Orientation, Cruise, Friends, Dancin’ & Iraqis
Well, last nite was freakin awesome. Started out with orientation, which was pretty boring, but lunchtime was awesommmme! My friend Stephanie, from Jersey, came over with her roommate, Joanne, and she brought over her friend Dulce. Stephanie and Joanne left and Dulce and I chatted for half an hour. It was freakin great! It was so easy to talk to her…and it was so cool just being on the same wavelength with somebody, if that makes any sense. She goes to college in Mexico City.
After registration I went back to the pad, then left for the city with Ryan. We had a cruise in the harbour at 7, and had to get there on time or we’d miss it! We made it, and man was the cruise awesome! We set off right at the Opera House and circled around the harbour a couple of times. I had quite a bit of anxiety because the last time I was on a boat of that size I was in Alaska, where I got seasick, and I have a pretty big hang-up with vomiting. I did alright tho, only got sketchy a few times and I just prayed a bit and He helped me through it.
On the boat they had two bars, as well as a dance floor on the bottom deck. For most of the time I was just sightseeing, but i talked with a bunch with friends and danced a bit. To tell you the truth, I was paranoid most of the night that I would get sick, checking my phone for the time, and making sure I was outside and on the bottom deck. Neurotic, I know, but I believe that every little success that I have helps me get closer to defeating it…or maybe its just my bag, ya kno?
It was so incredibly beautiful, and pretty awesome, because we got to see the differences between the harbour in the day and nite in just 3 hours. Boy was it beautiful at night! Everything all lit up, and it was warrrrm!
The pizza was alright, and MAN, I hadn’t seen as many pizzas in one place as I saw last night. We made a special trip to the wharf by the Harbour Bridge to pick the pizza up, it was kinda funny. Tourists were there watching us, made us feel special!
Look at all the pizzas!
I met a group of new friends, Daniel from Colombia, who was Dulce’s roommate, as well as Marcos from Brazil. And if you know me, you know that we talked about Colombian (an a lil brazilian) politics. I even had the balls to bring up the question of whether there was a rift between black people and latino people. (Because I was wondering how they felt about obama, of course!) Daniel denied it and said that there was no rift, just that latinos didn’t like obama at first because he was against NAFTA. I was suprised at how educated he was on the election. We broke it down on the dance floor towards the end of the cruise, it was great!
After that I went out with Joanne, Dulce and Daniel to a really cool, chic lounge/bar/nightclub on the wharf. We just chilled, danced a little bit and had a good time! A bunch of her other friends met us, and it was great to meet them all. Then we headed to a Latin dance club, and man, was that fun. Great dancing, and great, GREAT salsa dancing. So much fun! Also on the wharf, so it was just spectacular.
The view from the lounge.
It’s just so amazing how quickly and intensely you make friends when you’re abroad. I met Dulce and Joanne earlier that day for the first time, and after the cruise I ended up going out with them and hanging out til about 130am. They are wonderful people, and it kinda felt like we became best friends in 10 or so hours.
The dancing was so much fun! I really don’t know what I’m doing at all, but I just got into it, chilled out, and let the music take me, ya kno? It was just such a blast, and great excercise! I’ve been dancing 2-3 times a week, and sweating like crazy, havin a ton of fun. One of my fav parts of the nite was when they played Em’s Real Slim Shady, sooo much fun!
Dulce and I
The Latin dance club/bar
Ryan was also in town, so I txted him to see how he was gettin back to North Ryde, and he txted back saying that he had taken the last bus! That was a little frustrating! So I just chilled a lil bit more, then said goodnite and caught a cab. It cost me $60 AUD, which majorly sucked, but I did meet and talk to the driver, who was Iraqi. It was very interesting talking to him! We talked a lil bit of politics (he was glad America removed Saddam (“Worst family in the world”) but that America shouldn’t leave now. “We don’t have any police now! Who will protect the border???!”) I told him that I was in Animal Sciences to become a vet, and he got excited! He told me that in Iraq he was a poulty veterinarian (“I made as much money as human doctors!”) but the economy crashed. He then moved to New Zealand (“very beautiful, but very boring”). After that he came to Sydney, and he’s been here for 3 years. Told me that he really didn’t like to drive cabs, but that he needed to. He was a very nice man, and I kinda want to say that the $60 was worth the experience. He was awesome!
Great, GREAT nite!
As I’ve been editing, I found myself going off on a tangent. I thought that I would bring it down here. I never have really understood how powerful America is and how the election of the American president is somewhat the election of a sort of Universal President until now. It seems as though everybody that I’ve talked to here was somewhat or deeply into the 2008 presidential election. Talking to Daniel, as well as Vasya and Jennya (my russian housemates), random Australians, has really shown me how we are the leaders of the free world. We have random Australians come up to us and start talking about Bush and Obama because we are Americans. And its pretty interesting, people just assume that we are Obama supporters for some reason (which is a good reflection on America, in my opinion (not meant to be an insult, believe me!!)) And what I’ve also come to realize is that well-adjusted people do not dislike Americans, but rather the American government. Once again, I learned this from Vasya and Jennya, as well as Daniel. They both made separate comments that are equivalent to “In every country you have the government and the people; these are two very separate entities.” Most people understand this, and it is a huge relief for me. I am beginning to stop feeling guilty for being an American and instead feel proud of the positive change that I have helped to enact that will effect the rest of the world. Alright, I think its time for this to be done…
Oh, just thought of one more thing. Saw on the Huffington Post today that the routes for high-speed railway systems across America, due to the Stimulus Bill, have been announced. I’ve dreamt about it, and it seems to have come true: there will be a line between Eugene and Portland! One question, to be answered by those willing…if those who opposed the Stimulus Bill use the high-speed railway system, are they hypocrites?
