Morning walks

Just a few more pictures of the local environment. These are all places I pass on my morning walk in the neighbourhood. The mountains are in the north, called the Catalina.
It was hard to get a clear photo of from here. I will try again soon.
They are really beautiful and tower above everything. The cactus is a native to this area and is called a sonora cactus , although I think it has another name . It looks like the kind they based "road runner" comics on, remember those, with the coyote !The other spikey one is what Tequila is made from !

My Office is now set up and I am preparing some presentations to offer in the American Indian department. I am excited to be able to share some films and also informtion about Australia in general. Specifically, I will be focusing on Aboriginal issues at home and particularly in reference to my work and research.

I am finally able to find my way around town a bit better and yesterday spent the day in the biggest book store I have ever seen. There is a wonderful muesum here as well and a rich collection of historical resources. Tucson is home to one of the largest American Indian collections in North America outside of the Smithsonian in Washington DC. I am planning a day to go explore Museums and galleries.

The weather here is monsoonal this time of year , really a lot like Darwin( Nth Australia ), in the middle of summer. It is very hot and humid now. In the afternoon it is common to experience flash floods and lots of lightening. The storms are fantastic to watch , but you don't want to get caught on a bike, ( which I was yesterday! ). I arrived back soaking wet and a little scared as well.

Things are going well , after a few glitches and getting lost . These things are expected in a move like this . I am meeting many wonderful people now. I have met people from all over the world and Tucson is a very multi cultural town. The focus on refugees and especially cross border issues , is one thing I am coming across everywhere here . I am going to try find a disk on learning spanish and find some local literature to learn more. On Saturday I have been invited to attend a performance by the" Refugee all stars ", a band from Sierra Leone. There is also a wonderful documentary about them that I hope to see.

Jackie ,One of the other Fulbrights I met in Australia arrived. We have spoken and plan to catch up soon. It was great and a little odd to hear an ozzie accent. I think I am already speaking American !