Off to Adventure in the Great, Wide, Somewhere....

Okay sorry, that title was an extremely misleading representation of what is actually occurring in my current life situation. I simply intended to show that my time in Oz was coming to an end. I still can't get over it. Have I ACTUALLY bee away from home for a full year? It feels like yesterday that I left. Oh well, nonetheless. Since I haven't written down any of what has happened during my time in melb, other than of course the rather long update on jobs...here's what my life has been like.

1. Moved to Melbs with a good friend. 

2. Found an apartment with some cool people (who made awesome food) in southbank and moved out of the hostel.

 

3. Got a job as a telemarketer. Worst job ever. On the how much was I losing it scale of 1 to Lindsay Lohan, I was like a Britney Spears 2007 mental breakdown phase. I have so much respect for these people. 

4. Visited St. Kilda...finally.

5. Kept sneaking into the hostel I'd left because all my friends still lived there.

6. Switched jobs to be a host at a German restaurant/beer hall/bar. 

7. Went to be in the the live audience of Family Feud with some friends

8. Won $25 worth of drinks in a dance contest I didn't realize was happening. This might be the greatest achievement of my life.

9. Tried out as many random bars in melb as I possibly could

 

10. Have asked multiple British and Australian friends to marry me only to realize green card marriages don't work as well here.

11. Have met and worked with other Americans! Whattttt?! Two of my managers are even american! Crazy!

12. Went to a Les Miserables exhibit and got to see Victor Hugo's original manuscript!!!! As well as of course unabashedly sing to the continuous songs from the musical playing in the exhibit.

 

13. Continued to go to the awesome Hillsong church in melbourne.

14. Made friends with the leader of a German oompah band.

15. Had a ridiculous night at the Crown Casino

But honestly, as with all the places I've lived here, it's not really the big things that I've done in Melb that made me fall in love with the city. It is all the small day to day things. It is having a few favorite bars to go to with friends. It's knowing which trams and trains to take where and being able to tell people where the markets are without glancing at a map. For the past two months Melbourne has been home. I'm used to its rhythms and have a routine. I know my favorite indian place and it's hours. And most  importantly I have made some wonderful friends. That is what I will miss. 

As always, I'm excited for the next adventure to Asia and beyond, but it is definitely going to be harder to leave Melbourne and Australia than I even thought possible. I have seen so much of this country and made so many incredible memories here. It's going to be strange to have to start over on my own again. But, as I've seen time and time again, God knows what he's up to and I'm sure is just as excited for me to see the next step as I am scared to enter it. So off we go! Next up? MALAYSIA!

Endnote: since not everyone knows my game plan from this point...I'm currently flying to Malaysia and will be in Kuala Lumpur for about 4 days. Then I'm off to Singapore for a day or so then northern Thailand to see Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and a few other places! The goal is to go to Loy Krathong...the lantern festival where thousand of lanterns get out up in the air. Bucket list item? Hell yeah.

Check out the link in the upper right corner to see where I've been and where I am now!

Melbourne draws me back.

Ah so I should have done this blog ages ago I feel. But, I'm glad I waited in the end. Because the story is constantly evolving, and oh a story it is. Remember that time when I talked about the touché God theory? How God definitely has a sense of humor and you can see it best when you take a step back? Yeah welcome to the story of my time in melbourne. 

When I got to melbourne in late august, I was desperately searching for jobs (as you do when you arrive in a large city with close to no money to your name). Unfortunately not much was coming up until I stumbled upon an ad for a telemarketing company. Now, let's be fair. I realize that sounds utterly horrific. I would later discover that it , in fact, was. However, at the time the only things I knew about telemarketing was that it was good money and it was easy. So, when I got offered the job almost immediately....I was on it. Now the people were wonderful and fun, and the job was in fact, easy and paid well. But, having not taken into account how ridiculously soul draining selling people electricity via the phone would be, I soon started to seriously doubt my decision. And so began the week of stress.

