A week doesn't go by when I don't get asked if I am from Australia/where I am from or the plain silly; New Zealand, England? Somewhere in between right?
People are much more interested when they discover a foreigner. They'll want to know where I am from, what I am doing, if they've been to Australia they'll reminisce over their experiences or find some connection to babble on about like their aunties sister who lives in Geelong who hasn't visited in so long because they absolutely love Australia. I can't help but feel a wee bit patriotic. After 7 months, I STILL LOVE IT!
It would be super cliche to say that time has flown and I have been incredibly busy, but the reality is I just haven't been bothered to sit down and write about whatever the hell it is I have been doing! I usually write my entries going by the pictures I have taken over the past week, or weeks, but I don't really have any to go off! I don't even think I charged my camera once during the month of September!
So what's the dealio then? Am I still traveling? Hardly! Backpacking? Barely! I don't consider myself to be traveling/backpacking anymore. Post camp I had three priorities, get a job, get a bike and find a place to live! The job came easy enough, I think I was very lucky. The bike too came easy enough, I wasn't fussy and just wanted a "vehicle" to get around. The place however took a while longer, but after about 3 weeks of searching (not very hard mind you) I found the perfect one!
Let's go on a mini tour, shall we?
As you enter my humble abode you will notice stairs going up and down, down is to the washing/drying machines and where Nico, Mr. Uruguay lives. As you walk up the stairs you will see the...
Kitchen angle 1
Kitchen angle 2
One angle does not do it justice!
Then if you need to hit the head, the bathroom is pretty funky with it's big bowl of a sink!
Super stylish bathroom yo!
Deer crossing as you exit the toilet!
I'm sharing this place with 3 others. Nicholas from Uruguay, Alex from Poland and Rene from Mexico. The mean age of the three of them is 29. With me in the equation, I bring the average down to 25. In saying that though, I feel somewhat old too. I may be the youngest in this household, but at Teen Community Connections, which is where I work now, I feel somewhat older. I was in the van with the teens yesterday and my two co-buddy-counsellors who were with me are 19 and 20. I know that is not a huge difference, but coming from Vision in Australia where I was significantly younger, I feel like a wise bastard now! Ha ha, no, I just don't feel "as young".
I fell a bit sick on the past weekend, not cause I am some sort of wild party maniac, I think it must have something to do with working with some sick kids, a bit of snotty boogies here, a rough cough there. Otherwise, it must be the drop in temperature? It's not ridiculously cold, but there is a cooler chill in the air, which makes riding my bike a whole lot of fun!
My throat became a bit itchy and scratchy on Saturday and on Sunday I started to cough a fair bit and up came some delectable looking yellow stuff... Monday my nose started to run a bit, but fortunately I am quick, so I caught it, but I coughed all threw the night and didn't have a proper rest. Yesterday (Tuesday) I was sneezing, wiping, coughing every which way. But, I found please, and some pain in consuming copious amounts of ginger, garlic and lime tea. It was very soothing and finally today, I woke up feeling a lot stronger! My throat is not as sore and I am over that hill. Lot's of warm fluids. Massive amounts of fruits and veggies.
I will catch up on the month that I missed, it was fun. But for now, this will have to do, and I really wanted to brag about the awesome place that I am living in.
Viva la Victoria!
Can you spot what is wrong with this picture?
Upon closer inspection it is evident that the man in front of me has a serious dairy addiction!
