Meat pies in a Sunburnt Country

Everyone shoud taste an aussie meat pie.. Similar to a chicken pot pit in the states, the meat pie is baked fresh each day in small, privately owned bakeries.. Not like the donut babkerys we are familiar with in the great U.S. of A, but a pastry shop which is meant to be for lunch and dinner.. Anyhow, these are a creation of God.. A food item that should be illegal.. Im on a steady diet of them since I left the field.. Well, lets move on... I finished my first week of training this past Saturday late into the evening. An experience that has once again help mold me not just as an employee of OEG, but as a human being. This experiece has taught me that I am capable of growing each and everyday. Therefore, I choose to do so. I woke up each day with series of different challenges.. The first day was possible the most difficult.. I was given the keys to a work truck.. Doesnt seem like much of a challenge, but WE DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD HERE.... it was strange to say the least...By the end of the day, I was backing trails from the passenger seat and hollering cheers to my other American trainees to say congrats.. Cheers by the way, means thank you in the land down under.. Upon completing that task we headed for a swim in a small lake near the high ropes course. I will be spending quite a bit of time at the ropes course leading team builing initiatives and trust activites.. I love that kind of work, so I strongly look forward to it. Anyway, back to the swim.. I swam for a bit them headed back to camp for dinner.. I wasnt sure what to expect in regards to our meals, but only one word can be used to describe them now, gourmet... Unbelievable the amount and quality of the food.. Fresh vegatables everyday for lundh and dinner.. We had bacon, lamb, chicken, soy, tons of coffee and tea.. Fresh fruit, cheese, crackers, lots of cereals, and of course VEGEMITE... Vegemite is an australian paste which is loaded with vitamin b.. It is illegal to bring it into the states, someone told me because of the high levels of salt in it.. I would think we would be all about that back home, with the salt consumption that occurs there.. lol.. The week progressed with great success. Tuesday was more ropes and challenge courses and I passed all my qualification tests for the low and high rope elements. Wednesday I woke a bit nervous beacuse of the challenge at hand.. Rock climbing and absailing.. Scary stuff for me.. Ive never been one to think it was a good idea to tie yourself to some ropes and climb up the side of a mountain. However, I was faced with this challenge and wanted to conquer it. I did it so in a smashing fashion. I climbed mulitple times, got a little bit more confident each time and actually passed my certification to facilitate it.. I wont be setting up the system , a more qualified staff will do that, but I will be there to assist the students at the bottom.. Absailing is rappelling. Not sure where the name comes from but its a fun sport. You get to lower yourself down the mountain.. Therefore you are actually walking backwards down the side of a cliff.. Quite a thrill.....Canoeing came next and proved to be a little more challenging than I anticipated. The technical side of canoeing whitewater is extremely by the book and takes great form.. My instrustor competed in the Olympics some time ago and was quite a bitch. Yet, we all fell in love with her direct, sometimes harsh words. I feel that I need alot of practive to break away from my old paddling habits. My form is coming together quite nicely and I am excited about hitting the water in the near future... The last day of training was in bushwalking.. A fancy aussie word for hking.. The heat had been somewhat intense all week, but decided to be at its hottest the day we decided to go trounce through the australian bush. It was HOT... The temperature rose and rose and eventually hit 100.. We constantly stopped by the creeks that had water and would put our bodies and faces into them.. Your clothes dont stay wet long here. They can dry in roughly 15 minutes.. Its amazing to experience.. The day was quite educational and I enjoyed the orienteering and mapreading ecspecially.. Orienteering is a a challenge course set up in the woods by different markings and locations.. We are given a blank map and a reference point to start at. Then we use bearings and linear natural lines in the landscape to find the points. The first group to find all of theirs is the winner.. Ive been told there are competitions throughout the world. Im going to look into it... Saturday came, and the first part of training had ended. It was a beautiful week full of great conversation, valuable lessons, and memories that will last forever. I am growing everyday and know this is where I am suppose to be. I started Raft training today and kicked ass at it.. I love it. We hit the river tommorrow and will get to see some whitewater.. Not much, but a little. I will keep you posted on how it goes. I love you all and will call soon. Please write me and let me know how you are.. Miss you and will stay in touch... Love from down under.... Walk in peace...