Good News/Weekly Happenings

1. I passed all my classes--woo hoo! Major happy dancin' here!
2. Got a new place for Cheryl, Buster, and I--a 2bedroom rental house close to uni. Been slowly moving in.
3. Working at an Arabian horse breeding and training facility outside of Sydney in a small town called Windsor. The people are nice and the hours are more manageable. (7.30AM to 4.30PM) :) Got to see teasing of mares and semen collection from a stallion today for artificial insemination. It’s all very intense and quite dangerous! Ok, bed time now.

I’d rather be in class

My schedule for the week at the race courses:
2.30-3AM Wakeup
3-3.15 AM Walk Buster
3.30-3.50 AM Catch a bus
4-5AM Bus ride followed by taxi
5AM-1PM (if I’m lucky) or 3PM Groom, roll bandages, feed, laundry, clean saddles and bridles, and plaid manes on horses that nip (eat lunch on train ride back home)
5 PM (if I’m lucky--collapse into bed)
And the cycle begins all over again for 5 more days…

Running out of Time

So much revision left to do and so little time…3 exams down and 4 more left to go. My head is about to explode.

Birthday Wishes

Today is my favourite bro’s birthday. Happy birthday and best wishes David!
Luv,
Evy

I didn’t think it was possible…

But, I’m actually burned out on chocolate if you can believe that!

Good News Week

Got some good news to share:
1. Cheryl got into med school at Sydney Uni!! Congrats girl!
2. And, my vet school was accredited by AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association). Wonder if we’ll get a surplus of Americans now that we’re accredited…some hot guys would be nice!

Humans, Animals, and Parasites Oh My!

To complement our learning in principles of disease, we’ve been learning how the same infectious diseases and parasites of animals affect humans and yikes, it was really gross!! B/c animals are part of the food chain, us vets got to know our stuff to protect the 2-leggers too! Btw, a message to all contact wearers out there: never use water to temporarily store or lubricate your contacts. (I saw something really gross that resulted in a guy losing one of his eyes b/c of microscopic parasites in the water…) Also had a glimpse of children and adults pooing out buckets of tapeworms. I can handle animals, but humans. Blah! I’m still cringing over here.

School Field Trip

I went to Taronga zoo yesterday for my vet conservation biology class. Met up with the senior veterinarian and learned about reptilian and macropod management of Australian natives. They added a lot since my last visit when I first moved to Sydney. It ended up being a rainy day, but was better than being in lectures that’s for sure! Was a little embarrassed because the vet wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get electrocuted wearing my microphone in the rain!

Expect the Unexpected

This past week, I did my first vet exam on a horse. I honestly had no idea what I was doing and the horse knew it too! Listened to a bunch of heart, lung, and gut sounds…still hadn’t the foggiest idea. Then, my instructor came over to check up on me and chuckled and pointed out to me that my horse was getting aroused! No wonder why he kept trying to nip at me during the exam. Lol, guess my sexy womanly ways have that effect on men and animals too! ;)

This past weekend was my first weekend without any tests or assignments due on Monday. (Probably because the semester is about to end and finals are about to begin unfortunately.) Tonight I saw my first Japanese animae movie called Howl’s Moving Castle. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it—it had its cute, funny, romantic, and just plain weird moments.

B-day and BBGrog

Well, I’m 25 years old today. Hard to believe. I feel so much older! Lol. Anyhow, it’s been a good weekend. Two of my friends abducted me yesterday afternoon, decorated my apartment, gave me cake and booze, and coerced me into going to the biggest vet keg of them all--BBGrog at Camden farms. It is an all night drinking, comedy, camping, dancing, and slight nudity affair put on by the 4th years. The highlight of the evening was the comedy revue featuring skits and songs poking fun at our professors, courses, and the trials and tribulations of just being a vet student. I think I may be slightly traumatised by all the raunchy photos though! Lol.

