full moon and the aftermath

SO!!! I made it out alive...the series of events that have occurred in the past 24 hours are unimaginable...

Departing Koh Tao at 3pm after a day of lounging on the beach with some of the girls I met from the states was only the beginning...the ferry took about an hour to Koh Phangan and as soon as we got off the boat it was immediate chaos.

Catching a cab to Haad Rin Nok (the area where the party was) proved to be slightly more difficult than we thought. 100 baht per person is a bit high (in retrospect...it really is only like 3 bucks but shouldn't be that high) but we all conceded to the demanding taxi drivers and loaded up the back of the pick up.

Once we arrived at Palita Lodge, all of us were in pretty sour moods. We were tired from the sun, hungry, and quite overwhelmed. After getting settled, we ventured into town. Past full moon goers had told us that there was no way you weren't going to lose your shoes, so purchase a cheap pair that you don't care about. First of all, this is a weird thing to think about...losing your shoes that easily?

The girls that had been to a party previously had said they lost virtually everything. We were instructed not to bring ANYTHING...no phone, camera, valuables, etc. because there was no way you were making it back with them. So  they were basically saying just take money...

I bought some flip flops, paint, dinner, and a "bucket" in town and we headed back to the hotel. These "buckets" are tiny pails, similar to what I used to play with at the beach and in sandboxes, filled with pineapple juice, your desired liquor, and usually some red bull to help keep you up. Once back in the room, the painting began. I didn't really want to lose any of my clothes, so I opted to wear just a bathing suit top and a skirt...thank goodness I made it home with these later in the night.

As you can see, we got a little wild with the paint, but it made it more fun...there's nothing like prepping for a rave/party. Around 10 pm we were off...we ran into Kevin and Billy and some Danish boys on the way out and ended up having quite a posse-good thing none of us really stuck together.

Mayhem is the only way to describe the beach. Stages lined the coastline parallel to a line of little "bucket" stands. Within all of this there were platforms to dance on, huge speakers everywhere, apparatuses with "Full Moon Party" etched in fire, a slide that goes through flames, people jump roping with a rope that was on fire, fire performances, painting stands...and the list goes on. You can basically hop up and down the beach catching different types of techno/house/pop/r&b music. It was quite a site.

We started off right by our hotel and made our way south on the beach. Intense is an understatement. With thousands of people on the beach, it is virtually impossible to stick together, so obviously I got separated from most of our group-which I actually was totally fine with. Prior to leaving, I had responsibly decided that I was not going to really drink too much just to make sure that I was aware of my surroundings cause I have heard it gets a bit sketchy...

Once I saw all of the different set-ups, I hovered in the area near the flaming jump rope...watching this was absurd...it was these 2 Thai men standing on two lifts about 10 feet apart and swinging this flaming rope, and stupid drunk people were trying to jump into the jump rope...but it really looked like the guys were trying to screw people over...they would speed up their swinging then slow it down intentionally trying to have it hit the people. They soak the rope in gasoline so the flames are quite hot, and even the slightest graze of the rope could lead to severe burns...which it did. I saw people get side swiped with the rope and actually one of the girls I was with ended up in the hospital because the rope broke and whipped back and hit her arm and the burns were pretty bad.

The night flew by in a crazy blur. I was dancing here, there, walking up to the mellow mountain to kind of just watch the party, back to the hotel to meet up with people again, and so on...it was such a blast! Around 4 am I had lost everyone, and I wandered back to the hotel...at this point there were mass amounts of people passed out on the beach (which I was warned to avoid at all costs because you get robbed if you sleep on the beach) and the crowd was finally starting to thin out. From here I hopped in the shower quick, washed off all of the paint and sweat from the party and crashed for a while.

A total of 1.5 hours sleep and I was up again in the morning. I scheduled an 8:30 am ferry/bus back to bangkok to ensure that I arrived at a decent hour, so my day started quite early. Close to 3 hours on a boat, and then 8 hours on the bus. Yes. Fact: 11 hours of traveling to get back to Bangkok...I slept, chatted with the people sitting around me, and watched a bit of the movies they were playing...

