Let me start this post by saying that I risked my life to get to the library computer lab to write this. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but allow me to explain: As of about half an hour ago when I entered the library, it recently started to rain heavily. There was some thunder, and occasional lightning. This happened last night as well, around 9 or 10 o’clock, maybe later. I was looking out the window with one of my roommates, Becca, and we actually saw at least a few, maybe several, I forget, very long bolts of lightning in the not-too-far-away distance. Last night was not the first night this has happened. On a previous night, maybe a week or so ago, I actually had the guts to walk to the movies in the middle of thunder, lightning, and rain. But the difference was that that night I could only see big flashes of light that lit up the night sky, not actual bolts. After seeing the lightning bolts, I realize that I cannot be as carefree about the rain in Sydney as I am in Portland. It is not a force to be reckoned with. I know this is sounding weird, but last night was actually kind of scary. When I was in the bathroom switching my laundry to the dryer, every 10 seconds or so I would see maybe a two-by-10-inch flash of bluish electric energy at the window just to my right. When I went in my room to do reading for a class, I made sure to keep a flashlight right there on my desk with me.
I ended up going on the surf trip after all. This shift began Wednesday night at The Ranch, a not-so-nice bar diagonally across the street from my apartment. I’d gone over there following the birthday party of one of my other roommates, Liz. Everybody else from the CEA group was there, and they practically begged me to go. I felt very guilty being the one person not going. Thursday I spent a good portion of the day pondering of whether I should go or not go, up to the point of even calling my dad to get his advice. He thought it was worth it as long as I was able to get the work done (which unfortunately I’m now rather struggling with, but that’s a different story), and so I ended up calling Murray and telling him I actually wanted to go after all. He told me my spot was still available, so me and Becca (who’s also in the CEA group) met everybody else from the group in front of the Stamford Hotel, a really fancy hotel across the street from our apartments, at 10am Friday morning to take the Surfaris surf bus north to Point Plomer. It was about a 7-8 hour bus ride, but luckily we were allowed several stops along the way. When we got there the campsite was already set up, so all we had to do was move in. The next morning we went surfing around 9am, but I wasn’t as into it as some other people in the group, mainly because the water was reallly cold — so cold my teeth were chattering within maybe half an hour — and I got kind of discouraged that I was having trouble getting up. I did have one good ride, when Planko (the surf instructor) basically held the board for me and pushed me down a wave, so all I had to do was stand up. That day I ended up getting really sunburned, so Sunday morning I wasn’t too interested in going back out again, although I did stand and ponder it for hours while I stared at the ocean. (Seems kind of crazy, doesn’t it? Just staring at the ocean? But it was so beautiful in that location… you’ll see what I mean when I post photos.)
The reason I haven’t been able to post photos lately is that my computer has been in for repair. It’s got some problem with its hard drive. The place I took it to said 3-5 days, and I dropped it off on Thursday, so with luck it’ll be ready tomorrow. Another piece of good news: My DSL should be activated by Telstra by “close of business” today, so that means I won’t have to come down to the library, i.e., risk my life (-: every time I want to check email, post in this blog, etc.