Jungle Crusin!

So here is my big return to the jungle.  No longer will it be the jungle cruise at disneyland that I go to, I am traveling to Papua New Guniea to spend a month with my sister Melissa, brother in law Clay and neice Gracie!  Im very excited.  Friends and family who are on Melissas email list im sure you will hear about me through that avenue, and I will also try and send a few emails myself! 

Feel free to email me at angelaabroad@gmail.com

Quick Cairns

Sorry for the lack of writing... its just that I only have so long on the internet, as it costs $1.50 per 15 minutes, so im hurrying!  

Cairns is hot, humid, and gorgeous!  We went on an adventure with tour guide Stuey yesterday and today went scuba diving!!! I loved it so much I think I will get certified through CSUF next semester as is is a class I can take and get credit for! YAY

Cairns Lagoon

Koala Store

Cairns at night

 Adventures with Stuey

Me after I ate a really hot Chili

My mom will die... this is a really far drop, and im standing on that little rock! 

quick Sydney and Blue Mountains!

So before I leave for PNG I thought I should post some photos from my trip to Sydney and the Blue mountains!!!  Im currently in the Cairns Hostel. Its Hot, Humid, and I have a sun burn after a day full of scuba diving!! 

Footy Game

Opera House

Aquarium

Zoo

 

Blue Mountains

3 sisters

Hike at Blue Mountains

Sorry its been so long! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey everyone!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  My fellow Americans and I decided to show the Aussies what Thanksgiving was all about, and we had a massive feast on Sunday!!! We packed the Dining Hall full of people and had a Ball!   The guy in the picture is a Tony, a New Yorker, who organized the whole shin dig!   Below is the very long table we set up with most of the people who came!  It was a blast.

Below is Laura, Ellen, Me and Allie!  2 Aussies and 2 Americans!  And some of my favorite people!!

Thanks Aunt Mary! Mexican food Night!!

So the Amazing Aunt Mary sent me a ton of Mexican food spices!  She knows me well, and had heard me complain about Australia's lack of Mexican food, or any real spice and she amazingly came to my rescue!!!  So I organized another Mexican food night for my housemates and friends at International House!  I made my moms fresh salsa again, which is always a big hit.  I have made it 4 times here, and every time it goes very quickly cause every body loves it!  

I also made enchiladas, lots of them!  They dont really have enchiladas in Australia, the only mexican style food they would have are tacos and burritos... but nothing compared to real mexican food, so everyone here loves anything new I make for them!  I also made some flautas.

My friend Sally and I are below.  

Aunt Mary also sent over 2 boxes of Churro mix.  So I made Churros for the first time in my life!  They werent hard to make, and were really good!  Below is a myself and Pat, an American Guy from Chicago, he helped me make the Churros.

Below is Steffen from next door, with the churros at the bottom of the picture.

So I am done with finals, all my essays are complete... after all that typing myself, my friend Allie and Stuey are heading off to Sydney for a few days!  We will be there from Monday to Wednesday, and then will go to the Blue mountains after that and will be there till friday when we come back home.  Im really excited and am looking foreward to going hiking, and having a great time!  I will post pictures of that trip when I get back!  

Im getting really excited to go see my sister In PNG!  I will be there for an entire month!  So fun!!!  I will go back to Australia for about a week after that, then I will be on my way back to the States in time for school to start!  I will get to spend time with my parents at the new place, and maybe might talk Erin into going Snow boarding with me... more like teaching me since I have only been once... but perhaps that could be alot of fun!  

Cheers!  

Angela

Essays= massive amounts of tea drinking

7,500

3 out of the 5 essays done!  Only 2 more to go!  

1st essay down

4,000 words done, 8,000 to go.  

Next essay is 2,500.... and its due tomorrow.... here I go!

2,453 down

heaps more to go until I am finished with all 12,000 words!  Eek

Now these are finals!

I have 5 finals due by next weekend... I have been working on all of them...

The hard thing is they are all essays... and if I add up the necessary word count on all of them I have to do 12,000 words but next sunday... I want to die!  

It would be easier if I was writing an article or a press release... but no I have a 4,000 word paper on whether Marxist theory has a future or not.... im not a political science major... so it takes me a little bit more time to research and understand everything... needless to say im tired... I have had 5 cups of tea today, and I have been constantly studying with a few study breaks in between!  

AHHHHHHH!!!!  

