Part 3: End of Week one.
As I type it is the end of my first week here in remote Australia, and I must say I am pleasantly surprised and happy with my experience so far. I am adapting to a slower pace of life, and adjusting my teaching to suit a completely different type of kid! For one who is special, intuitive, aware, wise beyond their years, spiritual, with their own customs and traditions and culture, and with at times limited English. I am really surprised how much I like it out here!
Every day is different for me at school, being a relief Teacher. I cover different classes on a day to day basis, and slowly as I get to know the kids and build relationships I can also build on teaching and learning. Some students are very compliant, and some are like trying to round up stray cats. They are not used to being told what to do, and live fairly autonomously outside of school. Sometimes it is more about social skills and their wellbeing; as they punch and kick and yell and grab hair, and cry quickly or flare up instantly. It is most likely that they are extremely tired from lack of sleep the night before, hungry, or sometimes have worms! That can make anyone feel agitated and uncomfortable!
After school I decided to do some painting. I love being creative and after I had borrowed some art supplies from the very well stocked and wonderful pre-primary Teacher (my new best friend! She even has a stash of eucalyptus oil which I have been eyeing off with an evil glint in my eye, I love that stuff! Purifies, cleans, refreshes, it’s like an immediate pine forest up your nose, in LOVE). So I was completely inspired! And what better to start with a self portrait!? Lol! All for fun!
I even did another one of my friend, after I persisted he send me a picture for inspiration. I try not to be too precious about it, I didn’t use an eraser once, and just did a quick sketch and then added the colour. I am loving this new basic 6 colour palette, I am achieving a whole range of new colours that make me feel very excited. I plan to fill the walls with paintings over the coming weeks!
So after my first painting, I went for a walk with some new colleagues of mine, and their gorgeous two dogs. Off we went chatting and walking right around the perimeter of the town. I discovered there is a roadhouse not too far from me, and a beautiful art gallery which I plan to visit today after school (I will take photos don’t worry!). We found a big oval, the only grassed oval in town, where the boys play football during the year, I bet they are like professionals. Aboriginal kids and adults in general are SO ATHLETIC. They are natural athletes and seem to have superior agility, speed, hand eye co-ordination and overall superior human qualities. Not far from the oval is a sandy rough looking dirt diamond, where the women play softball. Softball is HUGE out here. All the girls love it, and are awesome at it too. They have a pitch like a bullet and unbelievable accuracy. It really is very impressive. I am hoping to play lots of sport with them while I am here. I need to work on my throwing arm though! I used to be a legend thrower, like a boy! I pride myself on my tom boy can do sport skills, but funny thing is when you haven’t practised for awhile you get really rusty! It is actually embarrassing! The girls even had a laugh at me when I attempted to throw the ball to them, missing them by a metre or so. Trust me, I was laughing too!
As the moon rose over the barren landscape, I admired all the shadows and sun streaks and colours. I was happy! It was great to be having a new adventure, experiencing a new daily routine, a new way of life and really appreciating the simple things. So far my experience in the bush has been great, and I am enjoying making new friends and learning new things and having some time to be creative. My new routine is to get to bed early, wake up early and do some writing in the mornings. Painting will be part of my new creative routine too, and there is also more time for reading. Overall I think I will be able to handle the next 3 weeks no problems. Maybe it will be possible to stay a little longer? I know it would be great to come back another time during the year, but it is only early days, let’s see what the future has in store for me, and for us all!
Hope you have enjoyed reading about my outback experience so far. Please ask me any questions and make a comment if you have some time, I always love hearing some feedback!
Lots of love!
Anit xx
Live Your Truth 
The art is incredible! My favourite is the one at the bottom of this post with the 3 sinuous figures. Do you have any info about it?
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Yes I will find the artist for you! X
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Wow! Thank you!
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