the first 5 days

not that anyone besides my family and a few of my stalker friends will read this (you know who you are lol), i decided to do a blog of my time here in australia. it'll be full of my experiences, ramblings, and all the things that i'm baffled by as an american in a foreign spot.

the two days before i left were CRAZY! i couldnt pack my clothes till right before i left since i was wearing all my winter clothes in slc, and would need all my summer clothes for perth. see the madness?

saying goodbye to everyone was so hard. i pretty much cried non-stop for two days. the night before i left i had a hot date with this guy (so lucky xoxo)

we went to el chihuahua, which is my favorite mexican restaurant, and also the scene of our first date. loved every minute of it! for those of you who havent been, put it on your list, and be sure to order an orange deathstar to drink :)

tuesday morning i said bye to my dad, followed by lots of crying. love you so much pop and miss you tons already!

i finished packing all my stuff into two suitcases and 6 boxes. who knew you could condense an entire life into such a small amount? shane came over and watched the goonies with me, the brother, and the dogs (indy and chewy). it was nice to just be lazy and snuggle on the couch and pretend everything was going to be the same.

my mom was having a going away dinner for me, so we loaded up shanes car to get ready to leave. saying bye to my dog was just as hard as saying bye to my dad. that hairy little mutt is like my child, he was a good boy and sat down and let me love on him for a few good minutes. i cried all over his fur.

i got to my moms and my bff, allie, stopped by to give me a present and say goodbye. love all my friends, and was so touched by her present (photo of all of us at her wedding) and her coming to see me that i started crying. love you pric.

my mom was just as emotional as me on tuesday, but somehow managed to put together a damn tasty meal of fajitas. we sat around the table talking and laughing, and touching on the occasional inappropriate subject :) i had to leave around 6ish to make it to the airport so we said goodbye. hate thinking of it as leaving forever, because its not, but saying goodbye to family is tough. i made it through saying bye to my mom, brother, and wayne, and was walking out the door and started crying again. love you mama and brother xoxo

shaner is a gentleman and helped me inside the airport with my bags, i checked in for my flight and then had my last sad goodbye of the day. nothing like being that sad cliche couple crying and hugging at security, but we couldnt help it. i made it through the x-ray scanner (that probably gave me cancer) and turned around and he was waiting up on the bridge. he waved and i blew him a kiss, then cried all the way to my gate.

the flight from slc to perth is really long...more or less 22 hrs of flying and 15,000 miles . durrr.

so i left salt lake at 8:20pm on tuesday night, and arrived in perth at 3:00pm thursday afternoon. needless to say i was stinky and tired. i was waiting to collect by my bags when the quarantine dog sniffed something out in my backpack and i had to let the angry lady search it for illicit veggies and/or fruit (note: do NOT try to pet the quarantine dog, their handlers get really angry). thank god i didnt have anything in my bag, but i did see the dog bust a lady about 5 min later with an avocado. it was highly amusing, mostly since it wasnt me.

took a cab from the airport to my new digs in fremantle. my job is letting me stay here for a month, and then i have to switch to a new house/apartment for feb.

got settled in, showered, then fell asleep like a baby. then on friday morning, the funniest thing happened. i woke up and HATED it here. cried all morning, super homesick, lonely, isolated, and missing everyone i loved at home. of all the reactions i expected to have once i got here, this was totally unexpected. after talking to my mom and shane, i calmed down and felt way better. wandered down to the monk and had some lunch and a beer. i asked the waitress for a lunch recommendation and half paid attention to what she said, and ended up with a plate of pork belly. in case you're wondering, pork belly is exactly what it sounds like: pork.belly. i tried it, because well, when in rome....yeah it tasted like i was suckling the side of a live pig drizzled in terayaki sauce. wont be taking any more food recommendations from aussies...sorry guys :)

saturday morning i woke up and felt WAY better about my situation and life, and decided to be proactive and get some things taken care of so that i didnt feel so helpless. task one: bought a bike!



a car seemed like too big of a commitment straight away, so i figured i'd ease into things (like a gentleman). now i have a sweet ride that has a basket AND a bell! task two: bought a cell phone. its a prepaid phone that gives me access to the internet and can make calls to my family and friends at home...all without signing a contract #winning!

task three: buy groceries. found a grocery store and bought some food, since all the cupboards in my kitchen were empty and i was hungry. i've never had more fun in a grocery store than i did at this one. they have all the same things we do at home, they just have different names. i was literally lol-ing in the cereal aisle when i saw these

spent the rest of the day skype-ing with my manfriend, mom, dad, brother, and INDY! technology is amazing, i love being halfway across the world and being able to see the people i care about (i mightve cried some more...but they were good tears). sunday went by quite fast, my new friend emma picked me up for lunch. we wandered down to cicerellos and had the tastiest fish and chips. not a bad view eh?



spent the rest of my sunday reading "the peach keeper" by sarah addison allen on my new kindle (thanks love). she is one of my favorite writers, i think its because she writes with magic and imagination. "garden spells" and "the girl who chased the moon" are also good ones of hers.

and as for today, i had my first day at work. the office is in a dodgy part of town, but aside from that, my coworkers seemed great. everyone was super nice and very welcoming. started reading about australian archaeology....almost laughed out loud again when i read a crazy theory (that surprisingly got a lot of scholarly attention). archaeologists were trying to figure out when a certain stone tool arrived in australia, and they figured it was brought here around 5,000 years ago, and they figured that dingos werent from here either and arrived around 5,000 years ago.....therefore, (and this is the best part) immigrant people must've arrived 5,000 years ago from india, bringing dingos AND stone tools. because they go together well right? still confused how india came in the picture, but whatever lol.

came home and said hi to one of my two spiders who live in my bathroom. they share a window, and i named them bill and ted. this is ted (he lives on the right side).

i also got back into my groove and went running for the first time since christmas day. goodbye squishy bits. it was nice running around my neighborhood and seeing new streets and smelling the trees and flowers. came home and had a showdown with the worlds BIGGEST cockroach! it was the size of a small mouse. not kidding. little bastard ran under my washing machine before i could squish him. so.fucking.gross.

excited for tomorrow though! going to have my official job orientation and get my nerdy uniform. word on the street is that i'll be working locally in the office till mid feb and then cruising out into the field on feb 20th! looks like we'll be working primarily in the pilbara region. im eager to get out and see what aussie archaeology is all about.

missing you all at home HEAPS! xoxo