G' Day Mates!!!

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Arrived in Adelaide AUS on Thursday January 6, 2005 after about 20 hours of flying, airports etc…The girls and I, unbeknownst to us, had a pick-up arranged by Flinders University, the director of the Graduate Social Work Program’s daughter “Myf” picked us up from the airport and assisted us in finding accommodation. We ended up at the Plaza Hotel on Hindley St., in Adelaide’s red-light district which was as a tame a puppy dog. We spent two nights there and although amenities were far from the Plaza I’ve always wanted to stay in, the service was exceptional. The hotel staff, Gary in particular, could not have been more helpful and even came in with a grin when one of the girls clogged up the toilet, no worries! Staying awake the first night was a struggle, but I was determined to make a quick adjustment to the time change. We grabbed dinner at the “Pasta Palace” a family owned Italian joint across from our hotel. We were greeted by the owner Antonio who gave us a pep talk about all the good people in the world, he went on to tell us stories of a girl from Texas who he fell in love with when he was a young man, he loved our accents and kept asking me to say “tomato”. As I had been told by many who have visited here, the people are the nicest and friendliest that I think I have ever come in contact with and “no worries” seems to be the national phrase and attitude, very refreshing.
Our first day was spent at Flinders *Uni, meeting with Sue and Rhonda who coordinated our field placements, they were both fabulous. We then headed to the library for some e-mail and off to Rundle Mall for lunch. The mall was ridiculous, never seen anything so huge, it went on for blocks. The girls left for a *holiday to Tasmania on Saturday morning and I headed to the Backpack Oz hostel on the solo. http://www.backpackoz.com.au. There were no female only dorm beds available so I ended up in a mixed dorm. Not too long after checking in I walked to the Central Market, it was AMAZING. I have never seen such beautiful produce and so many fruits and veggies I had never even heard of. I bought two huge avocados, two gorgeous mangos, two plump tomatoes, a loaf of whole grain bread and some hummus for under $10. I came home to find not only did this stuff look amazing but it also tasted better than any I have had before. I also had a chance to walk over to see the two locations I will be working at for Catherine House. http://www.catherinehouse.org.au Both looked very nice and I was surprised at the location, nothing like the area surroundings at my former workplace in LaLa land. My trip to L.A by the way was great and much too short! I received an invitation to the pub with Rohnda but I passed due to feeling a bit exhausted. This morning headed to the *loo still half asleep but woke up quickly to one of the German boys singing “Like a Virgin” in the shower. It was quite entertaining and a great way to start the morning! I jumped on the tram and headed to Glenelg to see the beach, it was beautiful and so clean, as is the city here. I happened upon the Greek Orthodox Blessing of the Waters Ceremony at the beach and almost lost a finger to a camel.
On the walk home there was a vigil taking place in Victoria Square for the Tsunami Victims, an Australian Surfer, Ben, who survived spoke of the tragedy and shared his experience, it was heart wrenching to say the least. I stuck around afterward and spoke with him, I can’t even describe what I was feeling when he shared what he had seen, he only recently returned to*Oz after staying to volunteer at some of the refugee camps. It’s so difficult knowing so many are suffering and feeling I can do nothing about it. I helped them clean up and counted donations not feeling quite as helpless about the situation as I have in previous weeks. Looks like I am going to be helping them out at a benefit concert here next week. If you are in a better financial situation than I am currently… http://www.usaid.gov. I am going to do my best to do at least weekly updates here but I will make no promises. That’s all for now, off to find a *flat…K

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