Meeeep! I am not really sure how to blog but I guess I will give it a shot so that you all can keep up with me during my travels this summer. I haven't figured out how to attach my itinerary yet, but I will soon...I hope.
This is not a normal study abroad trip. I go to North Queensland, Australia from May 13 to June 8 then to Sydney, Australia for a 24 hour stopover on my way to Fiji from June 10 to June 19. I am only in the same city for approximately 3 days. We travel the entire time and backpack through rain forests and the Outback. This is not the luxury type that you experience while in Europe or some other country. I am not even packing a computer, hair dryer, or straightener since I won't have electricity some of the time. Hence, the blog being a little bit random in timing because I won't always have internet and usually its always an internet cafe. We get to "go out" at night but every morning we have to be up about 7:30 or 8 a.m. Therefore, I don't think we will be doing that too much since I can barely get up that early without staying out late. I am studying sustainability while I am there. We rarely have any classroom interaction because most of our learning is in the field during our hikes and tours. At the end of the program, we have an exam from all of our field work and a group debate on the social divide between Indo-Fijians and Indigenous Fijians.
I have been attempting to pack in one suitcase that cannot weigh over 44 pounds, this has proved to me challenging than I imagined. I am a terrible packer as it is and now having to pack stuff for backpacking, camping, hiking, and nightlife is definitely not something I am good at. After countless hours wandering aimlessly through Target and Backwoods (our camping store), I think I am finally ready to start putting stuff in my suitcase. Another problem comes with trying to entertain myself on the plane with only stuff that can fit in my backpack. A 17 hour plane flight! 17 HOURS! On my flight to Oklahoma from Gainesville, which is only 2 two hour flights, I was twiddling my thumbs from boredom and looking at my watch every 15 minutes. I guess the only thing that is going to help me through this long flight is Benadryl. Without a computer, I am not sure what I am going to do. I hope the in-flight entertainment is good. If anyone has good book suggestions I would love to hear those too!!
After just recently receiving our itinerary, I finally looked at it today. The accommodations we are staying at range from actual hotels to hostels to camping in the Outback. I am most excited for our hostel called 'On the Wallaby' in Yungaburra. Google it! It is going to be so cool. I also get to dive the Great Barrier Reef, which I am so excited about I could scream. I even had a dream about it last night. I am diving a two-tank dive one morning and then in the afternoon I am cage diving with the Great White Sharks! I have been researching all sorts of underwater cameras so I can capture this on film!
My blog is going to be insanely scatter brained because I get way too excited about things and my mind can't stay focused on one thing longer than 2 minutes. So there will be just random stuff and definitely out of order. Especially since I am going to be paying to use the computers by the minute so I will be typing as fast as possible!! So apologies for being all over the place.
Only 8 more days until I depart!
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