I just cant wait for it to be over!

Elections in Australia!

So today was amazing for me.  I was at work, and I brought up Cnn.com to constantly update the results... and my co workers all got on the bandwagon, and we even had a map where we would put M's and O's on the states won by Obama or Mccain!  It was a ton of fun, and the thrill of watching Obamas numbers go up throughout my shift was alot of fun!  

The best part was when we found out Obama won.  Eduardo the Chilean man I work with picked me up and everyone was so excited!  

The thing that stood out to me today was that the Australians, Chileans, and Brits who were around me at work were all really concerned about the American elections.  Its because what happens in America really does effect the rest of the world!  It was amazing how excited everyone got.  Australia is a big supporter of OBAMA.  

Im excited to come home to a new regime in the American political system!  Change is upon us, and I hope Democrats and Republicans can agree that change is needed.  The country is in a serious economic crisis, and the war needs to be reevaluated.  Im looking forward to see what Obama will do with the government. I am hopeful.  The Amazing number victory that Obama won by is proof enough that America was and is Ready for Change!

On another fun note, I was interveiwed by the Newcastle Herald the big paper for the area!  They even came out to the International House to take pictures of me and the other Americans on campus!  It was alot of fun, and I will probably be in the paper tomorrow!  Maybe even front page!  

Farewell at International House!

So this last Friday was our big Farewell dinner at the International House!  Everyone got all dressed up and we went to the Panthers club in town and had an amazing night of great food, recognition, and dancing!!!  

Below is a picture of  Bernd (Germany), Anna (Austria), me and Steffen (Germany)!  They are 3 of my housemates.  The other 2 didnt go :( 

Here is a picture of my hair!  I did it all by myself and was very proud!  I was going for a fun 60's look with the bright color and the big hair!  I ratted and teased my hair till I had a huge afro then I formed it all into place.  Then I added the green head wrap and lots of hair spray and bobby pins... Success!  I got alot of accomplishments!  I was very proud!!!

My friend Tom dressed up in an awesome teal suit so I figured we matched!  

I had lots of fun dancing that night!  Here is me with Ellen and Laura!

Over all it was a really fun night, and I had a blast getting ready in my very colorful ensemble!  

Upcoming I have about 11,500 words worth of essays due for finals!  Wish me luck and send me any good writing/ concentration tips!  

Graffiti!

So part of the International Houses tradition is that before finals each semester we all get white t shirts, or a white dress in my case, and we go to a club called Fannys, and write on each other, kind of like writing in a year book!  IT was alot of fun.  Next week is Farewell, where we have a special dinner, and everyone dresses up in formal outfits!  It should be a very good night!

Returning Home

Family and friends after much deliberation , many Pro Con lists, and talks with my closest friends and family I have decided I need to come home.  The decision is multidimensional in that it was made for many different reasons.  

If I stayed It would cost me oer $17,000 which would be a large amount of debt for me to pay back in the future and I decided that that amount was just too much on top of the $5,000 I will have to pay back for this semester!  

I also was not going to be able to take my capstone class while abroad because that class is only reserved for full degree students.  This means I would have to push back my graduation which I am not prepared to do!  

The last main reason is that although this was an amazing experience I need to come home.  I need to be close to my parents now that my brother and sister are half a world away it seems!  I will be able to get connected with my church and grow that way as well!  

I do not at all regret my decision, and I dont think I will.  I have loved my time here, and it definitely made a giant impact, but life often leads you on different paths, and now my path has me returning home. I have no doubt that I will return, because I have made some great friendships here, and it will be very hard to leave those people!!  I will get to graduate with my friends, and one of my close friends who I have grown up with through college is the campus president and will actually be speaking at graduation!  

OK so here is where you all can come into play!  JACOBSON FAMILY:  if you are selling a car, or know of anyone selling a car or truck... I am looking.  Kevin took the stick to Memphis, and I will need a car for when I graduate anyway!  I dont have a large budget, but I am looking for something reliable with good gas mileage. 

I can drive stick shift, and actually prefer it, but an automatic wouldent be bad either.  Im not picky!  

My return date looks to be around January 15th.  Plus or minus a few days.  That will give me over a month with Melissa is PNG, and will get me home with enough time to get settled in before school starts!  

The weather is BiPolar!

So this weekend was beautiful!!!  We all would swim and then study by the pool!  We had some fun, and even went to the beach and played some frisbee!  