I am now in Bangkok...

I arrived around 9pm and its a little after midnight. After sleeping all day I'm finding it hard to head to bed because I'm not tired yet. I'm staying in the backpacking district for $8 tonight...definitely can't beat that price....BUT i don't have AC which is slightly unfortunate considering I'm sweating just sitting right now.

One more day in Thailand then off to Israel and NEEEEEK!!!! I'm really looking forward to this-first stop in Israel is Jerusalem!!! :)

family ties

Back to Sydney...

Before I get too far behind my writing again, I want to make sure I write about a bit more about my new family experiences I have been going through...

So I have stayed in 3 different locations since I have been in Sydney. First I stayed at the hostel that my mom's cousin owns and I talked about in a past post...

Next is Auntie Junghee. Her father is my grandfather's brother (kind of confusing?) and she is my mom's cousin...she has 3 children, Sam who is 22, ben who is 20, and Izzy who is 14...oh and BOO, they're adorable mini poodle/bichon mix.

They welcomed me into their home and made me feel so comfortable...picking me up here, driving me there, taking me to lunch/dinner, and just treating me as if we've known each other forever. Now side-note to this is that I actually haven't seen my Auntie since the late 90s and I only saw Sam and Ben briefly in Manhattan in February.

Spending time with them has really reminded me of hanging out with my family. The way Auntie treats her dog is to a T exactly like Gina. Referring to the little fur ball as "baby" is just one thing...Auntie is greeted by a load of squeals and a jumping little dog everytime she walks through the door, Boo is carried around more than she actually uses her own feet, she perches up on the tops of the couch pillows exactly like Caesar, she gets royal treatment when it comes to food, Aunty stands up for her against her kids, and Boo can do no bad...it's almost as if Caesar and Boo are exactly the same dog. Even besides the way they treat their dog, the Seeto family acts quite similar to the Glausers. The interaction between daughter/mother/brother resembles that of my family so closely its so weird. Their sense of family was so comforting and really made my stay enjoyable.

After that I stayed with my mom's other cousin...She has 2 children...Paulina who is 21 and Thomas who is 16. They were a riot to stay with. Their family is extremely close-we spent the night in watching a scaring movie and just hanging out. They also welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home. Paulina and I really hit it off-she took me to a friends 21st birthday party (which was quite lame) but we had a good time kind of people watching and being critics, and Thomas couldn't get enough of my "american" accent and kept imitating me...it was quite hilarious. 

Either way, both of these families really made me feel at home. Even though I was across the world away from my family, these people welcomed me into their homes and really gave me a world of comfort when I needed it the most. After 6 weeks of traveling it was nice to feel comfortable and at ease in their homes.

Leaving Australia was weird…it was definitley a sense of comfort and familiarity. 

First: my flight on Emirates was one of the best flights I have ever had. I luckily got 3 seats to myself and each seat had its own tv with unlimited amount of movies/tv shows. I ate a meal consisting of pesto pasta, 2 glasses of wine, and a hefty green salad. Needless to say, no US airline compares to this…

Now I’m in Thailand and in a world of the unknown and culture shock. The way here was quite interesting. I arrived in Bangkok at 1:15 am and didn’t really have too many plans. I knew there was a 6am bus to get to Koh Tao, but I was still unsure as to how to catch this or even where to begin. So I slept at the airport until about 4:30 am and caught a cab to Lomprayah (the travel agency that the bus to Koh Tao was running through). I got dropped off by the cab at a corner and I was to navigate to the place myself. FAIL it was 5:40 am and the streets were empty minus the few late night stragglers. Thank goodness for cell phones because I was able to call the agency and then they picked me up in front of the 7eleven on a motorbike!! Turns out…pre-booking is kind of important, but thankfully the woman felt bad for me so she sold me a ticket! I was on my way.

