Kebabs and Pancakes

It’s finally the weekend but once again I’m not doing anything all that fun. But first let me catch up. Thursday: I went to the library straight after brekkie to print lecture notes and assignments for all of my classes and to choose my ethnography for my anthropology essay. I went through the list and found a few that sounded particularly good but one in particular. I was happy to find that the one I wanted was at that library, and even better the seven-day loan copy was there. So I checked it out and printed everything and was about to head home but realized it was already 11:25 and my marine lecture was at noon. I didn’t want to go all the way home because I would get nothing done in the short amount of time I’d be there. So I sat outside and started to read the ethnography, which is on aboriginal sorcery/healing methods/medicine. It was very enjoyable to read, not only because of the style, but also because I’m already so familiar with the topic from my witchcraft and magic class last semester! So I guess I’m cheating a bit by choosing this topic but I couldn’t resist. Marine lecture was good—we learned a lot about winds and the Coriolis Effect etc. I think the last time I had seen that material was in elementary school so it was an odd experience in that the whole lecture felt vaguely familiar. Anyway after that I came home for lunch. The main course was pizza and it was the most pathetic excuse for pizza I’ve ever had. It tasted like so weird bread with tomato paste on it…and that’s all because everything fell off of it when it was put on my plate! So some of the food here is pretty terrible but there’s always the salad and fruit. By the way, they don’t have salad dressing here. There is actually nothing to put on your salad (unless you want tomato sauce (ketchup) haha. Luckily I’m fine with that but some of the other Americans are not coping so well! Oh and they don’t serve lettuce either—salad is always what we would call spring mix or something along with red cabbage and some other leaves I’m not familiar with, most of which look like weeds you’d find sprouting up in your yard.

Enough about food, back to Thursday. I somehow got nothing done in the afternoon but from 5:30-6:30 I had my cycling class and a girl from my hall came with me which made it even better! We came back for dinner during which I found out that everyone was going out in the city and I just had to come. So I showered and such and most of the hall headed to catch the bus to Union Jack’s, a pub right in the center of the city. It was a very fun night and K-floor—that’s my floor—definitely took over the dance floor for a decent part of the night. I left with Bridgette, Sarah, James, and Filipo, aka Bungee, Lobster, Peaches, and Flipper, respectively. Yea, we all have nicknames. It’s an Aussie thing! I’m America, even though it was just a joke when someone thought of it, but it just stuck so everyone either calls me “America” or “Erica America.” Anyway the five of us got a cab and when we got dropped off the boys decided that they NEEDED kebabs right away. Sarah and I came along for the walk. The kebab place is apparently the place to go after a night of drinking—there was quite a line! When the boys finished eating we headed me and I promptly went to bed.

I had to get up at 8am for chem. lecture which was not fun, to say the least. After lecture I came home and left for long walk because there was no way I could handle running at that point, but it was another gorgeous day. When I got back I sent an email to the hostel in Fiji because I hadn’t gotten a response on whether or not I was booked in. I went to lunch and then to my marine lecture in which we had a guest lecturer who spoke on plate tectonic stuff and how coral reefs are formed. It was interesting but I couldn’t understand all of it because I didn’t know all of the terms he was using. Anyway I went to the store after class to get some m&m’s (the only chocolate I can have in my warm room) and tea. These are obviously the essentials! Then I came home to my list of work to do but instead of being productive I wasted the afternoon away getting music and movies for free via the sharing network the college has.

The good news is I got an email from the woman who runs the hostel saying that my booking went through and that they will try to get me in the same room as my friends. So I might not be in the same room but I actually don’t care that much especially because I don’t plan on being there except for sleeping.

I felt so tired but I suppose that’s because I was out late and got up early—duh. I went to dinner and it was pasta night which basically means yuck. Garlic bread and salad it was! I just watched 4 episodes of Sex and the City that I got from the shared network and then went on a mini-adventure. I walked out with Bridgette and the boys to this pool party that was happening off-campus just for the sake of a walk—Bridgette and I just wanted to check it out haha and we walked home right away. It actually did look really fun…I think it started in the late afternoon and is just going to keep going until?

I want to go to Gold Coast tomorrow just to hang out at the beach but it’s so hard to plan things when there is no one to plan with! So that plan’s down the drain. I guess I’ll be at the library instead doing work…because after today I now know that nothing gets done in my room!

I’m exhausted. I’m hoping that something, even if it’s just for a few hours, comes together for Sunday. I’ll try not to get excited about anything since there’s a 99% chance that no one will invite me to do anything and my constant attempts at making plans and asking around for interest keep failing miserably.