Sydney and the Wodi Wodi

Hello All! Things are wonderful down here in the Southern Hemisphere. My first week has been incredibly fun. I have learned all kind of new things and experienced things that I never dreamed possible. I am getting to explore so many asspects of this country. I have learned SO SO much in just 6 days, that I cannot imagine where I will be at this end ofo this adventure.

I am with a great group of people learning for the most part in an outdoor classroom. We get up every morning early and walk the 45 minutes to Uni rather than taking the bus, we discuss the lives of the Australian Aborigines and the country's environmental problems at great length, we share meals, we share stories, we share SO many laughs, and we are constantly reminded just how fortunate we are to be on this extraordinary journey. We are all having a blast. From our Boston girls, to the Midwest crew, to our Jersey girl, and our NY city slicker, we have an amazing bunch.

Some of the group looking out over the Harbour in Sydney.

My Uni here in Oz. We have beautiful bushland all over campus.

On Wednesday our teacher, Deborah, gave us a study day to work on our annotated bibliography. Instead, we went to Sydney. Well, what did you expect out of a group of college students?! We had an amazing time exploring all the sights. I was particularly taken aback by the Opera House. There was something about it that made sense to me. The moment I saw it was the moment that I realized that this thing I'm doing is, in fact real. I am in Australia. I am living in this amazing city for the next half year. To me, this one architectural masterpiece represented the endless possibilities that lie ahead of me.

The AMAZING and BREATHTAKING Opera House.

Sydney.

Stairs at the Opera House.

Girls Jumping.

At the Botanical Gardens.

The class that I am taking here is focused on the Aborigines and the environment. We spend a great majority of the course out in the field exploring the Australian, specifically the Illawarra, environment. On Thursday we went hiking on the Wodi Wodi trail which is a short train ride from our home in Fairy Meadow. There were beautiful views and scenery despite the fact that it dumped rain and that we were constantly watching out for leaches and snakes (we only had one leach out of all 9 of us!). It was a great walk even though we all looked like wet dogs afterward.

View from the Wodi Wodi Trail.

For now I'm off on a 10 day field study around New South Wales. We will be spending a lot of time in National Parks working with Aboriginal Elders both along the coast and in the Snowy Mountains. I think that it will be a great trip. With the group I'm with it is bound to be filled with laughter, and we should be in for some amazing sights!

Will write more after further adventuring!

Endless Love,

Anna

"Nothing is beyond you."

My new mantra.