G'Day Mates!!!
Good gosh. I didn't realize that I haven't updated my blog for almost over 7 weeks now. Craicky mates. Well, I'm completing my 9th week here. Let me give you an update of what has been going on from Week 3 to 8 and will do Week 9 separately:
Week 3 to 6. I've pretty much gone around the city looking at the sites, hanging out with the Bahaí youths, and attending Devotional Gatherings and the likes. I started playing soccer again, which is really good. On top of that, I started working out consistently, then somewhere after Week 5, I got a bit lazy. I got back on track in Week 9. Also, went to Nick's B-day party, Birth of The Bab (Baha'i Holy Day) and did a Spoken Word performance about The Bab's life at the celebration we had, and working (the main reason I'm here, remember :)).
Week 7. I went to Bellarat on saturday with my colleague Lauren, who grew up in that town. Bellarat was a big mining town and kind of still is. It was nice to see something else besides the city. Another mate from work, JB, met us up at Lauren's mom's house where we had some tea (pronounced "tay" and scones). The scones were awesome and Lauren's mom spread butter all over them...yummy mates! We then went to Sovereign Hill, which is somewhat of a theme park and represents how life was in the 'Olden Days (Golden Days due to gold). It reminded me of Texas with the horses, dirt roads, and accent! Yea, the accent :) Hehehe...We walked through a made mine tunnel explaining how miners would look and dig for gold. Pretty neat. We then saw a demonstration of how gold gets melted and poured to form an nouggat. It was sweet. Gold looks nicer when it's in its liquid form. Anyway, we topped it off with a view of how they make lollies (hard candy to suck) and we got to taste it in the end. That was super yummy. After that, we toured the small town of Bellarat, or like JB likes to call it, the village just to make fun of the folks from Bellarat. We drove by the dried up lake. If you are not aware, the state of Victoria -and most of Australia for a matter of fact- is in a state of drought. The lake is dried up with patches of water here and there. It's crazy. There are also water restrictions. The farming industry has taken a massive blow due to the lack of rain, causing farmers to lose their major crops, and even crops not growing. They have been subsidized by the govt. to assist them. Also, many have left the farming towns to work in the cities. Thus, there is also a concern that a generation of farmers would disappear due to the latter. Global Warming has really hit this country. As for Melbourne and the state of Victoria, after talking to many individuals, they are upset at the govt. for not building desalinization water plants to combat this decrease of water. Statistics show that in about 15 years or so, they may not have any more water. Yo, that's crazy!!! The morale to the above is to not take for granted a basic neccessity such as water and to conserve by taking shorter showers, not washing clothes all the time, watering the garden constantly, washing your car with a hose rather than a bucket, not letting water run while brushing your teeth, and the list could go on and on. I returned back to Melbourne with JB at about 7:15 PM or so.
