Time for another update from Downunder. So we got in to Sydney a few days ago and we are staying in dorms at UNSW. We are about a 15 minute bus ride to the center of Sydney, which we have gone to the past two nights we have been here. We had our first class in awhile this morning, now the real school work begins. Although we still manage to find plenty of time to have fun. We are working on the Whale Migration right now and I am booked to go see both an AFL and Rugby League game. This Sunday I am going to Hillsong Church which is going to be awesome, you have to reserve a seat on a courtesy bus. The bus leaves from downtown Sydney and takes about 1 hour to get to the church, but it will be well worth it! So that’s what’s on the radar ahead of me, as far as the past week I guess I have some writing to do.

So we left Darwin on Friday morning and flew down to Alice Springs, the only real town in the center of Australia. We got off the plane and boarded a bus which took us to the Center for Appropriate Technology (CAT). This place was awesome, I finally met engineers who were doing really cool stuff that had a purpose. Now that’s an exaggeration because a lot of my professors have awesome passions but this was the first company that I had come across that pretty much spelled out everything I wanted to hear. The companies goal is to secure sustainable livelihoods through appropriate technology for remote communities. Basically that means that they work alongside Aboriginals and develop sustainable technology and practices so as to ensure a better well-being for these people. The communities they work with range from 1-6 homes, very small communities that live essentially in the middle of nowhere. One of the important differences between this company and most others is that they focus on working alongside the people they are working with. Rather than simply moving in and installing new technology for these people and then moving on to the next community, CAT spends many months with the people; teaching them about the technology, showing them how to maintain it, informing them about appropriate energy usages, and a list of other stuff. I was much more impressed with that aspect of the company than the engineering aspect, although the engineering part was pretty incredible too. CAT focuses on simple designs, things that are easy to use and understand. From a toilet, to a wheelchair lift, to the photovoltaics, everything was simple. Now granted PV’s are complex, but CAT made sure to make the interface and control box simple and easy to understand for these people. Everything they did made so much sense, finally engineering applied to helping people. I asked the head of the company if he was thinking of starting up in Africa any time soon, I sort of got a smile as a response. I guess I shouldn’t call them a company because they are actually a non-profit organization. Anyway, the place was pretty cool and if I ever find myself in the middle of central Australia again, I’m gonna stop in again.

From there we got back on the bus and drove to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Along the way we saw a camel, dingo, and kangaroo running in the middle of the road. We also stopped at a Camel Farm and rode some camels. Considering I have never even ridden a horse, it was pretty cool. From there it was back onto Uluru. Most people have probably seen the picture of this, it is a huge rock in the middle of absolutely nothing. It is considered the spiritual center of Aboriginal culture. The rock is over 1100 feet tall and has a base circumference of 6 miles, yeah, it’s big! The first day we got there we walked up to it and looked at a Rock Art site. We then walked around the base which took about 2 hours and ended the day by watching the sunset. We didn’t actually watch the sun, rather we watched the rock which turned an incredibly vibrant red. To top it off, as the rock was changing colors, a full moon came up directly behind the rock. It was beautiful! Later I found out that it was a blue moon which means it is one of two full moons in the same month which is pretty rare. We couldn’t have asked for a better night. From there we went back to our hotel which was an experience. Essentially Uluru is the only thing around where we were, therefore there was one hotel for miles around. I finally understand what a monopoly means. We paid $200 for one room which had two bunkbeds and was not big enough for all four people to stand at the same time. We had to pile our suitcases on top of each other simply to fit them in the room, it was pretty insane. Since there was nothing else anywhere, we hung out at the bar at the hotel that night. I played doubles pool with one of the guys against a few of the locals. The first game we took them and did pretty well, however the second game we got our butts smoked. See the rest of the world apparently plays with small pool balls, and have a few different rules than back in the states. Between that change and the fact that my partner made some horrendous shots (although I can’t say much because I wasn’t playing too well either), we got destroyed by two locals. It’s safe to say that we avoided the pool tables for the rest of the night.

The next morning we got up bright and early and went out to see the sunrise. This time we went to the Olgas (I forget the Aborignal name for them, I think Kada Tjuta) so that we could see those rocks change color and see the sun rise beside Uluru. It was equally as awesome as the sunset and I took more pictures than I ever have of the sun (which is the only star in our solar system for those of you who are wondering). After the sun was up, we went and hiked into Kada Tjuta. Along the way we passed two kangaroos hiding in the bushes. Now it felt like I was in the Outback, hiking in some boulders alongside kangaroos, not bad at all. Once we got back on the bus we went back to the hotel to pack up and it was back off to another airport. This time it was off to Sydney. We got into Sydney that afternoon and were quickly settled into our dorm rooms. And that’s where I’m sitting now. As far as nature goes, I couldn’t be more impressed after the past few days. I am so thankful and grateful for this experience, it’s not everyday that you get to go from the Endless Planes of the Serengeti to the Outback in the heart of Australia. This planet is an incredible place; it simply puts this Energy course into perspective. We talk a lot about alternative energy and sustainable design and the future of this planet. The way we are living our lives now is not exactly the way to ensure that this planet is around in the future. From simple things like turning lights out in unused rooms to bigger things like reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, there’s so many ways that we can lessen our destructive impact to this planet. It’s becoming clearer and clearer why God led me to these two trips, I’m finding what I’m passionate about. I’m seeing what I want to do with my future. I don’t know exactly where I will end up, but all that matters to me now is that it involves helping others. Whether that is in working with indigenous people to ensure a sustainable future, or working with disaster management teams for natural disasters, or working in an inner-city encouraging young kids that are severely at risk, all that matters to me is what is driving me to work where I am. One thing that I am realizing more and more is that America is not as well-off as we sometimes like to think. There is always this big distinction between developing and developed countries, and although there certainly is a difference between the two, I don’t think we can always approach the situation as “we are a developed country and are here to help those who are less fortunate than us.” Some of those things in our life that we feel make us superior to an underdeveloped country may actually not be as beneficial as we may first think. That’s something that I slowly saw in Africa and is popping up again here in Australia. It’s amazing how poor the Aboriginals are treated by the rest of Australia. Australia is a very divided country, half of them trying to mimic the United States and the other half trying to live like they always have, in harmony with the land. I was talking with one of the locals here and he said something very interesting about the distinction between white men and Aboriginals. White men view the land as something they can own and use and manipulate. Aboriginals view themselves as part of the land, and if they treat the land well, it will treat them well. I think that distinction is what divides most of the world into developing and developed countries, but I’m not convinced that the developed countries have the right answer.