On Saturday we arrived in Brisbane after spending about two weeks traveling by bus through the Outback. Following our rendezvous in Adelaide after our week of independent travel, we all boarded a bus and drove for about 7 hours up to the mining town of Broken Hill. The town had absolutely nothing in it, we stayed on the main street in a hotel called the Palace (you might know this hotel if you have seen Pricilla Queen of the Desert because it is the hotel that was featured in the movie). While in Broken Hill we visited the Royal Flying Doctors Service, which is the only way that people that live in remote parts of the dessert get any medical care. When there is an emergency, the doctors fly out into the outback where an ambulance could never get. We also went to The School of the Air, which is a similar principle, but for school. It is basically a grade school that is through satellite connection on the computer. Each grade has a class every day on the computer where they have a web cam so that they can see their teachers giving the lesson at the home base in Broken Hill. We sat in on a kindergarten class and listened to the kids cute Aussie accents.
After a couple days in Broken Hill we drove a ways to Kinchega National park, which sits on the Minindee lakes. These lakes are part of the Darling River and are the water source for Broken Hill. Because of the drought, the Minindee lake was completely dried up until just 2 months ago. It is very interesting to be traveling in Australia right now because just a few months ago the landscape looked completely different. Australia has been in drought for the last 10 years but recently due to all the rain, everything is different. There is once again green plants growing and the whole Murray Darling river system (which is what we came here to learn about) actually has water flowing through it. To get an idea for how strange this was, during the drought years the whole interior of Australia never got more than one inch of rain in a single year...
In Kinchega National park we stayed in small bunk houses and spent two days in the field doing biology experiments of the flora and fauna. I spent a good 4 hours one day watching ants run around a large ant hill to try to understand how they ANTeract with each other. It was surprisingly interesting!
Following our stay at the national park we drove another 5 hours to a sheep station in the middle of nowhere, then again, everywhere that we went was in the middle of nowhere... This sheep station was 325,000 acres, which is bigger than some US States. People can have land this big because the center of the country is just desert, no one wants to live there. 95% of Australia’s population lives on the coast near the water. The unique environment makes the wildlife here magnificent. We saw heaps of wild kangaroos, lizards, pelicans and emus but thankfully no snakes. The other day while I was sitting outside of the cabin writing a Goanna (which is a huge lizard/reptile that is about 5 or 6 feet long) walked right in front of me across the road. The sheep station was interesting because of the large size and unique wildlife however, we did not actually see any sheep while we were there...Hmmm
After the sheep station, we drove all the way to the coast to a small beach town called Port Elliot. I was so happy to see ocean again and be out of the outback, at our accommodation the beach was our backyard. In Port Elliot we went on a boat tour of the mouth of the Murray River. We saw the place where the whole Murray-Darling river system opens up into the ocean. It was kind of breath taking to see all of the water that had come through the whole country flowing into the open ocean.
Finally after Port Elliot we drove back to Adelaide to catch a flight to Brisbane. For the next month in Brisbane, I am staying with one other girl from the trip in a home stay. We are living in a small town house with a young couple in their mid 20's. It is a nice house but they do not have Internet, which is going to be hard to adjust to, especially for doing research. It is very nice to be stationary in one place for a while with my own room. For classes every day I will take a bus into the city to the GED office where we will have lectures.
I am glad to be here but also getting back to the city means that I once again have a lot of school work to do so, I should probably stop writing and get to work!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Aboriginal Camp
I have been putting off writing about Aboriginal camp because it was such an amazing experience I don’t know how to fit it on a page. I won’t say everything but ill try to give the highlights. The whole week was like summer camp but our councilors were all really well respected elders who wanted to teach us about their culture. Uncle Paul who is the head honcho and the head law holder of New South Whales formed the camp in the 70’s. We were informed that Uncle Paul answers to no one but what Aboriginal people believe is the creator that lives up in the sky. The camp was designed to be an immersion camp for Aboriginal children who do not know about their cultural heritage. However, many young Aussie’s do not care to learn about Aboriginal culture so Uncle Paul only ends up doing three or four camps a year.
When we arrived at camp we were put into different mobs, (or tribes) and for the duration of the camp we were part of that mob and we had to look out for our brothers, sisters and our land. In my mob the boys were called Ipai and the girls Ipitha. That is the other thing about Aboriginal culture, there is men’s business and woman’s business and as a woman you are not allowed to know man’s business and visa versa. The separation of men and woman in their culture kind of reminded me of Orthodox Judaism.