The bus was close to 6 hours-thankfully I got a window seat and the bus was air-conditioned. After arriving at the port-we got off, got our stuff and hopped on a rather large ferry. I was ALMOST there…butttttt I still did not have accommodation for when I arrived. I had glanced online at random places but didn’t want to book in fear of the fact that pictures can be deceiving. I know this kills my parents, but living on edge like this and kind of winging it keeps my life a bit more interesting. So we arrived in Koh Tao at about 3pm and I walked up and down the block and decided on a place. $30 US dollars for 2 nights…not bad. I ended up with a small bungalow to myself with a private bathroom and a nice porch with a hammock to myself. Oh and I forgot to mention…less than 50 meters to the most beautiful beach I have ever set foot on. Looks like winging it did me well.

I quickly threw on my bathing suit and went to the beach. I was exhausted from close to 24 hours of travel and just thankful to be “settled” somewhere. (I parenthesize settled because 2 days is hardly settling). After relaxing on the beach I decided to venture around the area for a bit…I quickly found out that there was one tiny road running parallel to the beach plastered with tattoo parlors, bathing suit shops, bars, coffee shops, diving shops, and hotel/bungalow accommodations. The perfect beach town setting. However, the culture shock was still setting in. Coming from Australia (basically the US) I was still adjusting to being wary of my surroundings. There were constantly people summoning me into their shops and what not, but this is their culture. Thus far, Thailand really reminds me a lot of Vietnam.

So after adventuring out for a bit, I ended up finding a quiet bar/restaurant on the water where I plopped into a beanbag, got a beer, spring rolls, and pad thai. How cliché. YUM absolutely fantastic! After this it was close to 8pm, I ventured back to my bungalow and passssssssed out…it had been such a long day and I was extremely exhausted.

I woke up at 6:30am…GREAT haha. Going to bed at 8:30pm kind of screwed with my sleeping pattern…as did the 4 hour time difference from Australia. So I did some yoga out by the water…probably one of the most peaceful practices I have had in a while. I headed to a café for breakfast and had some fresh fruit and toast. From here, I walked to the port where I arrived and bought a ticket to Koh Phangan for the full moon party and a return ticket back to Bangkok…plans were stirring. I still was not sure of where I was to be staying in Koh Phangan because I had not been in contact with my friend for a few days but either way I knew I wanted to get to the party…

Walked back to the bungalow and went out snorkeling for the morning. It was wonderful-the coral here is obviously not as good as the reef, but I still saw a lot and really enjoyed myself. Hm after this I went back and got some lunch where I ended up meeting a few American girls…they are studying abroad in Bangkok and are in Koh Tao for the weekend/to hop to Koh Phangan for their 2^nd full moon party. They settled all of the nerves that I had about attending this party. I had heard/read numerous sketchy stories about the party and was a bit wary about going but figured I had to since I’m here at the right time…turns out it isn’t as bad as everyone says-as long as you make sure not to drink too many “buckets.” Basically, I found some travel buddies who are veterans of the party and are willing to hang out with me! YES friends haha…

So, yes, Thailand has been the sketchiest of my travels so far…but I think that is to be expected. I skyped with my parents this morning and got a lecture about being safe and all that, and I understand why. This country is full of creepy guys who stare, women who prance around selling their bodies, and people who are constantly trying to con you…but I am honestly not that stupid. There are a lot of stupid things I’ve done in my life, but here is not the place to partake in any irresponsible decisions. I plan on being fully alert and on my toes at all times, but I can still see why my father “will be happy when I leave Thailand” as he put it.

