Two Months Down

Hi!! Sorry about my brief 10 day hiatus (thank you Grandpa for reminding me to post). Life has gotten hectic!!! Here's what I've been up to.

First - I hit the halfway mark. Two whole months here! I feel like just yesterday I was telling people I had been here for a week and had four months ahead of me. It feels weird knowing I'm now halfway through. But it makes me feel better when I frame it by thinking I have as much ahead of me as I have just completed. I did so many amazing things these past two months, but I still have so much more to do (New Zealand, Bali, Outback). I feel like a completely different person than when I started, and I can't wait to see who I'll become in the next two months. 

Since my Great Barrier Reef trip, I've been back to my regularly scheduled programming, which means running around Sydney. We spent a day at Manly Beach (where the shark attacks happen - but don't worry. No sharks, just a lot of seaweed). To get there, you have to take a ferry across the Sydney Harbor, which was my favorite part. You get views of the Opera House and all of the harbor beaches. UVA spring break was this past week, so a few UVA kids came to visit. It was fun to see faces I haven't seen in a long time, and weird to think that all this time they've been at school in a normal semester. I tried some great restaurants this week, including but not limited to an amazing Mediterranean place and obviously more sushi places. 

One very pivotal change - Maggie and I moved! We gave up our beautiful two bedroom apartment and now live at Camp (bunk beds, four girls to a room). But we traded quiet relaxation for friends and chaos, which feels more like abroad anyway. My wardrobe has now quadrupled in size and homemade dinners have gotten way better, so in the end everything works out. I'm only at my third night here though, so stay tuned for more Camp updates. 

Two nights ago, I went to a Sammy Virji DJ set. Virji has been one of my favorite house artists since I got into house music senior year of high school. Seeing him felt like a real dream. Initially, I was pretty scared to go, because I've never gone to a DJ set or a music festival or even been in the pit for a concert. The thought of the big crowd with no way out always freaked me out a bit, but like I said, I'd do anything for Virji. Sara and I had no clue where the night was going to take us. We began the evening by going to a birthday party for a guy we didn't know. Fate keeps working, though, and we found four more people who were also going to the concert. We all went together, and when we got there the crowd wasn't huge. Sara and I obviously wanted to push to the front, but our Aussie friends warned us that Australians do NOT push at concerts. Uhhh... We decided that we were American, and following stereotypes, the rules did not apply to us. We (politely) pushed our way to the front. Because Aussies are so kind, no one ever pushed into us or made us leave, so we got to see the entire set at the barricade. It was MAGICAL!!! I can't stop listening to Sammy Virji, and if anyone wants to send recs or talk about it please let me know because I'd like to talk at length.

We got home at around 2 am... Luckily we had a 5 am wakeup the next day! We embarked on a day trip to Port Stephens, a town 3 hours north of Sydney (slept on the bus). There, we went to the largest moving sand dunes in Australia. We sand boarded down them, which felt nothing like snowboarding and was honestly pretty treacherous, but super fun. Then we went on a hike up a mountain full of Eucalyptus trees. The views at the top were incredible. It looked like Thailand, the water was so blue and you could see little islands far out. In one day, we went from Morocco to Thailand, all in one small Australian town. This place rocks. 

Tomorrow I'm going to see a show at the Opera House, which is going to be so awesome. Only good things to come. Will update soon!