On the second day that we were there, Uncle Wane (you call the elders of your tribe aunt or uncle) took us all to learn to throw boomerangs! This was really the most exciting thing that has happened thus far. In case you don’t know what boomerangs are used for, Aboriginal people designed them for hunting purposes. You can throw it and kill an Emu and have your weapon returned to you. Once upon a time they used spears but often times the Emu would not die and then it would run off with all of your hard work. I was expecting it to be really difficult to throw correctly but it was actually quite easy and all 18 of us threw one successfully. It is easy to a boomerang but it is hard to make it come right back to you, it usually ends up a few meters away.
Much of the week was spent preparing for the last night of the camp when we had a traditional Corroborree, which is a sort of big gathering or dance. In preparation we spent two hours a day learning and practicing the dances that we would do on the last night, which was so much fun! The dances were all about communicating with the ancestors. We danced like kangaroos, emu’s, ants, birds and spirits. During the week each of us also made a set of clap sticks, which are just hand held wood sticks that when taped together make a clapping noise. Each of us started with a tree branch and took off the bark, cut them and whittled down the wood until it was deemed suitable by the elders.
On the last day the whole time was spent getting ready for the corroboree at dusk. The food was cooked traditionally in the ground under a fire. Some of us dug the hole for the food to be cooked in and then we had to take turns watching it throughout the day. We also spent hours preparing the circular dancing grounds, which consists of a ring of soft dirt. Once the grounds were finished, we were not allowed to walk on them with shoes on. At dark the dancing began. The men and woman entered from different parts of the camp because we were separated for much of the day to get ready. The guys were completely covered from head to toe in charcoal; when they started dancing we did not even recognize them because they were so black. The girls were covered in white ochre, a type of rock that has many different colors (ochre is used for absolutely everything in their culture). Each color has a very specific meaning and depending on who you are you are allowed to wear certain colors. During the corroboree we were not dancing for an audience, we were dancing for Mother Earth, who Aboriginal people consider to be their mother. At first dancing naked felt quite uncomfortable but once we overcame the initial shock, we all got over it and really enjoyed the experience.
On the last morning we were all surprisingly emotional. It had been a very powerful experience for many of us. We actually didn’t say goodbye to our new aunties and uncles because in Aboriginal culture there is no word for goodbye only one for see you later. This is because they do not believe in death, they believe that you go into The Mother (earth) and come back as a plant or animal. So, we said see you later and headed back to Sydney.
When we arrived at camp we were put into different mobs, (or tribes) and for the duration of the camp we were part of that mob and we had to look out for our brothers, sisters and our land. In my mob the boys were called Ipai and the girls Ipitha. That is the other thing about Aboriginal culture, there is men’s business and woman’s business and as a woman you are not allowed to know man’s business and visa versa. The separation of men and woman in their culture kind of reminded me of Orthodox Judaism.
On the second day that we were there, Uncle Wane (you call the elders of your tribe aunt or uncle) took us all to learn to throw boomerangs! This was really the most exciting thing that has happened thus far. In case you don’t know what boomerangs are used for, Aboriginal people designed them for hunting purposes. You can throw it and kill an Emu and have your weapon returned to you. Once upon a time they used spears but often times the Emu would not die and then it would run off with all of your hard work. I was expecting it to be really difficult to throw correctly but it was actually quite easy and all 18 of us threw one successfully. It is easy to a boomerang but it is hard to make it come right back to you, it usually ends up a few meters away.
Much of the week was spent preparing for the last night of the camp when we had a traditional Corroborree, which is a sort of big gathering or dance. In preparation we spent two hours a day learning and practicing the dances that we would do on the last night, which was so much fun! The dances were all about communicating with the ancestors. We danced like kangaroos, emu’s, ants, birds and spirits. During the week each of us also made a set of clap sticks, which are just hand held wood sticks that when taped together make a clapping noise. Each of us started with a tree branch and took off the bark, cut them and whittled down the wood until it was deemed suitable by the elders.
