Tim Tam Slurpie!

Yesterday after I wrote I spent the rest of the day at the Calvary site office. In the morning we had an intake interview with an aboriginal family. The situation is a bit unique because it is a woman escaping domestic violence from her same sex partner.

(Just as an interesting aside, I have noticed that Australian's use the term partner to refer to any couple, not just same sex couples. You'll have to imagine how confused I was when I first arrived and everyone in the office talked about their partner or so-and-so's partner and I just kind of thought everyone was homosexual. This was not the case and thankfully I never voiced anything alluding to my confusion.)

The interview ended well and we were able to take her around to a house which she will be able to move into as of Thursday. At first it was hard to see much emotion from her, she seemed to be very beat down and almost to a point of lost hope, but by the end she was smiling and you could begin to see relief starting to come out of every pore.

In the afternoon Jared and I went to run an errand, and on the way went to see Port Noarlunga- which has a beautiful beach. I will have to add the pictures from the excursion later because they are really beautiful. There were people fishing from the Jetty and I was amazed to discover that the black spots on the Jetty are from Squids that have been caught and inked on the beach. There were a lot of kids around learning to surf and checking out the reef as a part of their schooling. Apparently every year student spend about a week on the beach learning about a subject they've chosen in aquatics. It really helps to explain why it is that it is not common and practically absurd, for a child to grow up not knowing how to swim. We headed back to the office and I spent some time just being around the office.

We had supper at Lorinda's house, the woman we met at the playgroup at Glynde the first week. We met her husband and I even got to play guitar for quite a while. It was really nice and relaxing. At the end of the night Lorinda drove us home and it was quickly to bed after that because I was very tired.

This morning I was lucky to wake up a little after 7 because my alarm didn't go off. This is probably because I suspect that I set it for 6:30pm and didn't check before falling asleep. I was still able to shower and catch a bus (after missing the first two I would have like to catch). Unfortunately this meant that I also missed the first 2 trains I would have liked to catch. I got picked up at the train station and headed to the office. In the morning I helped Janine gather a starter pack for the house that the family that was interviewed the day before will be moving into. A starter pack includes linens, cutlery, pots and pans, towels, or any other things that the family may not have already. It is exciting to see how quick the actual turn around for the houses has to be. The house that the family will be moving into is a house that I saw the last tenant in a week+ before they moved out.


To be continued....

Farmer Ellie!

So, I have A LOT to catch up on! It's quite different not having Internet to update my blog every day. The last time I wrote ended with our Wineries trip on Sunday night.


Last Monday I went to the Magill office hoping to catch a home visit with the client I'd tried to arrange one with the previous week, but ended up not having much luck. I spent the rest of the day doing little bits of school work around the office. We spent some time talking about different things that we need to make sure to do in order to develop a better understanding about culture and religion in Australia, but its starting to seem like we won't be able to fit it all in before we have to go home. I was meant to take the day off since we'd done a training on the weekend, but I decided to do it the following day instead.

Tuesday I spent time catching up with Tim on the computer and then did a bit of grocery shopping. Jess invited me to come along to her small group in the evening. It turned out that they were going to a church called the Miracle City Church to hear a speaker from Louisiana. I have to admit that I found myself a bit worried about the way that the speaker/s would portray the US. When we arrived at the church the first thing I saw was a younger looking teen boy with an older woman speaking in tongues over him. He actually looked really scared. We continued into the worship space which was loudly rocking already. There was a band in the front which was playing worship music. We found ourselves seats and settled in for the experience. The worship was VERY different form anything I'd experienced before. I had only heard about similar ones. There was a lot of music, which I liked. Before the message a man came up to talk about his recent trip to Papa New Guinea. He told about all of the healing that was done through them. He told about one specific instance where they watched tumors actually disappear from the bottoms of a man's feet. I must admit I am a skeptic, but the congregation really was into it. It reminded me a little of a Baptist service because of the musicality of the pastors and the constant interjections from the congregation. The message didn't necessarily do much for me, but it gave me insight into a different aspect of religion in the US, and Australia. The speaker that gave the message was from a Suburb of New Orleans. She talked about her life and how she grew up and then about continuing to grow in faith throughout one's life. Afterwards there was an altar call that seemed to last forever, I think it must have been at least 45 min. During this time people came to the front to be prayed over and then would collapse and lie on the ground for varying amounts of time. There was one guy who stayed in front after he got back up and waited to be prayed over again. Some were completely still and others seemed almost like they were having a seizure. One of the members of the small group explained that the people were coming into God's presence and they often wanted to stay there and so that is why they wouldn't get up right away. It was all just a very interesting experience. The people were all very nice and welcoming. I also met Jess' sister who is coming to work at a camp in Iowa (Riverside) later this year. I'm hoping that Jess will come to visit her so I can see her too :-D.

