Alone with the fishies

My sleep-in amounted to a grand half hour today, what with my going to bed before 9pm and the usual heat and mozzie situation waking my body in the morning. Undeterred, I got on with my day off, which meant WASHING CLOTHES. Ahh, washing clothes. Mi amor.

Made myself bangers n mash for breakfast. Why? Cos I felt like it. Then headed to Seaside to try and get my beau online for a chatsies. Kinda had a feeling he wouldn't appear, because he'd mentioned how much harder the internet had been to access since ze Germans had arrived at the farm, and I guess he's busy also. So I just caught up on emails, got a quick tutorial on dressage from N, seeing as I'll be soon giving lessons. I know basic dressage but things like the numbers on the arena, never really been taught that.

The cruise ship tours started to arrive as I was there, the mostly old, fat American crowd with annoying accents and all with their own opinion about what was going on. I kept my mouth shut as I sat near the lockers to get better reception and listened to them talk about how the floaties they had to wear would probably get in the way of their riding and cause them to actually fall off in the water. Fools. They deserve to come off.

Was super glad to slide away into the background when I was done with the internet... it's funny how much more annoying the tourists are when you don't have to deal with them. I guess you just put your professional hat on! Don't get me wrong, they still do get to me at work sometimes...

Saw D, the guide I had problems with before, and kinda sidled off before saying anything to him. I know he's been taken off rides and he wouldn't be very happy about that, and no doubt he'd blame me. I'd rather just not have to deal with him at all. Which is the message I'm sure the office got, as I got a call later in the day asking if I wanted to have tomorrow off instead of tomorrow, because there will be more rides then than tomorrow, and J and D can work it alone. Fine with me! Working alone with D is the worst. I actually got to the point of counting how many days just he and I were working together this month.

After all my housekeeping errands were done, including a visit to Western Union to suss out how that all works (I can send money to a WU in Oz and they can deposit it in my bank if I find I use my credit card online too much), I was feeling major beach sleeps coming on. So I headed back home via the supermarket and the mozzie net store (woot), and texted L to see if he wanted to come along. I know he's skint because he's unemployed at the moment (last time we went out I had to shout his bus fare home...hmmm) so I suggested a nearby beach.

When he didn't reply straight away, I knew he was out of credit. Soon enuf, I had a call from a random number. It was him from a friend's phone, saying he was coming to meet me. So he came and as I was walking out the door, he asks how I'm getting to the beach. By bus, of course! Oh... seems he only had 75c in his pocket. I had a $5 budget to get to the beach n back, and he wasn't eating into that. It's the principle. I ain't your sugar mama.

I asked him why he didn't just say that on the phone instead of coming all the way over, and he said it wasn't his phone so he didn't want to talk too long, and he wanted to come say hi to me. Well, that's... nice. So he walked me to the bus stop, and we parted ways.

Something funny happened on the bus ride to Mullet Bay - there were a few French tourists on the taxi and I heard the driver quote them $2 per ride (it's usually $1.50) when they got out at the end of the route. I followed from the back of the bus, he took one look at me and you could tell he was puzzled as to why I was waiting for change when I gave him $2. I just said, "No, I'm not one of the tourists" with my hand out. Another 50c of principle back in the wallet. So I was off to the beach alone. Again.

Except I wasn't alone... as soon as I got in the water, I saw these fish - about 20cm long - swimming circles around me. I looked around the clear water to see if I had landed in a school on the way to their next meal, but saw the only fish were surrounding me. I moved this way and that, deeper and shallower, and they followed me. I was really tempted to ask the nearby swimmers if the same thing was happening to them. But I just let it rest. I liked my new little friends.

Fell asleep on the beach again, am yet to check out the skin damage, but it was a nice rest. It is nice to come to the beach for a sleep. Much better than tossing n turning in a tepid bedroom. Nothing beats the cool beach breeze on the drying salt of a body. Of course, I was just sleeping, not thinking such romantic thoughts at the time. Mainly when I was conscious I was just thinking how many more fat, old American tourists were around me, yet again... among the odd, topless hottie. I heard some of them speak French but the others, who knows where they come from - but more should come by Seaside.

It took FOREVER to get home. I know I could have walked in half the time, it's gotta be about 10kms, but the traffic was so bad I was in the bus for an hour. There was a Spanish-speaking woman complaining the whole time, chatting with the driver, and so I occupied myself by trying to understand what she said and thinking up responses in my head. Of course too scared to say them, in case she mistook me for a Spanish speaker and started to include me on the conversation.

Passed a few restaurants touting Thanksgiving specials for this Thursday with smiling cartoon turkeys on the menu board (shudder) - took me back to this time last year, when I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with the American guy that ran the English school I taught with in Slovakia. That night was messy. Fireworks in a tiny apartment, a turkey too big for the oven, joint after joint, MTV videos on all night, drunkenly peeling off the cooked outer layers of the turkey in impatience, grease.... everywhere... Good times.

I squeezed out of the bus next to the obese woman next to me and went again to the supermarket to get mac n cheese - I need to use my milk up. And mac n cheese - always a winner (speaking of obese). Now with another day off under my belt, I'm getting on the beers, will head to the wifi sports bar to catch A and have a nice sleep in with my new mozzie net. Well, that's the plan.

The hardware store next door to my house has started putting up a blow-up Santa out the front since the last few days. Is it really already that time?? I guess it's only a month away. Geez, how time flies! I wonder if I'll get an invitation to someone's dinner around here. Would be nice... I get so lonely at Christmas time. And there's not really a big Australian orphan collective here to band together... I guess time will tell.