Hey everyone! So I know I've been crap and haven't blogged in oh, 3 weeks now, but I will blog later today to catch everyone up! In the meantime, I just had to share this story from yesterday.
I was in the city picking up my money from work and was waiting on the corner to cross the street for the bus when this little old woman came and stood beside me. I looked over and smiled, and she smiled back and said something, so I took my earbuds out to listen. She said, "at least it's not raining that bad today." I nodded and agreed with her, because for the past couple of days it had been raining pretty hard. But since it was still drizzling, I just put my hood up from my raincoat, got out my umbrella, and put it over her. She smiled and said thank you and interlaced her arm with mine as we crossed the street. She moved pretty slow so I had to take down my mph a bunch, but I didn't mind. She was frail and sweet and had an awesome bright orange trench coat on.
Once we got across the street our bus pulled up, about 50 yards away, and she yelled at me to go on. But I couldn't leave her! So I ran ahead and caught the bus for the both of us, her coming about 10 seconds later, and all was good. She then sat in the front of the bus and scooted over, and I asked if I could sit beside her. She looked up at me and smiled and said of course, that why she sat there in the first place!
For the 20+ minute bus ride we found out a lot about each other. Her name is Pat and she came here for vacation 30 years ago and never went back. Sounds a lot like my future, eh? She hails from Scotland and has family all over the place. A sister in the states, a sister in New Zealand, and some family scattered about Asia and all over Scotland. She asked me about my schooling and travels, and I was telling her how much I love it here and I can't wait for Spring Break in Thailand. She's been to Japan, China, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mongolia, as well as many other places around the world. Even Russia! She is my future view of myself because I really hope to be as cool as she is one day.
Amidst our conversation she told me to keep a hold of my stuff and be careful because you never know when someone could grab it from you. I then smiled and said, well, about that, I actually had that happen to me about 2 weeks in so I know the feeling. She looked very worried but I said it was alright because 1. they didn't steal the picture of my dad in my wallet and, 2. I have good friends over here that kept me afloat for two weeks when I had no way to get money and was completely broke. She asked how much I had lost and I said, oh, about a weeks worth, but it's ok because things happen and now that I have a job I'm starting to earn some of that money back.
So right before I got off, with me just smiling and talking to Pat, she reached into her purse and handed me two $5 bills. My mouth dropped and I said I couldn't possibly take it from her, but she just shoved it into my hand and pretended she didn't know what I was talking about, saying that this would help for some of the money that I lost. I wanted to cry at that point. I then asked her if I could give her a hug, so right before I got off I gave her the biggest one I could muster without crushing her. I then hopped off the bus but made sure to go by her window to wave a blow a kiss. She waved and blew one back, then rode off into the sunset. I really hope that I can meet Pat again one day.
It's things like this that just make my heart so happy. I told my dad that anybody would do what I did, and he said no they wouldn't, so I then countered that everyone SHOULD do what I did. As animals we do have a very competitive nature of looking out for ourselves only and being selfish, but as humans we have such a large capacity for compassion. I honestly think that if you see someone in need, like Pat without an umbrella, or see someone that may be having a bad day, you should talk to them or help them. They may be strangers to you, but in their eyes you might be their saviors. I could talk about this all day but won't get too deep on the subject. Just wanted to share my story and show that a little compassion goes a long way.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Sunday, March 2, 2014
You can't rain on my parade
Happy Mardi Gras! Happy Pride!!! I'd never been to a Mardi Gras parade, or Pride parade for that matter, but let me tell you. EVERYONE NEEDS TO EXPERIENCE IT. It was amazing and crazy and wild and fun!
A group of us decided to trek it downtown, with the buses filled to the brim, in order to get a good spot near the action. Not only did we not find a good spot at first, we lost 80% of our group within 10 minutes. Yes, it may have been because I stopped to purchase a gay pride flag for $2 on the way in, but it was SO worth it! With just Jess, Mansoor, Natty and me left, we ventured off into the rainbow! But before we did that I bumped into a cute guy named Timmy and his date Steve. So presh! We held hands while looking for our lost friends, then OF COURSE made a photo op out of our new friendship. Although Timmy, or Timmeh as he put it in my phone in honor of South Park, and I parted ways, he will forever be in my heart as an integral part of my pride experience.
