Blue Manley weekend

Goodday mate!

Much has happened over the weekend into today to keep my trip teaming right along. 

   After our internship orientation we had a presentaion on excursions we could sign up for from Phi Beta Dingo, including canyoning, the sydney bridge climb, platypus spotting, dune boarding and a trip to the Great Barrier Reef.( with which of course i was the odd one to aks if i could not only brig my own equipment but go on a different dive then the learn to class.) All in all I signed away about $2100 before I left for lunch. 

   The group met up at The Rocks, for an outdoor Welcome lunch of crocodile, kangaroo, pumpkin, and the more mundane cheese, margarita and chicken pizzas. The crocodile looked like fish, the kangaroo more like beef. I prefered the later of the two. 

   The afternoon involved exploring one of the local malls and a dialog with a teenager Aussie who was intrigued to hear us say she had an accent and that we had only just arrived, yet reassured us on the amazing times in store for us in Sydney. Later to enjoy the night life we hit up Side Bar where the Phi Beta Dingo lady Tasha, gave you a pink bracelet to get free beer, wine and champagne until the tap was dry (which due to the group of about 100 CAPA student was about an hour). Dancing and music filled the bar until we headed home somewhat earlier so we could be up and functioning at 8 am for our Wildlife and Blue Mountain Bush Walk. We were able to meet wallabies, wombats, dingos, and pet the kangaroos, koalas and echindas (porcupines). then we drove up the blue mtns and climbed down past waterfalls and outlooks. To get back u[ we hitched a ride on the worlds steepest railway which climbed at a 52 degree incline, as you were sitting facing backwards at the view out and below.

   Monday brought an early and long day. I left at 7:30 for my 10:00 interview to give time for the hrish communte and for me to get lost (which i did). After some guidance i arrived at Sydney ENT day surgury clinic in Chatswood. I was shown around the basically circular way from changing to pre-op to the theaters (aka operating rooms) and into recovery. I was introduced to the nurses like this " this is Julie she in biology looking into a medical degree, shell be with us for abut 3 months and shes here to do your hair makeup and whatever else needed." I am not out of uni, so without a degree and therefor am basically just shadowing. No drama, i was dressed in scrubs and able to watch a nosejob, a child get gromets or tubes put in her ears, a an get his horizontal molar removed and another get sinuses worked on. So far so good. The hours are flexible, i was told to come and go as i please, and if its nice to go the beach or the zoo. 

   I left and headed to my first class, Australian cinema, which we looked at the movie Australia and the themes of nationlity. three hours later i was finally on the bus home.

  

Tomorrow (wednesday) is Australia Day, like our 4th of July, where most do not work but there are events all day with fireworks and parties. Today i get to attend sociology, watch over wisdom teeth extractions and then my internship lecture tonight. So its another long day but what the hell im in australia!!

Until next time!

-- Julie

Fun Fact:  Australia is roughly the same size as the US but with the population of only New York!