School is great and all but now the fun starts!

I'm oh so excited because this past Thursday I attended the university's African Drumming Club (ADC) for the first time and it was sooooo much fun!! There was a great mix of people and everyone was there to have a good time. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people had no drumming experience. They came because they were interested in drumming and/or African Culture and were looking to have a good time.

We all sat around to start learning a new song, which was in 6:8 time and apparently on the more difficult end of what we do. There were homemade congas, djembes, bells and shakers. We all took turns playing each instrument and their various accompaniments in the multi-textured rhythm. After we got our groove going we started to add the vocals. All I can say was that I had a perm a-grin while sitting there playing a conga and singing. Playing music is my outlet and I found my emotions were intensified after being without it for quite a while and then having a sudden release. I can't wait for the next rehearsal this Thursday to keep learning and playing and having fun. Perm a-grin. ;-)

Come to find out that the club is an organized unit that actually plays shows around Melbourne. Nothing too big or fancy but we play out none-the-less. That only made me love it more. I loved it so much that I sprained my ankle on the way home while bounding up the apartment stairs wearing my rain-soaked shoes with no traction. Dooh!! It was only a minor sprain but enough to keep me home bound for the weekend. I'm now "ooot & abooot" again and feeling old. Between the ankle, my lower back injury, my upper back injury and the newly occurring (just before the trip) heel injury (occurs whenever I walk too much so I call it "city heel"), I feel like I'm falling apart. Damned if I'll let it stop me though.

So in addition to the ADC and spraining my ankle I also attended the first of eight classes for massage. This coarse covers the basics of traditional massage and Thai massage. Today we started with the feet. We all paired up and massaged each other’s feet while under the instruction of the teacher Linda Birch who is a professional masseur, aromatherapist and naturopath. That last one sounds a bit scary but she comes across just fine. She taught us a plethora of moves among which are the "thumb press", "arch squeeze", "ankle boogie" and "cross thumb slide". However my favorite was "greeting the feet". That is where you make initial contact with the feet by holding pressing them. It's all very cordial. Next week we move on to the face, head, neck and shoulders.

Last but not least....I got elected to the University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association Council. I'm very excited and nervous about this one. I haven't actually been to a meeting yet so I'll give you the poop when I do. Check it out @ http://www.umpa.unimelb.edu.au/ if you want. This is the last and final extra-curricular activity I will be involved with. School is hard enough without the extras!