First True Sydney Weekend

Two nights ago, (February 28, 2014) the girls (Sami and Sam) and I decided to spend the night in because of Mardi Gras on Saturday, March 1, 2014. Because we felt like we've spent so much time in our apartments we decided to go for a leisurely 20 minute walk to Kmart to see if there was a board game we could purchase and play with everyone else who stayed in. Like most trips, this one took a 360 and we ended up in the grocery store buying chocolate covered croissants, wanting to make pizzas & funfetti cake & wedges and chili sauce. Having so many crazy ideas we agreed on brownies, ice cream, chicken fingers and quesadillas. Oh so healthy, I know! Most ingredients we already had so we didn't have to buy much. The 20 minute walk home was cut in half because of the eagerness to get home to bake and snack on delicious food. I'm pretty sure I worked off the many calories I was about to consume on the power walk home. I mean one night of being this fat can't hurt anyone. All I eat here is apples and onions so I guess some dessert can't hurt. The next morning, Saturday March 1, 2014, most of the TEAN student in Ultimo (my apartment complex) woke up and traveled to Bondi Beach for surf lessons. Although it was rainy we all had a blast. Luckily enough for me, I was in a group of only 4 which soon became 3 because one girl bailed after trying once. Our instructors name was Blake and he has been surfing since he was 7. I would say he was around 23 years old. We got to know him and soon we became Facebook friends, everyone abroad loves Facebook. He asked where we've gone out and laughed at us because we go to the "tourist" spots. He told us he'd show us the real places to go, so basically we have our own little tour guide in Sydney/Bondi area. My group managed to get the hang of surfing real fast and we got up on the board and rode the waves almost every time we tried. There were though some real funny wipe out, I couldn't help but laugh. After surfing there was no time for napping even though I had 4 hours of sleep the night before because it was time to get ready for Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras in Sydney is the biggest LGBTQ parade in Australia. More than 70,000 people come to Oxford street to watch the parade and I was one of them! We all rushed to get ready and do the typical college kid thing before going out. Don't worry mom, we had a DW! Mardi Gras in Sydney is an event everyone should experience. Lesbians and Gays are openly accepted through out Sydney and Mardi Gras is a time for the to express their love. I saw many drag queens and interesting outfits, yes my outfit was interesting, too. Last night was an early night and I am not sure why because Australians are known to stay out partying until 6 in the morning. I was in my bed asleep by midnight, probably because we started so early that day. Waking up today on Sunday, March 2, 2014, I knew I had to prepare myself for school to start the next day. After cleaning my room, washing clothes and getting Mad Mex (similar to Chipotle) I decided to write down my schedule and look up the buildings where my classes are for tomorrow. I don't have much planned for the rest of today but relax with the girls and venture to Sydney Uni to find the buildings with other Sydney Uni students. I feel as though I have consumed WAY too much food this weekend so hopefully this week I'll get back on an eating schedule. I plan on making pancakes for dinner, literally so excited! Today the girls and I also did some Fall cleaning in our apartment tidying up the balcony, kitchen and living room, also. I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently mainly because I am still moving in and not doing anything too exciting to read about. I will definitely let everyone know about my first week of school, so I will be posting much more this week. Love you and miss all of you. :-*

PS. Forgot to mention we became friends with our Chilean maintenance man earlier this week too. He's here to surf and make money so he can travel to Indonesia in 3 months to continue to surf. His name is Carlos and can't speak English that well so we've been practicing our Spanish in Unit 103.

From Down Under
Em