Spring Break Recap

Well, my spring break is sadly about to come to an end. Unfortunately, the majority of my break was spent studying for my upcoming equine anatomy exam and completing assignments. It was nice though not having to go to lectures and being able to sleep in a little. Buster sure enjoyed all of our trips to the park this past week. I even had brekkie in the park one morning, but it didn’t exactly go as I had planned…it ended up drizzling. We still had fun though and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Also did some spring cleaning because we were having apartment inspections this week. Gave me a good excuse to keep things neat and tidy. Hmm, let’s see how long it will stay that way. ;) Took Buster boy to the vet this week to get his yearly shots and get him prepped for the trip back home. He did well. He was just relieved that he didn’t have to get his blood drawn or his nails clipped! (Such a baby.) Oh, and it’s starting to get hot here now. I guess this means I have to start shaving again! The hot weather also brought in some un-invited guests and fortunately, I’m not arachnoid phobic because I killed this huge spider and when I squashed it, 20 or 30 baby spiders starting crawling out! I killed them too. Went grocery shopping last night and on my way, I passed by this couple passionately making out in the street as they said their good-byes. I couldn’t help but stare…and was even more shocked when they broke away and I saw that they were both women! Oh my! You never know what you’ll see in Newtown…

The Perfect Catch

Nope, haven’t landed my perfect catch yet (still waiting for him to fall out of the sky), but saw the movie yesterday with my friend Liv. We actually weren’t planning on seeing that one, but got it confused with 2 other movies that were playing that had the word “perfect” in it. Nevertheless, it ended up being a cute flick and reminded me of someone I know. We also walked around downtown in the rain (it seems to rain every time we get together) and I of course took Liv to my favourite pancake place. (She’d never been.) Was a real struggle trying to decide and I really wanted to indulge myself in the chocolate “devil’s delight” pancakes but wanted to try something new too. So, I ended up getting the banana pancakes with ice cream and butterscotch. They were yummy. In other news, thankfully, my family and friends managed to avoid the wrath of Rita. So, all is good on the home front. :)

Still Sick

I thought I was improving this week, but I’ve had a relapse, but worse this time. What initially started out as cold is now the flu I think. On a positive note, at least I’ve got Spring break to recover. Spoke to my mom today and it was quite distressing hearing about all the mayhem going on in the Houston area regarding the approaching hurricane Rita. My prayers and thoughts go out to all of my family and friends and those in need.

I survived

I was a little flustered though when I went to take my exam b/c there was mix up in the times. I got there at 8.30AM like I was told, but then no one was there. I was then instructed to go have a cup of tea and come back at 8.55. Came back later and then they had already started. Needless to say, don’t think I did very well. I need a brain transplant—I think there is something seriously wrong with mine…as I can’t seem to compete with those of my peers. My confidence is shot and once again, it will be a struggle to pass the semester. I’m also embarrassed b/c I was telling a friend at the vet clinic last week about all my problems with the videos being shown, group tutorials, prac classes, etc and she spoke to my year coordinator and she in turn spoke to my lecturer. My lecturer is hearing-impaired himself, but I feel that he doesn’t understand the depth of how difficult things are for me. He rarely repeats things and when I give him a blank stare back, it’s not because I wasn’t paying attention, but b/c I didn’t even know he was asking me a question in the first place. Ok, I’m through ranting and raving now. Gonna go have some grub now and maybe a whole box of cookies too.

Sick and Stressed

Sick and Stressed
I’m a nervous wreck about my pathology midterm exam tomorrow. I’ve been so sick and doped up on various meds these past few days. I pray that I can wake up in time for my exam early tomorrow morning! Gonna try to go to bed early…even drank some green tea this evening, which is supposed to help calm me, but weird that it seems to be having an opposite effect (interaction with drugs maybe??). Wish I would have known this sooner. Gotta make sure I bring toilet paper for the exam tomorrow! (I just hope all my nose blowing doesn’t lead to a nosebleed! Otherwise, I’d be in deeper poo…err blood that is.) Ok, gonna get ready for bed now.

Love-Hate Relationship

I always seem to have a love-hate relationship with school (even since elementary school) no matter what I’m doing. Just wish for once, things would come easy to me. Ok, I better quit kvetching. Better get back to studying for mid-terms.

I beg for greenies!