After having reaffirmed that I am in no way meant for sales (due primarily to it's requirement that you ignore a persons humanity and instead manipulate them to their core) I began to apply to every possible job available on gumtree and praying like my life depended on it. For those of out I who don't know what that looks like it goes something like this:

What is going on God. I am so freaking frustrated with this stupid job. I literally don't know what to do at this point. I thought I had such a good deal with this job since it came up so quickly, but i really can't do this. If this is where you want me then, fine. Be I'm going to need you to help me make some sales or somehow get through these days. Otherwise I need out. I will take anything else. I just need out. I can't handle the stress and how much I hate life when I get home each day. Fix this....please.

----

This went on for about 3 days of torture. Until one night while hanging out with some lovely people I got a call from an unknown number. It was a woman asking me to come in for an interview at  German Brauhaus. Now before I explain what happened next I need you all to know...if you don't already...that I love Germany. I took German for ages, have been a few times and just utterly love all things German. So you'll understand why having forgotten what jobs I had applied for...since there were a gajillion....I immediately thought this was a joke. One of yay friends must be calling knowing I was looking for a job and thinking this was funny. So, while I wasn't rude on the phone...I more likely than not sounded as though I wasn't taking the poor woman seriously until I asked where it was and she gave me a legitimate address. 

Well, surprise surprise, the job was in fact real...and not only I did the interview go well...I got a trial shift which really just ended up being my first shift, which ended up being a double shift. And I loved it. It is stressful at times, to be sure, but it is exciting, fun, constantly keeps you on your toes and forces you to actually think as well as chat and have fun with people! Woooo! And so I began to picture the smile. 

Not my smile, of course. Mine was definitely visible. But God's smile. That little smirk/laugh one that I assume He gets whenever he pulls something like this. That 'hah, you thought I forgot about you didn't you?' Smile. He didn't. He never does. Exodus 14:14 says ' The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.' And fight he did. Because let's compare my original checklist to this current job:

1. Customer service oriented...check.

2. Good hours....check

3. Good pay...check....oh wait BETTER pay than the other job what?!

Bonuses! 

1. Something unlike anything i will ever do again

2. Get to speak German

3. Get to wear (somewhat...okay it's a stretch) traditional Bayerisch outfits

4. Meet people from all over the world

5. Utilizes my customer service and organizational skills

6. Free food

7. Don't have to pay for a tram/train to get to work anymore

8. Amazing coworkers

What's that? Oh yeah. Fine God. Touché. You do in fact know what's best and constantly guide me to exactly where I'm supposed to be. Now on to the next adventure. I'll try and trust ya a bit more readily this time round.

A Week of Summer: Cairns

Cairns, the city that lives an endless Summer. Cairns isn't a giant city, but a perfect backpacker's paradise. Wtih tons of hostels, clubs and weather that can't be beat it's not wonder so many of the people i met there ended up staying longer. I was there for a grand total of 5 days, but nothing all that exciting happened until about day 3 so we'll start there.

Day three took me to Kuranda to ride over a rainforest in a skyrail and see a lovely village fille dwith marketplaces and crafts galore. I honestly probably sould have bought more souvenirs there given the number of options I had, but i'm tryin to hold out until the end to get that stuff, so unfortunately I didnt pay too much attention. Kuranda was actually quite beautiful in terms of the forest as I watched it from above, but even more stunning was the ride back. I took the scenic train ride from Kuranda all the way back into Cairns. And while that hadn't been my original plan, missing my bus ended up being a blessing in disguise given the magnificent views from the train windows. Waterfalls, rainforests and a stunning backdrop of beach and city. It was amazing. Definitely got me back in the swing of things after a few days of laziness and just walking about the city.

                                                  

                                 

Day four was by far my favorite day of my week in Cairns. I went for a snorkeling trip on the Great Barrier Reef and ahhh it just couldn't have been better. I had gone for the cheapest option I could find and ended up on a boat filled with people that were all about twice my age--with the exception of course, of the crew. At first I was a bit annoyed that I wouldn't have anyone else to hang out and laugh with for the day, but God immediately took care of that one. Not long after stepping onto the boat a lovely German couplel sat down beside me. Somehow we got onto the topic of how I spoke German and for the remainder to the day we chatted auf Deutsch about where we'd been, where we were going, fears of snorkeling in the open ocean, their children, where I had studied abroad--they were from Munich and had actually heard of Dorfen! success! --the Middle East, and how valuable travel was. Unfortunately about halfway through the trip, one of the women on the boat got quite sick due to the waves and i got a bit of a shower. Luckily it wasn't too much or I don't know that I would've made it without throwing up either. 