I knew that there was a concert going on at 8 PM and I wanted to go to it and not sure if tickets were available but I was really tired as well and falling asleep on the couch. At 7:30 PM, I came down to the computer lab to look for tickets and had to make several run around calls until they told me that I had to show up to buy the tickets at the stadium. So, I went up stairs and got dressed really quickly and walked to Flinders Square to catch the tram. However, the tram was to arrive in 11 mins. and I figured that it would probably be quicker for me to walk out there. So I walked, and walked, and walked and got there at 8:45 PM. I guess I took the long route. I missed the entire first act, which was Ne-Yo (known for his song "So sick of the songs"). He is one of the upcoming R&B singers. I was quite disappointed. Anyway, when I got to the ticket booth, the lady told me that it was AU $110. I wasn't ready to pay that. I asked about a cheaper ticket and she asked me if I had a "Concession Card" or "Backpackers Card". I didn't know what a "Concession Card" was, and apparently, it's a student ID. Anyway, I told her that I was a US Citizen doing a secondment here (so, I didn't lie at all). She couldn't do anything for me, so I asked her if she could point me to the tram stop so I could go back home and sleep. Then I asked her as to what happened to the AU $59 tickets. She said that that was the "Concession" price. Ah, I was like oh well, then she looked at her co-worker and she decided to hook me up :) Nice of her but I had already missed the 1st act. Anyway, it was Jay-Z and Rihanna to perform, and Jay-Z was the main reason. I got a seat way up in the bleachers but it was still awesome. Rihanna (from Barbados - wat' up Greg Webster) was great! A 15 min break, and then Jay-Z came one. Blop blop!!! It was off da hook. I recorded a lot of it with my camera as I have a 10x Zoom lens, and that is the main reason I bought that camera. I'll share somehow, maybe on YouTube. Jay-Z tore it up. There were points where the DJ stopped the beats and he went off in accopella style like a spoken work poet!!! Dude, it was awesome. You could say "Bamba" at the end of each song. He did all his hits, then he stopped. The crowd asked for "One More" and he came out and did another 20 mins. or so and paid a tribute to all the fallen rappers (2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Aalliyah, Jam Master Jay) and original MCs / Pioneers of Hip-Hop (Grandmasterflash, Run DMC, etc...) That was one of the best performances I've seen. Much respect to Jay-Z because he didn't lip sing. He lost his voice at the end of the show and Melbourne was his last stop. Just so that everybody knows this, I bought Jay-Z's 1st album when everybody wrote him off. Thus, I am not a bandwaggoner like most of the peeps out there. A final cultural note, I was actually quite impressed with the young folks who attended the concert. At times, Jay-Z put his mic out at the crowd to sing the choruses to the songs, and the entire crowd sang it to the "T", which was quite shocking. I didn't realize how big Hip-Hop was here besides the fact that everybody likes 50-Cents like crazy. Also, Melbourne and Australia, in general, listen to R&B. That is actually a great thing because the minds here aren't too corrupted like the youths of the USA. In one way, Rap kills the mind with false ideologies (money, jewelry, violence, sex, etc....) but in the other, it also enlightens in terms of social issues the US faces and the world as well (poverty, ghettos, racism, drugs, war, etc....). In conclusion, it's a double-edged sword.
On Sunday, I was too tired and missed soccer and just slept in and watched Champions League soccer. As mentioned in a previous blog, Lyon will win it. They came back from a 1 - 0 deficit to score 2 goals in the 88th and 90th mins. by Wiltord to defeat Paris St. Germain (PSG) 2 - 1. You should have seen the PSG fans and players. They gave up the lead but that's what happens when you play defense instead of attacking even if you have a lead. You can use this concept to corporations and business as a whole. If you have a product and you think it's the best and you sit on it and improve that same product to make it even better without coming out with a different product to increase your revenues, then you are most likely to get squached by one of your competitors. The morale is that you have to always be nimble, quicker than your opponent, creative, a mix of offense and defence to have a strong and well-balanced team, and a will to win. The "Lyon" had all the latter. By the way, they won the game without two of their best players (Juninho -the Brazilian free-kick specialist- and Malouda -the emerging French star). This also showed that they had a great balance with experienced veterans and up-coming youth. Now, that's an organization!