On the last day the whole time was spent getting ready for the corroboree at dusk. The food was cooked traditionally in the ground under a fire. Some of us dug the hole for the food to be cooked in and then we had to take turns watching it throughout the day. We also spent hours preparing the circular dancing grounds, which consists of a ring of soft dirt. Once the grounds were finished, we were not allowed to walk on them with shoes on. At dark the dancing began. The men and woman entered from different parts of the camp because we were separated for much of the day to get ready. The guys were completely covered from head to toe in charcoal; when they started dancing we did not even recognize them because they were so black. The girls were covered in white ochre, a type of rock that has many different colors (ochre is used for absolutely everything in their culture). Each color has a very specific meaning and depending on who you are you are allowed to wear certain colors. During the corroboree we were not dancing for an audience, we were dancing for Mother Earth, who Aboriginal people consider to be their mother. At first dancing naked felt quite uncomfortable but once we overcame the initial shock, we all got over it and really enjoyed the experience.
On the last morning we were all surprisingly emotional. It had been a very powerful experience for many of us. We actually didn’t say goodbye to our new aunties and uncles because in Aboriginal culture there is no word for goodbye only one for see you later. This is because they do not believe in death, they believe that you go into The Mother (earth) and come back as a plant or animal. So, we said see you later and headed back to Sydney.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Melbourne: Heaps of Fun
I will definitely write about Aboriginal camp, but first Melbourne.
So this is what happened, we arrived at the airport in Sydney to fly to Melbourne on the 11th just to find out that Allison, Delanie and I somehow all booked our ticket for the day before. Eight of us had planned to be on the same flight so the other five went through security while we figured out what to do. As the tickets are not refundable we all decided to buy new tickets that were three times the price for later that night. To put this in perspective, we arrived at the airport at 11:00 am and our new tickets were for 9:30 pm… So we planned to spend the whole day hanging around in the airport. However, when we walked up to the ticketing counter to check in, the lady told us that she could change our flight to an earlier flight for free, which was great! So we went through security and by the time we got some really good sandwiches and salads it was time for our flight to leave. The flight was short and sweet and the view from the plane was spectacular. We could see all the way up the east coast of Australia. When we got to Melbourne Delanie’s friend was there to pick her up and he offered to drive us to our hostel. I guess if this is the worst thing that happens on this trip that would be fine with me.
Melbourne has been great so far. All eight of us are staying in the same room in this really nice hostel that is in a neighborhood called St Kilda, which is a 20-minuet ride from the center of the city. I learned today that it is considered the Jewish district of Melbourne. Walking around I saw four or five people wearing Kippot and Tzitzit and we went into a store that was called Jerusalem and sold everything Jewish. If we were here for longer I would definitely find a synagogue to go to.
The other day I saw my first Australian sports game. Sport (that’s how they say it) is HUGE here. We went to an AFL game, which is Australian Rules football. It was very strange and a lot of fun. I would say that it is a mix between football and soccer with a bit of Quiddich thrown in. I have no idea how to explain how the game works so I would say look it up if you are curious. The other big sports that are popular here are American football, soccer (or sometimes called the true football), rugby, cricket and I think that ultimate is picking up steam.
Yesterday we all went to a music festival called Good Vibrations that is touring around Australia. We spent all day listening to bands and dancing. It was pricey but heaps of fun. (Another Aussie word, everyone says “heaps” all the time). I saw heaps of great bands and went to bed completely exhausted.
While not listening to bands and watching sport we have just been walking/stumbling around the city. They have a pretty good public tram system here that we have been using a lot. When we arrived in Melbourne we learned that you should never pay for public transport because you will look like a tourist. It feels pretty strange to never pay for the tram. Also no one knows the city at all so we have been pretty much just been wandering around lost quite a lot. To deal with this, we get on any tram that is going down the street that we want and then get off as soon as it turns onto another street…. It is a fairly effective way of getting around.
Today was Valentines Day and I must say that it ended up being quite romantic. Delanie’s friend offered to drive us down to Philip Island, which is about two hours south of Melbourne on the coast. It is known as the place where you can watch the Little Penguins at dusk come out of the water and up the beach to spend a few days on land in burrows in the hills. Little Penguins are the smallest in the world, about a foot tall and unbelievably adorable. However, the environmentalist in me was quite disgusted by the whole thing. It was a huge tourist attraction that was just sitting on these penguins natural habitat. I was put off by the hundreds of people staring and making lots of noise around these baby penguins that were trying to climb up the hills to safety. The ranger told us that Little Penguins have become nocturnal to keep away from predators and I felt that we were just making it worse by stomping all over their natural habitat. No matter how bad I felt about being there, staring at the open sea towards Antarctica with the Southern Cross (the big dipper of the southern hemisphere) directly above us and watching the penguins make their journey up the beach, was all quite humbling. To top it off, when we got back to the room the boys had bought chocolate roses for the girls, which was cute.
