Catch-up time

Last week was a blur, mainly as I worked a 5 day week, forgotten what that was like and became a moody cow, hence the lack of blogging. But I'm feeling better, so I'll highlight the main bits of what happened last week.

THURSDAY: Supervisor shift. That was cool. I ran a bit behind with stuff, but nothing that I couldn't handle. I finished up late. But then I realised that this time next week would be my last day at work. Still not sinking in.

FRIDAY: Shitty morning, but I had the supervisor shift again - and it all went smoothly today. Got my farewell pressie from work: a bag, which is just the right size for carry-on and just what I needed. Finished at 6pm on the dot. Can't remember much else from this day.

SATURDAY: Spent some time with my friend Sam for our final catch up before I leave. We went to Natalia's again. I forgot to order an entree sized plate of pasta, and out came a main and I struggled to get through it all. Was completely stuffed. Watched '21' with Sam and James before spending the night at Sam's joint. I had my Lonely Planet guidebook about Spain and read about the strawberry train. One of those old 1850's style steam engine trains take you from Madrid to somewhere and on the train, staff in period costume go around giving out strawberries! (and 4 days later I find out that the place the train takes you is just a short distance from O's place in Spain!) I want to do that!

SUNDAY: Sam and I had planned to go for a workout at the gym, but I was still too full from Natalia's and she couldn't be bothered, so I stayed and hung out with James and her folks, who are totally cool. I eventually had 'breakfast' (well, not my finest hour: a day old sushi and a muffin from 'Muffin Break'....hey I'm allowed!!) I get dropped off at my place in the afternoon and I wanted to start packing, but I was too tired from lack of sleep.

A Chilean family friend of ours called me and told me that there was going to be a big family wedding in Chile on the day that I arrive there and I am invited to meet the whole family (in one shot! That's gonna be an interesting day!). Long story with how they all met: there's a Chilean lady who came to live in Melbs at the same time as my Mum. They met, worked together, were neighbours, lived together at one point and we were - and continue to be - very close. This Chilean lady has 10 other siblings: 1 lives in Melbs, one lives in Arg and the others are in Chile. I've met the one who lives in Arg, am really close to the 2 that are in Melbs, but have never met the contingent that live in Chile. They know all about me and our history and have opened their arms and homes to me, so I'm really going to look forward to seeing them all. So here is the rough timeline: I arrive in Santiago at 3pm. I'm getting picked up by the main sibling I'm staying with (Tina) and her son (Felipe). I have an hour to get ready before we take a 2 hour drive up towards Vina del Mar and Valparaiso - which is one of the prettier touristy sites in Chile - to be there for the wedding at 6:30pm. Aren't I just the popular one - and they haven't even met me yet! I was very pleased to hear this and cannot wait for all of this to come. I'm thinking of getting my hair done in Arg, fly over to Chile, then all I'll have to worry about is the dress I'm wearing. Oh shit, I need to pack a dress! See, the disadvantage of packing for 8 months...you'll never know what you're gonna need, so you take a bit of everything that in the end you may not even use! I'm taking 2 different dresses and 3 different dressy shoes!
I'm going to be the social butterfly in South America...2 days after arriving in Arg I've got my friend's 15th party, Christmas, New Year, the Argie resort for 2 weeks, my cousin's birthday, and then a few weeks of bumming before heading to Chile for the wedding. BRING IT ON!

MONDAY: My last week of work. My manager was sad that the Monday crew was going to break up after I leave. I've been doing Mondays ever since I started over 2 years ago. And every Monday I was on production duty coz I was a very quick and neat stacker for stuff. Yeah, that made a whole lot of sense!! Got home and bummed - no packing. But I made an appointment to see a doctor just to make sure I'm all good and ready to fly.

TUESDAY: Doctor gave me the all clear :) Had the day off, so I spent the rest of the day with Mum in the city shopping for 'thank-you' souveneirs for Dawn and her family for letting me stay with them. Dawn's mum said she wanted a koala...maybe a photo OF a koala will do. I'll ask Sachiko - she's got a hell of a lot of koala pics! Got home, ate bagels and decided that I needed to start packing. After to-ing and fro-ing for hours, I finally put some music on and started packing. I used the space bags to give me some more space and less weight in my bag. I'm yet to shrink the bags. After research on the internet, I discovered I could take 23kgs of stuff in my luggage. If I had only used QANTAS as my main carrier, I would have been able to lug 32kgs. But if I did that, I'd have a hell of a time trying to get rid of the extra weight for the next leg of the journey. But that's cool, no worries! Organised my ride to the airport: 7am pickup, with a home-made brekkie with myself, my Mum and my bestie. A good way to say goodbye to Australia: with 2 of the most important ppl to me (aaawwwwwwwwwwwwww)
I started emailing ppl: my old PT clients, friends who wanted me to keep in touch during my travels, etc. My PT client got back to me and she had her baby! She had a girl, so I was really happy! And started thinking of the logistics if I were to spend a week in the US. It's getting closer....

WEDNESDAY: Work. Second last day. Nothing much to report. Still haven't shrunk my bags - I'll do it tomorrow. Took happy snaps of ppl. Tomorrow is my last day of work. Even though I know I'm leaving, it's not sinking in that I won't be coming back to work. I've been offered work by this place by everyone, as they all know I'm a hard worker and they want me back. Depends how desperate I am, but we'll see! It's good to have those options, and I'm really grateful for it. My friend Eti came in to work and wished me well, as well as my other friend Morris, who is going to get me a farewell gift tomorrow...we'll see what it is!

Good to be back as always. I'll keep you all posted on my travels :)

Bye!