Random Thoughts

Another week has flown by. Nothing new to report except starting to feel the pressure with approaching assignment/project deadlines and mid-semester exams. Took a break though from studying and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the cinema with a classmate. The movie was great and had me laughing the whole time! The theatre was packed. Definitely not as many signing hands as I’m used to seeing at the captioned theatre back home. I remember in Houston, you’d go to a captioned movie, and everybody would congregate outside the theatre with flying hands everywhere before and after the movie even with complete strangers! Not quite like that here. I miss my best friend, but she’ll be back soon! I just know it. :) Btw, I think I should start my own community of Bilingual Deafies—a place where every fence straddler fits! I’m starting to crave chocolate now…

No time for Wisdom Now

I have been experiencing throbbing pain in my ears and face and head aches in weird places for the past couple of weeks. I was appalled when the specialist prescribed anti-anxiety pills. Then, our family friend suggested that it might be my wisdom teeth coming in and he’s right! Did a check this AM, and who’d a thunk those lil’ suckers would cause so much pain! Ok, back to my deer research now.

Mistletoe Bird

A little bit of trivia for ya: learned in veterinary conservation biology today that Australia has a Mistletoe Bird! It has a symbiotic relationship—it eats the mistletoe berries and spreads the mistletoe seeds in its poo! It's really cute too! Btw, found some waffles (not Eggo), but who cares—they’re WAFFLES! I will enjoy them for brekkie tomorrow. It’s 2AM right now. So much for getting to bed early like I had planned. Had a ton of school work to do!

Friday Night

Saw the Skeleton Key with my friend Mark at the theatre with captions last night. (I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was the only captioned movie playing.) Also, had pancakes later that night followed by a nice stroll across the harbour bridge! There were cameras, security guards, and barbed wire everywhere. I guess to make sure people don’t get any ideas.

Helping Others

Today I went for my normal evening walk with Buster. We must have looked friendly because I ended up carrying this woman’s grocery bag for her back to her apt. I think she must have gotten tired or had a neck injury of some sort. She spoke very little, but thanked me when we got there and kissed her hands, a gesture I’d never seen before.

Don’t have anything left in the kitchen?

If your kitchen cupboards are bare and you’re feeling brave…try these tasty dishes:
Cheese omelette with marina sauce drizzled on top
Pasta with corn, relish, and French dressing
Warning: not responsible if your taste buds react violently! ;)
Ok, back to anatomy now. Got my first test tomorrow!

Deadly Crossing

I’m always telling my friends to only cross the street using cross walks. And, it makes me really nervous when they don’t! Yesterday morning, Buster and I discovered that even cross walks meant to give pedestrians right of way are not always safe. A van ran a red light and nearly took Buster’s head and my face! Moral of the story: stop, wait, and look before you cross even if you see the flashing little green man. Life is too precious to be in a hurry!

All is not lost

My friend Mark managed to recover some of my files off my hard drive including my equine essay. So, all is not lost. :) Still don't have my computer yet, but will have it soon. Yea! :) Been an interesting week thus far...found 50 bucks and have a ram semen prac tomorrow. My professor is well educated in the fertility testing sector...went to vet and medical school working both in the IVF industry for human OBGYN and in the animal industry. He even offered to do some free fertility assessments for the men in our class! Lol.

Computer Blues

My computer crashed today. I'm crying silently inside of all the things i've lost including pics and past documents and scolding myself for not backing stuff up... I've got to go beg my prof for an extension to my essay which is now gone... (sigh). Btw, if you think your email or tel no is important, pls send it to me via email at ewal2981@usyd.edu.au
Going to bed now. Sniff sniff.

Good Mood

I’m in a good mood today. No particular reason though. Today is Friday and I can’t believe how fast the week has flown by. Had so many pracs this week—a lot of them really interesting too. In principles of disease, we looked at all these animal organs with gross deformities and lesions caused by viruses, cancer, bacteria, etc. Was neat! And, today, in reproduction, had a wet prac on the male genitalia of the boar, stallion, and bull. My classmates were giving me a hard time with all the pictures I took. No, I won’t be posting these.

The Stalker

No, I’m not being stalked, but I kept bumping into this elderly woman yesterday. She didn’t recognise me though in the three times I bumped into her b/c I had different clothes on every time! First time, helped her with the laundry machines and loaned her 4 bucks (grungy geeky look)…2nd time, loading stuff in dryer (clean showered look) and 3rd time at the grocery mart (nice church look). Also, I made it to church last night 30 mins early! Long story…but never been there that early except on major holidays!

