It has been a while since I have blogged because after the Northwest it will forever be hard to find something to top that trip. But the highlight of the weeks since then has been student teaching! I am beginning to know my class and the teachers that I work with so much better! I really enjoy going to class on Wednesdays and being with the students and talking to my teachers about life in Australia. I have been learning so much about Australian curriculum and school processes. I had my mid-semester meeting with my teacher and my supervisor (who is the assistant principal) and they had really great feedback for me. I also asked if there was any way I could do something for Books for Zambia (which by the way you should check out www.booksforzambia.com for the picture of me and my Wayne students). They loved the idea and said that it would be a definite possibility to send a few books. I just have to do a small write-up explaining the cause. I also found out from my teacher that there is a children's literature center in Freo that I am going to go to later this week!!! I was so excited! They have many books and author presentations and artwork! I have two weeks off from teaching because the kids are on break, but when I go back I get to teach a full class lesson (I didn't before because we had a full prac who needed to be teaching all day to finish her course). It is so wonderful!
The big happening since the Northwest trip was Earth Dance (which takes place all over the world by the way, many in the U.S., even one in New york city, i dunno how that happens), which I went to this past weekend. We were told about this music and peace festival through some friends that had heard it was really cool. So on Friday eight of us packed up two cars and a ute (small truck) with all of our camping gear. We drove three and a half hours, with only a few minor detours from getting lost, to a tiny town called Bencubbin. The festival was at the Marshall Rock Nature Reserve. On our way in we were stopped by the police and they looked around the car and looked up license numbers...apparently some people got full car searches for drugs, but not good enough because plenty came in. Then we pulled into the reserve and drove through lots of tents, hippie vans, and people and picked a spot to set up camp. There were people everywhere (I'm not sure how they are allowed to have this many people on a nature reserve..). We set up our tents and walked around. We caught the sunset from the top of a huge rock, there were two on each side of the area that Earth Dance was in. It was a really beautiful place with some VERY interesting people. As night fell we went to the center of the festival which consisted of lots of stalls selling fairy wings, wands, food, t-shirts, hippie clothes, etc. Then there was a dome in the middle and a patch of dust covered by an awning which was one of the "dance floors." On the other side of the stalls there was another dance floor with screens and a fire pit! Among the campers there were areas such as the cinema (projected the strangest movies, the most normal was bedknobs and broomsticks, which is very weird also). Then there was the healing dome (massages, henna), and the playground (face painting, hula hooping, big teepee), and the workshop area (with laugh therapy and yoga sessions). As night fell it turned from a very nice warm day to a freezing cold dark night. We walked around and took in the sights of fairy wings, tutus, furry clothing, headresses, fishermen pants, and all kinds of other get ups. The music was awful and consisted of trance music with teh same beat for hours on end with little change that I am convinced can only be convinced if you are on drugs.
Thus the title of the entry--it felt more like a drug festival than a festival promoting peace.
I spent most of the night standing around the fire that was at the cinema area and trying to figure out what was going on in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which was playing because it was supposed to be a family friendly festival. I do not know who would bring their child there.... The next day was much better, there was some artists that played acoustic guitar, banjo, and bongos which I actually enjoyed and the weather was very nice. We went for a walk up the other rock and went into town to the only place open (the pub) to watch the footie (australian football) grand final. We made some bracelets and hung out at our campsite. The next night brought more cold weather and more watching people on the dance floor with some minimal dancing to warm up.
It was a fun weekend for the camping part, but the festival was not my scene at all. I think that for someone who does not do drugs it is not really catered for my enjoyment. It was a very interesting experience and I got to see a beautifully nature reserve and pee in the bush many times :) I was also with a wonderful group of people and we made our own fun, which was great (mostly by crafting bracelets, eating and chatting)!
This week I am on break and I have lots of work to get done, but I am hoping to make some day trips to Freo and to Kings Park in Perth! Kelsey has an ecology project all week from 9-5 everyday so I am hanging by myself and hoping to do some exploring of the area. Next weekend if the weather is good we are hoping to go to Rottnest Island, which is a gorgeous island with beaches and bike paths (no cars are allowed). We will do a lot of bike riding and go camping there!
Miss you all! There are a few more pictures up on picasa from earth dance and my friend Elyse's birthday! Love you! Peace out
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