A good Monday

It's a rare phenomenon and a difficult one to observe...
Some people spend their whole life waiting for it to happen... sometimes in vain....
That's why when it does happen, it's worth recording it, just for the sake of human History...

It's called a Good Monday.

Ok, I got to say it started out pretty badly, with my annoying phone's alarm (how do you change these things by the way, 'cause I can't stand this "Eye of the Tiger" ringtone any longer, it makes me want to punch people) pulling me out of some entertaining dream at like 9am. I know, I know, some of you will say "Sarah, you lazy bum!" ... but guys! I did go to bed waaaay past my bedtime, at like 1am. And NO! it wasn't because I was out partying or something like that (you all know I'd never do such a thing on a Sunday night, right?). Actually, I stayed up to finalize this research proposal paper for my sociology methods class.
First time in my Uni life (in my whole life) that I finish a paper more than 12 hours before the due date!!! Talk about a production! Ten points for me! I can see the headlines: A HISTORICAL VICTORY: SARAH BEATS PROCRASTINATION. (it must be that Rocky song...).
-Well, I mean, I hadn't handed in the paper yet and wouldn't do so before 16:45 (the deadline was at 5pm), but still.-

So I got up (gave myself a big push so I'd fall off the bed and have to get up to put on some clothes before I die freezing) and zombie-walked all the way to the kitchen to find some the coffee machine filled with fressssh coffee (thank God, after two months, my flatmates finally figured out how to use this machine) and a fridge full of delicious breakfast food (grocery night on Sundays is a big thing for the 6 Warburton St flatmates: we all get costumed -don't ask why, it's a cultural thing-, go down to Safeway and buy yummy stuff).
Ahhh...what a great way to start the week!

A few cups later, I was on my way to school, rocking it to some Wolf Parade, smiling to the sun, the birds and the puzzled passerby, with this feeling in my stomach that life is good.

It just got better when, later on that afternoon, I stopped over A.O. (Animal Orchestra of course) for my usual shortie and a last look at that paper I was to hand in half an hour later. Went in to pay and here's John, the manager, the guy with the beard and the pen behind his ear (a pen is always a sign of authority), who asks me: "So, weren't you looking for work a few weeks ago?"
"Euh...yeah... well, I really tried everything to change that class that I have on Thursdays, the day you needed someone to come in, but it wasn't possible. So, that's why I didn't get back to you.."
"When are you free then? We'll just try you out and figure whether we can arrange something..."
Sawah!
So Animal Orchestra might be hiring me! How exciting!
I had given up on finding a job, visa complications not helping, but if I could get a job there, I think it's worth changing my mind 'cause I might just as well spend my time in this cafe earning money rather than spending it, don't you think? I'll keep you updated on the situation...

Even my Monday tutorial with Hernan was great! He's this horribly arrogant Argentinian tutor who always ends up bullshitting for the whole hour of the tutorial, actually not letting any of us students put a single word in the conversation... but I found out we have a point in common: he likes The Office. So we had a good laugh.

Nothing seemed to be dampening my good mood, not even the hours spent at the library researching for that other essay due on Thursday (the one I should be writing right now instead of writing my blog).
When my brain started sending me saturation messages, I looked up at the big clock and decided to leave the library in the hands of the studious hordes of Chinese, Indonesians and Singaporeans (I miss that accent so much lah!) to go "play with my food".

This "Play with your Food" thing on Mondays is just fantastic. Food is bought by the welfare department of the Student Union and the camping stoves are taken out for some communal cooking and eating under the big tent near the Union building.
Yesterday's menu was Chickpeas Curry and sticky rice. YumMMMOO (as flatmate Josh would say)! So I got on the garlic with a true hippy guy called Chris who told me what he really liked about these nights is the "VIIIIIbe" (ah man, I wish I could say it like him: he basically took a deep breath, extended his arms, flickered his fingers and looked up to the sky while enunciating very slowly V-I-I-I-B-E...I swear there was some serious intensity in that move). Then, I got on the stirring with Mark, who's part of the last batch doing a double degree in Music and Arts (the new Melbourne Model is eliminating all these double degrees) and who wants to spend his life travelling while giving guitar or Italian lessons. We had a fantastic chat about Australian politics which I hope will give me some inspiration for that essay on the Aussie concept of "fair-go"...a value that seems increasingly undermined by that John Howard government.
The more I get to know about him, the more I dislike him, this Howard guy. Among other stuff, he has passed this new law by which employers can determine their employees' working conditions in individual contracts. That means that they can re-negotiate contracts with present employees and remove some privileges or lower their wages and if they don't accept it, they just don't get the job. The idea is if someone wants to do the job for these conditions, it's theirs. You can imagine how infuriating it must be for the labour movement who spent decades struggling to secure the very rights the Howard government decided to blow. Students unions are also under attack, with a regulation that doesn't make it compulsory for students to join it. Understandingly, a lot of students do not feel concerned enough to pay an extra 300$ to their already heavy bill (something around 8 000-10 000 a year) to gain membership to the only organization that represents them, their needs and their rights. The rumour has it that the government is trying to discredit these student unions by proving that their membership does not represent the student population anymore and that they have thus become obsolete and should simply be abolished.
"He's going out." said Mark, as his stirring went from gentle moves to violent whirls.

Yeah, that's what I used to say about our conservative Canadian Prime Minister Harper too... But looking at the results of our recent provincial elections where a (relatively) right-wing party made spectacular advances, particularly around my hometown, and came close second, I wondered whether we're not taking that treacherous road too.

But this Monday night's air was light and fresh, the curry looked tasty and the world seemed in safe hands with that eclectic bunch of idealistists, activists and opportunists (attracted by the smell to this side of the campus).
And the only thing worth worrying about was to grab a big scoop of that curry before it got cold.

That was a good Monday.