On Saturday, May 11, I accompanied Dr. Mike Weigold and Dr. Debbie Treise to a market they had visited the last time they were in Australia, the Paddington Markets. This classy market is much like Gainesville's twice-a-year downtown arts and crafts market, only here it is held weekly.
In the afternoon, Dr. Treise and I went to the Australia Museum. I'm a bit of a museum nerd (OK, make that a lot of a museum nerd), and this natural history museum had much to offer. Of particular interest to both of us were the permanent exhibits on the Aboriginal people and Surviving Australia.
Aboriginals had been in Australia for at least 40,000 years when the British arrived in 1787 and declared them persona non grata. I was prepared to learn about the atrocious treatment afforded the Aborigines back in the day. What I wasn't prepared for learning how some mistreatment continues to this day.
I'm not pointing fingers here; we Americans have much blood on our hands when it comes to treating all of God's children as equal. But I guess I had hoped that racial discrimination was mostly an American problem.
I learned about an Australian version of our 1961 Freedom Rides to call attention to racial inequality in the south. In Australia, the rides were held in 1965 and proved to be a mirror image. The rides exposed ingrained segregation as white toughs responded violently to the bus rides.
The Surviving Australia exhibit was also interesting. Australia is famous for its panoply of deadly creatures, and you can learn about all of them at the Australia Museum (and that these notorious deadly critter attacks are quite rare). Especially intriguing were displays of fascinating extinct creatures such as the Tasmanian tiger and the usual wildlife, such as a surface water bug that hangs upside down, or into the water.
But what was really cool about the day is that I ran into our students at both the Paddington Markets and the Australia Museum. It's great to see Gators engaged in learning about local culture.
More in pictures.
In the afternoon, Dr. Treise and I went to the Australia Museum. I'm a bit of a museum nerd (OK, make that a lot of a museum nerd), and this natural history museum had much to offer. Of particular interest to both of us were the permanent exhibits on the Aboriginal people and Surviving Australia.
Aboriginals had been in Australia for at least 40,000 years when the British arrived in 1787 and declared them persona non grata. I was prepared to learn about the atrocious treatment afforded the Aborigines back in the day. What I wasn't prepared for learning how some mistreatment continues to this day.
I'm not pointing fingers here; we Americans have much blood on our hands when it comes to treating all of God's children as equal. But I guess I had hoped that racial discrimination was mostly an American problem.
I learned about an Australian version of our 1961 Freedom Rides to call attention to racial inequality in the south. In Australia, the rides were held in 1965 and proved to be a mirror image. The rides exposed ingrained segregation as white toughs responded violently to the bus rides.
The Surviving Australia exhibit was also interesting. Australia is famous for its panoply of deadly creatures, and you can learn about all of them at the Australia Museum (and that these notorious deadly critter attacks are quite rare). Especially intriguing were displays of fascinating extinct creatures such as the Tasmanian tiger and the usual wildlife, such as a surface water bug that hangs upside down, or into the water.
But what was really cool about the day is that I ran into our students at both the Paddington Markets and the Australia Museum. It's great to see Gators engaged in learning about local culture.
More in pictures.
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