Benson
One of my favourite things about studying is when, out of the corner of my eye, I see my cat poking his head around the corner to see whether I’m on the couch so that he can come sleep on me.
Mikee!
Mikee has been sending me a daily hug text message. It’s NICE!
I’ve been thinking of things to do lately, some inspired by the book Mikee got me, like putting post it notes in library books before I return them, or sticking them to stuff in the super market, or putting ‘this is your mission’ envelopes in change rooms around town. Hopefully soon I’ll find the time and motivation to actually do some of them. Or you could…
Australia
Last week at the Asylum Seekers Centre a family came in, with 3 children under the age of 8. They only had 10 dollars left to get them through the long weekend (since the family is still awaiting the outcome of their application and don’t have work rights or any government financial assistance). The caseworker told them to come back the next day, and when they did she had arranged for OzHarvest to bring them heaps of food to take home, the lunch volunteer had packed them all the leftovers to take, and the caseworker had found a not-for-profit organisation that was willing to provide them with an allowance for the weekend. Seeing these people come together to help this family made me really happy to be working with them, and to be doing what I’m doing. It was a good day.
Also, Mikee knew I was stressed out when we were hanging out yesterday, so we went to K-Mart and tried the chairs that are for sale and tried on dressing gowns and bought Garrt a gift. He made me feel better, and then we went to see a movie about every day super heroes that made me feel even more strongly that every individual has the responsibility to stand up and get involved in the injustices that they see around them, whether they impact upon us directly or not. We feel that the big injustices are too big to do something about, and that the small ones are not worth us getting involved with, and so we do nothing effective about anything. Think about something positive you can do to make the world a better place today, and do it.
That’s it for AU1! Peace out :)
Another week goes by in a blink of an eye
Jeudi
It SNOWED!!!! And I saw 3 teenage boys filling up a garbage bag with snow, and throwing snowballs over the railing from down in the Promenade Plantee, so I threw a couple back at them before running away. It was GREAT!!!
Mercredi
Anna cooked me dinner out of her own fridge even though I’m sleeping on her floor, she’s worked all day, I hadn’t, and she had only had 5 hours sleep and been stuck on a train that was delayed for an hour because a boat hit a bridge. She’s such a darling!
Mardi
Michael cooked us dinner and paid for all the groceries and didn’t take my 5 euros as a contribution. He also set up for me to go to Scribe Hotel for Macarons.
Eric at Scribe Hotel reserved a table in the Maison de The and ordered 2 teas and 2 patisseries and made me eat both! Then he took me downstairs, showed me where they make everything, and gave me Macarons and Chocolates. What a champion!!!
Lundi
Parissa bought Nadine and I soup as a celebration for finishing book one. She gave us so much through all the study, and then she even gave us that. Amazing.
Dimanche
Axelle m’a envoye un texto qui a dit ‘Don’t want you to go’.
Samedi
Fx et Michael ont decu c’etait drole a m’envoyer un texto qui a dit (les deux) qu’ils ont disputer et ils rentrent. J’etais ENERVER mais c’etait une blague. Phew!!!
Vendredi
Tonight I was lying on the couch and out of nowhere somebody in the street started screaming. I went to the window and found that a great number of people up and down the street had come to their windows and were calling down to the woman, asking if she was ok and trying to find out whether to call the police. It reminded me of the story that I’d heard of a woman in New York who was assaulted on the street, and how none of the neighbours did anything to stop it. Paris, I hope, isn’t like that.
Jeudi
Dancing on the bar in Rush bar was certainly a moment. But the deed of the day was Sophie making the effort to come to Barney’s farewell, even though she had a headache. She’s really really sweet.
Mercredi
I went to La Janissaire for lunch, and afterwards when I was walking I saw all these people walking their dogs. I really like how people care enough about something else to rug up, strap themselves to another animal, and make the effort.
Random
Vendredi apres-midi j’etais sur le Metro et j’etais triste parceque je parts bientot et mes amis me va manquer. Mais soudainement j’ai pense de Dave et Phil, et de le fois quand Dave a tombe dans McDo, et le mec de securite nous a eleve et pose dans un chaise. C’etait vraiment drole et il etait vraiment gentil aussi. Et puis je m’ai sense un peut mieux, parceque je parts, mais je rentres en Australie ou il y a beaucoup des gens que j’aime bien. Dave et Phil, Brian et Jono, Kym, Mark et Danielle, Claire, Mikee, Alvin, Garry, Britt et Ellise, Pookie, Frenchy, Leo, Chris P… Toute va etre bien.
Random
Quand Dan et moi sont quitte, j’etais chez Pookie et Adair, et ils porta ensemble les vetements en jaune et se posa sur la canape et m’a regarde comme des parents inquiete. C’etait trop mignon. Et apres, a le concerte d’Adair, Pookie m’a dit qu’il etait un mec, donc il ne sait pas ce que a dire, mais il peut entendre donc parles Amy, et je m’assisse ici pour toi… Il etait gentil cette fois. Vraiment.
Mardi
Anna bought me dinner and drinks even though I’m sleeping on her floor. The cook at the Chinese place asking me whether my meal was ok because I didn’t finish my Bobun. Fran from Marrakech Rouge tagged herself on my facebook photo. People commented all over my Morocco album, which made me realise that people actually look. Yay!!!