On Wednesday I headed out to Calvary for the day. I rode along with Belinda to Aldinga to check on a new house and get the keys. Its a little frustrating because though the house has been underway for quite some time, there are still many things that aren't quite right. The keys did change hands, but the work will continue. The houses are a part of the Calvary Housing Association which provides longer term housing for clients after they've been able to move through the supported accommodation program. In the afternoon there was a staff meeting which was kind of neat. There had been quite a few families that transitioned into more permanent housing and some that were moving in so it was exciting to hear how all of that had gone. It was also neat because some of the little things that I had been working on were brought up and I was assigned some new tasks that help make me feel like I have more of a role than just sitting around and observing different house visits etc. It was Helen's birthday so she invited the three of us out to tea with her family. Then we went back to her house so she could open presents and we ate cake that Morgan had made for her.


On Thursday morning I met Belinda in the city near the train station for a DV rally. There have been a couple recent death's related to Domestic Violence which has caused a bit of a stir about the issue. There were speakers from Parliament and even the Attorney General spoke. It was quite exciting. The event was really organized and the speakers had clear and attainable goals in mind. There are hopes of organizing a team that will research and compile statistics about domestic violence related deaths, which could lead to conclusive findings and encourage changes in the laws. An example of this from where teams like this have been organized is finding that in most cases of DV related death, there was an occurrence of strangulation prior to the death. Based on this, the consequences of strangulation could be made a bit harsher, hopefully to catch the situation before it escalates even further. Before leaving we all put roses on the steps of parliament house. In the afternoon we went to a Vacant Possession (Eviction) in Elizabeth. Elizabeth is an area that has been often described pretty negatively to us. It is apparently known for its population being of lower socioeconomic status. A lot of the houses are beat up and it was explained that there is a lot of alcoholism and drug use out there, as well as generational unemployment. The house that we went to appeared to still have its tenants there, but they didn't respond when we knocked on the door. We called for the bailiff, but he couldn't get out there until 3:00. That meant that we had to kill 2 hrs. Belinda took me on a tour to show me some of the other neighborhoods in the area, including Devaron Park, which is one of the worst in the area. We made it back to the house around 3 and it appeared that the tenants had vacated at that point. Their storage container was gone and the car that had been there earlier was gone. Sadly, though, their dog was not gone. We went to see the inside of the house, and it was so disappointing. The tenants had clearly urinated on carpets and left rubbish all over the house. There walls were damaged and doors were off the hinges. A locksmith was called to change the locks, so that the message was clear to the tenants that they were not welcome back. When we went back to show the locksmith where the back door he would be changing we discovered that the handles of the screen door had been removed and that meant that dog was able to get in. The dog was a young, skinny looking (probably mutt) but with the look of maybe a bit of pitt bull in him. He wasn't very aggressive, but he definitely didn't want to be left alone outside anymore. At first I was afraid he would be aggressive, but it quickly became apparent that he hadn't been given food or water in quite some time. We called the pet rescue people, but they couldn't come out until the next morning. (An update from now is that the dog has been picked up by pet rescue because the tenants didn't return for it.) The saddest part of the whole situation was that the bond (what we might call a deposit and would normally be used toward any needed clean up) is already be eaten up by the amount that the tenants had owed for unpaid rent.

