Crazy Beautiful Life

Me and two of my roommates (Mona and Lorena) at the BBQ

Last night we went to a restaurant on the beach near our house that has started offering free BBQ dinners on Tuesday nights to students and backpackers.  The part that was reserved for us was the top level which has an open-air deck wrapping around it where we sat eating, talking and listening to the surprisingly good live music. BBQs here are not done the way a typical American might think; there are no hotdogs or hamburgers, just smaller-than-bratwurst sausages that taste perfect on a thick, powdery bun with carmelized onions and either tomato sauce (obviously, what we would call ketchup) or a type of creamy peanut satay sauce.

Looking back at Coogee Beach on our way to Maroubra Beach

Today, after a morning of studying on the beach and some lunch, we walked from Coogee Beach to Maroubra Beach which is about 5K to the south. It was another gorgeous walk, for both the scenery and the houses that we passed...let's just say, some people have some real money here..  The path was mostly a paved walking path along the coast, but for awhile it just became rocks at the bottom of the cliffs, which were made more difficult to cross by the fact that it was high tide.  Dodging waves, slippery algae and last night's rainwater dripping off the cliffs onto us, we finally made it back to the real path and then to Maroubra beach.  It was another beautiful beach day while we were walking, but the clouds rolled in about the time we finally made it there.  The beach ended up being closed anyways because the water currents were too dangerous for swimmers, so the sun wasn't really missed.  After a couple of hours spent watching surfers and some monks taking a beach day trip, studying, and napping, we took the bus back home to make dinner.  We cooked up more kangaroo with wild rice (from home! thanks mom!!) and corn on the cob, made some iced tea and enjoyed the cool breeze as evening set in.

Walking under the cliffs

Now I'm here trying to write a paper for my fossils class about plate tectonics, due next week. Here I should mention that taking classes pass/fail is actually harder than I thought...I'm not used to not trying and it's kind of uncomfortable for me to accept that I am not supposed to do my best work. Hopefully I will catch on soon!  Although, I am figuring out that procrastination is a lot easier with a beach nearby.

In the theme of class updates, I am IN LOVE with my anatomy class.  It's easily the best class I've ever had in my life, everything about it is fascinating and challenging and leaves me awe-struck at how the design of the human body is so detailed and wonderfully perfect. Anyways, sorry for the nerd moment there...my other classes are still just...going. Nothing special. We're going to the Sydney Aquarium with the marine environment class this weekend, but that's it for excitement. Except for the paper that is currently a blank page with only my name and that daunting, flashing text cursor.  My current distractions include but are not limited to: planning our semester break trip to New Zealand, facebook, perfecting this blog entry and planning my schedule for the fall at UM.

I can't believe a month has already flown by since I first got here and I'm a little wary that the rest of the time will slip by just as fast.  Just in case, I've been filling my days with adventures and laughter so that I never look back and say "I wish I would have..." Thanks to everyone who have been sending letters my way, I love reading them...even if the stories are almost 2 weeks old by the time I get them. (Extra special shout-out to Nana & Bill; the biggest contributors to my growing stack of letters and photos from home!)

In an effort to improve the environment, many homes here (including ours) do not have dryers for laundry, so tonight I'll be going to sleep on fresh sheets that still have the scent of this afternoon's breeze.

Miss and love you all!

"I'm in love alri-i-i-ght, with my crazy beautiful life." - Ke$ha