australia.

This is going to be a super long one because I just got working internet on my lap-top. Here it goesssss:

After what seemed like an endless journey, I finally arrived in Sydney early last Monday morning. Sitting in the Minneapolis airport on Friday, June 25, I sat looking out at the thunderstorms cursing my grandpa for making me leave so early and for taking my cell phone. I knew then and there that I wasn't making the 10:35 pm flight to Australia as my flight to L.A. was being pushed back further and further. Sure enough, the Australia-bound flight took off without 40 of us, leaving us stranded at LAX tired, crabby and hungry.Luckily I wasn't in New York or Texas or something and have family in California who came out to rescue me. NOTE TO SELF (and another relentless jab at my grandpa): NEVER EMBARK ON A 24 HOUR JOURNEY WITHOUT A CELL PHONE. Thank God people were friendly and let me use their phones to get in contact with Debbie and Manny. I think it was actually a blessing in disguise because it was really great to spend some extra time with them before I left. We walked around the Huntington Gardens on Saturday afternoon which was incredibly beautiful. It was like taking a mini trip into China and Japan! Even more of an international trip than I bargained for!

The 14 hour flight to Australia really wasn't too bad. Probably because the boy next to me gave me sleeping pills and we woke up snuggling with each other. Haha. Watched some movies and read, and before I knew it, we were there!
Jackie, her aunt and my luggage (phew!) were all there waiting for me after I went through customs after much distress on my part because I wasn't sure if they'd received my messages about missing my initial flight.
Grabbed myself an Australian cell phone and set off to the Valencia household in New South Wales.

After resting up the first day, we traveled into downtown Sydney and saw the famous Sydney Harbour.
Awe-struck. That is the only word I can use to describe how I felt as the train pulled up and revealed the extensive stretch of city and water.
Definitely one of the most beautiful skylines I have ever seen in my life. The sun glittered off the water and illuminated the buildings making the entire city glow.
My jaw literally dropped.
Jackie and I spent the day getting ourselves lost in the city and exploring.
Downtown Sydney is by far my favourite place we've been so far.

The next day we went to Taronga Zoo and saw all sorts of crazy animals!
All the animals were sleepy and weren't doing much for us, but we had fun seeing everything anyway.
There were a few areas where you could go in and actually walk around with the animals and pet them, but the kangaroos hopped too fast for me to really get to touch one.
Hopefully when we go to the wildlife reserve next week I'll be able to do that.
The wombats were the best though. They're just so cute and furry and fat.
We took a sky lift around the entire zoo and got a fabulous view of the city from up top.

<---WOMBAT VIDEO

On our last day in Sydney, we drove up to the Blue Mountains.
Here we saw the wide and stunning stretch of Australian mountains, as well as different rock formations like the Three Sisters. The story of the Three Sisters comes from an old Aboriginal tale about a man that turned 3 sisters into stone to keep them from seeing men from another tribe. The man apparently lost the instrument that he used to transform the sisters, and it is rumored that he is now in the form of a lyrebird flying around looking for the instrument to change them back.

That night we had our first taste of nightlife in Australia. Jackie's cousins are locals of Sydney and took us out to a nightclub on Darling Harbour.
What an experience that was.
Apparently the Australian club way of dance is called "shuffling" and reminds me of Carter Jensen and Andrew Beckman's spaz dancing circa 7th grade dances in the Highview gym.
Pretty hysterical. But Australians definitely know how to party and we found ourselves at a nearby strip club around 4:30 am, and finally made our way back home at 6:30 am.
Just in time for our cab to pick us up and bring us to the airport at 7.

Dan came to pick us up from the airport to bring us to Monash. First time we've seen each other in 5 years! He hasn't changed a bit besides beefing up a bit. It was so good to see him, and he got us safely to school where we settled in quickly and crashed pretty fast.
Jackie and I woke up later in the evening and walked down to a shopping area with a stretch of stores, restaurants and fast food. Attempted to see Eclipse, but they weren't showing it at the theatre. :(
When we got back, everyone in my dorm was coming up to introduce themselves and they invited us to come hang out with them in the Common Room.
Apparently my dorm is a very social one and the residents claim it's going to be "the place to be."
Everyone we met was so nice and from all different parts of the world.
We were too exhausted to drink with them, but we hung out for a while and made plans to get together later on today.
I'm so excited to get to know everyone better and hear stories from all over the world!

Looking out my window, I just saw the rest of the DePaul group pull up so I'm off to go help them get situated and get ready for the day.