Belinda drove me home at the end of the day and I spent the evening going to check out the shops (grocery etc) that were open later in the suburbs on Thursday nights.

On Friday I decided I would go out to Calvary again to be an extra body around the office to answer phones and things. It was nice to feel useful, and I got to go home a little early so that I could pack and be ready for our trip to Mt. Gambier with Jess. She picked Hilary and I up at the house around 5 and we headed out of town. We stopped in Murray Bridge for tea, just a bit of fast food. We ate at Red Rooster, which boasts that it is "Unlike those American chains" (KFC) which flocked here.

We travelled the rest of the way to Keith (a bit over half way) where we would stay the night with some friends of Jess'. Tammy and Kaylene decided they would take us to the pub, since it was about the only thing to do in the small town. It was great fun.

It ended up being a little bit later of a night than we expected. We were all ready for bed when we got home. We had a few options for beds, and then they offered that I could sleep in a Swag. Well, I'd never heard of that so I had to say yes. Turns out its like a sleeping bag that can become almost a little tent. Crazy cool huh?

We got a bit of a late start in the morning and as a result didn't get to Mt. Gambier until about 12 noon. Emil (A-mill) and Marty gave us a GREAT tour of their farm. They have some huge amount of acres like 456,000 or something. They do cattle (to eat) and sheep. We also got a good look at some of the neighbors spud farm. Apparently they grow like 9 different varieties of spuds which get made into a variety of different products. (Chips, hot chips, McD's fries, mash) Even more interesting apparently this farm is the only supplier for one of the kinds in the whole state (or something like that). We drove around in the boys' Dad's old Valiant to see the tour.

The Valiant that we took our tour in.

A John Deer Tractor!

The boys got to drive some big ol trucks, this one I named Big Bird. Look, my shirt matches!

We got a tour of the sheep shearing facilities. The sheep go into these stall and get sheared, then the wool gets pressed in the machines below.

Then it gets packed into bags.

These are the old ones that were from about 1930.

Some cool old wagons from a shed.

One of their new toys, a front loader. It was WAY cool.

Learning to drive the motorbike.

Helping muster the cattle on the motorbike before Tea. After tea it took a while to decide what we should do.

We went 10pin bowling!

Early up Sunday morning to see them load cattle into a truck.

After church we took a tour around town. There was a big ol ship on the side of the road!

Inside the sink hole, which is now a garden.

The Valley Lakes.

Learning to play cricket!

Keeping my eye on the ball!

A Weekend of Adventure!

It's Monday morning and I am back at the office. The weekend has been a lot of fun and I have the pictures to prove it.

On Friday we eventually made our way to Cleland Wildlife Park with Helen and Helene.
The park is almost a Zoo, but there are lots of areas within it where you can meander among the animals and even feed them. Sadly, we only had time to get through about half of the park, but I was excited to get to see all that I did.

The first animal we saw was the Tasmanian Devil. It was really hard for us to understand how Warner Brothers got from The animal pictured above to Taz.

We stumbled upon our first Kangaroos who were lazing about randomly. They really weren't very interested in anything except our little pellets we'd bought to feed them. It also doesn't help that it was a warm day out. Interesting looking animals aren't they? (No, the one on his back isn't dead, just lazy.)

We went on to the Koala exhibit next. There is a place where you can stand with the Koala and take your own pictures, which is what we chose to do. There was also and option to pay $25 and hold the Koala and have your picture taken professionally. We decided that we didn't want to fork over that much money to do it. I actually probably would have liked to do it, just because its not something you can do just anywhere.