New Semester

I just finished my first week of the new semester. Looks like it is going to be a lot more interesting than last semester! I’m taking Veterinary Conservation Biology (Australian Wildlife Health Management), Principles of Disease, Anatomy and Physiology 2B (Reproduction), and Equine Anatomy. In equine anatomy, we will of course be dissecting the horse from head to toe throughout the semester. The horse cadavers are a little more freaky to work with than the other animals I’ve worked with because they occasionally move when you are working on them or you’d swear something was moving... (Their carcasses are suspended via bolts and chains from the ceiling.) Reproduction is already interesting too… Did you know that hyenas practice monogamy and that camels spend 24 hours copulating! (Of course, I remember the useless, but strange details!) Speaking of reproduction, I pity anyone who uses the computer lab for printing after me because they will end up printing multiple copies of the male dog’s genitalia. Instead, I somehow ended up printing someone else’s marine biology lecture notes… Fortunately, my new print cartridges arrived today so I won’t have to worry about using the computer lab anymore.

The Driving Lesson

Today, I met Max, Livia’s new car. Had an adventure today…I bravely supported, coached, and navigated Liv around the city to our final destination—Coogee Beach. She’s never driven in city traffic before. Using my navigation skills, I managed to keep us off of any freeways though.
It ended up being a beautiful sunny afternoon in Coogee. While we were walking around the cliffs of Coogee beach, we came across an area where an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in 2003. It touched me both on a personal and spiritual level given my mom’s successful surgery this weekend and the safe arrival of us in Coogee.
Yahoo Coogee Pics

A Trip to the City

Last night, I attended a dinner party hosted by one of my guy friends. Even went to the grocery store with him to buy all the ingredients for the dinner that he was planning for a group of us. And, then, to my surprise, one of the dinner guests arrived and went straight to work in the kitchen whipping up a nice meal for all 8 of us by herself! Don’t think Martha Stewart would have approved of this arrangement. I felt guilty and tried offering my help in the kitchen but was kicked out when I wasn’t chopping the parsley correctly.

This afternoon, I made a special trip to the city to visit the Sydney Jewish Museum. Learned about early Australian Jewish history. I was surprised to see that the early settlers of Australia (convicts) were sentenced to live in Australia for petty things like stealing a laundry basket full of clothes, panhandling, and even stealing a woman’s nightgown! The first floor of the museum was mostly about Jewish history and culture. Was neat because memories from my childhood would flood back as I passed by certain items like the torah, the Sabbath table, the Menorah, the Huppha etc.

The next couple of levels were all about the Holocaust from its beginnings to the end, the victims, and the survivors. I think the most difficult thing of it all for me to get through was browsing through the children’s memorial. They were so innocent and powerless and had not even lived their lives and it was all taken away from them for reasons they probably could not even comprehend. They and everyone else will always be remembered.

Tidbits

Yesterday, I saw the new Batman movie with my friend Erin and her husband. Feels great seeing a movie during the middle of the week! We all enjoyed the movie and had a nice time catching up with each other’s happenings over the break. Was a little weird at first because I kept picking up the Bewitched movie during the previews. (BTW, did you know that Nicole Kidman is an Australian?) Erin and I swapped stories about her latest interesting cases at work (she’s working as a veterinary nurse) and my trip to Fiji. She told me about this dog that was ill because he ate a rat that ate rat poison. Don’t worry, the dog lived! I told her how a rat got into our soup dinner.

Oh and a little political party trivia that I found out recently from an Aussie friend: Liberals are equivalent to U.S. Republicans and the Labour party is equivalent to the U.S. Democratic party. I also got an earful of how others perceive the U.S.! Lol. Let’s just say that I think the media plays a huge role in shaping one’s perceptions.

Lazy Sunday

I had a nice relaxing Sunday. Went to church in the city and to my delight, the loop in the church was working this time and I was able to pick up the mass rather than the Presbyterian Church downstairs. After mass, I headed over to Circular Quay, picked some Macca’s (Aussie for Mc Donald’s) and ate my lunch on Sydney harbour while watching all the tourists and street performers. I even gave some money to some little boys who were playing a tuba and a trumpet to raise money to send their rugby team to New Zealand. I also went to the Contemporary Museum of Art—had a nice time browsing. Other people’s web blogs were even on display for people to browse through! Hmmm never thought of a blog as being a form of art.