However today and the last 2 days have been rainy and have gotten exceedingly cold!  

I have been very busy working on Uni work, and a huge assesment that is on Karl Marx and Foucault and is way over my head.... 

Family and Friends look forward to another blog coming soon with important news! 

The finicky weather of Newcastle

Yesterday: Gorgeous blue skys, warm, swimming weather

Today: Cloud riddled sky, rain, slight chill to the air.

Tomorrow: who knows.

The weather is finicky here and cant make up its mind... 

On a happier note... the rain today was warm, so I didnt mind walking home from class in it!  In fact I took my time!  But the sun is also nice!  

Train Rides and Beaches too

So here is where my random adventure took me.  It started off with a 13 hour train ride from Newcastle to Brisbane.  I absolutley loved the train ride.  It was actually my first one as I never took the train in the states any where!  Most of my journey I saw gorgeous country out the window!  I slept most of the time, and other then that I watched the scenery and ate train food which wasnt very good.  Once I got to Brisbane at 10:00 at night, my friends picked me up and we drove to a lookout 

over Brisbane where we stayed that night. It was absolutley breathtaking!  We ended up hanging around Brisbane for for a few hours the next day and went to the botanical gardens where there was this amazing mirror sculpture.  We took lots of pictures in it!  

After Brisbane we headed north to Noosa beach where we watched the sunset. It was alot of fun!  Then we drove to Hervey bay where we stayed the night. 

The next day we went to Fraser Island!  IT was great.  We went on a day tour of the Island where we got to explore the island on a huge 4 wheel drive bus!  They took us to the 75 mile beach, which is actually considered to be a state high way because so many cars drive on it... Thats right they drive on the beach!  Crazy.  A plane even took off on the beach in front of us.

We also saw the shipwreck that happened on the beach in the 30's. Its really cool to see. The boat has become taken over by the elements and makes a really cool addition to the island!  

 

We went swimming in a freshwater creek, and an acidic lake that is supposed to be great for your skin!  

We ended that night by traveling to Maryborough where I would catch a train at 6:00 in the morning.  I didnt stay longer because the farther North my friends went, the harder it would be to get home!  I had to take a train and each day I would have spent with my friends would have been 4-6 more hours of train travel.  In the end I took a train from Maryborough to Brisbane which took 4 hours.  I hung around Brisbane for about 5 hours which was great!  Alot of fun!  Then caught another 13 hour train home! So that was enough train travel for awhile!  

It was a nice break to my sadly boring spring break here.  

More to come soon!

An Ode to Rigobertos and my Shot Gun adventure!

So I had one of those cravings today for mexican food that just couldent be met here in OZ land... that is the greatest downfall of the Aussie people... Mexican food is few and far between, and when you do find some its horrible.  I miss the days when I could swing over to Rigos with 3 dollars in hand and get a beans rice cheese!  Or for 4 dollars I could get a shredded beef!  I miss the breakfast burritos from Pepes that got me through the worst finals and the hardest articles to write... I need some spice!  I make mexican food weekly, and everyone loves it.... 

So far I have made:

- Burritos

- Quesadillas

- Flautas

- Enchiladas

- Hardcore Nachos

The Aussies love it all... they have heard of burritos and tacos, but most of them didnt know what the rest were.... I miss my mexican food!  

Other then that, with some help from 2 amazing people at school, I heard from the financial aid department, and everything is sorted out.  I should get my fin aid by friday! Hopefully there are no hitches and everything turns out well!

I have been pretty bored at home, and my German housemate is away with 2 other Germans on a road trip up the coast!  I have been in touch with him as well, and he hates that im home all alone and bored.... so on a spontaneous note, I will be taking a 12 hour train to catch up with them, and I will join them for about 5 days of their trip!  Im very excited and it should be a great time.... Its so spontaneous that I dont even know how im getting back home yet.  They will probably drop me off at a train station along the way... which could take a whole 24 hours to get home... crazy to think of! But im taking 2 books, a journal and my trusty IPOD, so I hope I dont go to stir crazy!  

SO there you have it.... Im going on a shot gun adventure!

The woes of financial aid mix ups!

