“Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo..I do believe it...I do believe it's true" - Simon and Garfunkel

Oh hey, it's me...procrastinating AGAIN! Today I am putting off researching for my final paper that is due on Friday. Granted, I have been researching and reading articles since 11am today, so it's not like effort hasn't gone in.

Friday I went to the Australia Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter. It was sooo much fun. We didn't get the best weather, but that's ok. When we first got there we trekked through the snake house (Australia has 9 out of 10 of the worlds most poisonous snakes) and then made our way to Kangaroo Haven. We were lucky enough to get there when the zookeeper was feeding the roo's! She let everyone take a handful of food and feed them while she taught us about different parts of the kangaroo family structure. After that fun filled adventure we journeyed on to the Echidna exhibit. Echidna's are a type of monotreme (one of two, the other is a platypus). Monotremes are egg laying mammals. The Echidna looked like a porkeypink but had the cutest little face!

After that, we headed over to see crocodiles and Tasmanian devils before heading into the crocoseum for the animal show. The show was really entertaining and educational, but I am sure it would have been 10 times better with Steve :(

After a quick lunch, our group reentered the corocoseum for some zoo keeper lecturers. Keepers of koalas, snakes, birds and crocs all came out and gave 15 minute lectures about the animals and pressing issues concerning them. After they spoke we all got to have a pat of each animal except the bird.

After a very educational yet laid back morning, it was FREE TIME! My friends and I headed over to the Asia exhibit after taking pictures with "Steve". There we got to sit in on a tiger play session. It is amazing the bond these keepers have with the animals, the tiger keeper got right in the water with them playing tug of war and swimming! AMAZING! They are sooo lucky! Once the show was over we headed over to the elephant enclosure where we were able to hand feed the elephants! I fed Bimbo or Bambo, I dont remember his name, but he was a younger elephant and therefore didnt have the best manners while eating...basically my hand was covered in dirt from the trunk haha but wow what a great memory to have! Everyone picked up a piece of fruit and stepped on a yellow mat where the elephant would reach its trunk over the enclosure and scoop it out of your hand. The trunks are so powerful, muscular and rough!

We walked back to the zoo entrance where we encountered a wombat walk about. I got to pet the wombat and take some pictures...they are soooo cute! After some shopping in the gift shop, everyone hopped on the bus and we headed back to campus.

It was a great way to end the semester of field trips!

This week is my last week of classes!! I am so happy to be done with work (besides finals)! I am working on my final paper for my TV class ;) sort of.

Well there are only 27 days left for me here...bittersweet.


G'day,
Melissa

I will post some pics up later, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. – Pat Conroy

Today is my one month marker until I come home. For the last month or so I have been so excited to return home. I have been so excited to see my family again, my friends and have all my favorite foods at my fingertips (chipotle anyone?). I am still excited for all these things. However, I have realized in the past few days how much my excitement was clouding my sadness and despair about leaving this amazing country that I have been living in for the past five months.

My sister is in Australia now and I am so excited for her to be here and experience everything I love about this country. I missed her. A strange thing happened though once she got here, I felt sad, annoyed, angry even. Not because she was here, I love that she is here (because she is the best...shout out: SUP HILY!) but because apart of home was here. A part of home was encroaching on what had become familiar, disturbing this amazing experience and I wasn't ready for that to happen. I am not ready to accept that in less than one month I will have to return to what used to be. I have grown so much, I have become so much more independent. I have changed.

Studying abroad is definitely the best decision I have ever made in my life and anyone who has the chance to do it, should. Anyone who has the chance to travel should. I found this quote that I really love about traveling:

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” - Mark Jenkins

I totally relate to this. I have seen so much while I have been here...successful cities with thriving and booming economies (except for right now because Australia's stock market crashed so now the US dollar is worth 10 cents more, which is SUPER) to extreme poverty on the island of Fiji. I have encountered the nicest of people and have experienced so many different cultures. I have tried new things and I just feel so much more well rounded, the world is no longer black and white and it will never be again.



Melissa

BIRTHDAY!!!

My Birthday has been so amazing so far and its not even half way over! I got a package from home with cute little goodies, my awesome roommate made me yummy cupcakes, I got lots of messages from my friends (thanks guys!) and the best present of all....my whole family singing me happy birthday :) :) :) That made me soooo happy!! I LOVE YOU ALL!



Let the celebration continue!!! 21!! yaaaaay!



Melis

"Procrastinate now, don’t put it off." - Ellen Degeneres

So I am sitting in the Bio Science Library and I am supposed to be writing a response paper that is due tomorrow and I just cant bring myself to do it. I am super tired and bored. It will get done thought, no worries.

