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!
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