Bonding, blisters & BYO

Occasionally there come days in your life that you recognize as special even while they’re still unfolding. You ask yourself to remember it, to soak it up and store away the benevolent feeling so that you may call upon it in the future, perhaps on a less than remarkable day, to enjoy the memory of a day that was truly special even while it remained a partial mystery. Something about that day had an essence, a quality that made it so recognizably extraordinary. Friday the 12th was one such day for me. After a frankly unnecessary meeting with our orientation leaders Chay and Liz from IES, Maddie, Kara, Kelly, and I set out on what was assumed to be a quick stroll through the nearby part of the University of Melbourne (or Uni Melb or Melbourne Uni...however, we’re still American enough to use the formal nomenclature for our schoolio). Our amble through academia quickly became an ultimate quest. Our map-reading abilities took us from campus down to Queen Victoria’s Market-a spectacle the likes of La Boqueria in Barcelona or Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown farmer’s market. We each snagged a 40-cent fresh peach and meandered by the vendors offering fish, bread, cheese, and produce. We settled on warm goat cheese sandwiches for lunch (“settled” is probably a misleading term, it’s not like you had to twist my arm to eat something gooey and warm or anything, really, involving cheese and bread). We also enjoyed seeing the clothing and souvenir booths. Our trusty map then took us from the market down famous Elizabeth street to Flinders Street Station (trains & trams) and Federation Square, a wacky architectural feat that doesn’t seem to serve a worthwhile purpose, save for its funky façade. We rejoiced at having gotten ourselves to the true heart of the city and patted ourselves on the back further when we reached the banks of the wonderful Yarra River. To one side, you can see the Melbourne Cricket Grounds and Melbourne Park (if only Serena were still wandering around down under) and to the other you see skyscrapers far and wide, including the Eureka Skydeck (tallest building in the southern hemisphere that we ascended with our orientation groups--think Sears Tower for ideas of the view of Melbourne that the height affords). I digress. It was nearing four by this point and we decided to turn our “stroll” back toward the Miami Hotel, or, “home.” I have made this walk sound like a piece of funfetti cake: easy, with no surprises and no skill required. Wrong. Our flip-flopped feet were feeling it by this time and we struggled to complete the more-than-a-mile return to North Melbourne. All in all, this stroll turned out to be a 9-miler once we google mapped our precise route. Impressed? We were, too. With 9 miles of exercise under our belts, we delighted at the prospect of pasta for dinner, but not before we visited the grocery store to purchase two $4 bottles of wine. Let me make this easy for you: each bottle roughly cost two dollars in American money. I bet you’re licking your lips right now imagining the taste of those bad boys. The purpose of this, of course, brings me to explain B.Y.O (which does not, confusingly enough, or shall I say thankfully enough, stand for Brigham Young Outback...wouldn’t want Mormons running around Melbourne, now, would we?) Bring Your Own truly means what it promises, that you may bring your own drinks to willing restaurants, allowing us poor college students to have a drink or two that doesn’t break the bank-or, in this four dollar case, that doesn’t even make a noticeable dent on the ATM receipt. I digress further. Anyway, at dinner we looked back upon the day we’d had and this is when I got the feeling that I described at the beginning of this too long tumble of thoughts. We felt so utterly free all day, walking to no one’s drum beat but our own, with no schedules, no disagreements, nothing to do but soak it all in and enjoy the truly special ambience of Australia. While we were walking, I knew we were seeing such famous sights that my guidebooks had warned me of but, looking back on it all over my bowl of penne pesto, I relished in the perfect unity of friends, sunshine, and a stress-free sightseeing tour. It’s hard to believe I only met these three girls less than a week ago-they have become such comfortable friendships and I will be more than lucky if they remain a presence in my study abroad experience. All in all, a day for the books or, in this case, a day for the blogs. Cheers.