers and Kings of Leon which are obviously a huge weak spot so I might be a little bit biased.

Our super sweet sand castle after Maria took a fall into it :)

  The next day the guys headed out to start surf lessons so Maria, Lindsey, and I took the chance to go explore Fremantle a little bit. Fremantle is a really cool area that's about 40 minutes away from Perth that has a bunch of old buildings and a famous old prison as well. They also have a bunch of markets and little shops and there's always street performers on the weekends that are pretty entertaining to watch as well as people just chillin on the sidewalk playing the guitar and singing trying to make a few bucks. Last weekend when we tried to go we ended up going to the beach first and exploring but then we met up with the guys and some other people that had gone surfing that morning and ended up spending the whole day on the beach. Fortunately we had a chance to go walk around yesterday as it's really just a great place to go walk around and waste the day. We had what the UK friends call "proper" fish and chips which were aammaazing and there's also a famous brewery there called Little Creatures which is supposed to be to die for, however Lindsey forget her proof of age card so we had to pass on it this time.. epic fail.

Downtown Fremantle

Why yes, those are gigantic bags of every kind of coffee bean you could ever  dream of.. heaven.

Simone making Lindsey a 'respectable' mermaid after we buried her in the sand :)

 This weekend also marked days 2 and 3 of "Lindsey's 23 days of Birthday" as she turns 23 on Tuesday. We've been trying to rack our brains for American food that we could cook for people but really everything that's American is actually not American in the slightest so we opted to have Fiesta Friday and cook Mexican food seeing as that's something that's taken over the US. Maria and I stocked up on the essentials such as tequila (equipped with a mexican hat for a lid), a pinata, a sombrero generously loaned out for the night by my amazing host mum, a lemon sour cream cake also compliments of Catherine, and trash-staches drawn on the fingers to really get things going. The looks we got on the bus ride there were needless to say epic. But the night went really well and it ended up being a great night in with close friends.

 We danced to the mexican hat dance and watched various youtube videos and of course listened to the snl classics such as "I'm on a Boat" and "Jack Sparrow". It's still always really cool to me how a group of 10 people from all over the world listen to the same songs and watch the same awful youtube videos even though all of us speak different languages and have completely different backgrounds. I actually learned a lot that night such as how Italy doesn't have prom, Norway has a 40% sales tax and how that leads to Anders getting about $20,000 from his government to come and study in the Australia, and also random facts like how chlamydia runs rampant in the koala bears (seriously, google it). It's always really cool to hear about other people's home universities and governments are and how different and similar they all are. We probably had about a 20 minute convo about how screwed up the US government seems to the outside world and there's a few points that I've really noticed from being here. The first, is that everybody and their mother hates George Bush. The second, is that they all love Obama even though the only thing they really know about him is that he's black. I absolutely loathe arguing about politics most the time only because it's not like anyone is going to change their perspective or view and it's pretty much worthless. I will admit that there is a huge difference between arguing politics and just conversationally talking/learning about and I definitely love to hear other people's perspectives. Our friend from Norway was absolutely blown away that I would consider myself a Republican and couldn't for the life of him understand how people could want a small government as opposed to a large government that controls everything. Its amazing the media's influence on people's opinion and how certain things factor in. I definitely think Norway has got a great thing going over there as far as the government goes, but I just don't see it working for the US. Anders also pointed out that if you're from Norway and you can't grow a mustache you basically get kicked out, unless you can ski.. fun fact for the day. From the outside looking in, its so easy to see how people could view Americans the way they do. It's definitely not that I'm ashamed of my political party of choice or am extremely vocal about my contempt for Obama being elected even though in my opinion that election was a lose-lose situation, but it's nice just to hear other people's perspectives and how their governments work. 

Aaron and Hazel playing 'hide-n-seek'.. they're so inventive!

 On a lighter note, I'm finally starting to not get so agitated with the public transit here and have actually had a good couple weeks here. Seeing as I take the same routes practically everyday people have gotten used to the American girl on the bus and train and no one has asked me how it feels to be ignorant and in a financial crisis in quite awhile. One bus driver I've deemed my pseudo-grandfather while I'm here even. He usually only works the weekends but sometimes he'll pop up on Wednesdays too. But usually its just me and a few others depending on the day on the bus so he'll whip out his harmonica while waiting at stops and play a few songs. He gives me updates on how his piano and guitar lessons are going and I'm quite impressed that a guy that's probably about 65 is trying to learn new things, he's pretty cool to say the least. It's also Father's Day today in Australia so I made sure to pick Ed up some Heineken to celebrate :) Apparently they don't do presents here for stuff like father's day and mother's day but I figured it's the least I could do since they have been the most amazing host family ever. The next thing on my To Do list is to figure out how to fit Aaron and Hazel in my suitcase so I can take them home with me. Hazel made sure last night to remind me before I left to go out for the night to be sure and come home tomorrow for Father's Day for my daddy.. too cute :) 

  My next mission is to figure out my finances and how I can make backpacking up the East Coast for a few weeks before I leave a reality. I'm planning on sending a suitcase home later this week in hopes that it might get there by the beginning of December. Apparently you can rent out a crate on a freight ship and send it that way for pretty cheap. It's getting warm here even though it's technically winter still. Most days this past week hit 75ish which has been amazing for laying out on Oak Lawn with friends for hours however not so amazing for the lectures missed in the process, oh well, when in Rome... But I plan on sending home my "winter" stuff and stuff like my blow dryer, straightener, and all my clothes basically except for a few summer dresses I've picked up here and hiking clothes. Right now the ideal situation would be me continuing to live with my host family until mid-October, then living in a tent in the backyard of the Leed's boys house in Claremont which they have graciously offered up free of charge as long as we clean which is not going to be an easy feat, then finishing up exams around the third week of November, sending my last bag of luggage home which will have summer stuff so I won't need it for awhile, and just having my bookbag of essentials and backpacking around the East Coast until I leave. Please don't fret about the tent situation mom, Lindsey and I have it all figured out and it should save me an obscene amount that can be put towards my East Coast efforts. It'll only be for a little over a month and the guys have an empty living room we can keep our stuff in and an air mattress split between us isn't too bad in the slightest, plus it'll be warm by then. And plus, how many people can say they lived in a tent in Australia for a month? My point exactly. I'm hoping that once financial aid comes in I can figure out whether or not financially I can push back my plane ticket from leaving Dec 1 to maybe Dec 10th. This way I could go and see what Sydney and Melbourne has to offer and visit a few attractions along the coast. Lindsey and Maria are on board for it so we can all hopefully just bounce from hostel to hostel before taking off. But we'll see how that works out. I'm trying to figure out the shortest amount of time I need to recooperate both physically and financially before heading to India for three weeks on Dec 24th.. hmm so many things to think about!

 But as for now, I'm getting ready to go take my laundry off the line and head to church. I found the most amazing cathedral in Perth last Sunday but tonight I'm trying out one in Claremont so we can all meet at the pub right down the street afterwards for day 4 of Lindsey's birthday month. Unfortunately I won't be able to celebrate my birthday down here but I have every intention of celebrating my half birthday which will be while we're roadtripping across the West Coast over term break :)
 :But I definitely miss everyone at home and I picked up a bunch of postcards while in Fremantle so expect the first wave of postcards fairly soon! As always, I love you mom!! 

                                          

                                                                           ...please send tomato soup!