Introducing Bollywood

Jobs: 0 (but am feeling optimistic come the new year)
# of times I watched Love Actually before Christmas: 1 (usually its about 5)
# of times one of us has been locked out of apartment in last 3 days: 4

Merry Christmas to everyone!! I hope you all had a really great day. Kerry and I woke up and ate French Toast Casserole (a Romero tradition) and then later on invited our other orphan friend, Ollie, over for spaghetti and meatballs and then to see Avatar. Avatar was AWESOME. We unfortunately were stuck in the front row and I won't even tell you how much a movie ticket costs here ($22!!) but it was worth it, the movie was phenomenal! Our other Christmas present to ourselves was a used washing machine that was delivered the day before. Unfortunately the day that we got it, our dryer broke.

So, as usual, Kerr and I have found ourselves in yet another awkward situation. Our third roommate is away for 3 weeks, traveling Europe, and a couple days before she left, she told us that she was renting out her room to a guy that she knows. She didn't know too much about him other than he was Pakistani. My immediate thought was that I would just pretend I was Canadian for the next 3 weeks, for obvious reasons.

So as we are about to dig into our spaghetti and meatballs for Christmas dinner, a 6 foot 9 dude emerges from our roomie's room (that is not an exaggeration, he is literally that tall). So this guy dishes himself a heaping portion of our Christmas dinner and sits down with us. Now I can't even begin to explain what a turkey this guy is but here's a few of his finer comments:

• “I grew up in Vegas so I really know how to party. I actually feel bad when I go out with people because they can’t party like me…..”

• “…..yea and I sing too. I sometimes perform and I can even rap in my native language – Pakistani. I even rap in Pakistani.” (this was my favorite)

• “I’ve got houses in Dubai, Switzerland, London, and Pakistan. I invest in properties.”

• “….yep, here for Cricket. I play professionally. I’m actually the only pure all-arounder in Australia….PURE!” (an all-arounder is someone who pitches and catches in cricket...or whatever the actual cricket terms are)

• “Its 4:20? Oh my gosh, I need a cigarette. Otherwise I’m going to start feeling bad because I really want to smoke a joint.”

• “…yea I went to a strip club last night. We all will need to party!”

• “Yea I might get a dog. I actually should have a kid by now but my relationship didn’t last. I was supposed to marry this girl so I might get a dog.”

Well it was basically this guy rambling on for an hour while we were shoveling food into our mouths so we could get out of there. Needless to say, Kerry and I bitched the entire train ride to the movies about our upcoming three weeks with this guy. Ollie was both amused and appalled at the same time, and somewhere along the line nicknamed this guy Bollywood (we don't know his real name). The only positive I can make from this situation is that I don't have to pretend I'm Canadian for the next 3 weeks, as this guy grew up in Vegas (and I wouldn't be surprised if he was unaware of the current relationship status between America and Pakistan).

Tidbits

# Weeks living in own home: 1.5 (hooray!)
Jobs: 0 (sadly)
# of Glee episodes left in Oz: 1 (take that, America!)

We've been in our place for almost 2 weeks now, and liking it more and more each day. We are still waiting for one roommate to move out and then there will be three of us. Its a bit messy here, although Kerry thinks I may be a bit anal as I made my bed every morning in all of the hostels. I was counting on being able to find out furniture from antique or junk shops for cheap and then fixing them up (one of my favorite hobbies) but a can of primer here costs over $30 and a small can of paint is over $40!! So no projects for me - things are staying as is!

I have another job interview for an OT position on Friday - I'm going to try a new thing this week and try not setting off the fire alarm OR give anyone the impression that I'm South American. I'm also about to walk down to the cute little town next to ours and apply at some of the cafes and such. I actually really miss working. I thought that I would absolutely love being a lady of leisure but I'm on my 3rd month of unemployment and I have to say, I'm getting extremely restless and a bit bored (and not to mention, a bit concerned about my finances). So as much as I hate to admit it, I miss work (I know this will make you happy, Dad).

I have been realizing there are several things that I really have grown to appreciate while here...

