6 Months

Hoooola!

So, in the past week or so some dramatic changes have been made and significant milestones reached. Firstly I coloured my hair! I am no longer a blonde, I’m now a brunette/redhead :P Secondly, I celebrated my 18^th birthday on the 21^st and the 23^rd marked 6 months of living in Texas!

I’ve actually just recovered, I suppose, from probably the worst episode of homesick I’ve had yet this year. However, getting totally spoilt on my birthday soon fixed that. Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes and gifts, they are truly appreciated, really xD

So my birthday went something like this; in the morning we went to San Marcos so I could pick out some cowgirl boots courtesy of my Rotary club :D I love them! They are black, pointed toe and mid calf and have white and lavender thread detailing with a white Texas star xD I wore them for two days straight to break them in and because they are awesome :) We then did a little running around, went to the post office to pick up some parcels xD and then went to lunch at Mamacitas, a Mexican restaurant in town where I was appropriately humiliated and forced to wear a huge sombrero while the poor staff sang me happy birthday. But we also got free desert, things called Sopaipillas (soap-a-pi-yas) which were much yummers. I then spent a good couple of hours on SKYPE talking to my parents and friends overseas before going to diner at the Gritzmill which is in Gruene (green) a town so close it basically is New Braunfels with my host family and my host mother’s parents. After that we headed over to Gruene Hall, which is like a dance/concert hall where we met up with some Rotarians and some of my school friends. When I arrived home I was greeted with cake, gifts and 50 red roses xD I don’t think I really could have asked for much else :)

The next day I had a rotary meeting where I showed off my new boots and had another cake xD

Tour, and 5 months somewhere in there!

Hey ya’ll, how have you been!?

I have been heaps busy and have done some fairly amazing stuff!

I just got back from my USA tour which was incredible 25 days around the States. I left on the 13th of June and I got to go white water rafting in Colorado, see ancient Native American mountain dwellings at Mesa Verde, stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon, VEGAS!, explore Hollywood, go to Universal Studios, swim at the beautiful San Diego beach, sleep on the bus for days at a time :P, see San Antonio :O, play in a Houston water park, buy a $13 sandwich in New Orleans, get a ‘lack-of-sleep-hangover’ in Tallahassee, wear sequined Minnie Mouse ears all day at DISNEYWORLD, managed to get a tan :( and wake up extra early to watch the sunrise at Myrtle Beach, visit the Smithsonian and celebrate the 4th of July in Washington DC, see the Statue of Liberty, John Lennon’s memorial in Central Park, go shopping on 5th Ave, get lost and eat a bagel, pretzel and pizza New York style! Ride a huge Ferris-wheel over Lake Michigan in beautiful Chicago and finally, say goodbye to 51 totally amazing friends before returning to Texas on the 10th of July.



However, between finishing school and beginning my trip I was also able to do some fairly cool stuff. I went to a professional business photo shoot with my host sister and her grandfather (who is the professional photographer). Well two photo shoots really, the first was for a new hospital in San Antonio, but all Sydney and I did really for that was stand in the midday sun for a few good hours in the Texas summer heat. It was the second shoot however that we really went for. It was at this aircraft hanger for M7 Aerospace, a company that makes private aircrafts. There was more equipment needed at this one, so Syd and I helped with setting that up and things like that. It was a really good experience. I got to see how a real photo shoot works, details that shouldn’t be overlooked and the kind of patience you need to get things just right.

A few days after that I went to Austin with a Rotarian and Perle to visit the museum of Texas history. It was really well set out and really quite interesting. That week I also volunteered at a youth service group in the town my host mother works, its about 10-20 mins from New Braunfels. The group meets weekly and just kind of provides the kids that go there with a place to be during the day. All the kids that go there are ‘at risk’ but they are fairly good kids. A unique thing about this organisation is that the kids who go there choose to be there, no one has made them go. We did some arts and crafts in the morning before going to see ‘Night at the Museum 2’ at the local cinemas and in the afternoon I taught them how we play handball, which they seemed to enjoy :)

Right now I’m in Boerne which is a town about an hour away from New Braunfels. I’m staying the week with my country co-ordinator and his family. I’m not sure we’ve got anything planned, just hanging out!

I miss you guys! Let me know what’s going on in your lives :D