ough I was still sick and Matt was definitely getting pretty ill himself we decided to not let that stop us from enjoying our last weekend together. Friday night was Footy with Collingwood one game away from the grand final so we had to watch that...they lost. Saturday Al and Cheryl threw us an engagement party which was incredibly awesome of them!! They did a fantastic job with all the decorating, everything was really pretty! Pete and Jen were there and alot of other friends. We had a great time eating lots of good stuff. Al cranked up the music and even had his disco lights ou
t. He played a little Skynard just for me so Matt and I danced around to Sweet Home Alabama. The party took a small turn when Cheryl decided to go into labor. The music stopped and Al and Cheryl were rushed off to the hospital. It's Monday morning here and the poor thing has been in labor all this time. Cooper will hopefully be here some time today. The party was great and will for sure never forget it!On Sund
ay Matt took me to the Abbottsford Convent which has been turned into a school and artist community. The convent was established in the 1860's and became one of the largest convents in Australia. The convent was self-sufficient including a small farm and one other aspect of convent life that particularly caught my attention. Last year I watched a movie called The Magdalene Sisters about Magdalene Asylums or "Laundries" as they were more commonly known. Started as a place for prostitutes to come and try to find honest work these asylums morphed into places for so called "fallen"women who were forced into the convent usually by their families for such crimes as flirting or being raped. These asylums were likened m
ore to labor camps with girls being forced to work the laundry for insane hours in complete silence and severe beatings for those who disobeyed. Many of the girls who were forced into the asylums never got out. The last laundry closed in Ireland in 1996 revealing a shallow grave of over 155 bodies. Survivors of these Magdalene Laundries say the dep
iction in the film was very mild compared to the physical and mental abuse doled out by the nuns. I never knew these institutions were outside of Ireland and the UK but when we got to Abbottsford I saw the sign. I have no idea if this laundry was like the asylums in Ireland but I certainly hope not. The buildings themselves are in some decay and seem to have an air of sadness about them. It could just be the vacancy of the place or maybe I can't help but believe the girls that worked here probably did share their Irish counterparts fate. In great juxtaposition, next door has been overtaken by glass artists displaying some beautiful works of art. Maybe some day this structure will be filled with wonderful artwork too.
ay Matt took me to the Abbottsford Convent which has been turned into a school and artist community. The convent was established in the 1860's and became one of the largest convents in Australia. The convent was self-sufficient including a small farm and one other aspect of convent life that particularly caught my attention. Last year I watched a movie called The Magdalene Sisters about Magdalene Asylums or "Laundries" as they were more commonly known. Started as a place for prostitutes to come and try to find honest work these asylums morphed into places for so called "fallen"women who were forced into the convent usually by their families for such crimes as flirting or being raped. These asylums were likened m
ore to labor camps with girls being forced to work the laundry for insane hours in complete silence and severe beatings for those who disobeyed. Many of the girls who were forced into the asylums never got out. The last laundry closed in Ireland in 1996 revealing a shallow grave of over 155 bodies. Survivors of these Magdalene Laundries say the dep
iction in the film was very mild compared to the physical and mental abuse doled out by the nuns. I never knew these institutions were outside of Ireland and the UK but when we got to Abbottsford I saw the sign. I have no idea if this laundry was like the asylums in Ireland but I certainly hope not. The buildings themselves are in some decay and seem to have an air of sadness about them. It could just be the vacancy of the place or maybe I can't help but believe the girls that worked here probably did share their Irish counterparts fate. In great juxtaposition, next door has been overtaken by glass artists displaying some beautiful works of art. Maybe some day this structure will be filled with wonderful artwork too. Matt and I took a drive down to Sandown Racecourse to check out the Chilean Indep
endance Festival. We had watched a special about Chilean women dancing the "Cueca" alone as a protest against Pinochet and as a dance of sorrow over the loss of husbands and sons who disappeared under Pinochet's reign. I love Latin dance and had never seen anyone preform the cueca so we went to check it out. Australia is so much like America with one main difference, I don't hear people speaking Spanish. Everywhere I go at home you hear Spanish but not here. I take for granted all the wonderful things in my culture that have been brought in by Latino people. It's funny that it wasn't my own language that made me feel more at home. We saw lots of dancing including salsa, bachata and flamenco but no cueca. I am sure there was some later but we were both getting tired and were very full from mucho carne asada so we took off early.
endance Festival. We had watched a special about Chilean women dancing the "Cueca" alone as a protest against Pinochet and as a dance of sorrow over the loss of husbands and sons who disappeared under Pinochet's reign. I love Latin dance and had never seen anyone preform the cueca so we went to check it out. Australia is so much like America with one main difference, I don't hear people speaking Spanish. Everywhere I go at home you hear Spanish but not here. I take for granted all the wonderful things in my culture that have been brought in by Latino people. It's funny that it wasn't my own language that made me feel more at home. We saw lots of dancing including salsa, bachata and flamenco but no cueca. I am sure there was some later but we were both getting tired and were very full from mucho carne asada so we took off early. After a
n afternoon of resting, Matt took me to the Melbourne Show which is the equivalent of a big state fair. No matter how old I get I always feel like a kid at any sort of carnival. We rode the Ferris wheel with some hyper active kid who wouldn't sit down, kept trying to open the doors and finally whacked me in the face with his plastic sword. The bumper cars were much more fun. After I got my car to stop spinning in a circle in the same place I was actually able to ram some people pretty good! Everything here was pretty typical for a fair, animals, the rides, games, etc. There was one additional frenzy filled activity that American parents should be thankful we don't have since it's abscence saves you lots money. Collecting The ShowBags!!! There are booths filled with bags of trinkets 
you can buy including toys, fairy wings, blow up hammers, wigs, candy, yo-yos.....all kinds of stuff!! We got a few bags for Matt's niece and nephew and admittedly a few for ourselves. There is one that Matt had to have, the Bertie Beetle Bag. These chocolate beetles are only available at shows and exhibitions in Australia and are generally one of the cheaper showbags available. They are addictive these seemingly 
harmless showbags but once you buy one you just want more and you see people pushing strollers with fifty some bags tied to the handles. I curtailed my showbag buying and walked away with a modest three. We finished up our night at the fair watching a good old fashioned monster truck rally straight over from the US of A!!!
n afternoon of resting, Matt took me to the Melbourne Show which is the equivalent of a big state fair. No matter how old I get I always feel like a kid at any sort of carnival. We rode the Ferris wheel with some hyper active kid who wouldn't sit down, kept trying to open the doors and finally whacked me in the face with his plastic sword. The bumper cars were much more fun. After I got my car to stop spinning in a circle in the same place I was actually able to ram some people pretty good! Everything here was pretty typical for a fair, animals, the rides, games, etc. There was one additional frenzy filled activity that American parents should be thankful we don't have since it's abscence saves you lots money. Collecting The ShowBags!!! There are booths filled with bags of trinkets 
you can buy including toys, fairy wings, blow up hammers, wigs, candy, yo-yos.....all kinds of stuff!! We got a few bags for Matt's niece and nephew and admittedly a few for ourselves. There is one that Matt had to have, the Bertie Beetle Bag. These chocolate beetles are only available at shows and exhibitions in Australia and are generally one of the cheaper showbags available. They are addictive these seemingly 
harmless showbags but once you buy one you just want more and you see people pushing strollers with fifty some bags tied to the handles. I curtailed my showbag buying and walked away with a modest three. We finished up our night at the fair watching a good old fashioned monster truck rally straight over from the US of A!!!