Fairfield Ties

I saw Bewitched yesterday with Liv. It’s a cheesy, but a cute flick. On a sad note, I found out from my mom that a childhood friend whom I used to play softball with was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. She’s only 24 years-old (my age)! Sometimes, I don’t understand why he allows such things to happen…

Grades are Out

I passed. I passed. I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m dancin’ the happy dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ENT Visit

Today, I went to the ENT specialist, an appointment that I had been waiting over a month to see for my nosebleeds. The Dr. said that I had inherited the “gift” of having blood vessels close to the nasal surface. Hmmm that and hairy legs are gifts I could have done without inheriting! Although I hadn’t experienced any nosebleeds recently, he went ahead a cauterised the worst side. I became alarmed however when checking out that my nose started to bleed when I didn’t even have one to begin with when I first came in! Oy vey! I also had him check out my ears because I’d been experiencing some problems on the flight back to Sydney and didn’t seem to hear quite right. Turns out, I have a small haemorrhage on my malleus bone inside my ear, but it should heal on its own.

Mixed Emotions

Today I went to Cheryl’s uni graduation in W’Gong where she received a Master of Science in Biotechnology—you go girl, I'm proud of you! I would have screamed and hollered at the announcement of her name, but to my surprise, the Australian graduations are very prim and proper. More like the British system I guess. If I ever make it across the stage, I don’t care about being proper, I want all the whoops and whistles!

After her graduation, we had lunch at a Chinese place. It was good, but I quickly learned that Cheryl’s family is a lot like a Jewish family. ;) If I ate too quickly, more food kept getting put on my plate and if I didn’t eat, I wasn’t eating enough. Apparently, I look too skinny and should eat more.

After an interesting train ride back to the city, Cheryl and I finally departed at central train station. I must admit I was getting choked up and teary-eyed saying good-bye to my best friend. I'm going to miss her. The walk to the bus stop seemed longer than normal.

While on the bus, I had an awful experience because this lady in her 60’s kept gawking at me, pointing, talking to other people about me, and then she had the gawl to whip out her mobile and take pics of me and showed it to people on the bus! I was absolutely appalled and wanted to say something nasty but I held my tongue. Instead, I told her that she was being very rude and asked her to stop it, but she didn’t seem to care. Geez! I was so glad to get off that bus!

Brrr, I look like a horse in my new winter coat!
--Buster
 

Bula!

Bula! (Fijian for hello or cheers.) I’m officially back from my seven day trip in Fiji. It was absolutely fantastic! We spent 3 nights at the Club Fiji resort in our own private ocean view bure (cottage). At Club Fiji, we lazed around in hammocks, beach chairs, read our books and magazines, and collected shells. We even found 2 tiny sand dollars. We also went swimming in the resort pool and let loose at the pub at night. I had a Club Fiji Sunset and even a Panty dropper, a shooter in a test tube! While at Club Fiji we visited the Nadi market, Naditown, the grocery store, and went to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, a natural tropical rainforest with 1000’s of orchids. From Club Fiji we took a boat to Beachcomber Island where we spent 3 nights, a popular and lively place for young people. At Beachcomber Island we snorkelled, swam, soaked up some rays, and even kayaked to another island called Treasure Island. One could walk around the entire island in 10 minutes. The evenings were filled with authentic Fijian dancing, drinks, food, games, star gazing, and late night chats in the gran bure dorm. It was definitely a great way to recharge our batteries!

Also, see my latest yahoo pic album.

I finally finished final exams! I’m not sure how I did though, but relieved that it’s all over with! Now, I’ve got three weeks off before 2nd semester begins. Today, I’m leaving for Fiji for 7 days with Cheryl and Livia. I planned the whole thing and got us a good student deal. I’m so excited! This is a much needed vacation that I feel we all deserve. Will definitely be doing some major relaxing and hopefully not too much thinking!

