Always Travelling

Having flashbacks.... I watched 'The Shining' with Pascaline the other night.... the scene where Jack Nicholson kisses the naked lady only for her to turn into a rotting ugly stinking grandma corpse!!!!! That gives me the yips.

Also, sitting here in the labs on campus at 2:30am and having a quite public domestic happening a few metres away doesn't help my mood.

I'm getting some spam comments on one of my previous posts, so no, even though my blog is seemingly always near the top of the list on the nomadlife homepage, I'm not constantly at my blog doing a whole lot of refreshing and few actual postings.

Gotta put a word verification in here somehow... that's the thing about having a pretty template, now i gotta add in something and it ain't that easy. oh well... I'll find a way to cheat the system somehow.... others must have had the same issue.

(email continues but I'll cut it off there)

27th March - Just uploaded the pics, as usual click for larger versions. I'll edit this post later and add in the story which was my weekend up there and also details on the project that my LC is looking to take up.
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14th April - Okay, I've had some time to reflect on my Laverton experience. Last night (well, technically it's Friday morning now so let's just say Wednesday night) a debrief session was held in the hub here on campus, and I got to connect with members from teams that went up on four different weekends - people that I hadn't met before but who had also experienced Laverton recently, under the Curtin Volunteers banner.

The session was conducted as a 'sit in a circle' guided discussion type of thing for about an hour or so, and at an overall constructive level. Many of the participants were not totally happy about their weekends. Much of the feedback centred around their activities during the weekend and the way their time was organised. Basically we go up there, with a plan, but everything can fall through at the last minute so participants have to be flexible and make the most out of any situation. On my weekend we spent most of our time playing with the local aboriginal kids in structured ways, such as sports (the kids never tire!). They're completely uncontrollable normally, but you give them a set of rules based around something competitive and they'll stick to them and play for hours... far longer than I would have as a kid.


On reflection Laverton wasn't a turning point for me like it has been for many international students who go up there - it was more like another notch in the belt. I think I experienced what I was expecting. I saw a remote community, isolation, mining activities, aboriginal kids full of life but without social structures we deem as necessary for a healthy upbringing; I didn't see many aboriginal adults, which was also expected. I learnt a lot and it was absolutely worthwhile, but I think it was more like filling in a piece of the puzzle for me, rather than a jolting shake up of my worldview.

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Saturday 16th April - The memory that lives with me most from Laverton is playing in the pool with the kids. I was completely mobbed. They were all over me, at least a half dozen kids hanging on in the water. I was throwing them off my shoulders etc and they were trying to kill me (playfully of course!). It was a lot of fun. Wish I had a pic.

This one's for Cindy.

In New Norcia, in one of the museums there, I found this rusty old cooler... I think it was an early version of a fridge. Very old! The monks must have used it up at the monastery. Upon closer inspection I saw an electrolux badge! Made me think of you Cin and whip out my cell to take a pic :)

Straight onto the daily reading list (that is, once I found out about it!)

http://foreignpolicy.com/
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/

Blog: Ahmed's Adventures
Post: Steps of how to cook a lamb in the desert!!
Link: http://ahmedarshi.nomadlife.org/2006/03/steps-of-how-to-cook-lamb-in-desert.aspx


Hmmm, my friends in Pakistan, could we do this next time I'm over? Or is this more of a UAE thing to do? Please fill me in.

THE PERFECT DAY FOR HER:

8.15 Wake up to hugs and kisses.
8:30 Weigh in 2kg lighter than yesterday.
8.45 Breakfast in bed, freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants, open presents - expensive jewellery chosen by thoughtful partner.
9.15 Soothing hot bath with frangipani bath oil.
10.00 Light work out at club with handsome funny personal trainer.
10.30 Facial, manicure, shampoo, condition, blow dry.
12.00 Lunch with best friend at fashionable outdoor cafe
12.45 Catch sight of husband/boyfriend's ex and notice she's gained 30lbs
1.00 Shopping with friends, unlimited credit.
3.00 Nap.
4.00 Three dozen roses delivered by florist, card is from secret admirer.
4.15 Light work out at club, followed by massage from strong but gentle hunk who says he rarely gets to work on such a perfect body.
5.30 Choose outfit from expensive designer wardrobe, parade before full-length mirror.
7.30 Candlelit dinner for two followed by dancing, with compliments received from other diners/dancers.
10.00 Hot shower (alone).
10.50 Carried to bed (freshly ironed, crisp, new, white linen).
11.00 Pillow talk, light touching and cuddling.
11.15 Fall asleep in his big strong arms.