Week 8. During this week, I took Friday (Nov. 3) and Monday (Nov. 6) off since Tuesday (Nov. 7) was Melbourne Cup Day (similar to the Kentucky Derby). It is a Public Holiday in Melbourne! There have been many horse races in the last 3 weeks and the city goes nuts over them. It's crazy! People get super dressed up like Prom but also differently. The women where these dresses that show a lot and wear a hat attached to their hair (it's actually pretty) and the guys get supped up in suits with tons of gel in their hair wearing snake leather shoes that have white leather on them or what not. Madness! With all due respect, the ladies do look really nice :)
Anyway, I went to Ayers Rock on Friday and the situation got stuffed when I called the tour company I booked it with. The plan was that they were to leave Alice Springs and arrive at the Ayers Rock airport to pick me up and another girl at 12:30 PM. We waited at the airport from 10:30 AM to 12:30 AM with Natacha and her boyfriend (both from the UK on a trip to AU). Anyway, I called and they told me that the tour had been cancelled but not to panic because they put me on a similar tour with another tour operator. So, that was OK but they had stated that Natacha was also taken care of but not her boyfriend Trystin. On top of that, they didn't bother calling us because they said that they didn't have our contact info but they had my cell phones. By that time, it was 1 PM and told us to get to the Ayers Rock resort to be picked up at 1:30 PM. We managed to get a ride there from another tour operator who was looking for the people who had booked their tour with him. It was really nice of him to take us. We got there at 1:15 PM and then called the tour people and they still didn't have it fixed out. After another 10 mins., they called me and said that all was in order and we would be leaving at 1:45 PM. Well, we didn't leave until 2:30 PM. It was a mess. Apparently, the tour guide decided to watch a movie the night before and he was supposed to pick up the peeps from their hostals at 5:30 AM but he oveslept and ended up picking them up at 7:15 AM or so. They were ticked off!
Oh well, everything got sorted out and we went to Olga's mountains for a 6 Km hike. It was great but hot for the others since they were mostly from the UK and not used the heat. As for me, growing up in Chad (Africa) for 14 years with desert-like heat and living in Houston, TX for 14 years with humid-like heat, it didn't affect me. We did the hike and then went to Ayers Rock (aka, Uluru is the Aboriginal name) to catch the sunset. That was nice and it was funny looking at all the people looking at this huge red rock and thinking something miraculous would happen. Pretty funny :) Obviously, duh, the rock didn't move or do anything...hehehe... We then went back to the camp sites were we slept in Tee-Pee type tents. But before that, we all cooked dinner and made the table. I had to show the mates what a Texas BBQ was by grilling steaks and sausages. It was awesome and they were impressed but we didn't have any Texas Bold BBQ sauce, oh well, it's all good. Small story, I later found out that two of the Japanese dudes in the group, took off their clothes and took timed pics of themselves naked jumping up in front of "The Rock" when everybody left after the sunset to get in the busses. They showed the pics to several peeps on the bus. It must have been hilarious but I'll pass on looking on those. They were really awesome and each night, a group would help them with their English as they are studying English in Melbourne and living with Australian families. That's awesome. I also told them that one of my brother's has a Japanese name (Fugita). Well, my parents actually took out the "J" and used a "G" instead. They were quite impressed of that. FYI, there is a football player (Linebacker) who used to play for the Kansas City Chiefs with the last name of "Fujita". I believe that he now plays for the Dallas Cowboys. You must think that he is the 1st Japanese player in the NFL but you are wrong. He is actually, with no offense to anybody out there, a "white" guy, who was adopted by a Japanese family. Nice!
