Ra-ra-random!

So I'm sitting here waiting for "Loose Change" to load. It's a documentary about how 9/11 was an inside job. We started watching it in Magazine Writing and it intrigued me. So here I am at midnight waiting for this silly thing to load. YouTube is no fun in Australia.

We went to Coolangatta on Friday and stayed over for the Quicksilver Pro Surf Competition, which was the next day. Let me preface this story by saying that I am deeply amazed at the friendships I have made on this trip. I've never been one to make friends easily or quickly, and usually it takes me a long time to open up to people and really form a strong connection. It's only on the rare occasion that I find someone that I immediately feel comfortable with. Here in Australia I have found about ten girls who get me in such a way that I feel like I've known them for 2 years instead of 2 months. I am extremely grateful everyday that this happened.

Having said that, sometimes, we get sick of each other, like any group of friends or sisters. Well, I think our trip to Coolangatta was a breaking point for that tension. It wasn't too damaging but there were definitely some tense moments. Some people take things too seriously, while some people don't take thing seriously enough. I won't elaborate because everything is fine now, but I just found it interesting that it took so long for us to want to choke each other.

Anyways. We got to Coolangatta and half of us went to the beach, and the other half walked around the town. After getting severely burnt after surfing and after finding out that Queensland has the highest rate of skin cancer in the WORLD, I have been very reluctant in going out in the sun, since I want to live past the age of 50. So Eleanor, Ashley and I got some great Greek food and explored the town, and then took a much needed nap.

We all got ready and went out that night. I found THE BEST sushi place in all of Australia and got Eleanor to actually eat some, though she despises fish. Most places in Oz are BYOB so we bought some beers to have with the food and ended up feeling pretty great. We went to the Hotel Coolangatta for a DVD release party of some kind and danced and had some laughs. Then we left pretty early because we were tired, but not before frolicking on the beautiful Coolangatta beach.

I woke up the next morning in a bed full of sand and learned that I had pushed Eleanor off the bed in my sleep. Then Ashley went unknowingly went outside and got absolutely reamed out by an approximately 1,000 year old German lady who said we made too much noise when we came in the night before. This is completely false. We came in and went to sleep. Ok, we watched Flashdance for 20 minutes. But I'm almost positive this lady never had grandkids to yell at, so she chose us to get her rocks off.

We left after that (we shut the door behind us as loudly as possible) and went to the beach to watch the competition. I felt pretty nasty. No sooner did we get there and learn that the competition had been moved to a another beach due to the wave conditions. A few of us played in the ocean on these wonderful rocks for awhile and then went home, so I missed out on seeing Kelly Slater and the other surfing world champions, but when it's 95 degrees out and you feel like you're about to die, you just want to get home.

Today was my day off, but I went to Robina to interview a youth pastor on abstinence until marriage for my Journalism Research article, bought a new bra, had volleyball, went to Don's for some fish, then say here with the girls and studied/giggled at Love, Sex and Relationships, which I guess they have a test in tomorrow.

I really am so grateful for these girls. I had a terrible falling out with some of my best friends at Northeastern last semester, and these girls have made those wounds heal up so much faster than they would have if I stayed at school.

Life is pretty good right now.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Easy like Sunday mornin'

Thursday we went to Don's for a Valentine's Day party. It was all right, they handed out playing cards to everybody and you had to go around and find your match. We met up with a bunch of Aussies we know and after Don's went to the Tavern. Friday we went to CBD, had an awful time, have given up on men totally. Last night we chilled and ate pizza and watched movies, then we were going to go to Surfers at night but I ended up getting really sick. Today I think me and Ilana are going to a Volleyball championship at Surfers, pretty much my dream come true.

I think next Friday we're going to Surfer's for a surf competition, then we're going to stay over in a hotel room. Can't wait for Sydney in 2 weeks. Kbye!

BULA BULA FIJI

Back from The Feej, also known as Fiji.

It was....interesting.

The whole trip started off incredibly bad. Our flight was at midnight, but we had to leave campus at 4 o'clock in the afternoon because the last train to the airport left so early. The minute we got to the bus stop, with all of our luggage, it began to monsoon. I'm not exaggerating. It was the most violent rainstorm I have ever had the misfortune to be stuck in. Cars started almost crashing into each other, we couldn't even see a foot in front of us. Soon, all the buses had been canceled and we had to call a cab. The cab came, and he wouldn't take all five of us. Kicks two of us out. By now, we're completely soaked, along with all of our luggage. We would've canceled had we not spent a grand on the trip, so we soldiered on.

We sat soaking wet on the air conditioned train until we got to the airport in Brisbane, and then we got to change, so everybody got a little happier. And also we got to saran wrap our luggage so druggies couldn't get into them, which was super cool.

I didn't sleep on the flight, and because of the two hour time difference, we landed in Fiji at 6 AM. After we got to the main island and to the city of Nadi, we had to get into an AWFUL bus that had no air conditioning and drove on roads with giant potholes. AND AFTER THAT, we had to get on a boat for five hours. I faded in and out of consciousness on the boat and then had to concentrate on not puking for the last hour.

Finally, we got to the island of Tavewa, part of the Yasawa Islands. Fiji is made up of 300 islands, and we picked the furthest island out of all of them.

We were staying at a place called "Coral View" and all the staff members came out to greet us as we stepped off the boat. They all yelled "BULA!" which is a greeting in Fijian. They hugged each and every one of us. I retract my statement about Australians being the most friendly people in the world, because Fijians definitely win that round.

So, I know I'm spoiled. This comes as no shock to me. I like my bed without bugs, as well as my bathroom and shower. I like to primp and make an attempt to be attractive. However, at Coral View, I was not allowed these small pleasures. We were crammed into a room with 12 dirty beds. They never washed the sheets. There were mosquito nets with odd pink ribbons on them that trapped in all the heat at night so you couldn't breath. Also I found multiple species of bugs in my bed, which was beyond terrifying.