Anyways, these past couple weeks have been pretty laid back. I did do some exploring around Brisbane with Ashley the other day. We went to the Botanical Gardens, explored the Queensland University of Technology campus (where I got a really good iced coffee) and walked around the docks and trails surrounding the city. It was really fun and relaxing. I have pictures but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

Other than that fun filled day, I haven't done much else. School is winding down with less than a month of classes left...then its one week off and the start of finals! I only have three finals. One is on the 12th, ones on the 15th and the last on the 23rd. I leave Australia 3 days later. I can't believe I have a little over a month left here in this amazing country/continent/island. hah. Time went by way to fast and I feel like I am not ready to leave. I have so much more to see and do! I will definitely come back to Australia though...someday.

But, lets see whats to come in the next coming weeks?
Well...TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! (well in Australia at least.) This will be the longest birthday of my life and I am so excited to be 21 :). Next week, SISTER COMES TO AUSTRALIA!!! yaaaaaay HILARY! :) :) :) I am so excited to see her and her friends and to show them around my super cool city! Thennnnnn I got to the AUSTRALIA ZOO! on a field trip! We are supposed to get backstage access which should be a cool experience...maybe I will meet Bindi! Thats it for May though.

I am looking at flights to see if I can find something cheap and travel to one more place before finals start. Maybe Melbourne, Darwin or Ularu? I dunno we will see.


Later mates,
Melissa

PS Congrats to Beth and Matt on their Wedding!

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I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. - Finding Nemo

So a couple weeks ago I went to Sydney for ANZAC weekend (which stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corps)...basically its like out veterans day. My flight was Thursday night and I flew Virgin airlines which was totally cool because they had TV screens for every seat! Although, you had to pay after like 20 minutes of watching...whomp. So Ashley, Kelly and I arrived late at night and headed to our hostel, The Woodduck Inn. Man, was it nice there...complete with cockroaches and all! The room we stayed in was sketchy too and smelled like an old smelly man. Granted the three of us and our friends we met up with that were also staying there decided that these accommodations were not up to par.

Somehow, we started talking about hotels and with my brilliant mind I brought up points...low and behold our friends Kyle and Colleen's parents had tons of points for Marriot and they let us use them. We got 3 rooms for 3 nights in a Marriot about a 20 minute train ride outside of Sydney! AMAAAZZZZIIINNNNG! I am forever thankful :) haha. So the next morning we packed up all our stuff and high tailed it out of that disgusting hostel to heaven. The hotel room was beautiful...I could have cried. There was a clean bathroom. A comfy bed. A TV. I could have stayed there forever....but, it was off back into the city to explore.

Our first full day was spent on a hop on hop off bus tour (the double decker buses). It was a really good way to see all the sites around the city. We decided to stay on the bus for the full 90 minutes to see where we would want to go the next day (our ticket was valid for 24 hours). After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go out the night. For dinner our group of 12 ventured across the street from the Marriot to a little strip of restaurants. I got Thai. It was AMAZING! I got fried rice with chicken and while it sounds simple, it was just the best thing that has ever touched my taste buds...well almost. It was like Doc Cheys (a restaurant in atlanta) had had a restaurant baby....it was just fate I would find jasmine rice with chicken (my favorite at doc cheys) reincarnated. heaven.

So that night we took the train into the city and headed to Minus 5, Sydney's Ice Bar. It was soooo cool! This was my first time at an ice bar and I would love to go back! It as a brisk 32 degrees F and it reminded me of Chicago..except without the wind which was nice. Inside the bar it was really cool, there were ice sculptures of Sydney landmarks, carvings in the walls and a big ice throne and car! We headed back to the hotel for an early night in. The next morning we went back into the city and got on the tour bus. Our first stop was t a market in Kings Cross where I got a really good breakfast sandwich that I shared with Ashley! YUM! Then it was to the OPERA HOUSE! My friends and I stayed there for over an hour just taking pictures and staring in awe at the opera house and harbor bridge. After that, we got back on the bus and headed to Darling Harbor (where Nemo was found)...my favorite place in Sydney. It looks just like the Inner Harbor and I loved loved loved it! Everything in Sydney ended up reminding me of home :) We headed back to Darling Harbor that night for a good italian dinner with all of our friends who happened to be in Sydney that weekend. I split Spagetti with meat sauce with my friend Megan...yum. It turns out there were fireworks that night for some reason! I LOVE FIREWORKS! that is all. After dinner we headed to what was supposed to be a karaoke bar, The Scary Canary, however, Karaoke had been canceled that night :( Soooo we went back to the hotel and watched TV hah.

