4/24- The first weekend back from break was incredible! Uni had everybody cramming and doing projects for the 2 weeks up until the holiday that when the internationals all returned from our various vacations around Australia and NZ we were very eager to get back together again. Paola had just moved closer to campus, so she took this opportunity to host a gathering in the name of her “house-warming.” Our excitement may have turned it into more of a house-burning, but the house provided a perfect backdrop for an internationals reunion.
The backyard at Paola's housewarming party.I told you we were eager to see each other!
Me and Paola
Paola, Me, & Federico
Lauren, Paola, Me, Federico, Carlo, & Luca
When it started to rain outside we all crammed inside and continued the fun.
Food!!!
Federico digging in, then 20 minutes later I found Fabian doing the same thing...
I wonder how many people used the tongs as utensils over the course of the night.4/25- The next day was when I went to Coogee and had my “farewell to summer” (see blog on 4/29). That night my Aussie friends Sam and Eddie invited Me, Paola, Lauren, and Emily over for a mini-BBQ. Due to some lighting issues, they pulled the BBQ inside and we cooked indoors. Even though there is no flame, it probably was not the safest thing, but it was still very humorous. Afterwards Paola, Massimo and I did our usual weekend rounds looking for something fun, but with no success. We did in fact get a few good stories from the night, but they’re too long for a blog entry. Feel free to ask me about them.
Helping the boys prepare the food for our inside BBQ.
Massimo, Paola, and Me on George St. looking for something fun. 4/26- Sunday evening my friend Fabian organized a beach BBQ at the free grills in Bondi for everyone to come and enjoy each other’s company for a few hours. That night was the coldest weather that any of us had experienced in Australia, so we were all very under dressed. We ended up spending most of our time huddled together by the grill because it was our only source of heat. That night I decided to bring my good camera and once I pulled it out Josanne asked to borrow it because she had some previous experience using another friend’s DSLR. I was thrilled to have someone else’s point of view, so I passed it along for the remainder of the night. Josanne did a really wonderful job of getting a candid portrait of everyone who was at the BBQ. I admire her willingness to get close to her subject, even if it’s uncomfortable. I love the pictures that I now have of these really great people.
Grilling on the free BBQs.
Josanne & Marco
Angelo and Lauren were warming eachother's hands.
Rita(Italy)
Angelo(Italy)
Marietta(Austria)
Marco(Germany)
Lauren(USA)
Nicolo(Italy)
Paloa(USA & Chile)
Adam(USA)
Carlo(Italy)
Lauren & Fabian (Germany)
Caroline(Germany)
Philipp(Germany)
Chiara(Italy)
If you don't know who I am or where I'm from...why are you reading this blog?
Roos(Holland)
Josanne(Holland)
4/30- The week after was pure hell with a terrible chest/head cold and a huge group debate to prepare for. All of my work was presented and turned in on Thursday, so I gathered all the strength in me and went out with my friends on Thursday night. I hadn’t left my apartment all week other than meeting with my group or going to class, so it was nice to mingle with the real world again. Don’t be confused, I was feeling almost 100% again so I wasn’t at a party preparing for my death bed. I had a great time tapping into my ancient Roman roots and dressing up in a toga…
5/1- Friday's weather was absolutely beautiful, so I went to Bondi with Lauren and some others to enjoy the temporary heat. The weather was turning more towards winter, so every time I went to the beach I would soak it up as much as I could and think that it was my last time. I think I did that 5 or 6 times, with the most recent as early as 1 week ago. Australia’s weather is so strange! That night Paola and I went out to Cargo to enjoy the company of our guy friends. We had a long day ahead of us, so we ended the night early.
Sunset behind Bondi.
Massimo in his wettie.
Bondi with no people...this is a rare sight.
Paola, Me, Carlo, Max, Federico, & Alberto at Cargo.
View of CBD and Circular Quay from the ferry.
This was the first day that I took ANY pictures of the Opera House. It was the first time I felt the weather was a worthy backdrop.
This photo is my personal favorite of the sails.
Lauren, Paola, and Me on the Ferry.
The zoo was definitely the coolest set up and location of any that I’ve ever been to, but I have to admit that it’s been about 10 years since the last time I was at a real zoo. I’m not sure that as a kid you notice how sad the animals are, but it’s all I could think about while I was there. It took everything in me not too yank their cages open and set them free. The idea of caging these amazing creatures seems a bit demented, but I do understand that a lot of them are rescued and would otherwise be dead. Then I wonder if captivity is a better option than death. I know I’d rather die than spend my life in a cage…
Sleepy babyyyy. I so badly want to cuddle this Koala!
I wish there was something beside this bird for a size comparison.It was at least 4 feet tall.
This bloke's tounge stayed like that for as long as I could see him.These poor Roos had hardly any space to jump around, so they just spend their time laying around.
See what I mean about laying around?
If this monkey doesn't look sad, I don't know what does.This really pulls at my heart strings.
Paola, Nic, and Lauren listening to one of Felix's awesome stories.
These crocs were about 12 ft or longer.
Waiting for the seal show to start.
Ah! The cutest little girl.
Chillin.
The elephants had a pretty cool area, but not half as cool as the wilderness.
The giraffes definitely have the best view of the Sydney.
An insane fight broke out and we caught all of the action.Lauren even got a video of the madness.
This was definitely the wise old grandpa of the pack. When the fight broke out he just sat back and watched.
Inside the skyrail on our way out of the park. 
