The Cool Cats are at it again...

The Cool Cats Gang!

We got some amazingly inexpensive student tickets to go see Cats the musical!
36 AUD. Can you believe it?
So Stevie and I being true to our personality created some Cat ears
but Stevie's got lost in the wind so we just pretended for the photo.

Choreography and singing was spectacular.
We will not mention the plot though...
Who can forget the song of Memory?

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Gives me goosebumps every time.

Cheers, from a cool cat

In the name of shoes

" I wanna do something that matters, say something different, something that sets the whole world on it's ear, I want to do something better with the time that I've been given, and I wanna try to touch a few in hearts in this life "

- I Was Here by Lady Antebellum

My senior year of high school something clicked. My passion is helping others. I did some research and fell in love with the Peace Corp. Unfortunately the Peace Corp wants nothing to do with you until you have a college degree and some experience.

My life has been filled with volunteering but sometimes I am sick of volunteering being second, I want volunteering to be my life.

Have no fear, I know that part of my ambition is to help others have the opportunity for higher education and because of that I value my education and will finish it before anything too epic occurs.

Until then....
when considering gifts or new shoes just for yourself check out : http://www.toms.com/
A great idea, for every time you purchase these really neat shoes a pair also goes to a child who needs them.

My Favs:

Women's Burlap Classic

Linen - Yellow Bridgeport

Cordones - Yellow Newport

and to show that there are more artistic styles (not just my classic likes):

It's Mail Time!

Lets just say I've had a smile all day
and
it's all because of mail time!

Today I taught my Pre-primary students an lesson introducing them to the format of a postcard as an extension of community members (mail persons) and forms of communication.

So after outdoor play I told the students how I was missing my brother and was curious how I could get in touch with him.
Some suggestions were : the telephone, a letter, skype and dunana... a postcard!
So here it is Michael, I hope you respond!
Remember to include the date, dear...., message body, signature, address and a stamp!
Otherwise my learners will let you know!

After school I check my mail to find this postcard from friend back home!
With a graph telling me about his increasing despair the further I am away.
Notice the use of Kansas. I am not sure why since I haven't spent any significant time there..
Oh Jer. I adore you.
(Notice I placed in sunspots to protect our identity!)

And then! As if my love of mail today could get any bigger I have the birthday card from Brandon's Mom in my mail slot too! The one we all thought had been lost..

Notice the vibrant drawings from his nephews.
Adorable!

Have I mentioned my complete love for snail mail?

Cheers, from a girl in Snail Mail heaven

What's Your sentence?

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

So I challenge you : What's your sentence?

Cheers, from an inspired girl

Road Trip : Final Destination

And then.... two days at Monkey Mia!
Our lovely tent is set up yet again in twenty minutes mind you...
TEAMWORK.
You know those inspirational posters with words like leader, hero etc?
I am telling you there should be one of the five us putting up our tent the first night at Karijini in the pitch dark and without any prior experience with that tent : teamwork.

Monkey Mia is known through Australia because of the natural dolphin traffic. Each morning dolphins come into shore to let the lovely visitors provide fish.
Kate mentions how I was the birthday girl so I get a chance to feed Piccolo.
We didn't get any pictures of this but apparently I was on Channel Two, a travel channel here feeding the dolphins.
If I find it, I'll post the video.

Did I mention that I won our Sand Castle Contest?
According to the judges it was because of my delightful dragon making skills.


Other sand fun :


A monkey looking Kate

A bikini baring Terry

Monkey Mia is a simple but vibrant destination and we appreciated the availability of running water, showers, and grass beneath our tent (instead of red dirt and stubborn rocks).

Cheers, from a dolphin lover

P.s. Pictures thanks go to the Road Tripping Gang

Road Trip : Down by the Coral Bay

Welcome to the western shore of Western Australia, more specifically Coral Bay!

The pictures fail to do the crystal clear water and soft white sand justice.

Another infamous Terry shot aka candid and full of perspective.

The grand gang.

While snorkeling and exploring the coral creatures, Mallory's underwater camera endured a wet tragedy so there are limited pictures of our underwater exploration.
So instead, I choose this one to sum it up.
Bright colors, fish straight out of Finding Nemo, and a calming curiosity.

Cheers, from an underwater lady

P.s. Pictures thanks go to the Road Tripping Gang and weheartit.com

Road Trip : Karijini

Welcome to Karijini National Park : Full of sunshine, deep gorges, untreated water, dingos, and flies galore and absent of pretty much everything civilized/modern. Just the way we like it!

Day one hikes:

After this, my mates scarcely see me in sneakers again.
There is something gloriously freeing about hiking with bare feet.