• I love the public transit system here. Its extremely reliable and relatively fast. Plus I love that it forces you to be more environmentally friendly - something I made an honest effort to be at home.
• I am thankful that I still speak to my Mom almost everyday - even with a 16 hour time difference.
• I appreciate that they sell Betty Crocker cake mix here. (Although my waistline is telling me that I should be unappreciative of that)
• I love that on a beautiful sunny day (which is all quite common), we can jump on a train and end up in one of the world's most famous beaches in 20 minutes.
• And I appreciate that there are people on this side of the world who know who Tim Tebow is, who root for the Gators, and who think that George Bush is as much of a creep as I do.

Photos from Sydney

Some Photos from Fiji

Things are Looking Up!!

Apartments: 1 (yes!!)
Nights left in hostel: 1 !!!!!
Follow-up Interviews had as South American Waitress: 0 (consultant seems a bit wishy-washy)

Tonight is our last night in the hostel!!! We ended up deciding to live in a 3 bedroom PENTHOUSE in Marrickville. It doesn't seem to be the nicest of neighborhoods but its close to the train station and we have a pretty wicked view. It was pretty much a toss-up between this one and another place in the Lower North Shore.
We found the Lower North Shore ad about a week ago and I spoke several times with Calvin, the guy who leased the place that we would be living with. He offered for us to come see it at 9pm last night, and even offered to drive us there. Now, this probably wasn't the best idea - to get into a car with a complete stranger to take us to his "so-called" apartment at nighttime in a foreign country, but we are idiots and we went along with it. We had planned to bring some mase but lost track of time and never were able to buy some so weren't armed with anything other than our good sense. Well Calvin and his girlfriend (whom he neglected to mention would also be living there) were perfectly nice. We got to their place and it was just gorgeous...wood floors, all brand new stainless steel appliances, gas stove, air conditioning (a novelty here) and it was nestled in this beautiful, leafy park in a quiet, safe neighborhood. It was perfect aside from the fact that they had setup the two rooms that we would be leasing to make it seem like we were children. Plus they wanted to make sure we were aware of the ground rules: no shoes in the house, no parties, clean-up after yourself, and the upstairs is THEIR office. All the rules are fine and dandy except about the office. To be perfectly honest, if we're paying $260 a week, A PIECE, I think we should be able to use the office. Or at the very least, give us a filing cabinet. I can understand if they don't want us to bring our own xerox machine but I think that a compromise couldn've been made.
So in the end we chose Marackville...we're pretty excited!

Bahamas, Latin America, South America are all One in the Same....Apparantly

Apartments: 1 (right on!!)
Jobs: potentially 1?
# of times people have mistaken my race: 4,376

Latin people don't exist in Australia. I've been called "dark", "brown" and I think somehwere along the line I was mistaken for an aborigine. So I had a job interview with a restaurant consultant this morning. Basically I had to meet this guy and if he approved of me, he would then set me up with an interview with on of four brothers who own several restaurants, cafes and chocoloate bars in The Rocks and Circular Quay - very trendy, toursity spot in Sydney. So I met this consultant this morning, very nice guy but one of those types that doesn't really let you get a word in edge wise. Here's how the interview went.

Consutltant: You are quite tan! Are you Italian?
Me: No, I'm actually latin. My father is from Panama:
Consultant: Wow! I've been to the Bahamas once, Nassau. Have you worked in a restaurant?
Me: Thats lovely. I love the Bahamas. Yes I have 4 years experience working in a restaurant.
Consultant: Thats great. (went on to give some details of possible job) Let me call and set up an interview with one of the owners. (gets on the phone with owner's secretary) Hello Anna, I have a girl here from South America that needs to meet with so-and-so. She speaks excellent English, even better than me!

Now we were too far into the interview for me to correct him and let him know I was actually from the states (or correct him that Panama is indeed not part of South America), even though it was on my resume, my cover letter, and the copy of my visa I gave him. So now I have this follow-up interview tomorrow and I'm not sure whether to break the news that I'm not from South America or if I should play along....guess I'll play this one by ear.

In other news, we have one more week of homelessness!! We are renting a 3 bedroom apartment with another girl. Its really not in the best area but the place itself has potential. We also went to the aquarium the other day which really wasn't that impressive, coming from Florida. They're big attraction was called Dugong which is basically a manatee. I was convinced they would have a great white shark..lame.

Anyways, wish me luck tomorrow for my interview!!