On Wednesday we will fly to Adelaide and spend a night there. On Thursday morning we will meet up with the program again and take a ten-hour bus ride to Broken Hill. I am not so much looking foreword to it.
So this is what happened, we arrived at the airport in Sydney to fly to Melbourne on the 11th just to find out that Allison, Delanie and I somehow all booked our ticket for the day before. Eight of us had planned to be on the same flight so the other five went through security while we figured out what to do. As the tickets are not refundable we all decided to buy new tickets that were three times the price for later that night. To put this in perspective, we arrived at the airport at 11:00 am and our new tickets were for 9:30 pm… So we planned to spend the whole day hanging around in the airport. However, when we walked up to the ticketing counter to check in, the lady told us that she could change our flight to an earlier flight for free, which was great! So we went through security and by the time we got some really good sandwiches and salads it was time for our flight to leave. The flight was short and sweet and the view from the plane was spectacular. We could see all the way up the east coast of Australia. When we got to Melbourne Delanie’s friend was there to pick her up and he offered to drive us to our hostel. I guess if this is the worst thing that happens on this trip that would be fine with me.
Melbourne has been great so far. All eight of us are staying in the same room in this really nice hostel that is in a neighborhood called St Kilda, which is a 20-minuet ride from the center of the city. I learned today that it is considered the Jewish district of Melbourne. Walking around I saw four or five people wearing Kippot and Tzitzit and we went into a store that was called Jerusalem and sold everything Jewish. If we were here for longer I would definitely find a synagogue to go to.
The other day I saw my first Australian sports game. Sport (that’s how they say it) is HUGE here. We went to an AFL game, which is Australian Rules football. It was very strange and a lot of fun. I would say that it is a mix between football and soccer with a bit of Quiddich thrown in. I have no idea how to explain how the game works so I would say look it up if you are curious. The other big sports that are popular here are American football, soccer (or sometimes called the true football), rugby, cricket and I think that ultimate is picking up steam.
Yesterday we all went to a music festival called Good Vibrations that is touring around Australia. We spent all day listening to bands and dancing. It was pricey but heaps of fun. (Another Aussie word, everyone says “heaps” all the time). I saw heaps of great bands and went to bed completely exhausted.
While not listening to bands and watching sport we have just been walking/stumbling around the city. They have a pretty good public tram system here that we have been using a lot. When we arrived in Melbourne we learned that you should never pay for public transport because you will look like a tourist. It feels pretty strange to never pay for the tram. Also no one knows the city at all so we have been pretty much just been wandering around lost quite a lot. To deal with this, we get on any tram that is going down the street that we want and then get off as soon as it turns onto another street…. It is a fairly effective way of getting around.
Today was Valentines Day and I must say that it ended up being quite romantic. Delanie’s friend offered to drive us down to Philip Island, which is about two hours south of Melbourne on the coast. It is known as the place where you can watch the Little Penguins at dusk come out of the water and up the beach to spend a few days on land in burrows in the hills. Little Penguins are the smallest in the world, about a foot tall and unbelievably adorable. However, the environmentalist in me was quite disgusted by the whole thing. It was a huge tourist attraction that was just sitting on these penguins natural habitat. I was put off by the hundreds of people staring and making lots of noise around these baby penguins that were trying to climb up the hills to safety. The ranger told us that Little Penguins have become nocturnal to keep away from predators and I felt that we were just making it worse by stomping all over their natural habitat. No matter how bad I felt about being there, staring at the open sea towards Antarctica with the Southern Cross (the big dipper of the southern hemisphere) directly above us and watching the penguins make their journey up the beach, was all quite humbling. To top it off, when we got back to the room the boys had bought chocolate roses for the girls, which was cute.
