Pat - Almost to Spring Break!... err Holiday.
These last few days haven't seen that much happen but it is really exciting looking into everyone's different plans. There are a lot of things happening later this week as well that I am quite excited for!
On Saturday I got to skype with my older sister from Kansas City. She helped me refocus and not feel guilty about how I feel like I'm failing in Australia. It's really nice that I have been able to open up and relate to her so well in the last few months. I relaxed a bit and then baked my first cake! It was a lemon banana poppyseed cake. I fed it to my flatmates and they actually really enjoyed it. I love baking for people when they appreciate it, it really brings me joy that they like it and express that and eat it. Here's a picture:
Sunday I went to a baptist church service which was completely different than what I expected. I will probably go back, they were super welcoming and I would have stayed longer if I didn't have to go back and talk to one of my really good friends from home for the first time. It was so nice reconnecting with people I care about and agree with. I got to go to the beach later and organize things for this Saturday which I will talk about later!
On Monday I woke up really early to talk to Maria for the first time on skype since she's made it to the UK. It was really nice to see her, and just being able to skype with people I care about for several days in a row has just refocused me on what really matters to me. I made it to uni early enough and got to talk with a guy from Oregon that is going home on Thursday. It was really nice because we just ended up talking about life and it was awesome to relate that to our faith. I love being able to associate constantly with people that have a strong faith belonging in their everyday life.
Today I made it to a free BBQ, trivia, and my bible study group. Afterwards I talked to the guy from Oregon again and we talked about how we have changed in Australia and how our lives may cross again. It will be the last time I see him before going home. I hope to organize Saturday and get a few more things together in preparation for holiday.
On Saturday I might be going to the blue mountains! I'm a bit nervous organising it and there's a chance that I will miss the big worship thing because it is a 5 hour transit time, but I really want to go, it's been my goal to go there.
It's wild to think I've been here for nearly two months! My classes aren't looking particularly rough even though I am really nervous about my one geology class, I am really behind. In addition, I need to work on a lot of other things such as a paypal incompatibility and some of my papers before break hits. I'm nervous that the first week is just going to completely overwhelm me because I have class 9-5 every day just doing straight geology with structural mapping, which I have never been particularly good at.