On Gypsies Getting Married and Pondering Retirement

As many of you know, I just got done with a week and a half holiday. As usual my plans did not go . . . as planned?

Originally I had hoped to travel by train to Melbourne, the art capitol of Australia. My plans fell through and I found myself facing holiday "a lone" in Sydney. This reality did not last long, though, and I instead, found out what great friends I had made here in Australia.
I was invited to go with my Australian friend, Marianna (better known as Maz), to her home for the weekend.

It was so relaxing, fun. and . . .homey (Something this gypsy does not get to experience often.) I was especially excited that her family liked to play games, including my favorite - Risk.
When I returned to student housing I received some really difficult news. One of my friends from Cedarville had died in a car accident.

Again my friends came through for me. The Aussies here at Flo (student housing), surrounded me with hugs and prayer. Maz and I had a sleep over in my room (which is huge and lonely with out my room mate, and felt even more huge after the news). My friend Paul went with me on a photo hunt (you can see some of the results on facebook!) and then another day he took me and some other Flobians to Palm Beach.

By Friday I was feeling a lot better, the Americans had returned from their holiday, and we were off on another trip to the bush. None of us Americans really wanted to go on this trip. We were all tired from our various activities and hot and just tired of traveling in general.
We traveled by train for about a an hour and a half. When we arrived at the camp we were split into totem family groups. Mine was the Geribil or Mag Pie. "Great." I thought, "My totem is loud and annoying." I think a lot of totem members were thinking the same thing.

As the weekend progressed, I ended up having a lot of fun. We walked professor Umra’s land and learned about her traditions, belief’s, and ourselves. I got to see Palm Beach from the other direction, and my totem decided that we were protective, funny, and unique(on top of being loud and annoying). We ended the weekend by dancing our totem dances around a bonfire, eating Aussie s’mores, and playing a wicked game of ultimate frisbee in the dark...
I also got married to my friend Colin, had eight children and became a grandmother to about twenty others. Of course this was all to illustrate Aboriginal family structure and I am no longer any of those things.

On the way back in the train today, a million thoughts went through my head as a thousand trees sped by. Umra knows what it is like to be separated from Country(home) and we had talked about this feeling. I also thought about how I only have a month left before I leave this country, and my newly made friends. I was overcome by the feeling of being tossed by a great wind, and I was tired of it. I wonder if Gypsies can retire?

With that thought, I must close this letter. Dinner is about to be served and I am tired. I am not sure if I will be able to keep in contact with you this month as much as I have. It is "crunch time" at Wesley Institute and things are coming to a close here.

Thank you so much for your prayers, letters, and support.