January 8th, 2017

January 8th, 2017


Affirmation: “The longer I remain peaceful, the stronger I become.  Peace on the inside leads to real, meaningful progress on the outside.”


Word of the Day: flummadiddle (n):

1. something foolish or worthless: nonsense, trash

2.  bauble, frill

There Is Something in Us

Imagine a man selling his donkey

to be with Jesus.

Now imagine him selling Jesus

to get a ride on a donkey.

This does happen.

Jesus can transform a drunk into gold.

If the drunk is already golden,

he can be changed to pure diamond.

If already that, he can become the circling

planets, Jupiter, Venus, the moon.

Never think that you are worthless.

God has paid an enormous amount for you,

and the gifts keep arriving.

There is something in us

that has nothing to do with night and day,

grapes that never saw a vineyard.

WE ARE ALL RETURNING

says the Qur’an. Enjoy Shams,

or if you cannot do that, at least

consider what honest people tell you.

____

I woke up at 6 o'clock this morning despite the late night I had yesterday. After showering I talked with my dad's cousin and his wife some more and we left for the airport at about 7:15 for my 10 AM flight to Ayres Rock/ Uluru.

Descending into Ayers Rock Resort airport was breathtaking in its own right. The vastness of the dessert and dunes extended beyond the horizon in all directions, with no human being – or trace of one – or even animal in sight. The rusted iron red  landscape looked almost surreal in the dazzling sun and what few trees there were sparkled like emeralds in a Lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-esque ruby landscape.

When I got off the plane to walk to baggage claim, it felt as though heat had taken on a physical form and was embracing me tightly and refusing to let me go. It was over 100 degrees, and luckily it was a dry, desert heat (that was nonetheless stifling in its sharpness).

I had a shuttle pick up to the hotel where I was informed that my planned Mount Connor tour had been cancelled thanks to rain (Rain? Here? Really?) that had washed out the roads on the tour. I was disappointed, but quickly got over it because I now had the day to explore myself and have an earlier evening (I realized that I was actually quite tired). I was also informed that the vast majority of travellers to Uluru did not go to Mount Connor, which is a mesa in a cattle farm that isn’t even part of the National Park. It’s significance is that it is where the aboriginal Creator stepped to climb back into the stars (the Creator’s home).

So after checking into my room, unpacking, filling up my water bottle, and washing up a bit, I headed out again and took the shuttle to the camel farm. Rides were over for the day because of the heat, but that was ok because I’ve ridden a camel before. Instead, I learned a bit about the history of camels in Australia (they’re obviously not native) and I got to pet and feed them as well as look at the cattle, emus, kangaroos, and fowl on the farm.

From there, I went to Town Square, explored the shops, and then went to the Circle of Sand to attend the Bush Yarns talk and aboriginal weapons demonstration. I listened to stories of aboriginal culture and tradition such as man’s weapons used for hunting and women’s tools and techniques for gathering bush tucker.

From there, I caught the shuttle to the Ecology & Museum tour at the Wintjiri Art Museum. I was introduced to local history, aboriginal culture, Anangu land conservations and management practices, geology, and the region’s unique ecology and classes of mammals (at 3 types!) and fauna types not found elsewhere in the world.

Finally, I checked out the Resort’s Artist in Residence program since the artist was there and working on her art live for people to observe. The Artist in Residence program chooses indigenous and non-indigenous Australian artists to take up residence for a month at a time to create art pieces in situ, exhibit, and sell their work. The program showcases a diverse set of mediums (including things like cooking, weaving, and even medicine making!), which I thought added to the creativity of it all.

Finally, I headed back to my room, feeling overheated and dusty, able to see the sun and feel the sting of sunscreen in my eyes, even when they were closed. I peeled off my sticky clothes that were starting to make me shiver thanks to rapidly congealing perspiration, and took a long, warm shower (warm because apparently it’s the cold water that doesn’t seem to work here… and the hot water gets so hot that it’s even hotter than coffee water – it can “boil you alive”). I then ate an early dinner and surfed the web for a bit. I have SO much work that I’m behind on, but the internet here is slow and my days are long and I just want to breathe and experience and take it all in.

I’ll be off to bed soon in preparation for my full day’s worth of tours tomorrow, but my mind, my heart, and my spirit are full and a peaceful, gratitude and awe seems to pulse through my veins.

PS I haven't been including pictures of a lot of the really unique foods and treats I've been trying the past 2 days, but I will try to include more in future posts!

Still on my list are such Australian staples such as Vegemite, Pavlova,  Lamington cake, and more. 

I've realized that even such basics as yogurt and protein bars both taste different and come in different flavors than those in the US. 

Also interesting: planes often serve water, orange juice, hot tea (with milk and sugar), and coffee as the only beverage options. In other words, there was Sprite or Diet Coke on board my flight this morning!