Always Travelling

Annalakshmi was good, again. Been there quite a few times recently. Again, I sent out the message earlier in the week and got a good group of about a dozen together from various places - it was great as it was varied and they all met and got to know each other. Now I think on it, we had 7 nationalities across diverse interests, all studying different things, some working full time, all with a different perspective to bring to the table. We had some good conversations, actually pretty intellectual stuff which was really engaging!

Today we had a special guest, Ali Talpur, who had just arrived from Karachi this morning (yesterday moring as I'm writing this at 1am). Ali is an AIESEC alumni and played a large part in the Pakistani startup effort back in the 90s. He now works for Schlumberger out of Tehran, and is in Perth for a week long conference. His work has taken him to many countries and he works in an industry which is so central to everything these days: oil (& gas). Inspiring and engaging guy, it was great to learn from his experience and gain his perspective. Tori is now in New York but put Ali onto me earlier this week as he had contacted her as soon as he knew he was coming to Perth. Anyway, enough from me, here's a couple of photos:

posted by Nic  # 1:49 AM 2 Comments

Yesterday I googled something like 'aids test perth'. I want to get tested, not because I am worried that I'm infected, but for the sake of getting tested and knowing that at this point in time, I tested negative. The same goes with sexually transmitted diseases; I have no reason to think I am carrying anything, but I would like to get tested and know for sure.

One of the top results returned from that search was for "The Perth Group HIV-AIDS Debate Website", and intrigued, I had a look. Research on wikipedia followed (naturally); see articles on AIDS, HIV & AIDS reappraisal. It turns out that there is a bit of an ongoing debate as to whether HIV is the cause of AIDS, or rather, that there is an apparent lack of scientific evidence supporting the casual link that modern mainstream society takes for granted.

I find some of the arguments the Perth group and other groups within the AIDS dissident movement a bit hard to swallow. Within the movement these arguments are said to exist:

• HIV does not exist.
• HIV is a harmless passenger virus, often associated with AIDS conditions.
• HIV does exist, and might cause AIDS, but it hasn't been proven to cause AIDS.
• HIV does exist, and might cause AIDS, but only in combination with other factors.
• HIV does not cause AIDS; other infectious factors cause AIDS.
• HIV does not cause AIDS; AIDS is not an infectious disease.
• HIV does not cause AIDS; a combination of other infectious and non-infectious factors causes AIDS.
• AIDS illnesses are often treatable and curable without antiretroviral medication.
• AIDS is a complicated phenomenon with many causes and many valid treatments, and cannot be reduced to a single cause.
• Anti-AIDS drugs, like AZT, often destroy the immune system, causing the very illnesses they are supposed to prevent or treat.
• The failure of modern science to provide a cure for AIDS is enough of a scientific reason to search for other potential causes.
• The theory that HIV causes AIDS has been promoted to further the interests of corrupt scientists and/or pharmaceutical companies.

(from Wikipedia - AIDS reappraisal)

To my mind the most interesting of these arguments are:

I am unsure whether either of these arguments hold any truth, but will be looking into this topic further. Does anyone have knowledge in this area? I'd be interested in talking to people in the know about this.

Perhaps those questioning the causal link between HIV and AIDS are doing more harm than good? Lead-footed policy makers could delay vital retroviral treatments and implementation of appropriate social policies because of the confusion or the ability to grasp out to alternative perspectives on the matter. I have heard the South African government created an AIDS advisory council which advocated using garlic and lemon in cooking or some crap like that as effective guards against infection. Have to look into this more...

Here's an article on HIV testing procedures, and here's a link to another of the Perth Group's websites. Oh, I should say, the Perth Group doesn't look especially credible or worthy of special attention now that I've read about them more.

On an unrelated note, whenever I went to type AIDS in this post my fingers would automatically type out AIES.. and then I'd have to delete half way through AIESEC. Fingers so used to typing it they run on autopilot.

posted by Nic  # 5:24 PM 1 Comments

A new friend of mine, Jamie, really wanted to see the Pride Parade today and I just couldn't let her down (even though I was rather keen to - sorry Jamie!). But hey, it was great and we had an awesome time. Photos here

The Pride Parade is an annual march through the heart of Northbridge by Perth's GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual) community. Actually it's more than that, because I know some of the people in the parade today and I know they're hetero so it's more of a celebration of sexuality in all its various forms. The streets were blocked off and both sides of the road were 4 or 5 deep with spectators for the whole length of the route. There were thousands of people out tonight - the atmosphere was great!