     Anyways, by the tie we got there I had befriended one of the crew members who happened to be Italian and once in the water he was great about pointing out all the best spots to check out the reef. Having been so freaked out to go snorkeling in the open ocean I let a few people head out before me so that I could follow them in. I figured if they were fine I would be too. haha I guess  used them as my personal guinea pigs for my own sanity. Once in the water however---oh my gosh. It was INCREDIBLE. The coral was brilliant with color and the number of fish...it was insane. I even got to see a turtle and some reef sharks! I grabbed a pic of the turtle but wasn't able to get any of the sharks unforunately=( We stayed out for an hour or so and I probably couldd've stayed longer except that I was definitely ready for lunch. So we finally boarded the boat, had some lunch and then got the chance to head to Green Island for the afternoon. 

                                             

                              

                              

                           

     Green Island is a beautiful island off of Cairns that happens to be have a small zoo on it. Excpet this is no normal zoo. It houses the worlds largest croc in captivity, Cassius, who is 5.5 meters long. Oh, and all of the crocs in the exhibit, including Cassius aren't jsut random Crocs. Oh no, these are Crocs with a history. All of them have at some time or another been killers. There was an entire wall of papers about crocs that had killed people, or been caught, opened up and foudn to have arms and legs inside of them. GROSS. But also creepily fascinating. After enjoying that for a bit we all made it back to the boat to sail back to Cairns.

                                     

    As we sailed  home I got the chacne to chat with the skipper and the 3 crew members (Italian, Kiwi and Aussie) about how they got on the boat and ended up doing what they were. All of them had at one point just fallen in love with scuba (the Aussie guy had gone for the 1st time just the year before) and then proceeded to travel around the world in pursuit of the best dive and sailing spots. They love what they do and get to take people out for long trip to get them certified, learn to sail and dive some of the most beautiful spots in the world. Amazing. Honestly, if I hadn't booked my flight already, I would've seriously considered staying and trying to get a sailing license. I love the water so much. Being there makes it so easy to see why people stay.

Anyways, my final day I headed up to Cape Tribulation and into the Daintree Rainforest. It was honestly a stunning, albeit bumpy drive up. We got to spend a while hanging out on the bech at Cape Trib and eventually headed home. We also hit Port Douglas for a bit, which was eh okay. Overall the best part of the trip was getting to chat with  the others. I met a lovely Parisian and was able to grab dinner with her, an Argentinian and thies great German girl who had also been on the tour. Dinner was delicious and we ended up following it up by a hilarious night of chatting with some Aussie Navy guys at a nearby bar before heading back to our hostels to get ready for the next day. Oh, did I mention it was ladies night? success. I have officially hit 3 ladies nights in a row--cheap drinks all day baby.

ACCENT UPDATE: Unfortunately, I still have not been hanging out with too many Aussies so my accent is still crap. On the bright side ich habe eine wette verloren mit eine Freund in meiner Hostel. Also, ich hatte fuer den Ganzen Woche nur auf Deutsch gesprochen wenn ich mit ihn waren. Also, mein Deutsch ist jezt ein bisschen besser als es war eben eine Woche vor. (I lost a bet with a friend in my hostel. So, I had to speak German whenever I was with him for the entire week. So, my German is now a llot better thn it was even a week ago! yay!)

