another day at the office

It is 11am on Saturday here now.
When I think about yesterday I realize that I am beginning to sense a bit of a routine in our activities. We all headed to the office after Morgan got back from Helen's and had time to get ready. When we got to the office we continued to work on tasks from the previous day and such. We had morning tea and lunch with Helene and then continued back to work. Jude, another staff member that we've met, invited us to come up and spend time Jetskiing on the Murray River. In the end though we would have needed to take a bus up there and it would only have allowed us a couple hours there, which is not worth it. It was a shame that we had to turn it down. In the process of searching the internet I also discovered that there is a concert coming next Tuesday that I would love to go to, but the tickets are almost $90, which is more than the airfare we found to go to Alice Springs. Part of me wonders if American music and concerts are just more expensive here. Towards the afternoon we headed to Ingle Farm to see another site. At Ingle farm there is a Creche, which is like day care. Until last Tuesday, I thought that they were calling them a Crash, which was only more confusing when they'd call them Mobile Creches, which to me sounded like something to do with a car accident. But now I'm straightened out. We got a quick overview of their activities and arranged to all come out there next week for a more indepth experience. Afterwards we went to Blair Athol where they hold an activity for youth there. They bring DJ equipment and give young males a chance to rap and let out energy that way. The girl have a chance to dance. This is meant to divert attention away from violent activities that could otherwise be going on outside in the neighborhoods. It was the first day back after 2 weeks off because of the heat. It was really interesting to see. It was a abit awkward at first since we were the only white people there. Also, before the girls arrived the boys were a bit rude, but nothing we wouldn't expect from a group of boys in this age. We observed for about an hour, dancing some with the girls at times, and then Helen gave us a ride into the city. On Friday nights the shops stay open later so we thought it might be a good chance to check out the city a bit more. We ate at the same Italian Restaurant that Simon, Hilary, and I ate at the night before. At supper we talked a lot about how we were feeling about what was going on. We all are having somewhat different impressions of things. It is very evident to me that we are guinea pigs right now. As a result I am gathering my reactions to make recommendations at the end of my experience about how things could/should go different next time. The three of us are also struggling a bit with financial things. As we know from information we've been given the financial breakdown is usually not given to students, but more than anything this concerns us. We are all a bit worried about the amount of money that is being invested into Hosanna Heights for food, when we're really not eating there often, and when we do it really isn't sufficient. Besides that there are constant issues with internet, air conditioning, and even just getting help from the man who runs the place. We are well aware that things are different here, but I am starting to think that these are things that will be an ongoing struggle throughout our time here. I would hate to go home having spent so much of my time hating rice for example. On the other side of things, the staff at Hosanna Heights are so amazingly hospitable and have welcomed us into their homes and along on activities. It just isn't fair that they should have to provide so much of the things that we are paying for here at Hosanna Heights. Admittedly I haven't found the balance and what I should really do about how I'm feeling, but it seems that this woudl be a place that I can express that. Anyway, after supper we took a walk in the city, aiming for a certain spot. Of course, we ended up going the wrong direction. But isn't it amazing how sometimes you need to go the wrong direction to find things? We ended up stopping in a church organization to get directions when we realized we were lost. Its called Sanctuary Surfers. They are a ministry that involves a surf shop and daily surf trips. Morgan and I are pretty sure we might want to try it sometime. The woman working was able to help give us directions to take us back where we needed to get. There was also a purse there that I really liked, and since the only one I brought has broken I am in the market I was excited about that. I shyed away when I saw it was $25 though. After leaving I started thinking, I wonder if I'm just a cheapskate? We made it back to the bus stop and waited for our bus. I was so tired I was falling asleep on the bus. When we got back we checked our mail and were delighted to find we all had packages. Our care packages from the study abroad office were a plesant thing to have come the day before Valentine's Day. I looked through it when I got to my room and really appreciated it. I decided to crash right away so I could get up at 4:30am to talk to Tim on the computer. Of course, after talking to him for a couple hours this morning I went back to sleep.