Head em' up and Move em' out

 Aussie terms of the day...

"Sanga" - the Aussie slang word that means "sandwiches." Someone wrote on the white board this week that there were "sangas in fridge three" and I had to ask for clarification on what the heck this completely  foreign food item was...

"Banga" - and this one means "sausage."

Castle Hill "Goat Track"

It was the first of two exam weeks at James Cook this week and I was finally able to get one of my four exams out of the way!  I did spent a good deal of time sitting on my bum and working for hours on end shoving an endless stream of information into this brain of mine, but I did get the chance to really hang out with people and enjoy some good friendships this week.

            Sunday evening I took my second trip to the Reading Cinemas down the road with a group of friends from church and we watched a screening of the new movie “The Fault in Our Stars.” I really did like it but if I had to compare it to other movies, it probably wouldn’t rank up with my favorites.  Sorry to those of you that loved it! Maybe my brain just isn’t all there from all the study it’s been filing away… Which was evident earlier this week when thought I would try thawing a frozen banana by microwaving it.  Yeah, I found out that that doesn't really work...

            It’s been totally lazy study food as far as meals go this week, one day being a trip down to the fish n’ chips shop, another being a jaunt down the road with Esther and Rachael for some Dominoes pizza, and other meals consisting of leftover food from the youth group across the way at the church and clearing out our fridges for the upcoming month of break.  We also had the last of our lodge dinners for the term this week, this one put on by Dot, and it was so much fun just to get us all sitting down and having a final meal together.  Man am I going to miss this silly and awesome group of people!

Along with study there has been a fair bit of procrastinating going on as well and it's been funny to see what different things people will do.  A lot of people like procrasti-baking I have found as Hannah baked a cake at one point, Aiden tried his hand at some box brownies, and Esther and Bec wanted me to teach them how to make American lemonade again.  Michelle prefers smoothie making as her form of procrastination and we have gotten the chance to try a good variety of flavors this week. Not that anyone is complaining mind you!  I’ve been pulling my own form of procrastination as well which I have since dubbed as “procrasti-packing.”  Boy it’s going to be weird to move out of my room in the next week or so… It feels like I just moved in! I don’t think it has quite hit me yet that my time here is coming to a close though I will still be in Australia for some time yet.  I’m definitely not looking forward to the day that I do leave Townsville for the last time.  At least, for this time around that is.  Definitely going to be a bittersweet day.

            It was my last meeting with the other Julia this week and we finally finished off the ending to the book of Job. It was the perfect weather for sitting outside eating strawberries and drinking coffee and that books ending I think was the best way to close off our meetings! It have been so, so fun and encouraging and I will certainly miss hanging out with my  “other self."

            Hannah and I had a good go this week trying to get in as many scares with that infamous “NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!” phrase. We have been trying on and off the entirety of this term to stealthily surprise each other with the utterance but I have been sorely lacking in the surprise realm.  Hannah has been doing quite well with a total of four good surprises over this term.  The first one was a rather unsuspecting text a while back, the next was an inconspicuous comment on a past blog entry (look at the comments on Queen of Coordination, it’s there…), the third was a rather large sign sticky tacked to the front of my bedroom door, and the fourth was hidden within the depths of my sugar jar. 

I knew with one week left to torment her, I had to get at least one good one in.  And that I did! The first to start the evening of the score was a sign on the inside of both girls showers (since I didn’t know which one she would use) and the result I got of her running into the lounge laughing hysterically was priceless. The next was placed on the inside of her bedroom door while she was away at school and that one gained some mighty good giggles as well.  She was surprised by another note in the bottom of her hot chocolate tin when she went to finish it off and she found another one fluttering out of the pages of her copy of the Simarillian. I think in total the score is at 5:4 at present and who knows! There may be a couple more on either side sometime in the future... 

            Belindi and I had our last crazily early morning walk this week and we can finally say we made up to the top of Castle Hill via the “Goat Track!” But boy did we have no idea what we were getting into when we started... I didn’t quite realize how out of shape I have gotten these past few months without the constantly demanding pressure of owning horses as I do at home, but all those steps certainly made me realize mighty quick. The sunrise part way up was a great reward to see though I must say! 

             I think 1,420 steps and 45 minutes later we definitely felt rather accomplished to reach the top!

            Near the end of the week the lodge started to clear out as people finished up their finals and classes for the term and headed home and it just feels so empty here now! Bec, Blessing, and Hannah left late morning on Saturday to head up to Cairns for placement and Mareeba for home and Esther and Racheal left bright and early Sunday morning for a drive back to Cairns.  It's going to be weird to see the lodge so empty and quiet this next week and I think for the first time in... well, since I've been here, the guys will be even with the girls here at the lodge!  It's gonna be Michelle, Dot, and I with the three guys this week. 

            Before everyone left off on their respective adventures, we of course had to finish off the term the way it started with a trip to Cactus Jacks for a batch of those infamous chocolate nachos! 

            And because some people thought it would be fun to place their lives in my hands, it was up to me to drive a group of us there.  If you look at the route via a map, it looks like an insanely short trip that should be pretty alright as far as safety goes. But put the American who hasn’t driven for the past 5 months and never on the left side before behind the wheel and you would be surprised how many opportunities there are to die on that 2 minute drive.  But they were all good sports about it and we made it there and back mostly in one piece J.