Gory souvenirs from Africa anyone?

What? Don't you think this peace of art deserves to be recognized as the souvenir of the month, if not the year? I thought it reminded me of my spiritual home, Africa (yes, it's a continent, not a country, but is sounds more artistic this way), which I've been thinking about quite a bit lately. Mostly due to my previous long trip similar to this, when I did my thesis in Tanzania in 2008. And learned a lot from life in general. Probably wouldn't be here today, studying International health, having terrific friends from all over the world, ended up in Melbourne for a practical training. When you travel, you think. That's just how it goes.

Here's the lioness' head in a less majestic pose next to the oddity, the Michelin man clock. The shop also seems to sell Michelin man figurines, so I just might HAVE to pop in when it's open. The pictures were taken after opening hours, which might have looked even more weird to the people passing by. Oh, well, the privilege of being a tourist, is to have an ability to push aside the sense of awkwardness that's associated with these situations. :D

Btw, just posted a (poor) picture of the gym on the previous blog post. Went there today and must say, I think I'll be changing my religion. My soul echoes after a workout - I crave for something more and profound. I'm trying out pilates or the sort, I think. Gym's nice, but it might be time to expose myself to something more soothing, but on the other hand, more efficient. My opinion was probably influenced by the fact that I was a bit uncertain in orienteering my way there (worried for nothing) and then I realised one stop before the gym that I had forgotten my pants. Since my only pair of jeans (yes, I know, what was I thinking in the first place?!) is not the ideal set of gym pants, I first went to the gym to ask where to buy pants, then bought smelly Asics-pants at a second hand shop (yuck) for 5 dollars and THEN went back to the gym for the actual workout. The actual shop for sporting goods was somewhere too far of, and I decided to save some time. The price of this experience of exploratory journalism is therefore 5 dollars (+ myki money for the train and tram), because I had to throw the pants in the rubbish when i got back. They were too big and there's just something fundamentally wrong with second hand garments that have been too involved with the person's crotch.

Weekend went by quickly, but I managed to gain some great experiences like my modest 21 km run by the beach (lost track of distance and time, not a fancy planned "long run of the week"), and a run  the day before by Albert lake and went to see Australian footie on Saturday. Sunday was a relaxed day with my supervisor's family by the beach too. Since it was a bit rainy and rugged, our outdoor life was a little limited, but I thought walking on the beach in the drizzle was exciting. A tourist easy to please, it seems... ;) Been enjoying their hospitality ever since, and it's great to be able to see a little bit of family life too, whilst here. 

Wildlife spotting so far: an opossum up in the tree. And Chester, the dog. Hopefully more experiences next weekend

Will be writing soon a little bit on what I actually came here for... Will keep you posted! 

Thanks for reading and please, leave comments every now and then. Kaikki kielet käy. :)