Long Beach Surfing!!!

It never rains here:) apparently there are places in New South Wales that is hasn't rained in 15 years!! New South Wales is the state within Australia that Wollongong and Sydney are located. Yesterday, we went to Long Beach in Sydney and took surfing lessons!! I learned how to boogie board and long board!! The water was 74 degrees and the beach was beautiful!! We had a twenty minute group lesson and then all of the instructors came out to the water and helped us catch waves!! We learned that “hang ten” is when you have all ten toes off the front of your board. The instructors said they would pay anyone who could do it 100 dollars...but I'm afraid all we could do were nose dives haha. I started on the boogie board and by the end of the day I was riding a long board!! It was so fun, but also really tiring. I have so much respect for surfers now...it is a really hard sport and it takes a lot of strength and patience. I am sore today!! When we arrived back at school we had an information meeting about our new school and about Wollongong. Then, we played basketball and hiked up the same mountain for a swim in the lake before dinner. At dinner, they made me gluten free pasta! It was delicious and it is so nice that they are catering to my needs! It can be soo frustrating to never be able to eat anything! After dinner, we watched a performance of aboriginal tribe dancers. It was really interesting!! This morning, we woke up and ate breakfast and packed our suitcases again...boy am I sick of moving!! This afternoon, we are going to move into the dorm at our university. I have a single room in international house. We are excited to finally ger situated and explore the city and buy all the things we need! I still don't have internet, only on my blackberry, but I can't wait to skype and see everyone!!! I miss everyone like crazy!!