It's a beautifully sunny morning. The only sounds filtering in through my open window are bird songs, lawn mowers and the occasional vehicle. The breeze is warm and smells of freshly trimmed grass. I could sit at this window for hours!

Just to back-track a bit before I go into more current happenings:
I went to my first Aussie Rules game last weekend! Attending an AFL game was on my list of cultural experiences. I was going to hold off on purchasing a ticket, as they are a bit pricey. I completely lucked into two FREE tickets last Saturday!
I was at Just Enough Faith chopping veg for the dinners that were to be taken out in the van to feed the homeless. I had been there for about 30 minutes when Alina, one of the charity's coordinators/the wife of the founder came in to the kitchen. She asked me if I would like to have their tickets to the Sydney Swans AFL season opener. She said that she and Jeff wouldn't be able to make it. I very happily accepted them! I stayed on another 30 minutes to finish the chopping job I had started and then set off to Central Station to catch the train to Sydney Olympic Park. En route I tried to think of who I could invite along, as I had two tickets and didn't want the other to go to waste. I called and sent texts to some of my friends I thought might be interested---one was in the mountains, one was at the zoo, one had an engagement party to attend, another was MIA, etc. So, I went alone and had such a fun time! (Desiree now thinks I'm going to be what she calls a "feral footy fan". ha ha ha!)

Oh! And I now have permission to work in Australia! Granted, I'm not supposed to work while I'm serving as an Ambassadorial Scholar, but I do intend to work once the scholarship period is over. I actually had to get the work permit in order to volunteer. Volunteerism and work in Oz are subject to the same restrictions/sanctions of immigration law, so I couldn't legally volunteer without clearance from the Australian government. All that's sorted now, of course!

Now on to some more recent things...

I started off this week with a Monday evening trip to Balmain for a Rotary meeting. Laurent, another of the Ambassadorial Scholars, presented to the Balmain club. I went to hear her presentation and to show her how to get to the meeting venue. (Turn right at the roundabout, that was my trick to remember when I first went.)
As always, I had a lovely time meeting with everyone and it was nice to visit with Laurent a bit. We had only hung out once before on the day of the Bridge Walk. She's such a lovely girl! And she has achieved despite what would be formidable barriers to some.

Tuesday was a relatively quiet day. I went to Undercliffe PS to do my literacy tutoring and spent the afternoon and evening at Sydney Uni in Fisher Library. I have quite a bit of reading to be doing right now, so I had to pack my bag full for a long week of study.

Wednesday was lovely. I was back at Undercliffe in the morning and chatted a bit with an integration teacher who comes in to assist with an autistic child in one of the classes I visit. This lady is a real gem. She asked me if I had been out of Sydney much and out into the country. I haven't yet, of course, so I told her I haven't but hope to do so soon. She said that she would ring me this next week and she'll take me down the south coast to show me some of the rural towns. I'm really looking forward to it!
I had a chat with the principal of the school just as I was leaving. I told her of the children's mural project I had helped coordinate with the Pikeville Rotaract Club last November, and I offered the suggestion of a similar project with an "importance of literacy" theme. She was very keen to implement the project, and she asked me to present the idea at the next staff meeting (April 23rd). I'm reworking my old project proposal from the Pikeville project and I'm going to be getting in touch with some Marrickville Rotarians to see if they are interested in endorsing the project, as Marrickville is the closest Rotary club to Undercliffe.
Speaking of the Marrickville RC...
I rang the president of Marrickville Rotary before I left for Undercliffe to see if I could schedule a visit with their club soon. I left a message at his business (thinking rather pessimistically that he wouldn't get back to me). To my surprise, he did return my call just before 5 p.m. He gave me the number of the Rotarian who manages the speakers list for the club. He told me to ring her quickly and I might still catch her in the office. I did so, and she was there. Needless to say, I'm speaking to the Marrickville club on April 23rd.! The woman with whom I spoke sounds like such a lovely person. I told her I am hosted by the Balmain Rotary Club and she said "Oh! Do you know Judith Ward?!" I had to laugh as I informed her that I do, in fact, know Judith. I told the woman that Judith is acting as my host counselor and she sounded delighted to hear that. She went on to say that they adore Judith and that she sometimes visits their club. She plans to ring Judith today to see if she wants to come along on April 23rd for my presentation.

I have a few more contacts to get in touch with to schedule two other presentations. One is in Five Dock, which would be accessible via bus. The other will be in Wollongong (which will be a day trip for me by train). I'm excited about both of the presentations, but I'm very chuffed to get to take a mini-trip to Wollongong. It will be nice to see some more scenery from the train en route.

That's all that is going on thus far! I have no plans for Easter and I'm research as usual for the next several months. The only things on the horizon (aside from speaking engagements) are: Sydney Rotaract meeting on April 11th, the Ambassadorial Scholar Seminar on April 14th, a BBQ in Gladesville with the Balmain Rotarians on April 16th, Postgraduate Seminar on April 23rd (which is a little scary, because I'm going to have to RUN to the bus and hope I make it with ample time to get to the Rotary meeting on Marrickville Road).