Fountain Jumping and the Elephant

Its 9:03am on Sunday right now.

Yesterday was fairly adventurous. We accomplished 2 of the three things we intended to do. Poor Morgan woke Hilary and I at 8am, as agreed upon, and asked if we were ready to go to breakfast and then on to a walk in the conservation park next door. Neither of us were up for anything other than a bit more sleep. Morgan agreed to wait until nine, but when she came back neither of us were any more ready to go anywhere. I definitely needed the sleep though. We all just kind of relaxed and got ready for the day instead. After lunch we caught the bus into town to check out a shop called Cheap as Chips (which is a discount store) and the Central Market. The shop was not quite what we expected but it was interesting. The Central Market was closing as we were arriving. Most people here buy their fruits and vegetables from markets and shops that specifically sell produce. It is way more affordable and the produce you get is fresh.

When we came out of the Market we found ourselves in the Chinatown area.

We walked around town until we found ourselves in Victoria square which is in the center of the downtown area and features a fountain (picture below) in the center. It was wonderfully cool on such a warm day so we stayed around there and took some pictures. We tried taking pictures of us jumping off of the fountain but for some reason it worked best when I took the picture. In the end we asked someone to take one of all three of us, which actually turned out pretty well. I will have to get that one from one of the other girls to post at a later time.

We headed back to Hosanna Heights to eat something and get ready to go out on the town. Simon, Helene's son, has agreed to take us out to a pub and show us some of what the nightlife is like. He told us to head to his house at about 6 for tea. When we arrived we sat and visited with the family shortly. We taught the kids to play kings corners. It turns out that tea seems to mean supper. We ate a meal with them and then began discussing our options for going out. We convinced a reluctant Jeremy to join us even though he would rather have stayed home and watched "footy" (Australia Rules Football) which started its preseason yesterday. It was convenient that he ended up coming along because he has his full drivers license and could drive us into the city. The licenses are different here in that it takes a bit longer to get them. A person can get their "L's" around 16 and has to have them for 6 mos. At this level a person cannot drive alone and must have a person who has had their full license for over 2 years. They also cannot drive over 100km/hr (about 60mph). After 6 mos they can get their "P1's" which still keeps the restrictions but a driver can drive alone. The driver must have their status marked on their license plate though so other drivers are aware that they are learning. After this comes the full license. Compared with home, where everyone rushes to get their license as soon as they can, here they will wait often because they can use other methods of transportation.

We went to a pub in the city called the Elephant. I learned how to order beer and that its is quite a bit more expensive than in the US. It cost $7.20 (Australian Dollars) for a pint of Coopers Pale Ale (which is the local favorite). The mixed drinks that Morgan and Hilary had were $13 and $14.50. The tips, though, are already figured in all costs at restaurants and pubs/bars. We enjoyed the pub we were at and Hilary and I found a live band playing upstairs and stayed to listen for a while. It was fun, especially since they played a mix that included a couple American songs. While we were watching I had an experience that has been somewhat troubling me. There was a gentleman who was clearly someone with special needs dancing enthusiastically in the front of the crowd. It was good to see him enjoying himself. There was a specific young group of friends that I noticed trying to dance near him to get him in a picture. They were clearly making fun of him though. This is not something I find funny at all and it frustrated me a lot, but I though it was good that the gentleman didn't seem to notice. Of course, then he continued to dance with these friends, which they were far less interested in once their joke was over. It seems that this sort of thing happens in every culture. Hilary and I headed downstairs to visit more with Simon and Jeremy before heading home for the night.