This weekend was special. Of all the fun times I have had in Perth since I arrived, there was something about this weekend is the one that made me wish I could just live here forever. I am thinking about all the close friends I have made, a lot of them closer to my heart than I ever would have dreamt possibly in a mere four months. My host family is currently away on a 5-day trip (Saturday to Wednesday) down south with their extended family, and the time without them also makes me realize that I will miss them dearly when I return to America.
I was slightly apprehensive about this long weekend. Excited but apprehensive. I could just picture myself laying around the house for five days, staring like a zombie at the TV or my computer screen, more of less going insane from boredom and lack of human contact. I could not have been further from the truth! In fact, I spent more time out with friends than I did at home! So, a brief (I will try to be brief) rundown...
Saturday: Got up and saw off my host family at around 8:45. Then at noon, the excitement began. I picked up a friend, Ivy, who lived nearby, and drove to another friend, Cherith's, house. Monopoly ensued, pulling us into an intense, three and a half hour game. At around 4 we starting thinking about dinner, and instead of eating out, we decided to run to the grocery store and buy a few things to make enchiladas! We had a nice adventure making those, then sat and watched Miss Congeniality, listening to the rain hammer down outside. It was really comin' down that day. We left at around 9:30, and I got home around 10, and pretty much went straight to bed.
Sunday: Now, here goes the crazy bit. I woke up, got ready for the day, and went to church (awesome service and baptisms this weekend!). After the service, I went out to lunch with an awesome group of about 9 (9?) people, including myself. Food was great, and convos were ever more fun. We actually sat at the table talking/singing/laughing/quoting various things until 3:00. As the group started to split up, I went with my friend, Connie, to Cottesloe beach, where we wandered, searching for a venue for an upcoming birthday party for an hour or so, then were joined by Jess and Ivy. We wandered a bit more. I love wandering. At around 5:00, Jess, Ivy, and I headed back to Jess's house, then back out to pick up food for dinner, and a movie! It was a semi-scary thiller, not too gory or anything, but films with serial killers in them will always make your skin crawl. We watched the movie, then hung around, snuggled under blankets, for quite a while. It was close to freezing that night, so we went to great lengths to stay covered as long as possible. Long story short, neither Ivy or I felt like driving home at 11:00 at night in the freezing cold after watching a scary movie. So we camped out on Jess's living room floor.
Monday: In the morning, we woke up, ate a yummy breakfast, then drove back home to shower and change into fresh clothes. Then we (Connie, Jess, Cherith, Ivy, and I) went back out to watch How To Train Your Dragon 2 in cinemas! Awesome movie, by the way! Afterward, we wandered (again, more wandering) around the shopping center, which was sort of like a big American mall, got some drinks, and sat around to chat a bit. Then I drove back home, got changed, and went back to Jess's house for a supercool workout session! I feel like I'm going be sore tomorrow, but it was well worth it. We ate dinner, then just relaxed and were joined by Cherith and Ivy a while later in the night. Then I came home... phew. I can say without a moment of hesitation that I am excited to go to bed tonight.
The weekend has felt so wonderful to me, both because of the fact that I am pretty much completely independent and have nothing to do, but mostly because I am just bursting with gratitude for all of my wonderful friends! I feel so utterly loved and accepted, and it is amazing. I have no doubt that I will have a very difficult time saying goodbye to them all in October. Tears probably will be shed. But it's so amazing! Being away from family and friends has taught me to value them so much more, and I appreciate every moment that I get to spend with them. They are part of my family now, my lovely sisters and brothers in Christ. I hope to keep in close contact with them for the remainder of my life.
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