LetitiaT

12/9/2011 Hi All, //St 3, Sl -, A -// We didn't really do much today. Just got to Realise and had the 3 hour long introductory tour (yeah you read that right – 3 hours). We also found out who is in our Wardlis. I'm with Claudia N, Yao Ling Q, Nehna A, Bella C, and Holly D. Their all nice people and I think I'm in a pretty good wardli. I'm sharing a room with Claudia and so far everything has been fine. Also, the main thing about this place is it is absolutely freezing. Do you remember that time we went to KI. That kind of freezing. We have this "Chill out" time where we are supposed to go outside and reflect on the day etc. Anyway, after sitting outside for an hour I was so cold I couldn't feel my face and my fingers were so numb I could barely write. Also, they kind of stuffed up so that nothing on the internet is actually blocked. I think it's kind of funny that they stuffed up. Anyway, they said that they would confiscate our computers for the entire camp if we were on any sites that we are not supposed to be on and we would have to use one of the PAC (turned out we are at the PAC place after all) laptops to do all our assignments on which would really suck. Anyway, so I miss you heaps already and hope that you are having a good time in Adelaide (or Montpellier as the case may be) and missing me as much as I miss you. Love you, Your most amazing daughter/sister, Letitia xoxoxoxoxo

14/9/2011 Hey Everyone, //St 4, Sl 4, A 4// Sorry that I didn't get to write yesterday. We weren't given any time to blog. I made risotto on the first night that we had to make dinner and it was actually pretty good. I think I was the most surprised out of everyone. The whole meat thing hasn't been that much of a problem because none of the people in my Wardli are huge meat eaters and so far we have been able to work around stuff like that (I'm not the only one with food requirements). Tonight, Nehna and Yao Ling made us fried rice which was really good. Tomorrow we're going camping at Innes National Park and it is going to be absolutely freezing. However, I think I have gotten a bit more used to the cold here. Today we went to the historical museum at Kadina and the Moonta Mine Museum. They helped us heaps with our History/English assignment. I miss you heaps already and can't believe that I still have 16 days to go. I hope that it passes as quick as the last few days. Your wonderful daughter/sister, Letitia xoxox P.S. People have taken to editing each other's pages so if anything sounds a bit off it might not be me. Also, just a reminder that everything on here is public. :) P.P.S. Almost forgot, sorry about the fact that there aren't any photos. I have taken a few but they're not very good or worth putting up. Hope to put up some better ones soon.

16/9/2011 Hi Everyone, //St 4, Sl 4, A 3// Clearly I have been neglecting this blog. I have written like three times which is kind of crazy given how much time I have been given to go on it. Last night I made an omelette for dinner. And it actually turned out half good. It tasted good but I kind of stuffed up when I tried to flip it. I have also eaten so much vegemite toast lately, it's crazy. The people who stayed here last obviously like their vegemite because they left two jars, two tubes and a bag of vegemite sachet thingys in the pantry and because I am the only girl in the Wardli who eats vegemite, I have it all to myself. Today we went snorkelling and it was absolutely freezing. However, we went really far out but you could stand up the entire way which was so weird. We also didn't see much but there were these really cute orange star fish which if I haven't already mentioned, were really cute! Yesterday we went to the beach which was really nice but really windy which meant really sandy. If you put something down for like five minutes it would already be covered in sand. I also got totally soaked but it was fun. Last night was movie night and we watched 'John Tucker Must Die' which was a hilarious chick flick. It was nice to relax after a while. On Friday we had pizza night and it was the first meal that fully reminded me of home because the pizza tasted really close to the pizzas we have at home but not quite as good. Also, when we went to the supermarket I think we bought way too much food because we can still barely fit everything in the fridge and that was yesterday. However, it means that I think it is very unlikely that we will run out of food which is in complete contrast to last week. Just to give you the i3dea we have five boxes of cereal, three dozen eggs and twelve litre of milk. Pretty crazy, hugh? I love you all so much and mis you heaps, Lots and lots and lots of love, Your amazing and totally awesome daughter/sister, Letitia xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo P.S. I think I have kind of given up on the photos thing. As you all already know, I am terrible at taking photos and I just don't think it is going to happen anytime soon so don't rely on it.

