Sept 17- we actually start learning things =)

Sept 17th

So today we began class in a local convention centre place where we could all fit. We began with subjects of Aboriginal culture learning about their dream culture and the way they respect the land to be untouched. I had no conception of how much earlier humans had arrived in Australia versus the Americas. As we progressed through history we learned about the not so talked about violence and skirmishes between the colonists and aboriginals as they landed to form their penal colony. We also just discussed the colonisation of white australians and the tough class system that the penal colony caused class issues later on. The theme seems to be that Australians hung very deeply to their British roots wanting to enforce similar systems and just recreate the country they came from.

We quickly grabbed some yummy noodles in Chinatown and rushed to the Sydney Museum of Natural History. There we found an amazing collection of stuffed mammals unique to australia including some stuffed kangaroos, koalas, and platypi! There was also a vast collection of incredible minerals which can all be found in Australian land and were really pretty. For the second part we had an amazing tour guide who told us all about aboriginal culture explaining everything from dreaming, and stories told to pass on important survival information and learning what the variety of tools they use. More touching was his account of all of the hardships that the native people have faced. They were classified under flora and fauna so essentially animals until 1975, which seems absolutely ridiculous. There was a law in place that allowed for a parent to ask for all aboriginal kids to be removed from a school and then were denied any further education. Looking at apartheid and racial movements in america, this issue seems right up there but gets no attention whatsoever. Luckily, things have improved for native australians, but they still face some problems at times.

After the museum I went on a run with 2 friends through the botanical garden and almost died over the 4 miles run, but the views were indeed gorgeous. We then had some leftover pasta and then went on a mission to find gelato and after going the wrong direction for a while found it and enjoyed the scrumptious delight that was this gelato. Robert Brownie jr was definitely the best flavour ever.