One more exam left to go tomorrow. If only I had some more time to study… I spent too much time studying for my other ones…

I learned today that one should be thankful for what you’ve got and if you think you’ve got something bad going on, there are always people out there that have got it even worse. I found out today that a good friend of mine has a brother going in for his second knee surgery and his pregnant wife has just been diagnosed with cancer. She is the only surviving member of her family.

Brrrr! It’s 52 degrees here. 4 more exams left to go…

I’m doing some research on reducing worm burdens in sheep and I came across this funny song! http://www.wormboss.com.au/music/worm_boss.mp3

Today was the last day of formal lectures. Now, stuvac (study vacation—took me forever to figure out what this Aussie term meant) begins for 1 week before the much dreaded finals. I did get some good news today though…I finally got back my midterm exam results for neurophysiology and I did well! Ok, I’m gonna hit the books now.

I’ve been agonising over my biometry assignment that’s due tomorrow and revamped it a thousand times. I hope it’s what the prof is looking for! And, I’ve still got a test to study for this Friday. I wonder if stress causes excessive burping? I’ve been burping a lot, but fortunately there’s only Buster to hear me! Better burping than nosebleeds!

I’m such wuss—I bought a small heater today. I also ordered a coat for Buster b/c he was shivering in class!

I’m so excited b/c I found this dog toy that you put treats inside and you have to roll the ball to get the treats out. I know I’m weird going ga ga over this dog toy, but I think it’s helping Buster boy with his boredom. I’m putting his dinner kibbles inside and I’ve now got a dog entertained for 30 minutes! I have to check up on him every now and then b/c it gets stuck under the couch sometimes.

Look what Mom is making me wear cuz I've been bored and licking my legs raw!
--Buster

Took a break this weekend from my studies and saw the movie, “The Interpreter” captioned on the big screen with Cheryl. We also treated ourselves to a nice dinner, coffee, and dessert! Ok, I’m going to bed early tonight b/c I’ve got an early test tomorrow and lately I’ve been oversleeping. I’d normally ask a friend for a wakeup call, but my phone lines will be shut off in the morning for maintenance!

I just tried a new drink made by Coca-Cola called Fanta Sours with green apple flavour. Wow, it tastes like I’m drinking sour punch draws, a fav candy of mine, if you can imagine. It’s great “with a bit of bite!” I think I’m hyper now…but unfortunately, I’ve got to apply my hyperness to studying biometry. Btw, one of my neighbours is moving out. Too bad it’s not the noisy one.

It’s been ages since I last wrote a journal entry! These past few weeks have been dominated by midterms, quizzes, and papers. I have now learned to survive with only 5 hours of sleep and still attend classes. Coffee and diet coke with lime and vanilla are my new addictions now. Due to my hectic schedule, I have even resorted to dropping my dirty clothes off at a laundry mat and picking them up clean and folded at the end of the day, but without my undergarments as I couldn’t bear the idea of those being touched by strangers! I know, I’m weird. I did manage to see Cheryl this weekend and we had crepes for lunch at a cute Thai pastry diner. We also went to a movie, but ended up walking out b/c it wasn’t what we were expecting—was a heavy philosophical/scientific commentary waaaaaaaaay over our heads. Today, I lodged an application to take my final exams in June (so formal I know), and I will be taking 7 final exams!! Oy vey!! Also, I can’t stand people who are obvious about their dislike for Americans. Yea sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it’s one thing not to like us and not say anything, but to be obvious about it is just plain rude! I can’t help it if I have the privilege of being born and raised in the best country in the world! :)

I had a nice productive weekend. Hung out with Cheryl because she had her medical admissions exam in Sydney. (Wish her luck!!) We chatted, studied, and ate authentic Singaporean food topped off with delicious gelato! Yum!