On Wednesday we will fly to Adelaide and spend a night there. On Thursday morning we will meet up with the program again and take a ten-hour bus ride to Broken Hill. I am not so much looking foreword to it.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Back In Sydney
I am back in Sydney for a night before I fly down to Melbourne tomorrow. The Aboriginal camp was absolutely amazing. It was an incredibly powerful experience and definitely one of the best weeks of my life. Some activities included were: Boomerang throwing lessons, dancing, eating, singing, swimming, learning, sewing, RAIN!, petting horses, holding baby's and so much more that I can't even begin to tell you about right now. I will write more later but now I must sleep!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
105 Degrees
It was so unbelievably hot today. Sydney is going through a bit of a heat wave. Right now it is 10:30 pm and 90 degrees outside. We have been warned that this is only just warming us up for later in the trip when we will be in the outback. Im pretty sure that this is the hottest weather that I have ever been in.
Our time in Sydney is rapping up and on Saturday we leave to go to an Aboriginal camp for a week. We have learned a lot about Aboriginal culture but I have no idea what to expect. I do know that there will be a point at the end where we will be doing traditional naked dancing... After the Aboriginal camp we have a week of independent travel to go and do whatever we want. I will be going to Melbourne, with some other members of the group, and staying in a hostel.
So much is going on all of the time and so many interesting things happen, I cannot even begin to put it all in the blog but I will continue to do my best. I love to read your comments and I am happy to chat or answer questions anytime (anything to keep me from doing homework!)
Our time in Sydney is rapping up and on Saturday we leave to go to an Aboriginal camp for a week. We have learned a lot about Aboriginal culture but I have no idea what to expect. I do know that there will be a point at the end where we will be doing traditional naked dancing... After the Aboriginal camp we have a week of independent travel to go and do whatever we want. I will be going to Melbourne, with some other members of the group, and staying in a hostel.
So much is going on all of the time and so many interesting things happen, I cannot even begin to put it all in the blog but I will continue to do my best. I love to read your comments and I am happy to chat or answer questions anytime (anything to keep me from doing homework!)
A Trip to the Loo
Here is the blog post that I wrote for the group blog at http://lcaustraliaprogram2011.blogspot.com/
Greetings from sunny Sydney,
As we are well into our third week here in Australia, I feel that I can say with some confidence that we are all starting to get into the rhythm of Sydney life. This past weekend we had three free days, which were full of many new experiences. However, much of this time was spent working on our independent projects.
Throughout the semester, each of us will be doing individual research on a topic of our choice that addresses people and their relationship to the environment. Because all of us come from different backgrounds and are interested in different things, the variety of topics is extensive. Some people have chosen to take a scientific approach, while others have elected more of a humanities or social approach. On Friday, we spent some time all together discussing our projects, and many interesting questions were brought up.
Here are a few examples of project topics: Emily will study how human relationships with whales have changed through Australian history. Whaling has been very popular in past years, although I found it interesting that whales are nowadays more profitable alive than dead due to the tourism of whale watching. Other people hope to take more of a biological approach; Katy will study the epidemiology of skin cancer and how the social practices of skin care have impacted today’s statistics on skin cancer. Jared will look at the introduction of invasive species and their impact on Australia. Rebecca will study the ecological and social implications of logging in Tasmania. Some members of our group want to focus on the Indigenous populations of Australia; Aboriginal people are often stereotyped as having poor health, and Allison will study how diet and environment directly affect diseases in indigenous populations. Delaney will learn how the environment is depicted through contemporary Aboriginal art. The floods in Brisbane have also brought up some interesting topics; John is going to study the effectiveness of the social response and recovery with regards to the floods. For my project I will try to understand how the built environment has adapted to Australia’s harsh and varied climate. For example, I have learned about one opal-mining town called Coober Pedy whose residents live almost entirely underground in converted mining shafts due to unbearable daytime temperatures.
Everybody’s project is fascinating and I look forward to hearing the final products. Most of all, what this weekend showed us is that there are many ways to approach our chosen topic and we all have a lot of work ahead of us. In the end we will hopefully have gained an understanding of how people relate to their environment in Australia.
