Living for the moment

13th of Feb

It’s 4 am in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m wide awake.
After sleeping for more than twelve hours, I couldn’t really do otherwise. And anyways, Bamma, my friend Annur’s exalted mini-dog, won’t let me quit playing games with him.
« Bamma! Bamma! Va chercher ton os champion! Vas-y le chien! »
But Bamma doesn’t speak French and just keeps on bouncing around like I’m the most exciting thing in this living room.
Obviously, little Bamma can’t look out the window cause then, he’d be really excited : the lights of the city’s skyscrapers are putting on such a show…

So, I’ve arrived in the « antipodes » (again, this is not for anti Ipods, but for the opposed side of the planet) yesterday morning, without my luggage, for the second time this month.
Sawah.*
Although it upset me to realise I wouldn’t be able to be in my own stuff after being on the road since last Thursday, I was lucky to pass the Australian customs with a laptop and a purse (which were still examined thoroughly for like twenty minutes) instead of two gigantic bags containing my physical life. I never thought anyone would outdo the Americans customs officers these days, but I have to admit that the Aussies win hands down, though they did it all with a smile.

It was almost two hours after I landed that I finally escaped the arrival terminal, worried my arranged pick-up from the University would be long gone.
Then I saw two old ladies with thick glasses in funky bright t-shirts, holding pads of the Melbourne Uni International Students office.
I walked over to them. “Hi!”
“Oh! Hi darling! What’s your name? Sarah? Oh! Ellen! Ellen! Sarah’s here!” “What? Oh! Sarah! But what about your luggage dear?” “Oh …that’s terrible!” “Ellen, did you see Maria arrive?” “No! But Yoon did.” “Yoon?” “Oh, no, I meant Boon…” “Boon? Really? Where is he gone?” “Ellen? Ellen?”
… and the avalanche of chit-chat continues while the pads and highlighters fly around every time a new student arrives.
Somehow, I got sent with Michael, an old man I suspect Ellen and her pal to have a crush on (the excitement level went even higher when Michael walked in), who drove me into town while discussing Australia’s 7 years-long drought (so severe this year that all the plants outside die because it’s become illegal to water them) and the sharks who bit off this surfer’s leg last week (sawah, now I am dying to go swimming!).

When I got her place, Annur was there, waiting for me, on the stairs of her apartment building.
I tried to calculate, as I hugged her, how many years had gone by since I last saw her or even spoke to her on the phone…
Two and a half.
Wow.
Strangely, I feel she hasn’t changed. Still so gorgeous, still that amazing sense of humour and still the same big heart.
It was good to see her and, almost instinctively, I tried to catch up all this time in a few hours, as if I’d have to leave tomorrow, just like I did with Amanda.
“Chill woman!” I’m around for the next six months or so. I can take my time to rediscover the friend I suddenly realised I missed a lot.

My chances of doing that are pretty good since one of her best friends, Elise aka Pegg, whom I met over a potato salad yesterday afternoon before passing out, is looking for a fourth person to share a house they rented in another cool neighbourhood nearby, Brunswick. The place is in my budget and a great bunch of people to live with is my top criteria so I didn’t hesitate too much before calling it a deal.
I can’t wait to see that place!
And I’ll get a bike so I can bike from there to Uni!
A bike with a basket!
(yeah, yeah, me who never ever biked in Montreal cause I was too scared, I’m gonna get a bike! I feel courageous these days… who knows, I might ever try surf! Or maybe not… we’ll see)
And I’ll work in a cool café!
And I’ll get a tan!
And I’ll eat mangoes!
And I’ll drink shiraz!
And it’s gonna be fun!
Yeah!
…all this enthusiasm that had been (scarily) missing for the past weeks seems to come back to me all at once as I sit there, quiet but smiling like I won the lottery.
That feels good too.

I think about my Dad who always says he loves waking up earlier than everybody else and have a coffee in a dark, silent house. He’s so right. Especially in a new place. It gives you the time to watch, to listen, to enjoy. And to dream….dream about how my day, my life will turn out to be…

Though I’m not exactly by myself… but at last Bamma fell asleep all rolled up in a ball against my thigh.
He’s a funny little animal this one and I have a moment of happiness here, on Annur’s couch, telling Bamma I love him while watching the sun rise. He sighs as if he understood what I just said.
The good thing about animals is that they get the truth of your hand or your voice and they seem to know that’s all there is in there.
I wish I could do that more often.

Living for the moment they are.

But before I start Yoda-talking you guys, I’ll go make myself another coffee to watch the finale of this fantastic show of colours in front of me, cause, as much as living with all my dreams and hopes, living for the moment makes me sigh of happiness too…

*Oh, I just realised some of you might not know the meaning of "Sawah" which I use constantly in my English slang ever since I came back from Kenya...it's kiswahili for "it's ok, it's alright" but I use it more for "great", and pretty often in an ironic way...