We had to wake up at 4 :30 AM to make it out to the Ayers Rock for sunrise. Yea, that was too damn early for me. It affected me for the rest of the day. As it was extremely windy that day, "The Climb" was not allowed, so we did the base walk. I believe it was 9 Km around it. Yea, a long and boring walk. Good thing I had my new iPod to keep me entertained. Imagine walking around a huge portion of Downtown Houston looking at a big rock. Yea, not that exciting but it's what I paid to do, so no complaints. Going back to the two mates from Japan above, they really wanted to climb Uluru. One of them, mentioned that every year, his buddies and he, climb Mount Fuji. They usually do it in 4 Hrs. and camp out there overnight in order to catch the sunrise. From what I hear, it's awesome! Anyway, they were walking with me for the 1st half of the base walk, and they kept wondering and asking me if I believed if they would open the gates to climb. I informed them that I didn't think so and wouldn't count on it. They kept thinking of going back and wondered if it would be quicker to go back from the point were in or go around it. At that point, I think we were already half way through it. They ended up walking the entire perimeter. Later, I found out that the main reason they really wanted to climb it is that there is an old Japanese movie where a couple's goal was to come to Ayers Rock and climb it. In the movie, the man's wife dies of cancer and he takes one of her bones and he makes the journey to Ayers Rock. The actor climbs the rock and makes it to the top. At the top, in the movie, he buries her bone. That is one of the main reasons they wanted to do "The Climb". My assumption was that since he seemed to be a mountain climber with Mount Fuji, it was part of the mountains on his list, but I was wrong. Morale of the story is not to assume :) Another small note regarding my brother Fugita, the nickname I gave him is "Fia". Others have given him the nickname of "Fuji" after Mount Fuji. Regardless, he likes all three but I claim "Fia"! Cheers bro :)
After the base walk, we went back to the campsite for chicken burgers and then made the 2.5 hours drive out to King's Canyon. We camped out and sat by the fire we made under a blue full moon. It was great. Chatted with the mates from the UK, Canada, and Brisbane.
We then again woke up really early (4:30 AM) to leave at 6 AM to walk King's Canyon and beat the heat. It was actually a great day as the sun was not hot but there were awesome breezes. Ok, by far, in my opinion and a few others I've talked to, King's Canyon is the best part of the whole trip (well, the sunset and sunrise at Uluru was cool too). But the view, the mountain formation of the rocks layered, the palm trees, the Garden of Eden (water) in this canyon, the lizards, and the only Kangaroo I've seen since I've been here from afar, was awesome. The breeze and the atmosphere was excellent. The only problem is that it was such a rush. It would have been awesome if we had a lunch or had a pic-nic out there just to soak up the atmosphere. I have always wanted, and still really want, to go to the Grand Canyon. I just have to convince my mates in the states to become more of adventurers and outdoorsy, outback, peeps. When I get back, there are going to be more road trips and camping adventures.
We then went back to the bus and headed back for burritos and a swim in the pool. Yup, that's correct: Burritos! Dudes, that hit the spot. I felt like I was at home. The only thing missing was pico de gallo and hot mexican sauce. I had to settle for sweet and sour spicy Chinese sause. I didn't swim in the pook because I didn't feel like taking a shower again.
We then packed up and hit the road for a good 4 hr. journey to Alice Springs. In order to make this easy, there is a Baha'i Youth by the name of Kurt that is from Alice Springs that was traveling through Australia to get away from home for a bit. I now know why because Alice Springs is so small (28,000 population) and not much to do there. It's a stop over for tourist but it's also Aboriginal land and country, so you could understand and learn a different culture. Anyways, I met Kurt through Anthony, another Baha'i Youth here in Melbourne. We all hung out many times and have become my friends since I got here. Well, Kurt's family lives in Alice Springs and they own about 4 restaurants (Pizzeria, Red Dog, Green Dog -vegetarian-, and his sister Lisa, has her own cafe and clothing store with her fiance combined with a Japanese flair - really nice and eclectic and really good coffee too :)). I got in contact with Wahid, Kurt's brother, and he had one of his mates (Bayan) that works with him at the Pizzeria that took me to a devotional gathering at one of the local Baha'i families home. It was really nice because I had missed 19 Day Feast on Friday and to also see other Baha'is and non-Baha'is get together and pray, share poetry, and music together. Going back to the acquaintances, Anthony's two brothers also live in Alice Springs. There names are Chris and David. Anthony had made arrangements for me to stay at Chris and David's house they had just rented (big house). Chris was at the devotional and after that, we went to his place, which was right around the corner. It was great.