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THE PERFECT DAY FOR HIM:

6.00 Alarm.
6.15 Blow job.
6.30 Massive satisfying dump while reading the sport section.
7.00 Breakfast: rump steak and eggs, coffee and toast, all cooked by naked buxom wench who bends over a lot showing her growler.
7.30 Limo arrives.
7.45 Flight in personal Lear Jet.
9.15 Limo to Mirage Resort Golf Club (blow job en-route).
9.45 Play front nine - 2 under.
11.45 Lunch - pie, chips and gravy, 3 lagers and a bottle of Dom Perignon.
12.15 Blow job
12.30 Play back nine (of golf course) – 4 under.
1.15 Limo back to the airport (Several Bourbons).
1.30 Fly to Cairns.
3.30 Late afternoon fishing excursion with all female crew, all nude who also bend over a lot displaying growlers.
4.30 Land world record Marlin (1234lbs) - on light tackle.
5.00 Fly home, massage and hand job by naked Elle McPherson (bending over... naturally).
6.45 Shit, Shower and Shave.
7.00 Watch news: Michael Jackson assassinated; marijuana and hard porn legalised.
7.30 Dinner: lobster appetiser, Dom Perignon (1953) big juicy fillet steak followed by ice-cream served on a big pair of tits.
9.00 Sex with three women (all with lesbian tendencies.....some bending over).
11.00 Massage and Jacuzzi with tasty pizza snacks and a cleansing ale
11.45 In bed alone.
11.50 A 12 second fart which changes note 4 times and forces the dog to leave the room.
12.00 Spend 10mins laughing before falling asleep.



Might I say before I get burnt alive that I'd never heard of the term 'growler' before... and I also got this off Angela (her blog).

Saturday was a big day. Went to bed at 4am, got up at 10am, and drove out to New Norcia (more info, town map, famous bakery), which is about 2 hrs north-est of Perth. I went up to help out at a Rogaine. I've explained in a previous post what Rogaining is... it's pretty cool, I highly recommend it.

I arrived in New Norcia about 2:30pm, and headed straight out on a narrow country road to the Rogaine site; the central camp was about 10 mins out of town. You can imagine a bunch of about 200ish cars and tents, spread around a hundred metres about the central fire, admin and hash house (food tent) area. This rogaine had 150 teams, with 350 competitors. I was part of a group of volunteers working in the hash house, cooking up and preparing food for everyone. The quantities we were cooking were big! About 700 hash browns, hundreds of sausages, probably 800ish eggs, kilos and kilos of quartered tomoatoes, mushrooms, sliced onions, beef patties, kilos of oranges... big industrial size pots of rice and curries, soups, etc. When competitors come back to camp after covering on average around 50kms over a twelve hour period, they want a good feed! The team and I were cooking from 4pm to about 11pm straight. I was totally stuffed!!

When I first rocked up at 2:30pm I was told to come back at 4pm - all the other hash house volunteers were sleeping. That wasn't so bad as it gave me an opportunity to check out New Norcia. I'll let you guys read up on New Norcia and the Benedictine monastery etc with the links at the start of post, but suffice to say that it's a very interesting place and well worth the visit. Dad's work also has a manufacturing plant about 10kms north of the town as well so he's always going up there every two weeks or so... so it was good to see where he goes, drive the roads he takes, yadda yadda.