As we soared over the zoo on our way to the ferry, a giant cloud rolled in that brought a few rainbows with it.That same evening was really special to me because I put together a night out for our international group. We had all talked about going to a show at the Opera House, but never really followed through with it, so I found a show called “The Dirty Brothers Sideshow” and organized an evening out. We all dressed up, met up at Jackson’s on George for dinner, went to the Opera House, and then met up with more people at Argyle in the Rocks for some after-show drinks. I was so excited that my friends responded well to my plans and actually joined me in this big night out. I had a fabulous time and really enjoyed everyone’s company for a classic night in Sydney.
Half of the table at Jacksons.Even our Newcastle friends came into town!
Other half of the table.
Our big group with the performers at the Opera House.
Paola at Argyle.
You can dress him up but you can't take him out...
5/5- Nobody had heard of Cinco de Mayo, so Lauren and I were determined to give our Aussie friends a taste of why we love Mexico. We invited about 5 people to our house for a little Mexican Fiesta, complete with Mexican cervesa, my vegetarian tacos and Lauren's family recipe dip. I wish I had pictures of us stuffing our face with bean tacos and dip- I swear we had enough food to feed a small army. I literally ate tacos for a week.
5/7- Another birthday party! After class on Thursday night I went to Federico's (Swiss) apartment for a small get together. With so many people in our group of friends, there is always something to celebrate.
Roos, Me, Carlo, & Massimo5/8- Knowing that my time in Sydney was quickly coming to an end, I began making every effort to spend my remaining time doing something new. On Friday morning I called Sam and asked him if he wanted to join me for an afternoon excursion through Sydney. We decided to go to Darling Harbor to explore the Chinese gardens and other various things in that area.
Sam running through the fountains in Darling Harbor.
I don't think he fully thought through the getting wet part.When we got to the gardens we saw some people dressed up in traditional garb and Sam said "oh yea...I think you can go dress up for free and walk around!" Of course we had to goof around wearing kimonos, so we got suited up and walked around the gardens taking silly pictures. When we got back and undressed the little Chinese men then said "Okay...that's going to be twenty dorrars." Sam and I looked like we had just seen a ghost. They promptly pointed out the sign outside the hut that had a little note at the bottom about the price. I guess we were too excited to notice, but in the end the pictures we took were worth way more than ten dollars a piece, so I'm not that upset.
We both look a bit stunned because the little man taking our pictures was having the hardest time working my camera. I think he took a full 2 minutes to simply focus the camera. 
They let us walk all around the gardens for as long as we wanted, so we took full advantage.
A real sword? Damn.
Senior pictures, Chinese style.
Oh hello. Just taking a stroll through my back yard. No big deal.
We just had to do the jump photos...
The scenery inside these gardens was stunning.It's hard to believe this is inside a city of 4 million people.
We sat down to eat our lunch and after tossing a few pieces of my bread into the water I was surrounded by every bit of wild life in the gardens- Carpe, Bearded Dragons, Ducks, and even little children.
More jumping by the fountains in Darling Harbor.
I'm not exactly sure what this statue was for, but it allowed for a few goofy photos.
A really cool fountain on the waters edge in Darling Harbor.
That night we went back to Bondi for another beach BBQ, but this time was to say goodbye to our friend Marco who was hitting the open road again to continue on in his travels. That was the first goodbye I've had to say and the thought of having to do it 30 more times in less than 2 weeks absolutely rakes my heart.
The next day was Sam and Ed's "Cinco de Mayo Party", even though it wasn't on the 5th. I tried to tell them that this was an outrageous concept, but the crazy Aussies didn't care. I brought my leftover beans in a dip and proceeded to eat more tacos and Mexican food. I never get sick of it!
Lauren and I had planned to catch the 11:00pm train to Newcastle for a second go at deep sea fishing, but we ended up missing it and having to take the 2am train. We were miserable as we attempted sleep while loud and drunk teenagers surrounded us on all fronts. Our train pulled into Hamilton station at 5am and we zombie-stumbled to our friends house. We got 3 hours of sleep before our deep sea fishing day-2 began. To make a long story short, we made it on the boat this time but the swell was 6 meters tall (19 feet) and the boat was unable to anchor. Lauren and I had already attempted this fishing trip once before, so we were unbelievably pissed. On our way out to sea we had caught 5 fish, so we were able to take those home with us. The group went back to Josh, Allie, and Dan's house for a fish fry that ended up making the trip to Newcastle (almost) worth it. Lauren and I had things to get done in Sydney, so we caught the mid day train home and found ourselves back in Stanmore at 8pm the same day.
5/11- Like I said, so many people...so many things to celebrate! This night was Davide's birthday so we went for dinner at a spectacular pizza place in Leichardt (Little Italy). I decided to just tag along for the company, but i succumbed to the dessert cannolis. Mmmmm.
The stragglers.Most people had already left, but we were there till the bitter end.
One of the most ridiuclous things about nice restaurants in Sydney is the fact that they won't split the check. This was a $500+ bill that we were left to figure out with cash.
Fede was tempted to steal the cash. We all were.
Almost 22 and I still adore Mermaids.
Note Sam in the bottom right corner.
In the distance you can see the massive graveyard that's in my last post. 
5/16- That morning I got the news that my friends were going to be stuck in San Francisco for an extra day, so I had to find something to get my mind off of the delay. Carlo had a perfect proposition and I accepted right away! Coogee Beach Olympics. There is a really long story behind this one, but the pictures show the mass of people that came out to participate and how much fun we ended up having that afternoon.
Team Barbados!Alberto, Me, Paola, & Carlo.
Paola mentioned that she had never done airplane before, so we took a quick break from the competition to airplane eachother.
Post competition in the Coogee Hotel.
Paola mentioned that she had never done airplane before, so we took a quick break from the competition to airplane eachother. Post competition in the Coogee Hotel.It was a really epic month and I don't think I would have changed a single thing. I really cherish these memories and I can't wait to make more like this in my future.