Speaking of the environment, on Friday night many of us had our first big spider sighting! We saw a Huntsmen spider in the lounge room at the Arundel house. Huntsmen spiders, which are also called Giant Crab spiders because of their large size (the one we spotted was about as big as the palm of a hand), are not poisonous and are commonly found in homes and buildings. As adults they do not build webs, but rather hunt and forage for food. One startling thing about Huntsmen, that we learned first hand, is that they are able to travel extremely fast, often using a springing jump while running. They also tend to cling onto things if they are picked up, which makes them very hard to shake off (luckily none of us had to experience this). Seeing the spider jump towards me touched a full range of emotion.
In addition to our independent project we are also doing group projects about neighborhoods in Sydney. Each group will be giving a walking tour of a Sydney neighborhood later this week; during the weekend many of us prepared our tour. My group visited our neighborhood, Woolloomooloo (which is often just referred to as “The Loo”). The Loo is located along the Sydney Harbor and is one of the first places that was settled when Europeans first came to Australia in 1788. Woolloomooloo (which could get its unique name from Wallabahmullah, an Aboriginal name for a young black kangaroo) has gone through many phases as a working class suburb, but recent gentrification has made it into a very affluent part of Sydney. The Loo’s main attraction is the Finger Warf, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest wooden structure in the world. The Warf was once used as a deployment point for troops joining the World Wars but today it has over 300 apartments, a hotel and many very high-class restaurants. The famous Australian actor and musician Russell Crowe lives at the end of the Warf in a $14 million penthouse.
On Monday we visited the Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. At the museum we spent a couple hours in the Indigenous Australians exhibit, which was put together with the help of many Aboriginal people. When we first walked in, there was a sign directed towards Aboriginal people that warned them that there might be content that will upset and offend their culture. Any museum that depicts stories of deceased Indigenous people must put up this sign because in Aboriginal culture it is disrespectful to talk about people who have passed away. The exhibit focused on themes of spirituality, culture, heritage, the land, family, health and social justice. It covered Aboriginal art and history from before Europeans arrived to present day. Because aboriginal culture is so distinct from my own, I found it difficult to fully grasp the concepts and stories that were told.
One interesting thing about the art was that much of it depicted themes of European culture and religion through traditional Aboriginal styles. This is an example of how missionaries changed and contributed to the suppression of Aboriginal culture. Mostly what all of this art showed us is that it is very difficult to define what is Aboriginal art. Aboriginal art can be classical Aboriginal designs created by native people but can also be created by non-native people. Sometimes Aboriginal art is created for a more utilitarian purpose, to tell a story or as a weapon, while other times it can be created for solely viewing purposes. There were also periods of time where Indigenous people were forced to create art for European intentions. Is this also Aboriginal art?
At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, an aboriginal woman named Emily McDaniel, who has been our lecturer in the past, gave us a tour of the Aboriginal art gallery. We saw Indigenous art created traditionally on tree bark, using ochre as paint. Shades of red, yellow and brown were common in these paintings. They had many themes of animals and landscape and always told a story. At the gallery we also saw contemporary aboriginal art on stretched canvas using acrylic paint and varied bright colors. This art is equally as “Aboriginal” as the more traditional-looking art and conveys many of the same messages. No matter how it is presented, Aboriginal art serves many different functions and is often used to pass on messages from generation to generation.
The last few days have been amazing. We have learned a lot and still found some time to spend lounging at Manly beach in this hot, sunny weather.
Greetings from sunny Sydney,
As we are well into our third week here in Australia, I feel that I can say with some confidence that we are all starting to get into the rhythm of Sydney life. This past weekend we had three free days, which were full of many new experiences. However, much of this time was spent working on our independent projects.
Throughout the semester, each of us will be doing individual research on a topic of our choice that addresses people and their relationship to the environment. Because all of us come from different backgrounds and are interested in different things, the variety of topics is extensive. Some people have chosen to take a scientific approach, while others have elected more of a humanities or social approach. On Friday, we spent some time all together discussing our projects, and many interesting questions were brought up.