I've never been to anything like this before and I'm glad I went. Today before Jamie rang I challenged myself to give it a go, as I was feeling like calling it off. I told myself, "here you are wanting to proactively learn about different cultures and meet lots of people, and yet you're going to pass this opportunity up".

We had dinner at Takas first and then walked over to Northbridge around 8pm. Initially Jamie sat on my shoulders but then we realised that that was only going to be sustainable for a rather short time. We then tried to get a decent position in the crowd that would allow us to sorta see the parade, but it was difficult. Lesson for next time: arrive early. We got photos though and the crowd was great fun, so it's all good.

Afterwards we got Teh Tarik and shared a cheese and onion rotti with curry sauce at Makan Makan (love that place). Thanks Jamie, it was brilliant!

posted by Nic  # 3:39 AM 0 Comments

All my photos are in this set. Had a lot of fun. It's almost the end of semester, only a few things to wrap up before exams now. Speaking of that... I have a test at 8.20am that I need to study for... and get at least 3 hours of sleep before as well... once over, I can then go home and sleep to my heart's content.

I got photos with all my students - except Danielle! How that happened I'm not sure.

Pic 1: group pic of all the Americans and all advisors (plus a others who helped out with the program), pic 2:Tiffany & Taralyn, pic 3: Ben, pic 4: Wes, pic 5: Suzanne, pic 6: Brooke & Joe, pic 7: Scott.

posted by Nic  # 12:54 AM 0 Comments

Let me start by saying that I'm really enjoying myself, and have been for a while now. This is an update about some things I'd like to reflect upon from the last 2 or so weeks, so I've made some subheadings:

1. Feeling great after putting in the hard yards studying
2. WA Business News breakfast
3. Margaret River - John Curtin Weekend
4. Eid in King's Park
5. Car immobiliser battery dead - car useless!

Feeling great after putting in the hard yards

Getting back into good study habits has been a challenge for me. Knuckling down and tackling assignments is something I've not been good at. So I'm very proud to say that I've managed to put my head down and crank out a few assignments recently and I feel great about it. Sure, I won't get top marks but I'm getting there, slowly. I've been doing some cool stuff lately and been using it as a reward for working hard on my uni work. For instance, on Sunday 15th I got up very early, worked diligently on my part of a group presentation, had a meeting with my group and then went off to watch Perth Glory and have dinner at Annalakshmi (I've already posted on this event before). Recently I've had 3 weighty assessments across different units, worth 50%, 40% and 40% and I've managed to get it all done - which is much better than in the past, so I'm happy! I've also managed to mix in quite a bit of volunteering, socialising, work, and relaxation.

WA Business News Breakfast

I attended this breakfast last Wednesday, great speakers, a big crowd of business professionals in the main hall of the Perth Hyatt, good opportunity to meet and greet. I have to say a big thank you to Ian, from whom the opportunity to attend came. The panel discussion was on the topic "Dynamic Entrepreneurs in the Boom" and was part of the "Success and Leadership" series. There were a good 500 professionals in attendance. I feel that this crowd contained most of the movers and shakers in Perth currently.

Margaret River - John Curtin Weekend

I've posted pics from this trip in a previous posting. I was group leader and bus driver for this trip. I am really enjoying these short-term leadership stints - I'll post up sometime about my thoughts on this.

Anyway so Margaret River is about 3.5 hrs drive south of Perth on the coast. It is a beautiful area and is famous for its wines and its beaches. Margaret River is considered one of the best surfing locations in the world. Don't get confused - Margaret River is the name of the town, but there is also of course a river of the same name. I love the South-West of WA at this time of year, so green and fresh (Wellington Mills was gorgeous too).

We left Curtin about 12.30pm on Friday and after a short shopping trip to get supplies for the weekend, departed south. We had a few stops on the way and arrived about 6pm at our holiday house. What a surprise! The place was awesome!! For a group of volunteers over 2 nights I was blown away. Set in a lush recess behind a dune, found through a maze of narrow estate roads that led back towards the beach, the house was perfect and only a few minutes walk to the beach. At night it was so dark that I thought a shadow as a solid wall.

