Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It has been POURING rain since last week.  Someone even got swept into a storm drain and died this weekend from all the rain. It is really loud, too, and makes the waves and wind roar. 

I realized I hadn't added a picture of my room! HERE IT IS :) A218

I have been getting into a routine, now that we are into Week 4.  Today I had my third Marine Biology practical.  For our first one we looked at live algae sea grasses, learned about their life cycles, and got acquainted with the lab room.  Last week we traveled on a bus to a rocky shore on the outside of town.  We were given long measuring tapes and counted the different species of mollusks within quadrants around the shore to study biodiversity.  It was fun to play in the little rock pools; there were little crabs, all kinds of grasses, all different types of barnacles and shells stuck to the rocks, and even octopi!

 I had one of the craziest experiences with octopi- the lab helper found a bigger, harmless octopus and picked it up from under the rock.  It did not like being picked up or messed with, and flailed around until it made it back into the water.  The instructor walked up, though, and immediately asked for one of our little sticks. He had come upon a Blue-Ringed Octopus under a rock on our other side!  When I looked I couldn’t see anything (it was camouflaged), but when he would tap it with the stick it would literally turn ELECTRIC BLUE!  It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in nature- such an unnatural color on such a harmless looking, hidden animal.  Before we went out on the shore we discussed the risks in class, and the lecturer mentioned that Blue-ringed octopi were a risk, but that he had never seen any.  Anyway, when I got back from lab I did a little research on the blue-ringed octopus and found that it really is one of the most poisonous creatures in the ocean!  It holds the same kind of venom as the poisonous puffer fish, which acts as a neurotoxin and paralyzes everything, including the respiratory system, so that the effected person dies of oxygen deprivation. It holds enough of this venom to kill 26 humans within 6 minutes.  It’s also only found in the Eastern rock pools of Australia. WOW! Scary!  I don’t think I will be playing in any more rock pools while I’m here J.

On another note, I am missing some certain things from home.  For one thing, I miss ice.  Here there are no icemakers everywhere, and when you go to McDonalds they MIGHT give you 5 pieces of ice.  At restaurants I have to ask for ice, and even then the little bit that they bring is barely enough to keep my drink cool.  It’s funny, because at home they LOAD a drink with ice, because that is what is expected. 

Since my last blog a lot has happened, so I will do a quick run thru of all the highlights!  Weerona College has a big commencement dinner every school year to celebrate the beginning.  Everyone gets dressed up in cocktail attire and takes the bus over to UniHall for a nice dinner and drinks.  This was definitely one of my favorite things so far; it wasn’t just for international students, it was for everyone who lives here, so we got to hang out with all the Australians too!  When we got to the cocktail hour waiters were bringing out beers and glasses of champagne and wine and finger foods on trays.  We tried little spring rolls, and rice balls, and all sorts of little yummy foods.  We each got 5 drink tickets (soft drink, beer, wine, champagne), and it felt like a race to finish them all.  For dinner we had a nice chicken appetizer, then for the main I had delicious prime rib, and then somehow I missed dessert.  It was still probably the fanciest meal I have had in a while though, and it was nice to get away from the cafeteria food we have been eating lately. It was also one of the fanciest wild parties I have ever been to (I think the boys started drinking around noon!).

Lately, we have been renting movies (buy one get one free for international students, yay) and hanging out at the dorm.  Some friends and I went out for St. Patricks Day this past week, too, and that was a ton of fun! We started the afternoon pregaming, and then headed to an Irish pub nearby.  A girl on my hall from Colorado was celebrating her 21^st birthday, so later we all went out and got pizza and celebrated the holiday!  After dinner, we went to a local nightclub that we frequent on Thursdays, and celebrated with everyone. It was a good night!

            I have been to Sydney two times since my last blog.  The first time we rode up on a Thursday night and went to an MGMT concert.  The concert tickets would have been $70, but a promotion for free tickets at Uni got us there for free!  It was a ton of fun listening to a familiar band from home here, and it was also fun to go up to Sydney for the night.

            My little Weerona CIEE family and I also went up this past Sunday to go to Sydney Aquarium.  The aquarium was super cool, but part of the fun is definitely just walking around Darling Harbor. Here are some photos!

Our CIEE family- Me, Ashley, Laura and Caleb!

Me and the largest animatronic shark in the world (besides Jaws).