Here are a few examples of project topics: Emily will study how human relationships with whales have changed through Australian history. Whaling has been very popular in past years, although I found it interesting that whales are nowadays more profitable alive than dead due to the tourism of whale watching. Other people hope to take more of a biological approach; Katy will study the epidemiology of skin cancer and how the social practices of skin care have impacted today’s statistics on skin cancer. Jared will look at the introduction of invasive species and their impact on Australia. Rebecca will study the ecological and social implications of logging in Tasmania. Some members of our group want to focus on the Indigenous populations of Australia; Aboriginal people are often stereotyped as having poor health, and Allison will study how diet and environment directly affect diseases in indigenous populations. Delaney will learn how the environment is depicted through contemporary Aboriginal art. The floods in Brisbane have also brought up some interesting topics; John is going to study the effectiveness of the social response and recovery with regards to the floods. For my project I will try to understand how the built environment has adapted to Australia’s harsh and varied climate. For example, I have learned about one opal-mining town called Coober Pedy whose residents live almost entirely underground in converted mining shafts due to unbearable daytime temperatures.
Everybody’s project is fascinating and I look forward to hearing the final products. Most of all, what this weekend showed us is that there are many ways to approach our chosen topic and we all have a lot of work ahead of us. In the end we will hopefully have gained an understanding of how people relate to their environment in Australia.
Speaking of the environment, on Friday night many of us had our first big spider sighting! We saw a Huntsmen spider in the lounge room at the Arundel house. Huntsmen spiders, which are also called Giant Crab spiders because of their large size (the one we spotted was about as big as the palm of a hand), are not poisonous and are commonly found in homes and buildings. As adults they do not build webs, but rather hunt and forage for food. One startling thing about Huntsmen, that we learned first hand, is that they are able to travel extremely fast, often using a springing jump while running. They also tend to cling onto things if they are picked up, which makes them very hard to shake off (luckily none of us had to experience this). Seeing the spider jump towards me touched a full range of emotion.
In addition to our independent project we are also doing group projects about neighborhoods in Sydney. Each group will be giving a walking tour of a Sydney neighborhood later this week; during the weekend many of us prepared our tour. My group visited our neighborhood, Woolloomooloo (which is often just referred to as “The Loo”). The Loo is located along the Sydney Harbor and is one of the first places that was settled when Europeans first came to Australia in 1788. Woolloomooloo (which could get its unique name from Wallabahmullah, an Aboriginal name for a young black kangaroo) has gone through many phases as a working class suburb, but recent gentrification has made it into a very affluent part of Sydney. The Loo’s main attraction is the Finger Warf, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest wooden structure in the world. The Warf was once used as a deployment point for troops joining the World Wars but today it has over 300 apartments, a hotel and many very high-class restaurants. The famous Australian actor and musician Russell Crowe lives at the end of the Warf in a $14 million penthouse.
On Monday we visited the Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. At the museum we spent a couple hours in the Indigenous Australians exhibit, which was put together with the help of many Aboriginal people. When we first walked in, there was a sign directed towards Aboriginal people that warned them that there might be content that will upset and offend their culture. Any museum that depicts stories of deceased Indigenous people must put up this sign because in Aboriginal culture it is disrespectful to talk about people who have passed away. The exhibit focused on themes of spirituality, culture, heritage, the land, family, health and social justice. It covered Aboriginal art and history from before Europeans arrived to present day. Because aboriginal culture is so distinct from my own, I found it difficult to fully grasp the concepts and stories that were told.
One interesting thing about the art was that much of it depicted themes of European culture and religion through traditional Aboriginal styles. This is an example of how missionaries changed and contributed to the suppression of Aboriginal culture. Mostly what all of this art showed us is that it is very difficult to define what is Aboriginal art. Aboriginal art can be classical Aboriginal designs created by native people but can also be created by non-native people. Sometimes Aboriginal art is created for a more utilitarian purpose, to tell a story or as a weapon, while other times it can be created for solely viewing purposes. There were also periods of time where Indigenous people were forced to create art for European intentions. Is this also Aboriginal art?
At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, an aboriginal woman named Emily McDaniel, who has been our lecturer in the past, gave us a tour of the Aboriginal art gallery. We saw Indigenous art created traditionally on tree bark, using ochre as paint. Shades of red, yellow and brown were common in these paintings. They had many themes of animals and landscape and always told a story. At the gallery we also saw contemporary aboriginal art on stretched canvas using acrylic paint and varied bright colors. This art is equally as “Aboriginal” as the more traditional-looking art and conveys many of the same messages. No matter how it is presented, Aboriginal art serves many different functions and is often used to pass on messages from generation to generation.
The last few days have been amazing. We have learned a lot and still found some time to spend lounging at Manly beach in this hot, sunny weather.
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