The first night we drove into town (about a 15 minute drive) to get dinner - most had fish and chips - and then came home to play spoons, presidents, and other card games. It was great with 11 people. Punishments for losing were pushups and a shot of vodka. Most went to bed around 12.30-1.00am. That was when the electrical storm really got going. Initially there was only a sprinkle of rain but enough lightening to remind me of a room with half a dozen flickering incandescent lightbulbs. I simply could not sleep. There was this need inside me to watch the storm, to be outside and experience it. I've experienced many thunder storms but this one was so intense it was a little scary. Many houses in Margaret River lost power for the weekend after it. Even when I tried to sleep, and I knew I really needed to, I found it impossible. Eventually at 4am I drifted off.

In the morning I made a quick run down to the hardware store to get 11 pairs of gardening gloves (ours had been left back in Perth) and then shuttled everyone down to Gnarabup (pronounced Nara-bup, heavy 'n' sound) Beach to meet Genny and Janet from the local coastal association. We were the 3rd group of Curtin students to volunteer for their dune restoration project and they were glad to have us. Our volunteering work that morning was all about dragging branches of peppermint tree from a carpark down to the beach and then covering the dunes with them. The branches had been dropped off by the council and there was probably a good 4 or 5 trailer loads. After covering the dunes we planted amongst the branches many cuttings of a native groundcover that hopefully will stabilise the dunes and minimise deterioration.

It was very hot work, and we were all glad to head back to Genny's for a delicious lunch and a rest. For the remainder of the afternoon we split into two groups - one weeded a dune and one painted a stairwell. I was in the painting group but was unable to paint because there were not enough brushes! But anyway, I had a good time... the wind was so strong I felt I was going to be picked up and thrown. It was enough to draw the comment that we do no really respect the power of natural forces enough. The day finished off with a presentation, on behalf of the group I gave Janet and Genny a few tokens of our appreciation including t-shirts and a plaque.

Settler's Tavern was our destination that night, and we ate very well and danced to blues and roots all night. We were all very tired! Sun + work + wind + eating well + long day = tired.

Sunday morning saw a great communal clean up of the house in record time, and we were out the door by 11am. First stop was Mammoth Cave. It was, well, quite... mammoth, in size, a great experience for our international students. Probably not worth the $16 but oh well, it's one of those things.

We stocked up on Margaret River chocolate from the Fudge Factory and then stopped in Busselton near the jetty to eat lunch. I happened to look back through the bus about 20 mins after leaving Busselton and all 9 members of our group in the back were sound asleep, everybody. I was pretty stuffed too so stopped for a coffee and to refuel in Bunbury. It was a long, long trip back, seemingly much longer than the trip down. Once in Perth we washed and refueled the bus once again to leave it as we had received it. We arrived back at Curtin about 6.30pm. I was done with the paperwork and stuff in the office by 7.30pm.

Suffice to say, a great experience. I love the opportunity to come together as a group, meet new people, work for a common purpose, have some fun, and then go our separate ways. You keep in touch with those people you clicked with. Although it put some pressure on my studies, I don't regret stepping up my volunteering activities in the second half of this year.

Eid in King's Park

Yesterday morning I attended the Eid prayer in King's Park. Although a local, I've been totally unaware of a gathering such as this, and I'm sure 95% of Perth's population are too. King's Park is one of everyone's favourite spots. Around the start of Ramadan I told a friend I initially met through AIESEC, Rozi, that I wanted to learn more about Islam and to participate in and/or observe any upcoming events or gatherings. I love learning about culture, interacting with people with different backgrounds, and generally becoming more aware of the world around me. My motivation for wanting to learn more about Islam comes from a desire to understand where people come from, their background, their principles and beliefs - in order to be a better friend, a better person, a global citizen.

It was my first Eid and what I experienced was genuine warmth, hospitality, and openness. The highway was jammed so I took the long way to King's Park via Fremantle and we arrived about 20 mins late. It didn't matter though as people were streaming in the whole time. There were well over a thousand people in attendance. What struck me was the coming together of many different cultures. Somali, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Saudi, Syrian, Pakistani, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean, and more. And of course, Australian. I made sure that it was okay to take pictures by asking first. I was initially unsure but then I noticed that a number of people had cameras out and one lady was videoing. I stood in observance off to the side of the guys whilst the prayer was given. All my pics can be found in this set.