The Science of Meeting

    Yesterday, in my survival Arabic class I learned something interesting. In Arabic, the word for sociology (علم الإجتماع) literally means "the Science of Meeting. I couldn't stop thinking about how wonderfully accurate that is in describing my life's current focus. sociology is not only a study of people but of interactions between them. It is a study of what happens when they come together. It is the same study regardless of whether that meeting of people be within a relationship, a society, a religion, or simply a new environment. Sociology studies how all of those different meetings impact the people involved in and around them. So as I come into this ridiculously fascinating new home, I cannot help but wonder what my personal sociological study will turn into. How will I (and the other students) be affected by being thrown into a world so vastly different from our own? Well, here's my attempt at explaining the beginning of that study. =]


GETTING THERE


 So, first things first. I wanted to text at least 5-6 people when this happened, but i'll just have to tell you all now. So, I'm sitting in Dulles, waiting for my plane, chilling out and then suddenly I see this guy. And I start freaking out. Ya'll this guy looked ridiculously similar to Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. I was DYING. It was so fantastic and I was so upset I couldn't text you all so you could appreciate it. Anyways, that was exciting and all. So, the plane gets there and so begins a lovely 8 hour flight to our layover in Zurich, Switzerland.
    The plane ride really wasn't too bad, I sat next to a really lovely woman from Nairobi and while there WERE 5 small children aboard, they were mostly adorable with only a few screams during some of the rougher turbulence. So, overall no complaints. OH WAIT. THAT'S A LIE. I WAS FREAKING OUT OVER ALL THE GERMAN. Because the flight was headed to Zurich, tons of people of different nationalities were on board including my favorite Germans..well okay, they were more likely Swiss, but they spoke German and I was happy. I was only in Zurich for about 2 hours, but oh man. It was so hard to get on that plane to Cairo knowing I was leaving all the German behind. Luckily the next flight was on SWISS airlines, so everything was in English and German anyways, but I still miss it somewhat. Maybe it was a last minute freak-out reflex, but I LOVE German. I'm by no means fluent but I understand enough to have pretty good conversations with people and I just felt so at home being back in a German speaking country. GAHHH  I miss it. Anyways, sorry about the ranting. The flight was lovely, and that's about all.

Greenery to SAND... drastic much?

    Cairo Airport however, was my first taste of Egypt and honestly, it was just sort of funny. I couldn't believe how little security we went through to get into the country. It was wonderful. So I went through got my bags, and found the guy that was supposed to be picking me up and driving me to the dorms in Zamalek. I ended up not being his only passenger though, so I waited for the other two to arrive and well...who do you think happens to be one of them?? ONLY TED MOSBY LOOK ALIKE. Yeah. That Happened. No big deal. hahahahah It was great. I was laughing so hard internally it was pathetic. But, he's a great guy, and he's actually studied at AUC before so that's super convenient in terms of getting to know Zamalek quickly. Friendship success.
   

CAIRO The city itself will by far be the hardest part to write about. I simply do not know how to put Cairo into words. It's a city you have to see to understand. It is the epitome of contrast. Driving around one will see an incredible historical building, rich with culture and too many stories to count. This will be located directly next to the most modern banking building you've ever seen, which happens to also be right across from the saddest, dirtiest heap of buildings, and trash you've ever seen. I don't know what I imagined for Cairo but it's nowhere near what I got. I LOVE IT. Honestly, to some extent I'm not even sure why I love it so much. I don't like grimy cities. The fact that roads are literally covered in trash disgusts me and yet I cannot help but adore the insanity of this city. The discrepancies are so big it's amusing. Driving down the road one will see a BMW followed closely by a beaten up, falling apart bus and then suddenly you'll notice a man driving a cart pulled by a donkey loaded down with egg cartons piled HIGH. Nonetheless, it works. The people here make it work. It's amazing.

McDonalds bil Arabia

                                 

 Insanity:

