Trip to Melbourne

As I look at my weather notification right now, it is currently 80 degrees in Waurn Ponds and 1 degree in both Ames and West Des Moines. :( Today hit the upper 90s and again, I appreciate it so much more knowing how much everyone else is suffering at home!

Friday a bunch of us exchange students made dinner together, and it was definitely the first homemade, hot meal I've had since being here. I say we made dinner together, but really Martyna from Poland insisted on taking over and made some delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Ice cream was the perfect dessert to top it off!

Saturday was the Pako Festa in Geelong, a cultural festival complete with multicultural food and dancing. I had Souvlaki from the Greek stand and we watched some traditional Mexican and Scottish dances. Something I and others have noticed about Australia is the vast amount and range of cultures represented. Walking throughout the festival we couldn't even attempt to keep track of how many different cultures we saw. After the festival, we went to a Women's Australian Footy League game. Australian football is very different from American football. It is kind of difficult to explain, but it is essentially a mix between rugby, soccer, and American football. The women didn't wear any kind of padding despite it being a full contact sport. Honestly, it made college/professional football players look like weenies. (Look it up on YouTube, it's brutal)

Today was a big day! Cynthia (from Idaho) and I took the train into Melbourne and explored the city, taking pictures with and of some incredible wall art. We wandered into the Immigration Museum, where there is a temporary multimedia exhibit on Love. There were also exhibits on Khalil Gibran, and identity/Australian immigration. All of the exhibits were deeply moving. The Love exhibit was especially incredible. Everyone was given an iPod touch with a set of headphones, divided into the same five different mini categories as the exhibit. Each mini category had multiple audio snippets and physical items (including art) matching the audio clips. At the end, there were prompts on notecards for people to write on. I wrote a "Thank you for" notecard to Matt, but for obvious and personal reasons, will not post it here :) I have, however, included some of the notecards we read through and found striking. In the immigration exhibit, we took a practice Australian Immigration Test and got a passing score! All in all it was a tiring day walking 11,500 steps (4.5 miles) and I am spending my night watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine, editing pictures, and writing this blog post.

Stay safe! Stay warm! I love and miss you all!