Hello Everyone (and Happy Memorial Day to the folks back home)! Hope you have been enjoying the nice weather we've been getting, both the fall temps here in Melbourne and the Springtime weather in the US! Yesterday, I went with Anthony, Naomi, and Nicholas to my first Footy match of the season. Here in Melbourne, Footy definitely takes precedent over Rugby (which is more popular in Sydney). If you've never seen a Footy match, it's a mixture between soccer and rugby. The field is oval in shape, but the ball which is played looks more like a rugby ball. There are [View Full Entry]

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Good day Everyone! I know that it has been a while since I have posted/put up any photos of my time here in Australia. As the end of May is approaching, we are also reaching our final days of the semester. Classes end in just under two weeks, and then we are set for a one month examination period. Luckily, my courses' exams are in the first part of June, leaving me with just over 3 weeks of mid year holidays....in other words, more travel time!! I'm super excited to tie up the loose ends of the semester and have some [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone! I spent the past weekend at the State Parliament House in the CBD, working with the Rotary Model United Nations Assembly. With students representing 36 countries in the United Nations, we spent the two days discussing and debating several resolutions, covering peace and security, education, and health issues. Students came from several different high schools around Melbourne. Also, they were encouraged to research the national dress of their countries and represent their countries through very creative costumes! We had a great weekend, and it was really fun to work wi [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting for a while...to tell you the truth, not to much has been going on, outside of LOTS of classwork :) My classes have picked up and in the past few weeks I've had to give class presentations and turn in a few papers regarding my research proposals for each course. This past weekend, however, we celebrated Easter, so it was a pretty busy but fun weekend. Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated together this weekend, as we follow a calendar separate from the Gregorian calendar that is used in modern day. I just wanted [View Full Entry]

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Last week, in honor of the Easter holidays, the university closed from Good Friday (21 March) until the following Sunday (30 March), to celebrate Easter and mid semester break. Because we had so long, a group of friends and I decided to travel to Queensland, the touristy-east coast beach towns of Australia!! We spent time at the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, and Fraser Island. We arrived around 8am on Sunday 23 March. After navigating through the very efficient public transport, we checked into our hostel, the Islander Backpacker Resort (super nice hostel!). From there, we decided to [View Full Entry]

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On Good Friday (21 March), His Grace Bishop Suriel (General Bishop of Oceania) welcome His Emenence (H.E.) Metropolitan Bishoy to Melbourne for a week-long trip throughout the churches and Coptic communities. H.E. works directly under Pope Shenouda, so it was a great honor to have him here! Since we were off from school because it was Good Friday, I was able to travel to the Coptc Centre in Donvale for an afternoon liturgy service as well as a sermon given to us by both bishops. In the evening, a general youth meeting was held in Melbourne City for all of the [View Full Entry]

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Well it looks like I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain in posting messages very often :( Things have definitely been busy in the last few weeks, but as we are just returning from Easter/Mid Semester/Fall Break (whatever you want to call it!), I thought I'd recap a few of the things I've been up to in and around Melbourne. Over the weekend of March 15th, a few of my friends and I hired a car and traveled to Phillip Island. Located in Western Point Bay, it's famous for its Penguin Parade, in which the public has the [View Full Entry]

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The 26th Annual District 9810 Rotary Conference took place last weekend in Albury. This city, located about 4 hours away from Melbourne city, was like being in a different world. Set out in the bush area of Australia, we were located in a city with only one main street and lots of little shops around, all closing around 4pm each day. I likened the quaintness of the city to that of a small city like Travelers Rest or Berea. But regardless of its size, over 600 Rotarians from all around our district filled up Dean Street and kicked off another great [View Full Entry]

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One of the aspects that I haven't had a moment to write about has been my experience meeting other Egyptians here in Melbourne. Shortly after I arrived at Monash, I found the website for Archangel Michael and St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church in Oakleigh (a 10 min drive from campus). After speaking with Abouna Danial, one of the priests of the church, he (along with his son Anthony and daughter Rachel) picked me up for a Friday night youth meeting. It was so nice to be surrounded by other Coptic people, and it was even more exciting to talk with Rachel [View Full Entry]

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After having two very successful weeks with Rotarians, I must tell you how everything is going with the Rotary aspect of life here! Peter Murie, who is the Scholarships Coordinator for District 9810 here in Australia, has been fantastic at helping me to get settled in at Monash. He and his wife have checked up on me and even made sure I have all the supplies that I could need for my study here. Last week, I was able to also connect with Jennifer Newton, my Host counselor here in Australia. On our first meeting together, we went into the city [View Full Entry]

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