The Koalas made their home in this neat hut thing. They bring out a new Koala to the petting/holding exhibits every half hour. When we approached this one we saw quite the spectacle. A keeper was approaching the area and one of the Koalas came down and quickly came to the gate where the keeper would enter. As soon as the keeper was through the gate the Koala was trying to crawl up his legs. So much for the vicious creatures that some people have been making Koalas out to be. However, their claws do look like they could be real painful.

Next we went on to see the Dingos. It was hard to see them as anything dangerous. They really seem like beautiful dogs when seen like this. They are endangered, but a huge pest to sheep farmers and such.


Next came the birds. The Pelicans were a big deal. We watched this one swim around for a bit. He was definitely looking for something to eat, but all he could really find was a rock. He kept getting it out of the water and then throwing it up in the air to catch it but then dropping it again. It was quite interesting to watch. I would have liked a chance to see how big their pouches can get though. The black bird is actually a type of duck. I thought the most interesting part about their appearance was their feet.

These little guys are Bandacoots. Not at all like the character from the Crash Bandacoot video game at all. They scurried around all over like tame squirrels. I finally got them to stay still enough for a photo by feeding them.

This guy is a yellow tail rock wallaby. Its the only kind of wallaby we got to see. They stayed really well hidden in the rocks, but we were able to see a few if we looked hard enough.

The next area was a huge open area with emus and smaller grey kangaroos. The first one that we came upon was a mum with a joey in her pouch. The only way we could really tell at first was an extra foot that was sticking out. Eventually though she moved away from us and we could see the head start to wiggle out of the pouch. One could tell that the Kangaroos were used to people because as soon as they noticed that you had food they came right up and were happy to be fed. They're actually pretty cute.

On our way out we saw this last big guy lazing about. He was practically posing for us. Interesting looking creatures, aren't they?

We headed home after that because the park was closing. The park is up in the hills so we drove through some beautiful scenic roads and made our way back to the office to drop Helene off. As we made our way back home Helen decided that we could go to the beach to have tea and see the sunset. We stopped to change and pick up Peter and then made our way to Brighton.


We arrived and found a parking spot just in time to get some great photos of the sun setting. It really was beautiful. I can definitely say that I would love to live somewhere that I could even just occasionally go to the beach to see this happen.

We picked a nicer looking restaurant on the corner to eat at so that we could continue to watch the sunset. It made for a couple more great pictures. I was excited I had Little Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes for supper with a Thai sauce that were really yummy. Afterwards we got ice cream cones and walked down on the beach. The woman who sold us the ice cream was kind enough to take a photo for us.

After our walk we decided it was time to head home. Luckily for me, there were public toilets that I could use before our ride home. It is hard to explain how crazy these toilets were. Everything was button or timing automated. You pushed a button for the door to open, similar to an elevator. When you entered the door it was a one stall. As you did your business you noticed a sign above the door that said "If this light begins to flash at any point, leave immediately - the wash cycle is about to commence". There were little sprayer things that came out of the wall that presumably cleaned the room after one was finished. Thankfully it didn't come on during my time there. It was a futuristic experience. Helen and Peter explained that they allowed for a safer experience that could still be utilized by the public.

On the car ride home at the end of the night our group had a really interesting discussion about religion in Australia. We've learned that it is not an overwhelmingly Christian continent, but that there are quite a few established churches. Adelaide is actually considered the city of churches. One thing, though, is that they are generally not big churches, there are rather lots of smaller churches/congregations. We've been starting to talk about how we can diversify our religious experience here since thus far it has been almost ALL Lutheran Christian. We've discovered that there is a Jewish group, orthodox and progressive, a Baha'i group (actually fairly popular) and there is definitely a Muslim group. Now we just need to explore the ways that we can find out more first hand about these groups and their practices as a part of the Australian culture.

Back to our conversation in the car....