So its the 2 week holiday during school, and I am still at school :(  The financial aid I was supposed to get over a month ago still hasnt come through leaving me to survive off of what I make at my 8 hour week job.  So instead of going to New Zealand or the Whitsundays like most of my friends I am stuck at school in Newcastle with barely anyone around.    I have been pretty bored for the first couple of days, and have tried to keep myself busy, but I find myself in the constant company of 3 boys, as they are the only friends I have left here!  One has a broken foot!  So we have been playing video games and watching movies.  We rented the olympics video game!  Pretty fun.  Im the best at cycling so far!  But I am tired of video games so the game plan to keep myself busy this 2 week holiday is to get a month membership at the on campus gym, and get my work out on... I also want to explore the campus, there are a couple of trails around here!  And one of the Aussie girls invited me home for a few days so im going to try and go see her!

Other then that, my last week of school before the break was pretty uneventful.  I spent most of my time working on 3 different Essays, and a presentation paper.  I also have a big group project coming up, so im getting ready to work with a group on that!

And other then that I am badgering the financial aid office with the help of my mother because they are not being helpful at all.  

Hopefully I will have a fun update for you soon.  Im sure I will find an adventure of my own!  A cheap/ even free adventure! 

Cheers for now!

Charity ball, and the best random day ever!

Charity night was friday night.  All the money from the event went to cancer research!  Heaps of people came, and everyone dressed up so it was a big success!  My friend Timmy is the one who put it all together so he was really happy with the turnout! Everyone was supposed to wear pink, but seeing as I am not a pink person, I wore teal and had a pink flower!  I improvised!  

Below is my friend Jake and I.

Because the whole night was for charity, the entertainment happened to consist of 3 different bands made up of people who live on campus!  My friends Tom, Timmy, and Jake all were in the International House band.  They named there band Flamingo Letterbox... weird I know!  

Below is Tom with the Saxophone and Jake with the Guitar!  

Earlier this week, my housemate Steffen and I baked an Apple Pie and Apple turnovers!!!!

We had a blast making them and found that we need to save the water that the apples are boiled in, because its very tasty once it cools!  

 

Last night (Saturday) I cooked for myself and 9 guys.  It was really funny, cause they all helped me at one point with little things like chopping or stirring! I made a chickend dish with herbed cream cheese, parsnips and leeks, and then spinach-feta cheese rice, and green beans!  It was great, and there was nothing left after we ate, everything was scraped clean!  

Then after dinner, we all played balderdash, a fun board game, then I made a pizookie ( a cookie as big as a small pizza with ice cream on top) and they thought it was great.... none of them had ever had it!  

Then after that a few of us decided it would be fun to go for a swim in the International House pool! Fun times, it was just cold! Then after that we all got into Jakes car and drove to the beach and sat around and sang songs while Jake played guitar!  

After that we were hungry, so we went to Mackers (McDonalds) and got some grub, and went back home and ended the night by watching the Matrix!  Really fun night, and the only thing planned was dinner!  

So fun! 

Miss you all!

Masquerade

Masquerade Party!  Always Fun!

It was a blast, I made my own mask, which was alot of fun in itself, cause I got to be crafty!  I even helped a friend make his too!

Everyone at the party had a mask, some were really intricate and beautiful, some were plain masks, and others were funny like a batman mask, or iron man.  There was even a guy with a gas mask on.  

Lots of dancing, lots of fun, and lots of masks. 

  Charlotte and I!

Dancing: The DJ played a couple songs that Woosung and I could Salsa to!  

Above: Steffen and I

Tonight we cooked a great dinner, and took a table outside and ate under the stars!  It was so much fun!  Then we all watched Finding Nemo, and then Nat read us a bed time story, and Telly, Sally, and Laura all fell asleep!  

Other then that I am studying like crazy, and I am working on a 3,000 word essay on Marx and social change.  eeek!  

Wish me luck!

ITs Raining outside :( More from Melbourne!

ITS POURING OUTSIDE!!!!  It really hasn't stopped for the last couple of days.  Its great to hear it rain at night though.  It helps me sleep. 

ITs been a really busy week, with an even busier weekend about to commence!  Crazy how time flys! I am already in my 7th week of study.  WOW!

Back to Melbourne!

Here is our group before the flight! 4 Americans, 2 Brits, and 3 Germans

Here I am at the 12 Apostles

We took alot of jumping pictures!  Here are some of the Best!!!

The last one is my favorite!!!!

Its around Fathers day time in Australia so they had all these signs! 

I Love you Dad!

I will post more pictures soon!