Since I had been waking up at 4:30 AM and was really tired, I was going to sleep in and then Chris was to come home for lunch and then take me into town. Chris was too tired also so he called in sick. He woke up at noon and then we watched the Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy act. It was awesome. After that, we went to feed his new puppy around the corner and then went to buy a whole a chicken and bottle of Coke. We tore that up! That was some good chicken. Then, I took another nap and then watched a few sitcoms and then we went to eat Thai Food where Dave's girlfriend works. Yea, that was really good too. Wahid, met us up, and after eating we walked over (20 yds) in the town square to the Red Dog to move in the Pizza Oven into the restaurant. Yea, it was heavy. There were about 8 of us doing it but the time at the gym paid off. We enjoyed cappuccinos late that night under the moon in the middle of the square with nobody around besides Wahid's family. It was nice and peaceful and a great chillout.
The following morning, Tuesday, I woke up at 10 AM and packed up. Went to the town square and placed my bags in the Red Dog restaurant, hung out at the table until about 12:30 PM talking to Lisa, her dad and uncle, and then finally went for a walk to check out the town. Well, it only took me 20 mins. to see everything. Got a lesson on Opals from the Opal Dealer and how it is mined and valued. Pretty interesting. Came back and ate and then Chris met up with me and then we walked up the sports bar to catch the Melbourne Cup horse race. Pretty interesting and the nation stopped doing anything for about 3o Mins. Funny thing is, my tour guide from the previous day (Joe), found me and was walking around without a shirt (it was hot that day: 37 Degrees Celcius). That dude is hilarious and a character. He's what he calls or nation calls, "Multicultural", which is 1/2 Aboriginal and 1/2 White. That dude has a great sense of humour and was hilarious on the tour. We thought that he didn't do a great job explaining things but in fact that was only the 1st day. I would have to say that he was really tired from staying up the night before watching a movie because he would start something and get us into it, and then he would say: "Alright, time to move on". hahaha...at one point, 4 girls from the group (2 Danish and 2 UK) left to go to the other tour group but they also had their friends in that one as well. It was funny! Joe did redeem himself by providing a lot of information on Aboriginal life, culture, and family experiences, as he lived that life as well and the other tour operators didn't.
In the end, I left for the airport after the horse races and having a coffee with Lisa in her cafe / boutique. I think the taxi driver ripped me off, but oh well, nothing I could do anymore. I got back into Melbourne at 8:45 PM and had just lost 1.5 Hrs. due to the time zone difference. I walked back and saw all the Australians who had dressed up for the Cup. I also witness a guy chase another dude who sells roses to people on the streets. Not sure why but he chased him into the Crown and tackled him. Maybe he looked at his girl or something but that dude ran like a ghost was chasing him. I don't blame him because the dude chasing him was a big bad wolf. I wouldn't mess with him but he wouldn't have caught me with my speed. I don't know what the morale of the story on this one is but I can either assume that one shouldn't look at another dude's woman, or don't consume alcohol as it causes one to lose control, or don't say something that will cause one to run like a ghost is chasing him. Yea.
One final note on this trip, I bought a book titled "Freakonomics" after I read a chapter in the states at Borders and after Carlos, a colleague in the Houston office told me about it, and read the whole thing in 2.5 days. Yup, that's right, I finished the book. I can't remember the last time I finished a book. I still haven't finished "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" I started in 2005 when I started my trip to Jamaica. Yea, I guess I'll finish that when I get back. I also started reading a book called "Indecision" and was the item I forgot to pack up when I left the house. I knew that I had forgotten something the whole way up to the airport, and that was it. Craicky mates! I'll have to ask my brother to send it to me.
Well, mates, it's a nice day today (hopefully as you get 4 seasons in 1 day here in Melbourne as it is really frustrating). My next blog will be Week 9, which is about to end tomorrow. I will also create one on differences and frustrations here. There is a Baha'i here, Fred, that is American and about to move back to the US (state of Maine), and last night, we shared the differences and the most frustrating things about Australia. He has a lot more as he's been here longer than I and is also married to an Australian here. So, he's provided stuff I didn't realize. Well, catch ya'll later and be cool. Cheers.
From the Down Under,
Collin
