Ease On Down The Road

Wednesday was the first day I felt sick. My throat hurt, my nose was stuffed up, and I had a monumental headache. I knew I was getting sick, so I sat around and watched movies all day after class. It was relaxing, simple, and actually very fun. Near the end of the day, Hilda asked me and Pooya if we wanted to go out with her and her friends. I wasn't feeling too great, but after being inside all day, I figured I should go to something fun. We went to Surfers Paradise and walked around for a while before we settled on a nice Irish Pub for a drink. Hannah, Pooya, and I sat around talking about where we grew up and our families back home. I can not believe the things I learned about Pooya, my room mate. He is from Iran and was explaining how different everything in Iran is in comparison to anywhere else he has ever been. We were talking about drinking and he said that in Iran, it is illegal because of the Islam religion. One time he was caught drinking and had to go to jail. Not only did he go to jail, he also got 40 lashes upon arrival. I could not believe it. ACTUAL lashes. He said he still has scars on his back from them. It was such an amazing story and it inspired a lot of very interesting conversation while we worked through our drinks.

We moved on from that bar after a little and decided to just take a walk around. We had been wandering for a while when we came upon a bar with live music. It was just one guy with a guitar and a microphone, but he was playing Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" and I couldn't resist listening on. He then proceeded to play Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, and M. Ward. I was super excited. During his little intermission I told him that he was very talented and that we had similar taste in music. I told him that "I'm Yours" is one of my favorite songs to sing. He said that if he had time, he would play it again, and that I would have to come up and sing it again. I told him I would and I didn't give it another thought until 30 minutes later when he began to play it again. He called me up on stage and we sang the entire song together in front of everyone. I don't really know how to describe it. I haven't been on stage for a very long time. It was somewhat liberating. It made me miss Jordan extremely bad because whenever I hear that song I think of him. I wish he could have been there to hear me sing it to him.

Thursday I woke up feeling bad again and decided to sleep, eat, and watch movies for the second day in a row. I don't know what it is about being sick in the summer. The sickness always seems to be a lot worse during the day. Anyway, Thursday was my day in and I didn't do a damn thing. Brittney went to Brisbane and told me that she would have an adventure for me.

Friday was a fairly productive day. I got to campus, printed out a multitude of class items, went grocery shopping, and bought my books for classes. Around 4pm I went to the pizza shop near our apartments to give them a resume. They had a 'Now Hiring' sign up for a female employee wanting 15 to 20 hours a week on the weekends in the evenings. I thought it was perfect because it was so close to where I live and perfect schedule/hours. But when I went to turn in the application that guy said that he had had problems in the past with the students who lived at Metro and also that he didn't really want to hire an American. Let me reiterate: he told me he wouldn't even accept my application because I lived at the apartment complex behind the store and that I was from America. I was dumbfounded. Here I am trying to get a job, wanting to do honest work as a great employee, and he wouldn't even take my application from me. It was unbelievable. I can't say I am mad, because I am not, I am just SO amazed at how it feels to be denied a job because of an odd discrimination. It really made me think.

After this, I just came home to get ready because I had been planning on going out with Brittney to see our Finnish friends down in Surfers Paradise if I wasn't feeling too sick. We left around 7:30 and got to Surfers about 8pm. It was really nice to see the guys again and meet their cool new girl room mates. We hung out at their 11th floor balcony apartment and I got some great pictures of the city. Then we went out. We went to a club called 'Cocktails and Dreams' first and there was this awesome dude (most likely on ecstasy) dancing his heart out on the dance floor alone. It was a crack up. Then we went to 'The Bedroom'. It was PACKED. It was smelly and hot and uncomfortable so Rufio and I left to get a kabob and hang out outside. (Rufio is one of the guys from Finland. He looks JUST like Rufio from 'Hook'.) I don't know how to explain, but the kabobs here are different then anything I have ever eaten. They aren't shish-kabobs on a stick, they're basically a burrito/pita that's cooked on both sides once you have everything you want inside of it. They are AMAZING. We sat around and talked about life and the difference between countries and how bad I missed Jordan despite all the amazing things in Australia. I figured he would be like everyone else and tell me to let it go because this is a once in a life time thing, but he was actually really understanding. Apparently it just made it more understandable that I wasn't big into going out. He said he wasn't a big partier at home either, but that he did it here to please his friends. The people that relate best are always people in the similar situations as you. We talked for about 30 minutes before we met back up with Brittney and headed back home. I called Jordan when I got back and told him how much I loved him and missed him and he told me the same. It was a perfect way to end my night.

Today was a pretty bad day as far as days go. I woke up really late because I got in really late with the girls and I felt awful when I woke up. My head felt like it was going to explode and I was exhausted despite my 1o hours of sleep. I called Jordan and nearly fell asleep on Skype talking. I took a nap and decided to do something with my life so I asked Hilda and Pooya if they wanted to go to a movie with me. We decided to go see Watchmen and I got really excited on the way to the theatres. I can not accurately explain the magnitude of this movie. In my humble opinion, it was absolutely fantastic. Unbelievable. The mix of visual and auditory aesthetics were in complete perfect synchronization. The sound track is glorious on its own, but in context with the movie it was intriguing and unique. The story pulls you in, the characters are well developed, and the realistic fantasy of it all is utterly flawless. (Needless to say, I really loved it.) Hilda and I spent a fair amount of time on the way home discussing our takes and clearing up some of the things she had trouble with. In an American movie like that, they speak English so quickly that it is hard sometimes for her to understand everything they are saying. Especially when two of the very important characters had accents to their voice. We talked it all out and by the time we got home realized that we were completely exhausted, and now here I am. I'm going to sleep now, and I am happy. I had a very good end to my day, which is a nice feeling.

I don't carry nothing that might be a load, I just ease on down, ease on down the road...