Rozi introduced me to Sameen, a Pakistani guy studying chemical engineering at Curtin, and Abdullah, President of the Curtin Muslim Association and also a chemical engineering student. Both were great to me, showing me around, introducing people, talking about the occasion. Abdullah and I in particular talked for a good half an hour at one point alone. He is Eritrean and I learnt that he had played a big part in the feasibility study Rozi had led as a new AIESEC recruit at the start of semester 1 this year, and is still very keen.

Car immobiliser battery dead

Lastly, last night I got in a bit of a pickle with my car. The immobiliser remote control I have on my keyring went dead and so I basically could not drive. I called for roadside assistance and they couldn't help either as they do not stock the battery type (it seems I have a relatively rare immobiliser)... and as it was late I couldn't just run to the nearest shop in hope of finding one that fit. So, RAC towed my car home. hahahaha. I still find this funny. All bescause of a flat battery the size of a 5 cent piece. RAC covered the first 10kms so I ended up paying only $5. It was great service though - from the moment I called for help to when I walked through the front door of my home with my car deposited in my driveway, it would not have been longer than 1.5hrs.

posted by Nic  # 3:38 PM 0 Comments

I've got a lot of things to talk about from the last 2 weeks - eventful times!

I've just returned from a volunteering stint down at Margaret River. Great people, great activity, good times. I'll try and update tomorrow - for now I must finish an assignment!

All photos from the weekend here

posted by Nic  # 8:16 AM 2 Comments

Well, on Monday I sent out a mass sms to my friends basically saying that on Sunday I was going to watch the soccer match and then have dinner at Annalakshmi, giving people the opportunity to join me if they felt like it. It turned out great! Jamie, Prasad, Paul, Rebecca and Steve came to the soccer (there was a good crowd and the game was decent, but Glory lost - again)... and Annalakshmi was great! I had originally booked a table for 6 but bumped that up to 15 on Saturday night... it was great to see everyone, good food was eaten in good amounts, and it was nice to provide an opportunity for friends to meet friends of friends, and I even met some new people too! It's always great meeting people and even better if they are a friend of a friend. It was nice that something like this took so little effort to make happen. Definitely want to make Annalakshmi a Sunday habit.

Above: Paul and Prasad at the soccer match, a quick photo taken after Paul noticed the beautiful sunset!
Below: Some of us hanging around after Annalakshmi. They had to give us the hint that it was time to leave by turning off some of the lights.

posted by Nic  # 1:57 AM 0 Comments

Today marks 200 days since our first date, and although we're separated by thousands of kilometres, happier than ever and going strong.

posted by Nic  # 11:46 AM 5 Comments

I don't really 'surf the net' anymore. But I do love to get as much news and information in as possible - as efficiently as I can. I can waste away whole days reading news and articles, I've done it in the past. Sometimes I get hooked following links for interesting articles one after another in wikipedia. This makes for excellent procrastination, but not excellent study/work habits. Now, I'm not too disciplined on this so I'm not exactly going to stop searching out and reading interesting stuff, but instead I've resolved to do it as efficiently as I can. If I'm going to waste time and/or procrastinate, I'm going to do it well!

To this end I've started employing the extensive use of RSS feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and is an easy way for users to get new content off websites without actually having to browse the individual sites themselves. By gathering a bunch of RSS feeds in the one place any new content can be read more efficiently than through browsing multiple websites.

Google recently updated its RSS aggregator, Google Reader. This dramatic upgrade received a mountain of praise from users and critics alike, and I've gone from 'not interested' to a daily user. It has a clean and simple layout, responds super fast, and I found its default settings just fit me nicely. I've added all my feeds from my firefox 'live bookmarks'; the content is shown without formatting; the ability to lookup reader.google.com from any computer is great, as I'm always switching computers.

Here's a couple of screen shots:

posted by Nic  # 10:51 PM 0 Comments

• I gave my AIESEC Karachi one to May in January.
• and I gave my red AIESEC Lahore to Indira this week.
  
• I still have a classic old Curtin LC t-shirt from the 90s.
  
• One from Russia via Sergey and one from Australia's Julycon '04 via Dom.
  

posted by Nic  # 3:36 PM 0 Comments