Bondi Adventure!

I just had one of the fullest days of my life! Let me start from the beginning!

I woke up at 8AM, got dressed and headed out for the beach with LaChelle, Jo, Tony, Claudio, and Josh. We stopped by a waffle cafe and I had a waffle on a stick! It was ridiculously overpriced but delicious nonetheless! Then we hopped on the train and headed out to Bondi - our connecting train was having track work so we had to take two buses to get to the beach, but we made it there right as it started getting hot outside!

It was BEAUTIFUL!! The water was incredibly blue and the sand was gorgeous! There were about a million people there, but it was still great! We all laid our stuff out and the guys went out to surf while LaChelle took a nap and I wrote my book report. With the sun so nice and warm with just enough of a cool breeze it wasn't long until I was knocked out too! When I woke up (about an hour later) I found out that all the guys had come back in and fallen asleep too! All 6 of us were asleep on the sand!

Once we woke up we headed out to get some pizza to bring back and eat on the beach. One of LaChelle's friends from Tenesee moved to Sydney a year ago to be a bike messenger and live in a hostel, and he came and met up with us at the beach and told us all of the insider information about Sydney. By the time we finished our pizza it was about 4:30 so we started to head out to make in back in time to get to the 6:00 church service.

Well, apparently that's when everyone else in Bondi decides to get home too because we sat at the bus stop for an hour trying to catch a bus, but every one that by didn't even stop because it was already full from previous bus stops! So, we walked all the way down to the farthest bust stop and caught one bus to a train station, had to catch another one to a different station and finally made it to the correct train station and on the right train, after about two hours of traveling.

Then we all made ourselves comfortable for the hour-long train ride home. Well...about an hour and a half later we realized that we didn't recognize any of the train stops that we were passing - so we decided to look at the map. And, guess what, we were on the wrong train!! So, we had to wait for the train to get to the end of the line, sit there for 30-45 minutes, and turn back around. Then we had to get off at another station, find a different train, and FINALLY made it back to our "home station". And then there's the normal 30 minute walk home, that took a little bit longer because Jo hurt his foot and had to walk with a limp.

All in all it took us 5 hours to make what should have been a 1 1/2 hour long trip...needless to say, we missed church. But, I LOVED the adventure! I love getting lost, or tires being flat, or getting on the wrong train because it always ends up being and adventure and a great memory, or a miserable memory, but a memory nonetheless!

And it was definitely all worth it when I got to get home (weird that I've started calling this home...) and skype with my dad! Whenever I try to skype with my mom, sister and dad he's usually pretty silent, which makes sense considering it's insanely hard to get a word in edge-wise with us three! :) But, I love it when we get the opportunity to skype one-on-one like today! Oh, and it's my sister's birthday today!! I just have to give a little shout out to her! Happy Birthday Haven!! It was great here, I hope it's just as great in the states for you! :)

Today was really really fun but kind of hard too. To be completely honest, whenever we go out it's hard. Everywhere I look there are young couples holding hands and being cute together, enjoying the beach, the city, the opera house, everything! They're enjoying everything together...and I don't have a "together" person. I mean, I have LaChelle...but that doesn't count. :)

I'm sure that God is doing some amazing stuff with me but, it's really really hard. I'm sure you already know that I broke up with my boyfriend of two years (really, though it was more like 5 years) a few weeks ago. And, I totally agree that it was the right decision. However, it's SO hard!!! I just want someone to share stuff with, someone that's more than just a friend. Someone that knows my heart, both the good and the bad and still accepts me, in fact still loves me! Girlfriends like LaChelle and Guyfriends like Jo are great and I'm so incredibly glad that God has put them in my life, but I miss having a partner. So, even though this isn't a "spiritual prayer" you are welcome to pray for me in the relationship department if you want. My heart hurts pretty badly lately and it's incredibly hard to deal with heartbreak while I'm 8,000 miles away from my family.

But, don't get me wrong - I love it here. I'm really starting to develop great relationships with everyone here. We are all becoming incredibly close! It's going to be SOOOO hard to split everyone up for outreach! But, helloooo I'm going to Tahiti (it's still not official, but I'm speaking it into existence) and Vanuatu!!! How could I be sad about that?!?

Hey, did anyone realize that I've been here for a month?! It certainly doesn't feel like that, but sometimes it does! I feel like I've been here for a year, or a day, I can't decide! I have less than 5 months until I will again be asleep in my own bed! Weird!! But, until then I get to enjoy the comfort of wire springs stabbing into my back and loud doors opening and closing with every girl's bathroom break in the middle of the night! :)

Speaking of which, I think I'll go ahead and go enjoy that right now! :)

G'Night all!