Homesickness struck me again the other night…being alone in a foreign country has its perks, but also has its downfalls. I talked to meg on the phone for close to an hour the other day and WOW do I miss her and all of my friends. Going out with new friends isn’t the same as going out with friends from home…while in Cairns, I found one of my roommates tearing up in the bathroom because of a song that came on in the club. She said, “I love this song, and it just makes me sad thinking about how much fun I have at home with my friends when we go out dancing” And this is SO true…every “club” song that comes on has some tie to my friends from home. It sounds cheesy writing it, but little things like that definitely make me miss home. Also, a few friends birthdays have come and gone in the past few days, and I guess that just makes me nostalgic…my friends are home going out in the city and partying and having a good time. But that is neither here nor there; there will be many more years to celebrate birthdays and little things like that. 

So…from here-I leave tomorrow for Koh Phangan for a night then I head back to Bangkok…thank goodness for cheap/affordable travel within this country-it is costing me less than $100 US dollars to come to Koh Toa/Koh Phangan and back to Bangkok. So I will leave you with that…wish me luck and hopefully I will be able to post more soon…I can’t believe I’m already this far into my trip-I’m really really really really looking forward to Israel with Neek and also KENYA!!! Remember if you can please donate: 

https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/ayoga/campaign.jsp?campaign=7

And if you have already donated THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! You are really helping me out and definitely putting money towards such a great cause. While I’m in Kenya I’m going to be working on helping the instructors with blogging and such so hopefully I will be making more posts and keeping you updated!

Until next time! Namaste and much love.

extreme

Bucketlist Checkoff

I have never actually sat down and written a bucket list, but my last few weeks have been quite intense and with all of my traveling and activities I do think that I have crossed off a quite a few things on the bucket list in my head…here are quick few worth mentioning

GO to Korea-I always knew I’d get to Korea, it was just a matter of when-check

Go to Australia-check

Scuba dive/snorkle in the great barrier reef-check

Bungy Jump-check

Skydive-check

Teach yoga-check

Scuba Certification-in progressss

Considering my list is in my head, it is a constant work in progress…I keep meeting new people who have done these awesome things and it is making my list much longer-a new addition to my list: get a 1 year working visa to Australia and travel up the east coast working random jobs and living out of hostels and such…

SO-an update on the past few days…

Jam Packed adventure week: starting with Monday, I woke up and went skydiving. Hands down the most intense/thrilling/coolest thing I have ever done. Signing up for the highest jump allowed-14,000 ft-there was no doubt in my mind I had to get as long of a free fall as possible. After signing waivers and such, we waited until our tandem partners called our names. Considering it was about 8:30 in the morning, I was quite out of it, but as soon as my name was called I stood up and I was faced with probably one of the best looking men I have ever seen-maybe in my top 5 category. It took me a second to stop staring and I finally introduced myself-turns out his name was Jez (adding to his attractiveness for sure). So getting past that, we hopped on a bus and headed to the airport…on the ride, Jez very quickly ran me through some safety precautions and told me what I had to do before jumping and before I knew it I was strapped into a harness and hopping up into the plane.
I am not exactly sure what I had imagined the whole process of skydiving would be like, but I definitely thought there would be more prep than 5-10 minutes…so rather than having any time to get nervous or anything, I had to just be ready. The charming qualities of Jez also somehow calmed me as well…haha

So we got in this tiny little plane-6 jumpers and their tandem partners making 12 total. The climb in the airplane took forever…at 5,000 feet the ground seemed ages away and I was looking out the window thinking “how the hell am I gonna jump out of this plan at 14,000!!!” But thankfully Jez sparked a quite normal conversation with me and got my mind off of everything. Turns out he’s from New Zealand, 28, and still deciding what he wants to do with his life-he has a pilot’s license, likes to surf, skydive, and bike….mmmmmm yeaa

