Where are we? !? ....We just stepped into fairy land!

The Sunday plan = going to King's Park for the day (all 430 acres) of it!!!
Well this was quickly vetoed because the forecast was rain and cold all day.

Second Plan = Western Australia's Aquarium (all kinds of marine animals..including the dangerous ones!)
Also vetoed because the bus schedule to there is very limited on Sun

Final Plan= the old standby...Freo!

We will make it to those places soon, but our day in Freo was perfection :) We came with some books, pens, and the intention to study, but left with full tummies, tired legs, and a only a few pages read (doesn't it always happen that way). We meandered up one of the streets and came across a small garage sale...though the sign claimed it was "massive". Despite the claim the clothes she had were very cool and a sweater quickly became part of my wardrobe for 2$. Kelsey got the coolest ripped jeans and a sweatshirt with crazy designs. The girl having the sale wasn't much older than us and so nice, asking us where we were from and if it was like the movies showed it? We left with new clothes and empty bellies to find a new place to tryout the lunch menu. The most beautiful part is..we were already walking down the "cappuchino strip" with more cafes and restaurants than you could ever want. We peered into places and checked out a few menus before settling on an eclectic restaurant called The Merchant Tea and Cafe fitted with bamboo fans moving back and forth on the ceiling, large mirrors, and dark wood. I ordered a sandwich called The Earth filled with delicious vegetables, pesto, and feta cheese. Before thinking about dessert we decided we needed to walk off our lunch a bit and realized that right across the street there was a Plaza that we'd never ventured down into. We walked down a cobblestone street with a music store, masseuse, hairdresser, restaurants, and jewelry shop WE turned the corner to find a store called "recycled clothing" (an upscale second hand/consignment store). Then we walked into a fantasy world where the first store on the street was a medieval shop full to the brim with blood red dresses fit with corsets, next my favorite store-Alice's Wonderland. This children's store is full of stuffed animals, mini tea sets, little clothes, shoes and books...the best part is the room out back fitted with two tea tables, soft light, pretty flowers, and a tele playing Alicec in Wonderland:) Next was THE FAIRY STORE...that's right it is full of UNICORNS, fairy dust, costumes, a fairy birthday party was happening in the back. Then as quickly as we'd walked into it we were back on the main street. Amazing what you can find if you look around!
We continued our walk down the street to an indoor market that we had heard was open only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Walking in we encountered two street performers: a silver angel and an acrobatic pirate. Then the unexpected...a huge crowd of people with every stall and good you can imagine. We quickly became lost in the place among the clothing, shoes, jewelry, artwork, souvenirs, metalworks, soap, candles, glassware, the list goes on and on. Then we found ourselves in the food section with a beatiful selection of the most brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables. We learned that they are cheaper than at the grocery store, better look, and delicious! We also learned that you have to shop around for the best prices as the sellers are always adjusting their prices. After this brilliant find we were hungry for dessert and new just the place we wanted to go. An italian dessert shop complete with purple walls, cannolis, cake, gelato, and outdoor tables. We settled on Gelato after salivating over the dessert case. Strawberry was my choice....and every bite was a little bit of heaven in my mouth.
After our dessert, we decided we should at least try and read, so we headed to the park (by the way the weather stayed beautiful all day despite the forecast). At the park we scouted out our own bench and read while watching all the people playing games, talking, drinking for someone's birthday, swordfighting with balloon swords. This is where we only finished a few pages before it was time to head back home because we wanted to go to a church service that we had heard about on campus, a christian service.
Boy we had no clue what we were in for! It started with some rock music, people jumping up and down. That was cool, but then the pastor came on stage. He began by using a bible verse to tell us how much more God would love us if we gave during the offering, he continued by informing us that we are dead if Jesus is not our savior and frontman, continuing by talking about his fertility trouble with his wife, then topping it off with a story about a flight he was on. Before the flight the head steward came on the line introducing himself in a gruss, big voice "Hi, I am Bill and We will be taking care of you today. Dinner will be served shortly." The Pastor said he didn't think he should be pushing a little dingy cart up and down aisles serving people, he should be a wrestler or kung fu artist. Then he follows with the plane hitting a lot of turbulence and the pilot comes on the line in a high pitched, small voice, "Hi, I am Jill your captain we seem to be hitting some turbulence, but will be out of it shortly." The Pastor proclaims to the audience "I heard her voice and I didn't want HER driving the plane, I wanted Bill (in a deep man voice) to e driving the plane. he continued to say this over and over, as the ongregation hooted and proclaimed. Meanwhile I sat there thinking, I need to get out of here or I might cause a riot. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right. Kelsey and I left fuming wishing we could have escaped far before that. The awful experience served to lead us into a long life chat that was beautiful, despite our night. You live and learn.


So that was Sunday, quite eventful. To recap the the prior week in the condensed version. Wednesday = no class!! woohoo! (but I will be student teaching from now on!)
Thursday = Festival day at Murdoch.
I went to my Representation and Gender class. My professor seems quite good. She was interesting, inquisitive, and made great discussion. Then I checked out Festival day which is like Activities day at Boston College. All the clubs and activities have tables, as well as tables tht are selloing jewelry, books, stationary, watches, computers, etc. I went around looking for things to do with my freetime and found some social justice clubs and sports activities that I can hopefully fit into my schedule (this is also where we hear about the church). Then I went to my photography lecture, which is huge. It sounds like it will be challenging, but so interesting! I am quite excited:)
Thursday night = two open mic nights that Keith played at
A large group of us left after dinner and boarded the bus to find the first bar that Keith was going to play at called "Moondyne Joe's," after a man that escaped from the Fremantle Prison so many times that they made a special iron cell just for him. The bar looked kind of like a saloon with a dark wood bar, rodeo pictures, and an abundance of older folks taking in the music. There was quite a posse of Keith listeners and we filled the bar. It was quite enjoyable. The next bar was called the Bar Orient. The crowd was a little younger, though not so many college age people. It was much more friendly with couches and chairs, televisions playing and some really great open mic performers. I tried free creatures, the beer brewed in Fremantle, it was really good, my favorite. It was so nice just to sit, listen, and chat with people:)
Friday = Yoga class (very nice), no classes, and relaxation
Friday night = pizza delivery and hanging out with some of my German friends
Saturday = Tree planting!!
We went out to the farm that Murdoch has on it's campus and into the bush. Where we joined a bunch of other volunteers and planted many, many saplings to help the birds come back to this area! It was fun, we met a woman from Colorado who is moving to Australia, a girl that lives in the area and goes to Murdoch, and a woman that is from New Zealand and recently moved here. It is so cool to see how environment conscious Australia is in general. So many people are willing to help!
Saturday night = a club called Newport
We met our German friends for coffee, at a cafe in Freo. People were out everywhere, it was a happening place! We crossed the street and into a club fit with big screen teles, lots of people everywhere, loud music, a live band, and a dance floor. The band was great and played lots of american music new and old! It was so fun to know the songs and dance, though we quickly learned that next time no jackets and very small bags to make it easier to dance.


After another novel..thanks for staying tuned. Miss you all!! Wish you could chare this with me in person:) <3

New Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lauren.fish12/Au