Waterfall Love

Day Two Adventure:

Untreated water. How to make it safe: collect in the largest container you have and then realize that the container is now unusable since contaminated.
Use the propane grill you have brought ( luckily so since fire is prohibited in the dry desert for obvious fire safety) to boil water. Let water cool fully until pouring into empty bottles or hiking bladders to prevent melting plastic!
Time consuming? Very much so.
Total time spent after the first days hike? Around six hours thanks to Terry and Elizabeth!

Now here is a challenge: walking/swimming with slimy, sharp rocks ready to cut you with any step. Try to keep your bag dry!

Another gorgeous waterfall to take a dip in!

The babes drying off for the trek back to base camp.
Its times like this that Terry would realize maybe going camping for a week with four American girls isn't such a bad idea (smile).

Mallory and I decide to ignore the cautionary sign just to the right of me and hop around the bend. We tower a good eight stories above the water below as we rock climb in our bathers and bare feet. Sometimes stretching our arms way up high to pull our bodies onto the next platform.
Other times compacting our bodies, crawling yet another inch farther.
Do we live with regrets? Nah, best part of the day's hike.

Cheers, a bare footed gal (again)

P.s. Pictures thanks go to the Road Tripping Gang

Road Trip : The Beginning Stages

Meet our hired little red car : Blue.

This five seater sedan helped us travel 1600 miles safely from our lovely home of Mount Lawley, to Karijini, Coral Bay, and Monkey Mia.

Google Pedometer was suppose to show our path but instead will give you something to find on your own:
http://bit.ly/98hOWo

Remember when you went on a road trip with your family across a few states or even for an incomparable couple of hours?


Remember all the annoying phrases :" are we there yet? ", "How much longer?" and "He's touching me!"? Well we said them all at least once but the difference being, all in good fun :)

We had a full full car with five people, one for each seat, a bloated trunk which clouded our rear view mirror, and four available drivers all from out of country. (Side note: Australia no longer requires an international license as long as your home license is up to date and without restriction).

So let our adventure begin : 4 am departure

Cheers from a then tired, Becca

P.s. Picture thanks to Terry

Language

In case you haven't noticed, I have a suitcase heart.

I love to observe, learn, and experience.
Even when I'm sleeping my mind is traveling.

So Becca, tell me, what does everyone have in common?
What are the universal truths?

My answer?
Language. Not English of course.

But the language of Laughter.









Laughter sounds the same no matter where you are.






What are the basic needs?
Love.
Love looks the same no matter where you are.



In the words of children:
Love is what makes you smile when you're tired- Terri, age four
When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth - Billy, age four
Love is when you tell a boy you like his shirt, he wears it everyday - Noelle, age seven





What else?
The look of hope, the desperation of pain and the need for help is everywhere.

So there it is.
Sure, currency, flights, politics, accents and religion can fool us into thinking we are oh so far away from home. But then remember the universal truths.

Cheers from an enlightened Becca

And then....

While traveling in South Africa two years ago, I visited a plethora of schools including one very rural primary school that kept their windows and doors unblocked.
I was observing a "2nd" grade class being taught in one of the nine national languages that I did not understand. All of the sudden all the learners were in uproar and guarding their lunch boxes. Sure enough, there just inside the door was a wild monkey probably eager for lunch. The students seemed accustomed to this where as I just looked blankly at the teacher for guidance. The monkey realized defeat and hurried off down the way.

Maybe it is a curse, but here I am in Australia, as a part of the classroom now teaching Pre-primary ( the age-level equivalent to Kindergarten back home ) guiding the learners for outdoor play when I spot a scorpion just outside the classroom door. Now the scorpion was so clear, that I thought perhaps scorpions shed their skin just like snakes and this is the left over skin. Without much time to consider the thought, a learner skips right over it, landing just on the scorpion's stinger and continues on (the student had shoes on and was oblivious to the visiting animal). Meanwhile I now have complete confidence that this not just an outer skin



















but a full-fledged, feisty scorpion more than happy to strike for its segmented tail is now raised in a defensive position. After warning the students about the scorpion and to stay far away from it, I peak my head inside to tell my mentor teacher that there is a scorpion outside, and then asked for further directions. One teacher suggests I just step on it so I turn back around and realize that the scorpion is more than half the size of my shoe and I couldn't bring myself to step on it. Saved my the another teacher, she places a cup over top, trapping the creature in, slides a sheet of stable paper under, and then carries it across the road into the forest to keep far away from the children.

After some discussion, turns out scorpions are rare in the Perth area
and I will hopefully never see another.

Cheers to another meaning of classroom pets,
Becca

P.s. images thanks to weheartit.com and phoenix.about.com/.../Scorpion-04.html