Peter was telling us about the Lutheran heritage in Hahndorf. Hahndorf is a very German town which has held fast to its heritage. It was mostly settled by Germans during the reformation. About half of the people who settled there came to escape religious persecution, while the other half came because of financial gain and finding greener pastures. For a long time there were two churches, both Lutheran, that existed reflecting these different values. One was considered to be similar/relative to the Missouri synod and the other was called the Australian Lutheran Church (ALC). However, in 1968, after about 40 years of deliberation and discussion, the Lutheran church of Australia became one body. There are still many different styles of worship within that, but they are united throughout the country. I find this intriguing.

Now, on to Saturday.

Saturday morning Jazz picked us up and brought us to Equip, which is a camp training for Ypout, a large youth gathering. The three of us have been signed up to be small group leaders as a part of it. Our first conflict came in that we have not completed either of the 2 requirements. One of these is a child safe training that we have not done and the other is an Australian police check. This isn't the first time we've talked about police checks, but we still are confused about it. We're not even actually sure if we can get them since we're not citizens... we'll have to see. The training was meant to last from 9am to 4:30pm. We were actually able to leave after lunch, which was incredibly exciting.

In the afternoon we spent some time relaxing and Hilary and I went to the video rental place to look for a new set of Australian movies. We found a couple, one being the Rabbit Proof Fence, which we are excited to see. When we got back, though, we didn't even watch them because we got wrapped up in a movie that was on TV and then were too tired to stay up.

When I think about this point I am feeling like I've been a bit lazy and as a result haven't gotten to do much even when I've had free time. But then I think about how tired I am even after having this time to relax and have to admit I don't think I'd change my choices to spend time at the house trying to rest up.

On Sunday we had a little bit of a sleep in, and I had my first Sunday without a morning church service. We went into the city and caught a train to visit Yvonne for the day. Yvonne and her husband picked us up at the train station and we headed out for a visit to the wineries. There are 60 different wineries in their area, and there are many more throughout South Australia. Wine is a big thing here. Our first stop was Coriole where we spent time trying many different wines and then found a huge sale on some of the older stock. I think this was my favorite stop because the woman that helped us through our tasting was very helpful and talked us through a lot of what we tasted. Our second stop was Lloyd's Olive Grove (which is actually owned by the same family). I thoroughly enjoyed the olives they had to sample. I bought a jar of their garlic Kalmata olives, which were my favorite (even over the Chili ones) and a bottle of their lemon cold pressed olive oil (big surprise that I loved that one). This shop also had Alpaca products as they farm them as well. I almost bought my mom a scarf that I thought she'd love, but I didn't know if she'd like it enough for it to be worth $70. I may be back there on another day of adventure and be able to rethink it. It was very soft.

This is a picture of the olive groves. I don't really know that I'd ever thought about how Olives grew before this, and I certainly didn't realize that they grew on trees. Silly me.

Our final stop was to Settlement Winery. We had a bit of lunch here after tasting some of their options. This one had a few more liquers to try in addition to their wines. I also had a wonderful glass of sparkling brut (champagne-esque) with my lunch.

On our way to our 4th and final spot Morgan began to not feel well and got a bit sick. We decided that we should maybe make our way home to rest rather than to another winery. I think this was probably a good idea and it gave Morgan a chance to rest before heading to Reality.

Reality is a young adult contempory service at Yvonne's church. It was a good experience. The music was good, and the band was definitely talented. Unfortunately I can't say the message did much for me. I was glad to have seen and had the experience. We also got to see some of the people we met at Fuel. I feel bad because by the end of the service I wasn't feeling to great, but I couldn't decide if it was just me being a hypochondriac. We had tea at Yvonne's and met a couple of their friends before heading back to train to get back to the city and then a bus to go home.

In the city and on the trip home we saw lots of the "petrolheads" that had spent the day at the races here. Its definitely a different cultural dimension, probably equivalent to those Nascar lovers in the US. We made it safely home with out anymore sickness.

Unfortunately Morgan still isn't feeling well and needed to take the day off. I'm glad that she has though and know that she needs to take care of herself. I just hope that neither Hilary nor I catch whatever she's got.