And just like that, we were at 14,000 ft and 2^nd to jump out of the plane. Honestly, it all happened so fast I’m not really sure exactly what I was feeling-one second my legs were dangling out of the plane and next I was doing barrel rolls out of the plane. It was SO loud-I’m pretty sure I was screaming, but I couldn’t hear anything, and I hope Jez couldn’t hear it either- the feeling of free-falling through the sky is like nothing I’ve ever felt before-it was awesome in everywhere and even though I should have been scared, I wasn’t. All of a sudden VOOOOOP and we were just floating-he had pulled the parachute and instead of falling, it felt more like a roller coaster in the sky. The view was breathtaking-the reef in the distance, rainforest behind, and miles of coastline to gaze at…words or photos could never do this experience justice. Jez let me take the reins and I got to control the parachute-so we swooped around some clouds and he took control back and we gracefully landed on Mission Beach. It was quite romantic (haha totally kidding-its his job-but I like to think it was…) and it was over. I don’t have a grasp of the timing it took to get to the ground-but I know it wasn’t long enough. I wanted to hop right back in the plane and do it all over again. So now, I am adding skydiving certification to my bucket list.

Later that day, I hadn’t had enough thrill for a day, so I decided to do my bungy jump as well-I booked a package but wasn’t supposed to bungy until Thursday, but I figured why not and hopped on a bus to the bungy jump site. At this point I was riding quite an adrenaline rush from the skydiving, so there was no detection of fear whatsoever. I got to the jumping site-75 meters…eh not bad. I climbed to the top of the apparatus and looking over the edge kind of scared me-but nothing too bad. From the bottom it did not look so high, but looking downwards was a different perspective entirely. Oh well-I got strapped up in a harness, the instructors gave me a quick briefing and then I was at the ledge with my toes hanging over the edge. The man started to count down….5….4…3…STOP I told him I needed a second and had to breath-he continued…2….1….JUMP and I did…I swan dived the shit off of that ledge-if I had an extra $50 to blow, I would have bought the photos for proof, but I swear I did it. The free fall was intense-it felt like there was no end to it, but then all of a sudden whiplash. The whiplash didn’t hurt, but it shook my body a bit-I continued to bounce around a bit and eventually made it back to land. The rush wasn’t quite as good as the skydive-but it definitely was awesome. I decided to jump again. The first jump, they instruct you to jump a certain way, but with a second jump there are more options on how to depart the ledge. So I climbed back to the top and got all strapped up and in and decided to go off backwards-at this point I had made friends with the guys at the top and they told me going backwards was quite intense-so why not!! I got to the edge, turned around and the guy grabbed my harness and leaned me back so my center of gravity was no longer over the ledge (or anything for that matter-it was out into the abyss). He started counting and my heart was racing-jumping off a ledge without seeing where you’re going has to be one of the scariest things possible…he got to 1 and hadn’t dropped me yet…he asked me how I was feeling and before I had time to answer he had let go and I was off…the unexpectedness of the takeoff made it better and a more intense experience-wow…

So after that I had my fix and decided to head back to the hostel-here I met up with my new Danish friends!! We headed into town for dinner and drinks…Cairns is a typical beach town-standard outdoor restaurants line the main road that is parallel to the coast and there are also tons of touristy shops selling everything and anything you could possibly imagine-we decide on a seafood place…the food was so incredibly fresh; I couldn’t believe how fresh the shrimp and fish tasted! YUM-so after this we ended up at the foreigner bar-how fitting. Drinks flowing, live music playing, and tons of girls/boys dancing on tables-needless to say it got quite interesting. Every “spring break” town has these places, and I hate to admit this, but I absolutely love partying at them-I’m definitely guilty of hopping up on some tables and grooving a bit…after a few hours here we all decided to make our way back to the hostel…

Tuesday-rainforest/waterfall hopping! Picked up at the hostel around 7:45 am, and I was off on yet another new adventure. Rohan picked me up (yes his name was Rohan) and there I met the 10 other travelers-Chris, Melinda, Sara, Laura, Lara, Kevin, Karla, Robert, Anika, and Tammy-Rohan made sure we all knew each other’s names…

The first stop we made was for a hike in the rainforest-this was quite relaxing and similar to all other rainforest experiences that I have had…ridiculous vegetation, heaps of insect/bird noises coming from everywhere, and a strictly marked pathway with signs instructing travelers not to stray from the path. It was quite peaceful, and exactly what I needed to start off my morning.