Random
One time an old man carried my very heavy suitcase for me, from the RER to the Metro, and then through a Metro line change, because I was a young girl. He was only in Paris on holiday for 3 days, and used to be a baggage handler at the airport. That was really really nice of him. I was a bit afraid he was going to have a heart attack from the strain of it though…
More nice things.
Lundi
Anna telling me I didn’t have to worry about cooking dinner, even though I’m coming to live with her.
Dimanche
Melissa coming to check on me because she hadn’t seen me in a while. Melissa and Jeremy saying that I’m always welcome at their house if I don’t have anywere to stay.
Samedi
Antoine and Emilie picking me up. Anne-Sophie not making me pay anything for the weekend away.
Vendredi
This one was a pretty good one. There’s Ali giving me 20 Euros even though he’d only known me for 3 days, just in case I didn’t have enough money for the airport taxi. There’s Fran not making me pay full price for the hostel because she thought I’d been really helpful. There’s the security guard at the airport who followed me all the way through security and passport control to give back the camera that I’d left on the counter when I was filling out my boarding card. There’s Luke giving me a goodbye hug, there’s Fran telling me they didn’t want me to leave, there’s Ali giving me his bus ticket for the airport in case I had enough time to get a bus, there’s the lady at the market doing both my Fatima hands instead of just one… There’s a lot.
Jeudi
There’s Ali offering to let me keep his jacket because I was cold. There’s Seonyran giving me a Thank You gift. There’s a warm welcome from Yusef, and sitting on the couch in the courtyard and hearing Abdellah calling me from the top level and telling me to come up to the Berber tent and eat with them once I’d finished my tea. There’s lamb skewers and tagine in the Berber tent on the rooftop, there’s Fran and Abdellah sharing everything they have with the 10 people in the tent, there’s Nomad and the Mexican dude both eating whole chillis and trying to look like they weren’t dying, there’s Nomad greeting me like a friend, there’s fixing the hostel website…
Mercredi
Hassan the Nomad dragging me up the sand dune, there’s Seonyran making it up the sand dune on her own, there’s Hassan telling up Berber jokes on top of the sand dune, Colin the Camel, there’s Berber skiing, there’s a meteor shower in the full moon of a sahara desert night, there’s a cat snuggling with my under my blanket, there’s 2 Moroccon guys helping me because I was worried about sleeping in a tent with them, there’s Tony taking my stuff in his bag because it wouldn’t fit in mine…
Mardi
Having Fran hand me 600 Dirham cash for my trip. Learning how to tie a turban. Drinking mint tea in front of the fire at a hotel in the Moroccan mountains.
Lundi
Coffee with Luke. Buying tiles from the Koran and having the guy tell me not to resell them. Fran and Abdellah stopping me in the street, buying me a coffee, talking to me in French, then lending me 135 euros because the ATM ate me card, even though they’d only known me for 2 days. Then they fed me (Tangier), and even gave me a beer.
Dimanche
Fran and Abdellah feeding me lamb skewers on the rooftop. The best mint tea ever.
Samedi
Anna’s Mum buying me lunch.
Vendredi
Indian with Anna and Will.
Jeudi
The taxi driver from Chacha not throwing me out even though I was obviously too drunk to be in his cab.
Mercredi
Anna taking me to the Hemmingway bar at the Ritz. Seeing the lights in Place Vendome. Axelle buying me Champagne when we went to meet Daisy.
Random
Barney and Christopher always telling me that if I need a place to stay I can crash at theirs. Barney and Christopher saying ‘You don’t have to sleep on the floor! Pick a bed!’.
Catch Up
Mardi
Today at lunch the waiter noticed that Anna had been using her left hand to hold her spoon, and for the next course he asked if he should set her place for a left hander instead.
Lundi
The bar tender at the bar in Montmartre wasn’t all that busy, so when my friend and I sat down at a table before going to the bar to order a drink, he came over and gave us table service. That was really nice.
Dimanche
A little 5 year old kid sat down next to a guy on the Metro and fell asleep. He slo-o-o-wly started leaning sideways, and leaned his head on the guy next to him, who was more than a little surprised. Over the course of the next 10 minutes the kid leaned more and more, and the guy looked more and more amused and uncomfortable. Finally, when the guy’s stop arrived, he had to hold the little kid up while his grandma slid in beside him so that he could lay across her lap and have a proper nap. It was really SO cute!
Samedi
Fx loved the t-shirt that I made for him. It made me really happy. And it made me really happy that Michael helped me find the shop to print it, and told me that he really liked it too. They’re good boys.
Vendredi
Anna let me go to her house to borrow her blanket, and since she wasn’t there she said I could stay the whole weekend so I could have a place to myself. She’s really lovely like that.
Jeudi
Seeing Fx and Michael and Anna all talking and getting along. And then having them each tell me seperately that the other ones were really nice. That gave me some serious warm and fuzzies.
Mercredi
Having all the people that I asked for references say yes, and then having one say ‘this is a bit dry, feel free to spice it up a little, I’m ACTIVELY recommending you’ was really, really lovely.
Mardi
Booking the hostel in Marrakech, and having them say that they would look after me and to think of it as my home away from home in Morocco, they made me feel like they cared even though they don’t even know me.
