hello my lovelies! 

today i arrived in sydney, australia.  it was 18 hours of madness and hurry-up-to-wait-in-line, but i finally made it. 

i had been numb until i finally got on the plane and was super excited until the guy next to me turns and says, "have you heard the news?"  my heart sank.  i spent 9 hours on a cramped plane sitting next to a mormon proselytizer.  that definiety threw a wrench in my xanax/beer plan for the flight.  now i have no problem with most religions, but i just dont like to have it shoved down my throat.  so some pamphlets, theoretical bantering that was blissfully muffled by the engines, and 9 hours later, i arrived in fiji. 

the religion-choking aside, those guys were pretty cool.  they had just come back from their 2-year mission and had not seen their families the whole time.  we chatted about their culture and what it was like to move to another country when they had never before even left their island of fiji.  although now i am a bit more informed about the mormon version of history...

so rush rush only to wait out a 4-hour layover and awake to be surrounded by piles of screaming children.  anyone who knows me knows that this is not my ideal situation.  the flight was fairly quick and only included being searched 3 times.  im convinced its because i made a joke back in LAX at the ticket counter about being a felon.

so like i said, i am here in sydney.  i got a phone but apparently you cant call me, i can only call you so watch out for a 615 number.  sorry about that.  then i hopped on a train and then into a cab during rush hour only to find out that my hostel is closed til 4.  truth be told, im not sorry about that.  i spent the last 2 hours reading, drinking beer, and eating a full meal for the first time in 24 hours in an empty pub.  life is good.

and may i say, bree, that the hand sanitizer you gave me just came in handy because i had to use the bathroom in the back of this turkish restaurant where im using the internet.  no TP or paper towels.  boo.  resourceful serb that i am though, i saved the airplane napkins.  booyah!

massive anxiety attack aside (mostly due to dehydration and the bathroom situation) i am happy to be here.  ill be even happier to get more than 90 minutes consecutive sleep as well tonight. 

Taryn