Hiii my friends! Today we have learned a lot about the indigenous people, the Aborigines. Wow that was so cool and interesting, but also sad because still the Aborigines are discriminated.
We had planned for a trip to one of the exhibitions with aboriginal art in the city. But on our way Emma managed to run straight into a middle aged man as she was looking up at the majestic opera house. I could barely hold back a laugh, it looked so funny. Anyway the guy didn’t take offence and asked us if we were tourists, who were here for the first time. Apparently we were, everyone around us could tell just from how we had looked at the opera house, so embarrassing… We told him the obvious and he asked what we were about to do today. As he heard about our plans to see some of the aboriginal art he told us that he himself is an Aborigine and that if we wanted he could show us his culture. Of course we wanted! We agreed to take a taxi out to his village later in the afternoon, because we didn’t want to take advantage of his hospitality by staying with him the whole day and besides we also wanted to see a little bit more of Sydney.
So we began to walk through the city and managed to get lost twice, haha ;). Sydney is a really big city for those of you who didn’t know that and it wasn’t very difficult to get lost… Our next goal after the opera house was the Harbour Bridge, which we looked at for a long time. Emma took so many pictures that even the other tourists around us looked. We also managed to see some parts of the Sydney Harbour National Park but by an accident, haha, and since we already have written so much about National Parks and fantastic nature I think you’re probably not so interested to read about another one… Anyway after that we were hungry and decided to eat something.
We had planned for a trip to one of the exhibitions with aboriginal art in the city. But on our way Emma managed to run straight into a middle aged man as she was looking up at the majestic opera house. I could barely hold back a laugh, it looked so funny. Anyway the guy didn’t take offence and asked us if we were tourists, who were here for the first time. Apparently we were, everyone around us could tell just from how we had looked at the opera house, so embarrassing… We told him the obvious and he asked what we were about to do today. As he heard about our plans to see some of the aboriginal art he told us that he himself is an Aborigine and that if we wanted he could show us his culture. Of course we wanted! We agreed to take a taxi out to his village later in the afternoon, because we didn’t want to take advantage of his hospitality by staying with him the whole day and besides we also wanted to see a little bit more of Sydney.
So we began to walk through the city and managed to get lost twice, haha ;). Sydney is a really big city for those of you who didn’t know that and it wasn’t very difficult to get lost… Our next goal after the opera house was the Harbour Bridge, which we looked at for a long time. Emma took so many pictures that even the other tourists around us looked. We also managed to see some parts of the Sydney Harbour National Park but by an accident, haha, and since we already have written so much about National Parks and fantastic nature I think you’re probably not so interested to read about another one… Anyway after that we were hungry and decided to eat something.
After lunch we took a taxi and drove out to the aboriginal village. There we met our host who showed us around in the village. It remembered me a little bit of the village we had visited in Uganda, the one nearby Entebbe, although it all was quite different. The village wasn’t as primitive as the one in Uganda and the buildings and the people were all different too. As we had seen the whole village, looked at the people and houses, we followed our host to a fireplace where we sat down. We asked a bit about the aboriginal culture but most of the time he talked continuously, anxious to make us understand his culture and life. And he really managed! It was very interesting and we learned much. But now you probably want to know what he told us, right? Haha, or not? Anyway I’m going to tell you as much as I remember…
The aboriginal culture is the world’s oldest now-living culture. The culture is older than the bible, older than the pyramids, and also older than our nordic Viking stories. For example the oldest aboriginal cave paintings are more than two times older than the European ones. The culture varies from clan to clan but their sight on life is common. They consider that all life is a part of the same system and that the earth gives the human her identity. Most parts in the aboriginal culture have a religious meaning and their music is often linked to dance and drama. In the last years their art has increased in popularity and has now international attention.
The aboriginal culture is the world’s oldest now-living culture. The culture is older than the bible, older than the pyramids, and also older than our nordic Viking stories. For example the oldest aboriginal cave paintings are more than two times older than the European ones. The culture varies from clan to clan but their sight on life is common. They consider that all life is a part of the same system and that the earth gives the human her identity. Most parts in the aboriginal culture have a religious meaning and their music is often linked to dance and drama. In the last years their art has increased in popularity and has now international attention.
But as I mentioned earlier the Aborigines still don’t have the same rights as the other inhabitants in Australia. Many of them are unemployed and according to our host nearly 30 % of the Aborigines but only about 10 % of the whole country’s inhabitants are unemployed. Many Aborigines are living from contributions from the state, which some politicians want to reduce. In the politic the aborigines are very few and not until 2010 the first aboriginal politician became a member of the parliament!
It was really interesting to listen but I think that the highlight of our trip to the aboriginal village was the evening around the fire. They had painted their whole bodies with colors and danced and sang while some others were holding the rhythm with clapsticks.
It was really interesting to listen but I think that the highlight of our trip to the aboriginal village was the evening around the fire. They had painted their whole bodies with colors and danced and sang while some others were holding the rhythm with clapsticks.
In the evening, as we were back in Sydney, we managed to get tickets to the opera house! There was a concert from a band named "Band of Horses", so of course we had to see it- nerd warning! Oh, I think that we haven’t told you about our greatest interest yet: both Emma and I love horses (other animals too but the horses have a special part in our hearts) very much and are crazy horse-girls, haha… :) So the choice of concert was easy. Right now we’re sitting in the great opera house waiting for the "Band of Horses" to begin to play… //AK