Thursday, September 24, 2009

study break #2

I For the record, it took close to an hour to upload those kangaroo videos, so y'all better love them. I went to Kings Park in the heart of Perth yesterday to see the wildflowers. Apparently they are there all year long, but September is when they re-plant and make everything look nice again. The park provides a fabulous view of the city and the rivers surrounding it. The natural beauty of the land was very calming for me in this stressful week before my second break. They really do love to heap on the work right before you have some time off. I also picked up a side project of writing some article for the women's edition of the school magazine which will be out next month. I thought getting published in another country would be cool, and I am really passionate about women's issues (as you may know). I got really upset on Tuesday night because one of my flatmates said (while intoxicated) that "women are objects, and as soon as western culture adopts that belief from the east, the better off they will be". I didn't even know how to confront that kind of discrimination. You honestly can't reverse a belief someone has been raised with their whole life, but it is comments like that that push me further into the fight for women's rights. As you can see, the fight is far from over. for this break, I am going on a camping trip that the international student's office puts together that explores the Northern part of Western Australia. I will be gone for ten days with no access to the Internet, so I will not be blogging. I can give you a few things to look at while I am gone. The first is Monkey Mia and Ningalroo, two of the sights I will be visiting on my trip. Second, check out the Aussie news to see the dust storms they are having on the east coast, The pictures are pretty cool. Finally, I encourage everyone to take some time and educate yourself about the Aborigine issues in this country. It has an amazing history, and I am shocked that we are not told about in our education system. I've been working on a project about the intervention in the northern territory, and I think it is worth a look at for you as well. Wish me luck on my first out door trip ever.

Kings Park wildflower festival (45 photos), by Amanda Fucinato


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Bunbury

I had a wonderful weekend down south in Bunbury and Margaret River. The trees are a beautiful full green because of how wet the spring has been. Margaret River is home to the famous wineries in WA and the only chocolate factory in the region. The wine and the chocolate were delicious, and I felt very privileged to have a local person to show me all the finer points of the region. The ocean pictures are from the Bunbury beach and a region called Yallingup. Both are big tourist spots for surfers. If you went south from the beach, you would run into Antarctica, and going west would take you to Africa. It is fun to look at a map and see how the world is laid out. My perspective is really different now that I am out of the US.