22/9/2011 Hey All, //St 4, Sl 3, A 3// I can't believe I haven't blogged in 6 days. It's just that there has been so much going on recently. We had no time to blog over the weekend and then the internet was out for like two days so you can see how the time builds up without you realising it. Anyway, so on Tuesday we went to the Point Pearce Aboriginal School in the afternoon and it was really enlightening as to how some people in the community live. The community at Point Pearce is obviously quite poor with a lot of the houses falling down but the school seemed to be at the heart of the town. The kids there all came from different backgrounds and a lot of them didn't seem to have very happy pasts but they were all really nice and generous. I think we all had a good time there learning about people who don't live that far away from us but have a completely different lifestyle. Then, yesterday we went snorkelling. It was definitely better than the first time and was really fun. I think the weather had a lot to do with the difference between the two experiences but we saw heaps of fish and stuff and it was lots of fun. Also, on Monday we had a bake-off between the Wardlis which was heaps of fun. We made some brownies and cut them out and decorated them to look like to people, one aboriginal and one white, in acknowledgement of the upcoming trip to Point Pearce, we didn't win but we definitely (and the scores agreed with us) had the best tasting food which was due to Holly's excellent baking. I can't believe we are now over the halfway mark which means that there isn't that long to go now. I a missing you all heaps but having a pretty good time here, Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of love, Your daughter/sister, Letitia xoxoxoxox

24/9/2011 Hi Everyone, //St 3, Sl 3, A 4// It turns out that I stuffed up the date on the last post. It was actually the 21st, not the 22nd. Anyway, I think if possible it has gotten even colder here. The maximum today is 16ºC and the rain makes it feel even colder than that. Last night I didn't get much sleep because the dryer was on and the laundry is just outside the bedrooms and it is really loud. However, I don't just want to complain the entire time. Today, Claudia and I are the leaders of the day which means we organise the morning fitness. We played Stuck-In-The-Mud and another game called Mother Hen which was really fun. We also found a dog on the grounds this morning. We know it must have an owner because it has a collar but it doesn't have a tag on it so we just have to assume that it will find its own way home eventually. However, in the mean time, it is really cute and we nicknamed it Sammy. Anyway, on Thursday we went snorkelling at Annie's Nursery and another beach and it was definitely the best snorkelling trip of the camp. The weather was way better and there were heaps of fish and stuff to see. We have also started mosaicing this seat that is supposed to be a group project for the camp. It looks really good so far and we started it yesterday. However, we split into two groups, half mosaicing and half tree-planting and we would swap halfway through. I was in the tree-planting group so I haven't done any mosaicing yet. We were going to swap today but it is constantly raining which isn't reakky the best of weather to be working outside in. Last night we had pizza and movie night. The pizza was really good but we forgot we had fetta which we totally could have used. For the movie, we watched //Wild Child// which was really good. I am missing you all heaps, Your daughter/sister, Letitia xoxoxoxoxo

27/9/2011 Hi All, //St 4, Sl 2, A 5// Today we went surfing and it was heaps and heaps of fun. I stood up lots but I also got dumped 3 or 4 times really badly. Yesterday we helped out at Hardwicke Bay with lots of tree-planting and weeding etc. We are also going surfing tomorrow all day. Yesterday I also made some flapjacks and they are really good. They haven't really lasted very long and I will have to make more. We have pretty much run out of eggs and butter which is not very good but we have lots of other food that we can still eat. It's crazy to think that there are only 3 days left. It doesn't really feel like I have been here that long but I will be glad to go home as I miss you all (and not having to prepare my own food) heaps. Wish me luck with the surfing tomorrow. Lots and lots of love from your daughter/sister, Letitia P.S. I know this is really badly written Mum but I am really tired so please don't judge me.

29/9/11 Hi Everyone, //St 4, Sl 2, A 2// OMG! Today is the last full day of Realise and I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. This will be my last post and it feels so weird to finally be going home. However, I really, really miss mum's cooking and having a dishwasher. My time at Realise has been really good. This morning I finally reached my goal of running the entire 3.4 km run (in 22 minutes and 22 seconds) and I am super excited about that, having thought that I would definitely not be able to do it. I also stood up on a surfboard loads of times, cooked some pretty successful meals (and flapjacks) and discovered that there is generally a lot more to people than may seem at first. I have become good friends with people that I generally would never talk to and have learnt about what it will be like when I move out of home some day. I have also learnt to appreciate how much work there is and will definitely be helping mum more around the home with cooking, cleaning, washing etc. The highlight of the camp was definitely surfing and I had an amazing time catching waves and stuff. I also learnt a lot and a lot at Point Pearce and I thought it was a really enlightening experience as I learnt what the standard of living is like for the more traditional inhabitants of Australia. I didn't really enjoy camping at Innes quite as much but I have come to appreciate how much of a difference we made and now that I look back, it could have been a lot worse and I should definitely appreciate what we have a lot more. It's really hard to think about that fact that I have been here for 3 weeks. It feels like a lot less and it's hard to believe it is over. I have had a great time here but I think I am ready to go home and see my family again (or most of my family). See you really, really, really soon, Your loving daughter/sister, Letitia xoxox