The bathroom and showers were a mess. Not only were bugs always crawling around in there, but they got backed up constantly, and smelled disgusting. Also, they were not sound proof. I was going to bathroom once and the guy in the stall next to me was puking his guts out. Lovely.

This trip proved to me how much I despise being outside and "roughing" it. I am incapable of doing this. I'm not ashamed to admit it. That's just the way I am, and now I know my lesson.

There were some good points about Coral View. We went cave diving, which was fantastic. At one point, we had to propel ourselves through a small underwater hole in order to get from one cave to another and it scared the bejesus out of me. But I did it! I was so proud of myself, and the result was well worth it. The cave was beautifully scary and dark and creepy but who can say they've done that?

There's a 70's movie with Brooke Shields called "The Blue Lagoon" and we went to the actual lagoon where the movie was shot. I went snorkeling for the first time and I saw a sea snake and almost peed my pants. But I'm just really proud of myself for doing all of these things that scare me. Sidenote: The lagoon was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I got horribly sunburn, but that's nothing new.

Things I learned from Coral View:
1.) Canadians are lame.
2.) Hammocks are not.
3.) How to say "Vanaka" and "Ise Lei" (means Thank You and Goodbye)
4.) Having a mirror and soap is KEY
5.) They don't neuter their dogs

We stayed at Coral View for three days and three nights. It was a good experience, but I can't tell you how glad I was to get back on that godforsaken boat. I actually felt homesick for Australia, not Boston.

*One thing I thought was really interesting was how the staff members at Coral View knew only island life. They have never left Fiji in their lives. One of them didn't know how to work Eleanor's camera. They took out of the trash our Australian magazines. It's just crazy to think that their world is so small.

Back on the main island, we went to our new hostel called the Aquarius. I never realized that Fiji is a third world country. There were stray dogs who were eating grass because they were so hungry. People drive around in ancient cars and the school kids run around with no shoes on. It was just a shock to be in a country like that.

THE AQUARIUS WAS AMAZING. Big screen TV, couches, restaurant, pool. My middle-class American heart jumped for joy. Sad, yet true.

We spent the night there on beds that didn't have their own ant colonies and left the next day at 6 o'clock. We got back to Bond at 1:30 AM on Tuesday morning. I immediately washed all my stuff. Can't be too careful.

I wish I could say that the trip was totally worth that kind of money, but I'm not 100 % sure I'd be telling the truth. We all got really sick too. Abby got a skin rash all over her body, causing her to have whitehead looking things all over her body. Ilana and Eleanor got massive bug bites, Ashleys had a stomach ache, and I was just dirty and miserable while we were there. I would tell people to only go if they like the outdoors, which I honestly don't.

Oh well. Something to tell my kids about.

Now we're back in Australia, huzzah! It's Valentine's Day tomorrow, wah wah. We're all going to rebel and have a girls night out tomorrow, I can't wait. I still haven't found a decent man around here, hopefully that will change.

I haven't been too good about the whole "going to class" thing, I have to work on that. Until I have something exciting to write about, ise lei!

So I thought I would catch everyone up on everything I've been doing over the last few weeks.

Two weeks ago I took a surfing lesson in Byron Bay:



Easily one of the scariest and best experiences of my life. I was petrified out there in the ocean, and I was god-awful at it, but I'm just proud of myself for getting out there and trying something completely new and different.

After we went surfing, we explored Byron Bay, which is the most beautiful place I have been to. Right up there with Fenway Park and a 24-hour bagel shop.





After spending the whole day at Byron Bay, I ended up getting a second degree burn on my face. I looked like Sloth from The Goonies. But I was a trooper, and the next day we went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, about an hour away from school. I got to hold a koala! And feed a kangaroo! And now I know what a dingo is! It was an incredible day.








That's a video of the Aboriginal dance troupe we saw and their didgereedoo player, who was AMAZING. It's slowly becoming one of my favorite sounds in the world.

Last Saturday was Australia Day, which is just like the Fourth of July, minus the hot dogs. We spent the night over in Brisbane, a major city about an hour away from the Gold Coast. We watched dancing, and fireworks, got temporary tattoos, and drank some beers. The night did not go as well for me as it should've, but these things happen. Then the next day a bunch of us stayed in the city and went to the Andy Warhol museum and visited the botanical gardens. Aside from the night, I had a great first experience with Australia Day.











Then this weekend was fun as well. On Thursday, Bond hosted this night at Don's called "Palaver Grease," meaning what, I don't know. My loan finally came through and gave me enough money to actually start doing fun things, so I decided to spend 30 bucks on a ticket. I thought we all would get to dress up and dance to Grease so I could fulfill my dream of being Olivia Newton-John (and also free drinks from 7:30 to 11 were promised). However it kind of sucked. Again, Australians can't hold their liquor.

On Saturday we went on a wine tasting tour! It was fantastic. We went up to Mt. Tambourine and visited five different wineries, each of whom gave us 5 different wines to sample. I learned how to smell the wine, how to taste it, what to eat with it, and I even liked some of the reds which is short of unbelievable. I bought a bottle called Jacarranda White because knocked my socks off when I drank it. Overall it was a great experience and I'm glad we did something smaller that wasn't touristy and something that not all Bond students do.

THIS WEEK WE'RE GOING TO FIJI!!!!!!!!! We leave on Wednesday night and come back on Monday. I'm beyond excited. I fully recognize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so ready for it. And I dropped a grand on this trip, so it better be life-changing. :)

Superbowl tomorrow, GO PATS!