The Land Down Under

I don't even know where to start, Australia is amazing.  It's also amazingly hot and humid, so much so that it is exhausting.  Even though the night life is great here I haven't experienced much of it because I've been turning in early most nights.  Despite this and the heat, I have had some amazing experiences, and it's hard to believe I've only been here one week.  I landed in Cairns exactly one week and three hours ago.  Since then I have snorkeled and dove on the Great Barrier Reef, learned how to throw a boomerang, held a koala, watched a crocodile feeding, shopped at a night market, went swimming at two beaches, one in a stinger net and one a man-made lagoon, participated in a drum circle, and countless other things.  I've moved into my dorm at James Cook University and gone through a few orientation activities and have another week of orientation before classes start. 

So I have explored two cities in the country so far, Cairns, where we had our program orientation, and Townsville, where the university is located.  Cairns is a rather touristy town.  It isn't too big, and it feels rather safe.  The sidewalks are packed with specialty shops and boutiques and at night and on weekends the streets are lined with vendors selling their wares.  Because of the marine stingers, or jellyfish, it is unsafe to swim off the beach so the city has built a lagoon that overlooks the ocean.  It has a rather picturesque view and is great for the community.  At night, bats can be seen flying across the sky, and during the day seabirds wander around looking for something to eat.  Townsville is also a small town, the university is actually totally separate from the town but luckily there is public transportation that runs between the two locations as well as the beach.  The beach is also closed to swimming for now because of the stingers so there are a few stinger nets which people can swim in with a bit more confidence that they won't get stung.  There is also a pool which filters sea water in and the beach ends at the end of the road at a small amphitheater which is where the drum circle was located.

Umstrittene Grenze

"Boundary in Dispute"
"Home," is by definition the place where one lives permanently.  "Home base," on the other hand is by definition a place from which operations are carried out, a headquarters. 

These two ideas, separated from one another by a single word, have vastly different definitions yet the lines between what to us humans is considered one or the other is often blurred.  In between journeys and adventures, making a quick stop home to unpack and repack does make it seem like the house I grew up in has turned into a home base.  And the sense of permanence is a bit of a foreign concept in a place which doesn't help matters. 

Home can also be of or relating to the place where one lives, in which case I, and many people that I know, have multiple homes.  My house at school and the house I grew up in are both homes to me.  But home base can also refer to the place that players progress to in games.  And so if one considers life a game, then yes, I do always strive at one point or another, to get back to this little, slightly run-down, weather-beaten house, making it, for me, a home base. 

Luckily these terms are interchangeable in many cases and can be partnered to describe a place.  So as I set off on yet another journey, it is good to know that I will have a place to come back to, what is, for now, home and home base.

La Florida

What we know today as Florida was originally settled by Native Americans.  The tribes, most of which settled around water sources, cultivated crops and traded raw materials, finished goods and artisan goods.  Florida was later "discovered" by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon during his expedition to find the legendary Fountain of Youth.  It is now thought that he landed either what is present day St. Augustine, the Ponce de Leon Inlet, or Melbourne Beach on Ponce de Leon Island.  Whichever location was the actual site, he named the land, which he thought to be an island, La Florida, because of the rich flora and perhaps because it was during the Easter season which was known as Pascua Florida in Spain.  And while the flora, especially the Spanish Moss that drips from every tree as far as the eye can see, is striking, I was much more impressed by the fauna...

Manatees are rather large marine mammals, often called sea cows.  Many people think they got this name because they are large, slow grazers that can inspire thoughts of cows floating through the water.  However, the real source of this name comes from the Spanish who brought the animals over to raise and slaughter for an easy source of meat.  Swimming with these big lumps of blubber it is easy to imagine why the Spanish would choose them, they don't shy away from people, but on the contrary will surface underneath unsuspecting snorkelers and rest on rocks in shallow areas where swimmers can stand in waist-deep water to scratch their algae coated skin.  Really the combined size and grace of these creatures is what's truely impressive as they glide along over the sandy bottom, rolling on their backs and rocking from side to side.  Even the babies are massive, the smallest one I saw was at least three feet, and solid.  Their genteel nature makes them an easy prey item and an easy target for hunting, so it doesn't take much imagination to see why they are endangered.  They really are impressive animals and swimming with them was one of the highlights of my stay in Florida.

The part of the state that I was in was swampy, with quite a few lakes and marshes where things like alligators could hang out.  After going kayaking and walking around numerous lakes, I finally saw a small juvenile alligator, no more than three feet long in a shallow region of a small lake.  They  are rather skiddish and don't remain in plain sight for too long before dissappearing into the murky depths of the lake.  Another resident to these types of habitats are soft-shelled turtles whose leathery shell, long neck and exaggerated nose give them a very distinctive look.