I’ve almost completed two weeks of school thus far. This semester, I’m taking professional practice 2, genetics & biometry, animal digestion & nutrition, and veterinary anatomy and physiology 2A. I’m enjoying it, but my days are very long and tiring. I did have fun on the weekend though! I rode a mechanical bull at the annual vet society keg party. I managed to stay on for about 20 seconds or so! I also went on a blind date last Saturday—was interesting. Don’t know if there will be a 2nd one, but still had a nice time chatting. :)

I’m finally on the mend—thank goodness. I pity anyone who ever has to suffer the flu and highly recommend getting the flu shot for preventive purposes. I still have a lingering cough though, but I’ll be alright. I’ve been trying to take it easy and rest all week. The most exciting thing that happened all week was when maintenance installed water saving devices in my sinks and showers. I was so embarrassed because I had no idea that they were going to be in my bathroom where I had several pairs of underwear hanging up in the shower! On the bright side, I’m saving water, but now there’s hardly any water pressure. My first day of school starts tomorrow—woo hoo! I’m excited and ready to go back because my brain is started to turn to mush or maybe that’s from all the drugs I’ve been taking--just kidding. ;)

I’m sick—ugh. Feel like I’m going to die. Went to the Dr. today and turns out that I’ve got the flu and I’ve been walking around with a 104 temp! On some flu prescription drugs and some fever reducers. Was a hassle though because I had to go to 6 different chemists before I found one that had it in stock. Turns out, that no one carries it because it is so expensive here. I nearly cried when I reached the 5th chemist and they didn’t have any because by that time, I was feeling even worse and could barely walk. I told her how desperate I was…so, she called a bunch of chemists in Sydney and found one that had one left in stock at the Broadway shopping centre. With drugs in hand, I haled a taxi back to the village and to my dismay, I got into a cab with a driver who did not know his way around Sydney or even back to the school! Fourteen dollars later (a cab fare that normally costs 7 dollars), I navigated him out of Broadway and towards the village. He even missed the turn at the village! What a day.

Us and Bahloo 

Sleeping koala from Koala Park Sanctuary in West Pennant Hills, NSW. 

This weekend, I met up with Cheryl and some American exchange students from W’gong in the city. Went to Sydney Harbour, the Rocks, and a pub in the evening. While I was at the harbour, a Qantas passenger recognised Buster and I from our flight and said hello! Also had an interesting conversation with an Australian fellow about dogs and deafness. The highlight of the weekend was when Cheryl and I went to a Koala park sanctuary on Sunday in Castle Hill. We were able to pat and get photo ops with the cute little koalas. The koalas lead quite a lazy life sleeping 18-19 hours a day! We also had a blast feeding the kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos. And, to my surprise, the treats that we fed them were cinnamon cheerios. (I verified this by sampling them—mmm…tasty!) We topped off the evening by sharing an expired ham sandwich and attending mass in Castle Hill. It was a pleasant weekend.

Street sign in Needville, TX. 

Well, I’m officially back in Sydney. Got back yesterday morning with no problems! Breezed through customs and quarantine. (Buster will not have to be quarantined this time because he has Australian residency…woo hoo!) The only mishap was when I accidentally shut Buster’s tail in the lavatory door. (He’s ok though.) Buster and I had a nice flight with plenty of leg room and got tons of attention from the flight attendants. They came and chatted with us on several occasions. They even gave us a free bottle of wine at the end of the flight! Turns out, one of them has a deaf sister and another had a family of deaf in-laws whose last name was also “Walker!”

Grooming young Brahman show bull 

Well, I leave for Sydney in 8 days! My summer break here in Texas sure has flown by! It’s been hectic, but fun! In January, I spent a week working at dairy farm in La Grange. Had a fantastic experience milking cows, bottle feeding calves, and witnessed a calving! I also worked at a chicken farm and a Braham cattle ranch in Boling during February. I’ve never seen so many chickens and eggs in my entire life! One of the houses that I worked in houses 240,000 chickens! Learned how to trim beaks and do blood draws. At the Brahman ranch, I’ve learned a lot about the wonders of breeding and surrogacy. It’s pretty strange when you see a big black Angus Mom with a baby that is a pure-bred Brahman calf! At the cattle place, I spend most of my time grooming prized show bulls, heifers, and cows to get them ready for the Houston livestock show. I’ve grown attached to 1 particular heifer. When I enquired about her cost, I can own half of her for a mere $30,000. I also discovered that this small quiet country town of Boling has 2 nudist communities. (I saw the signs, but didn’t see anything though.) On the weekends, I’ve been working with an Arabian horse breeder. These horses are incredible and fun to watch. They all have unique personalities. One horse is a liar and another horse, a stallion, loves to play with traffic cones and barrels!