At 11:15pm, and after a massive coffee, I began the journey home. Reason: AIESEC meeting in the morning and I knew that if I slept in my car I wouldn't get up in time to drive back and I also wouldn't sleep well. Drove back without music, a great opportunity to just think about life. Arrived home at 1:15am and got a call from my drunk brother to pick him and his boss up from Freo!!! Bloody hell... for anyone who hasn't been out in Freo, there is a major taxi shortage, and the taxi line gets over 150m long - you can be waiting for 2 hrs in line for a taxi. So, I went and got him. I was in bed by 2:30pm, again, totally stuffed. Up at 9am the next day. And so it continues. But it was well worth it. I'm really placing a lot of value on getting out there and getting a diverse range of experiences and mixing with lots of different circles of people.

Pics below:
First is a pic I took whilst driving. Gives you an idea of what the roads are like. These country roads, like the one to the rogaine site, might only see a handful cars every day. Yet, they're bitumen and nicely done... even if narrow. Australia spends a lot of money on roads.

Second and third: a couple of pics of buildings in New Norcia. Refer to the links above to see better pics and more details about New Norcia.

Bottom row: in the school there were six aboriginal murals, all beautiful. The pics don't do them justice.

(note, I haven't lightboxed the pics below, because that is their actual size. Took them with my cell... low quality... so clicking won't get you a larger version like usual.)

Which country should you REALLY be living in? Canada You would make a great Canadian! You desire to live in a young, friendly country, that has little worries and plenty of activities. Canada is the place for you.

Aqeel over on the AIESEC Lahore blog takes advantage of my gtalk title. hmmm. link to his post. I miss Pakistan. derrrrr. hahaha.

The other thing is this: drafting up an essay with pen and paper, writing out a direct reference I'd already used previously and thus flipping my page over and over to copy it word for word, I actually went to highlight the word with my pen and drag and drop onto the side I was writing on! Man, I'm already thinking like that.... I stunned myself. Obviously I can't drag and drop words like on a pc, but for a split second it seemed totally natural and logical and I was about to try it!

I should be doing an assignment.... I've also come to the realisation that I need to travel! Here I am still longing over my time in Pakistan, wishing to go back yada yada... I'm definitely CEEDing or doing a development internship or something soon!

Pretty crazy time, my life is in constant motion and there are always a million things to do, but when I think back on my day or my week there are special moments that stand out.

(tangent: I realise that there are a couple of unfinished posts below, and I plan to get to them... whether that will actually happen depends on my motivation and my free time)

This week, I had a two hour phone conversation on Sunday night, while I was still in the office until about 11pm, with a great bloke by the name of Dmitri Koulakov. Dimmey is LCP of AIESEC at Griffith University in Brisbane. Now those of you who know Australian geography know that Perth and Brisbane are on opposite sides of the country, separated by 4500kms of.. not much. Conversation ranged over a whole slew of topics, a lot of AIESEC coverage, and it was great to just generally catch up. I have a general idea of where the other Aussie LCs are at in terms of recruitment, induction and selection and how they're each going about it, but there are a lot of grey areas, and as an NLT when you only come together a few times each year these phone calls are really important to share ideas and get to know each other better. Thank god we have our office now and our phone calls are covered by the uni.

Another great phone call I had was with an old friend from way back. His name is Nicholas Taylor and he was one of my best friends, perhaps even my best friend in high school. We had a falling out (which was my fault), and I'd lost him totally as a friend. Glad to say that we had a great phone call. He's been in Japan teaching english for a while, and I think we both share the same passion for intercultural experiences, travel, and seeing the world. He is quite the intellectual and I miss having those types conversations to be honest.

This weekend I'm helping at a Rogaine. What is Rogaining?


In short, Rogaining is heaps of fun and obviously great for getting out of the city and seeing our beautiful country. I'll be helping in the 'hash house' (ie, the kitchen), and also doing bits a pieces with the organising committee (they wouldn't call themselves that but for the sake of explanation that is a good term to use). I used to participate in Rogaines back in high school, and Nick Taylor and I even won the state junior title at one stage. Good fun. Looking forward to it. This event is being held in farmland in New Norcia, about an hour north of Perth.

Lastly, I've been dating a very lovely girl. :) Enough said.