First Day on the Job

So today, I started the first day of my PAYING job. :D Yes, you heard correct, I got a paying job. Hurray! I work for the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance www.arha.org.au (to be known as ARHA going forward). ARHA is a NGO that lobbys and advocates for reproductive and sexual health, women's rights to be included on government development agendas - so that includes all aspects of family planning. Which is pretty interesting for me - b/c I'm not sure what I think about all the various options of family planning that they advocate for. It's going to be a neat learning experience. In terms of what I actually do - I"ll be working a few days a week on the microbicide campaign (we're working towards creating a symposium where we'll invite politicians aka "pollies" in Australia, pharmaceuticals, and other stakeholders to come learn more about microbicide - a more recent development in HIV/AIDS prevention). And I'll also be working a few days a week on a young women's sexual health conference coming up in July. And I'm also suppose to help w/ website maintenance - yeah... I learned how to use some stuff in Dreamweaver today... cool... So I'm doing all sorts of stuff that I really enjoy and am really interested in. Today, I spent most of the day just reading up on reproductive health and the benefits of it.

Cool colleagues as far as I can tell. I am once again in an office with more women than men. That's okay, my time at the Leukemia Society has prepared me. And there are even 2 pregnant women. ;) I'm waiting for the mood swings... ;)

Other than that, I'm just settling into living in Canberra. Found a gym to join and started preparing my lunch meals. Unfortunately, I don't have my mom to cook all my lunch leftovers anymore so I've had to start cooking myself. :( I think she'd be proud of me though. I've found a church to join - I met some board games enthusiasts and I plan to convert them into Settlers of Catan fans. (I brought the game with me). And I'm going plenty clubbing in Canberra and returning at ungodly hours in the morning. Good times! :D

Alright, that's it from me. Got go to bed now so I can get up early and go running.