Our third day, a group of us headed back to Darling Harbor (can you tell we liked it there?) and went to the Sydney Aquarium! FUN FUN FUN! I saw dugongs and sharks and rays and fishies and nemos and dories and sea horses and starfish! Lovessss it! We took a break halfway through the exhibits and went to lunch at this really yummy cheap place that had the best cheeseburgers I have had all my time in Australia. I also got a cider woo! After our delicious lunch we headed back into the aquarium to to the last few exhibits and then it was back to the food. We went to Lindt Chocolate. Ohhhh boy. I got a Chocolate Lava Cake and a chocolate milkshake. Can you say chocolate overload? Never again people. Never again. Just no. Too much. But sooooo good! Now weighing 15 pounds more than we did at the start of my trip, we headed back to the hotel for a fun night in...watching TV and eating more Thai friend rice :) :) :)

The next day was ANZAC day so Ashley, Kelly, Julie and I went into the city to watch the parade. This parade had been going on since 8am....we got there at 11am and stayed until about 1pm....and it was STILL GOING! I love parades! It was so cool to see how much pride Australians have for their troops. Every battalion, going back to WWI had their own flag, with veterans marching. There were marching bands and bagpipes too! I loved experiencing yet another thing that was truly Australian.

That night Ashley and I headed back to the airport to catch our flight home from an Amazing trip and probably my favorite trip I have taken my whole time in Australia. I really love Sydney and it has definitely become one of my favorite cities. I hope to go back someday!

In the words of Crush from finding Nemo,
Later dudes.


-Melissa


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Fiji Part 2:

Sorry this is so delayed...I have not been doing very well updating this past month. I have so many papers and projects due this coming week....BUUUUT here is an update about the rest of my Fiji vacation.

So the second day my friends Ashley, Kelly and I decided to skip the rainforest walk, mainly because we have been in a rainforest every other day of our lives here for a field trip for school or fun day trips. Rainforests are great and rare and amazing to see, but I have definitely had my fair share. Anyways so instead of taking that trek we were dropped off at our second hostel, The Uprising Resort and had a relaxing day there laying out in the sun and getting my very first massage. Now I know massages are supposed to be relaxing but I found it more of an awkward experience haha...this might have to do with the fact that I am freakishly ticklish and I just could not stop squirming. It got to the point where I had to ask for the woman to just massage my back instead of going through with the full body massage. Little did I know that asking for a back massage included the entire backside of my body... strange. But I didnt have any knots in my back after that, which was very nice. The rest of the group came back around lunch time and after that we had a coconut carnival where we learned all the functions a coconut is used for in villages. We had free time until dinner and then after dinner there was a huge bon fire on the beach...it was really nice and relaxing. That night I slept in a huge "tree house" with 27 other people. Fun. Although I actually slept pretty well. All about the experience I guess.

The third day of the Feejee experience was spent driving through Suva, the capital of Fiji. We stopped at the presidents house and took pictures with the guard. We drove through all the embassies and saw many other houses of government. After that we stopped in a small town to buy some school supplies we would later give to the children at the school we were visiting. We got back on the bus and made the long drive to a village where we would be having a traditional kava ceremony. It was a really beautiful and peaceful experience. I loved hearing the native language and seeing traditions being practiced that have been in use for hundreds of years. I tasted kava for the first time here...it basically tasted like dirty water and then numbed my tongue for a few minutes. After the ceremony the girls and guys split up...the guys had a discussion and the girls made bracelets out of bandanna leaves. I bought my bracelet I made for 2 Fijian dollars :-)After the villlage we went to visit the school. The school was made up of three classes. There was the preschool, 2nd and 3rd graders and then 4th and 5th graders. The kids were adorable and sang us songs and danced. It was a really special experience. I love visiting kids, it reminded me of Israel when I went to an absorption center. Activities like these always seem to be my favorite parts of the trip. Our final stop of the day was going Volli Volli rafting down a river. You are basically just sitting on large bamboo like sticks that are tied together with a rope. It was really fun floating down the river, however we had to walk back instead of floating back on the rafts because the current was too strong. It was fun though and makes for a good story and memory.

That night we stayed at the nicest hostel EVER! The Volli Volli Beach resort. It was BEAUTIFUL! The views were amazing and the rooms were very nice. I had an "american burger" for dinner that night which was so so good. Our Volli Volli beach resort organizer Sasha (or Sasha Fierce as we like to call him) organized all these games for us to play and contests. All in all it was a really fun night. That morning Ashley, Kelly and I woke up super early to see the sun rise. AMAZING! There were so many colors in the sky, I will never forget that.

Our last day, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant where I had chicken curry. I am usually not a fan of Indian food, but I actually liked it! That was surprising. After that, we headed to the mud pools and hot springs and then it was time for our long drive back to Nadi where we would have a final good-bye dinner complete with a traditional Fijian meal and fire dancing!

All in all Fiji was an amazing trip and I learned so much about the culture, the country and the people. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
BULA!


-Melissa