Cara was home....and now she is off again! To Tahiti!

Hey y'all!

The blog shall continue even though I am home.....because I am leaving again already! And I promise photos of home when I return! You are just going to think I jet set like this all the time!

I leave for TAHITI in 3 hours....that is, a 4:40 airport bus on Friday morning! I am off to Tahiti which is an island in French Polynesia for a family reunion planned by my grandparents (on my Mum's side). This 2 week holiday of fun and sun involves my Aunt Jill (my Mum's sister), Uncle Danny and 2 cousins Jason and Kaylen. Sadly my Mother and Patrick cannot come as they have to run the chocolate store which is really running them!

I picked up guides to Tahiti today....so organised and prepared! I blame the library system I tell you! I am also pulling an all nighter to pack and prepare....I am currently trying to shove lots of things into a tiny tiny suitcase (which I am oh so proud to be taking)and an even smaller back pack. Its working and I refuse to take a lot of luggage! Besides, I don’t need room for souvenirs as everyone says Tahiti is very very expensive....guess they have to ship everything to that tiny island in the middle of the Pacific!

On the HOME front...it does feel weird and the real world is scary! What have I been doing for the past week and a bit now that I am finally back in Melbourne, Australia? I spent the first couple of days being really lazy, sleeping a lot, trying to get used to the fact that the days go so quickly because it gets dark so early and UNPACKING!!!! For those of you who don't know my parents moved while I was gallivanting around the world and so all my worldly possessions were boxed and moved into a beautiful new house several streets away. And then those boxes were placed into a very nice new room....full of boxes! I think I had a difficult transition…going from carrying everything you own on your back for a year (or stashing it in a sparsely decorated apartment) to sorting through EVERYTING....clothes, stationary, craft, furniture, heirlooms and things that I've had since I was 10 years old. The question I repeatedly asked myself was "Do you want to keep this?' and myself just kept shrugging and looking at me blankly! I also passed a lot of time being shocked that I was actually home, calling a billion companies to announce that my address had changed (you hate the one company who wants it in writing) and generally at a lose end with myself! The last couple of days really improved however!

MONDAY saw me going into the city of Melbourne to visit my university and 'sort things out'. I also had the small goal of investigating my future! Ooohhhh, scary! I need to look into what 2007 holds for me! Right now I would rather not do Honours (a fourth year of study) in Science and am pondering a graduate certificate (6 mo.) or graduate diploma (12 mo.) in a artsy subject like Creative Writing or something new and exciting like that! I also looking into a Masters in 'Media and Communication, Science and Society' which allows graduates to work in varying positions usually associated with scientific journalism or promotion. It sounds quite interesting actually...more interesting then it sounds now. Monday evening I was invited to dinner with my old friend Dave and his parents. We had Thai food....which was yummy and seeing as Australia is so multicultural, it was very authentic! And I should know! I was eating real live (live with bacteria....no, honestly it was fine!) Thai food on the streets no less then 2 weeks ago! Dave and I watched a movie afterwards.... and old favourite of ours.

TUESDAY, I met Rhiannon to exchange some things from Thailand. Most importantly she gave me all our photos on DVD! YAY! In Thailand Rhiannon and I decided to share picture taking (or 'documenting' as I like to say) responsibilities. So took photos with her film camera and I was assigned to digital duty. After prisoner exchange, I took the train into the city again (something which I am sick of already!) and met my university friends Laura and Jennifer. We chatted for 3 hours solid before I trained it back in the other direction to meet my buddies Blue and Kristel for a dinner invitation with Blue's parents. Uncooked chicken brought back fond memories of our childhood holidays to Blue's country house...we lost Kristel at this stage due to sickness induced from raw chicken but Blue and I soldiered on to go and see Xmen 3 at the movies!

WEDNESDAY I doddeled away the day a bit at home and chatted with a future Lyonnais exchange student from Melbourne Uni telling her everything I could think of. I once again went to the city that evening for dinner with Lisa and Michelle....close university friends....in first semester of last year we completed identical subjects and had identical timetables to match. Michelle didn't know I was coming so it was a big surprise....I love surprises! We had dinner on Lygon Street (famous for a multitude of Italian restaurants) after which we tried to hunt down my ex-Lyonnais house mate Ben (a Melbournian). We finally found him and it was great to see him again! Something familiar...some element of my world tour now in Melbourne with me.

TODAY, THURSDAY I was sooo conscientious and again spent time organising things at university. I joined the university student union which is now voluntary due to changes made by the government. It was a good thing to do as students can take advantage of many services and the more people who join the more money the union has to spend on services. Also, to work for the union as I did before I left (in catering, gowning graduates, media etc...) I had to become a union member. I am officially the first student to join the voluntary student union. They took photos! Watch the international press! I got a show bag too! Then it was home for a chiropractic appointment (Cara loves her Chiropractor as he is the best in the world), a bit of shopping, packing, packing, packing (with a visit from Kristel in between)........ I almost feel reincorporated into society again...and now I am leaving!

Talk to form Tahiti!

Cara who thinks you're awesome! =)