    Oh also, on the note of crazy things about Cairo let me fill you in on a few more crazy details of this city. First, many, MANY of the houses are unfinished. And not...oh we haven't painted or need a basement. I mean GIANT mansions are left with entire walls
WAITING to be built. Even for the ones that are mostly finished, small things will be left untouched. A few beams might be sticking out the top of a beautiful home, part of a smaller wall might be waiting to be finished....who knows? But, there's a reason for this. You see, if you're home is unfinished you don't pay taxes on it. So people will purposely not finish houses. Somehow, I don't think this can possibly help create a society in which things are completed in both a timely and aesthetically pleasing manner...but not my country so I'll let them figure that one out.
    Second, don't flush the toilet paper. The sewage system in Cairo can't handle it. There are nifty little trashcans to throw all your paper products in when they're done. Weird.
   Third, and DEFINITELY most important. Driving in Cairo may be the world's most dangerous daily activity. Let me give you some road rules that seem to be followed here:
        1. Ignore all road rules
        2. Should you ACTUALLY happen to see lines on the road, ignore them and feel free to continue
             driving as you please
        3. Two lanes actually means four
        4. Driving with lights off is fine....just make sure to honk at night to let others know you're there
        5. Be sure to cram as many cars as possible onto the street
        6. Don't worry about red lights. They don't exist.
        7. Not enough room to park? Feel free to push others' cars to a better position until you can
            comfortably squeeze yours in.
        8. Try not to hit pedestrians crossing major intersections
        9. Avoiding people selling tissues and pepsi off the median is also preferable
       10. Accept the fact that you will never know when a road might be closed off due to a crash, sewage      
             leak etc. and be prepared to back up your giant bus even if it's in the middle of rush hour traffic

I wish this better showed how insane it is.

 I think that pretty much covers it. Cairo driving is ABSURD. It's hilarious, nerve-wracking and I love every minute of it. The rules of the road in Cairo pretty much seem to revolve around the idea of fending for yourself. Cars drive closer and faster than I have ever seen. It's amazing that Egyptians can navigate it.

       
 Dorm:
     The Zamalek dorms are wonderful. very pretty and our rooms are HUGE. We've got plenty of space, nice showers (minus the occasional lack of hot water) and a nice common area to hangout in before going to dinner, heading to bars or simply walking around. The other AUC study abroad students are fantastic. I LOVE my roommates Neama and Anjana. We have such a good time laughing and chatting.
     Speaking of meeting people...the first day I arrived was interesting. I came in knowing no girls whatsoever and by the time I got to the dorms themselves I already knew 4 guys. Two from school and 2 from the ride over. So, as we planned to go to dinner that night there sat 11 guys and me. The lone girl other than one RA. At dinner one of the girls thought i'd been in Zamalek for a few years already because of how well I seemed to know all the guys. hahahah Story of my life. One of our RAs is really hilarious, after 2 minutes of conversation decides to jokingly ask me out to embarrass me in front of all the lovely new people i'd just met. We're obviously going to be great friends. haha=] Well, I kinds asked for that one, eh? But, I really am loving getting to know everyone. The people here are really interesting, very driven and just generally easy to get along with. We went out to a bar the other night and just had an amazing time chatting and getting to know one another. Tonight we went and found a hookah bar to hangout in for a while and just chilled and joked around. LIFE IS GOOD.

SCHOOL
    So classes don't officially start until the 29th, but we have orientation until then. It's been long but not too bad so far. The bus ride to school is LONG, but the views are so intriguing and it's great for getting homework/sleep in when needed. AUC itself is BEAUTIFUL. I'm talking...it looks like I go to school at a resort. (i'm serious. Google image search: AUC Egypt campus) It was pretty windy the first day, but getting a chance to walk around it today I'm consistently amazed at how stunningly beautiful it is with it's architecture, palm trees and generally attractive male population. haha just kidding...sort of. Currently, I'm taking a "Survival Arabic" course which is basically a crash course in colloquial Arabic. The class is extremely long (5hours), but my teacher is so nice and insanely patient with me. Although, I will admit that patience wasn't all that necessary until we started reviewing numbers today. DARN YOU NUMBERS. I can't deal with them in English much less Arabic... But I do feel like I've learned a lot. I came in having not taken Arabic in about ten months and after 2 days I remember a ton, and learned more than I thought I could about the different pronunciations within the colloquial. I'm starting to pick up more and more words I hear around. LOVEEEEEEEE. But i'm still too intimidated to say anything more than "thank you",   "you're welcome",  and at one point I was in fact able to put together enough Arabic to ask if someone spoke English and where the bus was. Success? ehh...getting there=]

Anyways, that's pretty much all for now. Sorry for the absurdly long post. I love you all!

 مع السلامة