So Ponce de Leon never discovered the Fountain of Youth, but what he did discover had to impress him...even just a bit.

Monotonous synchrony

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...fingers fly over keyboards from 9 to 5, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, always resonating the same monotonous drumming across the office.

There is something deeply and innately wrong with America.  Forcing people to work from 9 to 5, five days a week -  no wonder we're all so fat, after staring at a computer screen for eight straight hours who has the energy to exercise or cook a healthy meal - by the time you get home it's well after 5, it's already time to eat, forget about cooking, just order something in.  And people HATE their jobs, they slug through the week so they can sleep through the weekend, there's no enjoying life.  And why do we succumb to this mind-numbing pace?  Because we have to.  Because America tells us that without a 9 to 5 job, plus overtime, plus a few weekend shifts, you won't be able to afford that big screen TV that lulls you to sleep every evening as you sit with your pills and greasy fast food scattered around you, with your feet up and the remote in your hand.  No, I think the Italians have it right, siesta!  Why don't we, at the very least, have siesta?  Or we could just work at a leisurely pace, at jobs we like, at trades!

But that is not what we do in America.  That is not our real world.  And it scares me.  After working this way for a month and a half, I know that the 9 to 5 is not for me.  I don't know where I will end up or what exactly I'll end up doing, but the 9 to 5 isn't it.  And luckily, I do not have to determine my fate just yet as I will be leaving in less than 36 hours for home where I will unpack and repack before setting off for a semester in Australia!

Wandering...and provisions

Wandering....wandering with no purpose, an excellent idea.  Never any disappointments or unreasonable expectations, only surprises and discoveries.  

Sunday wanderings...wandered to a park, wandered to a grocery store, wandered into town. 

Wandered and got provisions.  It's amazing how comforting a fully stocked refrigerator can be, not materialistically, but that it provides a sense of security, that no matter what happens in this strange, new place, you at the very least won't starve.

Oranges...and blue

The plates here have oranges on them.  All of the students at the university wear orange and blue.  You can buy ANYTHING you want in orange and blue.  Everything stays open late into the night, and on weekends.  People slump over in the casino 7 days a week, waiting to hit that jackpot, whiling away their lives.  People-students, faculty, staff-work all day in small rooms without seeing the sun, I need windows.  The buses run all the time, to everywhere, taking you wherever you want to go to get drunk and embarass yourself.  Friend is a very loose term here I think.  Groups walk into Starbucks at 7pm to get some caffeine before heading out into the night, prepared to stay up for hours.  Work ethic means something different.  There is no excitement, no passion, it has all been dulled by the routine labor of doing time and stacking up hours.

I love COA.

Flailing our arms in Belize!

...alternately titled, "Champs!"

I had the great pleasure to spend ten glorious days on the small island of South Water Caye in Belize for my tropical marine ecology class.  Looking back, and even while there, I know it was one of the greatest experiences I have had thus far in my life.  We spend every day snorkeling and, when weather permitted us, sunning.  We played volleyball on the beach in the white and coral speckled sand, watched the sunset, did yoga as the sun rose and had an all around great time.  The group I was with was equally amazing.  Rarely to I fit in and experience working with such a cohesive group.  Other than one person, I got along wonderfully with everyone.  I was so sad to leave, some of our group are seniors, they will graduate whilst I am abroad.  We will never be together, and especially not in this setting, again.  While we had a lot of fun, I also learned a few key things:
-When climbing on mangroves, always keep your feet on separate branches, they all look sturdy but sometime one will break.
-Don't wear a skirt in a water taxi.
-If there is any chance in the world you might need it, bring it! There's nothing worse than being stuck on a small island and realizing you did need that one thing you decided at the last minute to leave behind.
-Bring extra camera batteries, and take A LOT of pictures.

I have also come to the decision that I do, in fact, love field work.  It requires physical and mental strength, stamina, discipline and a willingness to get dirty... or in our case, very wet.  You also have to be prepared for the whole, "everything that can go wrong will go wrong," and be ready to start from scratch multiple times.  It can also be a bit scary, especially when working with others, but that makes it more fun I think. 
And from our project I learned that I really do love feeding ecology, our project was on butterflyfish feeding, I guess it doesn't matter if I'm working with sharks or the most wimpy fish in the sea, I really love food webs!


(Photo courtesy of a classmate!)