After we said our tearful goodbyes to our new friends, ones that also knew what "Summer Heights High" and "Ja'mie: Private School Girl" were, we SOMEHOW ended up finding our friends in the thousands of people. What are the odds? They all decided to stop in front of a HUGE projector to watch the parade but, per usual, I was not content with that being my pride experience so I hatched a new plan. I weaseled my small frame between to men on crates, because everybody stood on crates to see the show, and was just 3 people away from the front line. But as luck would have it, a woman let me share her crate and I SAW EVERYTHING! IT WAS AMAZING! The colors, THE OUTFITS, the music and the atmosphere! Couldn't ask for more! While I was up there I also introduced myself to the two men a squeezed between. They were a couple from Florida, named Lebron and Stephon, who were just as sweet and hilarious as they could be. I talked them into letting my buddy Mansoor, aka Manny, squeeze into the action so he could have a look. Can't leave a brotha behind! So while the rest of the group bailed, Manny and I stayed for the amazing duration of the parade, taking many pics, which I will post eventually.
As I said, nobody rains on the gays parade, so LITERALLY the second it was over the skies opened. But thankfully Manny and I ducked into a Kebab/Pizza place for a bite, him buying me a slice b/c I'm still poor for the next 7-10 business days. We then miraculously caught a bus before it rained too hard and went straight home!
Today has been pretty mundane compared to yesterday, though. Tried to go to the beach, but it started raining on the way there, so Jess, Manny and I ducked in for a bite to eat at El Galo. It's this chain of restaurants, which remind me of Pollos Hermanos, who serve mostly chicken burgers. The chick fil-a of Australia. Again, bc i'm poor, I didn't eat anything, but because the owner didn't want Manny to eat alone he brought us free french fries. BEST DAY EVER. After our chance lunch we went back home, watched some Howl's Moving Castle and made some delicious fried rice.
And now is where you find me. Blogging at 12am Australia time, 6am US time. Although classes technically start tomorrow, I'm on a T-Th schedule, so my vacay is extended one more day. Cheers!
A group of us decided to trek it downtown, with the buses filled to the brim, in order to get a good spot near the action. Not only did we not find a good spot at first, we lost 80% of our group within 10 minutes. Yes, it may have been because I stopped to purchase a gay pride flag for $2 on the way in, but it was SO worth it! With just Jess, Mansoor, Natty and me left, we ventured off into the rainbow! But before we did that I bumped into a cute guy named Timmy and his date Steve. So presh! We held hands while looking for our lost friends, then OF COURSE made a photo op out of our new friendship. Although Timmy, or Timmeh as he put it in my phone in honor of South Park, and I parted ways, he will forever be in my heart as an integral part of my pride experience.
After we said our tearful goodbyes to our new friends, ones that also knew what "Summer Heights High" and "Ja'mie: Private School Girl" were, we SOMEHOW ended up finding our friends in the thousands of people. What are the odds? They all decided to stop in front of a HUGE projector to watch the parade but, per usual, I was not content with that being my pride experience so I hatched a new plan. I weaseled my small frame between to men on crates, because everybody stood on crates to see the show, and was just 3 people away from the front line. But as luck would have it, a woman let me share her crate and I SAW EVERYTHING! IT WAS AMAZING! The colors, THE OUTFITS, the music and the atmosphere! Couldn't ask for more! While I was up there I also introduced myself to the two men a squeezed between. They were a couple from Florida, named Lebron and Stephon, who were just as sweet and hilarious as they could be. I talked them into letting my buddy Mansoor, aka Manny, squeeze into the action so he could have a look. Can't leave a brotha behind! So while the rest of the group bailed, Manny and I stayed for the amazing duration of the parade, taking many pics, which I will post eventually.
As I said, nobody rains on the gays parade, so LITERALLY the second it was over the skies opened. But thankfully Manny and I ducked into a Kebab/Pizza place for a bite, him buying me a slice b/c I'm still poor for the next 7-10 business days. We then miraculously caught a bus before it rained too hard and went straight home!
Today has been pretty mundane compared to yesterday, though. Tried to go to the beach, but it started raining on the way there, so Jess, Manny and I ducked in for a bite to eat at El Galo. It's this chain of restaurants, which remind me of Pollos Hermanos, who serve mostly chicken burgers. The chick fil-a of Australia. Again, bc i'm poor, I didn't eat anything, but because the owner didn't want Manny to eat alone he brought us free french fries. BEST DAY EVER. After our chance lunch we went back home, watched some Howl's Moving Castle and made some delicious fried rice.
And now is where you find me. Blogging at 12am Australia time, 6am US time. Although classes technically start tomorrow, I'm on a T-Th schedule, so my vacay is extended one more day. Cheers!
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