She doesn't call, she doesn't write

But she does update this abomination every once in a while. Due to popular demand (re: the mother's excellent nagging skills), I have gotten my act together and loaded more pictures onto my computer, which means that its time for another round of Amateur Photographer: Melbourne! These are sort of a mish-mash of stuff—places I've explored recently, plus some older photos that I'm throwing in because they prove that I am both actually in this country and that I have friends.

Rewinding a bit back to orientation, I give you the red cliffs of Noosa. If the Sunshine Coast is the bastard child of Santa Barbara and Sedona AZ, then this part definitely takes after the latter. I kept getting flashbacks to Tehiyah's 8th grade trip to Arizona, which was unexpected. Still, beyond the very red, very bright, very clothing-staining rocks is the entire Coral Sea, so its not such a bad deal.

Not only did I go to the beach, but I even swam. Theresa (roommate number 1) and I communed with the trees at Lake MacKenzie. We also both made valiant attempts at appearing effortlessly wind-tossled and cinematic, but I don't think it worked.





We took a nighttime trip around the city a couple days ago, so I give you Melbourne at night. I took this from the main bridge that crosses the Yarra River. The Yarra winds its way through the city, effectively dividing it into two sections. The photo is of the north side of the river, which is the side I live on. I haven't explored south of the river as much as I would have liked, because the university as well as the museums are on the north side.



Another picture of me. This one was taken by Theresa on Acland Street in St. Kilda. We've been here for THREE WEEKS and yet classes haven't even started yet, so I've had a lot of free time on my hands. I've taken to hopping on the tram and riding it as far as I can, getting off when I see something interesting. This picture was taken in the middle of one of those adventures—Theresa and I got off the tram in St, Kilda, got lost in a residential neighborhood, got hit by water balloons (whatever) and then tried to buy iced coffee at a cafe on Acland Street. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as ICED COFFEE in Australia. Seriously, you order iced coffee and they bring you this disgusting coffee, milk, ice cream concoction served in a sundae cup. Its overly sweet, slightly syrupy, and costs five dollars. The one time I asked for an iced coffee without the ice cream, the waitress looked at me quizzically and asked, "and why would you want that, love? Whats the point of the iced coffee without the ice cream?" As if that question could possibly make any sense.

Theresa, Lauren (roommate 2), and other girls from my program and I went to Brighton Beach last week, where I took this picture. Brighton has these little boxes lining the beach. Families own or rent them, and when we were there we saw people holding cookouts out of them.




This was one of my favorites—patriotism is the perfect beach acessory.

Alright, so thats it for now. Classes start for real tomorrow, which should be interesting. I only have American Politics and Society on Monday, but I'm looking forward to learning the Australian view of American democracy. I have been warned by many well-meaning people to not take offense, which means it should be exciting.