May 26 – 31, 2009: On my own:

The first few days on my own were pretty rough, and the first day was particularly terrible.  I woke at 6:30am to the fire alarm blasting in my ears.  Dad was leaving early that morning and was still in the hotel with me.  We had to wait outside in the brisk Melbourne winter air for thirty minutes before the alarm was shut off, and we were allowed back into the building.  I said my goodbye to Dad and tried to salvage a few more hours of sleep.  In Sydney I had begun to feel a little sick and it had carried through till then—nothing particularly bad, just that kind of mopey, congested feel that puts you in a shadow when you have a cold.  But when I woke up for the second time that morning I felt absolutely terrible.  I had a fever, was lightheaded, couldn’t breathe through my nose, a headache—the works.  But I dragged all my bags through the hotel, rode the tram to my new home, the Claremont Guest House, lugged my bags up four flights of stairs, and crashed in misery for the rest of the day.

Fortunately, the following days were better.  I slowly recovered from the sickness and got a bearing on my surroundings.  I went around searching for places such as the best and cheapest restaurants to eat at, and locations where I could get free internet, as I traveled alone.  But, despite settling in and figuring out what my life would be like for the next 7 weeks, I was becoming a little depressed about my choice of the Claremont Guest House.  I can’t blame the place itself, my room was nice enough, and it was clean.  There was just absolutely nobody to meet or talk to.  I didn’t realize how much I was counting on my living arrangements to be my social catalyst as well.  A week into my stay I had met 3 people.  But, being busy as I was settling in, and starting work at the Lighthouse Foundation, I put that problem in the back seat.

The Lighthouse Foundation turned out to be great.  My initial wariness and perhaps disappointment disappeared once I arrived on my first day.  Everyone was nice and welcoming.  There are no offices in the building just two floors of large spaces with desks and workplaces.  At first I found this strange, but I came to like the open social atmosphere it created.  My work was very limited the first week as I eased into the organization.  Cameron, my boss, allowed me to get a feel for things, and decide what I would most like to work on.  So I played with some options and decided I could most put my skills to use in helping develop a mentoring program, and fundraising.

So, with the prospect of this work to begin the next week I came into my first weekend alone—and it was a lonely one.  But, with a couple books, free internet at the library, and my body still struggling to stay awake till 11:00pm with the time difference, I made it through without feeling too homesick or friendless.  I knew I would find a solution to my social life soon, so I just enjoyed my time to myself.

Here are some pics of the Lighthouse Foundation, a tram (my primary mode of transport), and some fine australian dining :) :

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