Next stop: Josephine falls-here we got to go for a quick swim and slide down a natural rock slide. This was absolutely beautiful-but still reminded me of places in the Adirondack mountains that I have taken a plunge in.

Next stop: lunch-we went to the cutest little bed and breakfast places in the country…this old man runs the whole place and he grilled us chicken, made a potato salad, and risotto! MMM delicious.

Next stop: Milla Milla Falls-apparently famous for some British singer filming his music clip there. We got to swim up and in behind the waterfalls which was quite serene.

Next stop: Lake ______ (I can’t remember the name and I‘m too lazy to look it up)-again this lake reminded me of the Adirondacks-or maybe more of Green Lakes. It was very nice, but not anything I haven’t seen before. We spent a about an hour here where I swam and sunned a bit. Following this we went down the road a few kilometers and camped out to try and catch a platypus in it’s natural habitat. Platypus’ are an endangered species, but are quite popular in the area. We were lucky enough to catch on dilly dallying down a small creek-we followed him/her down the waterbed for about 10 minutes…

After the platypus sighting we hopped back on the bus and I was dropped off at my hostel…here I showered and got ready for the night. I ended up going out with some people I had met on the tour that day. 2 doctors from England, a couple on their honeymoon from Oregon, a woman from Sydney and a surfer from Byron Bay. We grabbed a quick dinner at the night markets and had a drink-at this point I was so exhausted from the full day I decided to head back to the hostel and pass out. Sleep felt so good.

DIVING

Obviously making my way to northern Australia, I had to hit the reef. Departing the wharf around 7:45 am, and we were off on an hour and half cruise out to the reef. 

Our first stop was near Upolu Cay…

Here we snorkeled and got some time to sun bathe…snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef lived up to all of its expectations. With a water temp of about 24 degrees Celsius, open water, and more life and vegetation to comprehend, it was the most beautiful natural phenomena that I have ever seen. The colors of the coral are indescribable…every orange, blue, green, red, yellow, and any other color glistened in the sun creating a perfect mesh of wildlife to observe. I saw Nemos, Doris, and every kind of fish possible. I even got to see 2 reef sharks!! There are so many species of animals in the ocean, and the captain actually told us that they predict there are nearly 750,000 unnamed species! WOW- After about an hour here we all gathered back on the boat and headed to the 2^nd sight. Here I geared up for a dive…I was going to get certified on the GBR but it ended up being WAY too expensive, so I will probably do this when I am in Thailand because the prices are significantly cheaper.

10 meters down and it was SO much better than snorkeling. Breathing underwater was kind of unnerving at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I swear in another life I was a fish. From my childhood I have always loved swimming, and this past summer in the Adirondacks confirms that I still do…I could swim for hours whether or not I’m by myself or with people-I just love being in the water. So, naturally, diving has quickly become my new favorite hobby. Definitely diving in Thailand, and thinking of how I’m going to pull off a few dives in Egypt as well…thennnn who knows after that.

But the dive was such an experience. Taking the whole experience in and trying to explain it here to you is impossible. I didn’t get an underwater unfortunately, but at least I have the images in my head…touching anemone, seeing a sting ray, picking up star fish, touching a turtle…the list goes on-diving is such an intense way to immerse yourself into a whole different world. I can see now, why so many people I know who dive absolutely love it-it’s quite addicting.

Hm, after the dive we had lunch-delicious…shrimp, crab, lunch meat platter, salad, salmon, potato salad mmm. After lunch I laid out in the sun for a while to kind of process everything…the views surrounding the boat were incredible-endless bright blue waters with no other boats around, at that moment there is nowhere else I wanted to be. I snorkeled a little more, did another dive and then we were carted back to the wharf. I got home to the hostel and showered and got ready for a night of absolutely nothing. I was so exhausted from going constantly that I decided to take a break, make a salad and head to bed.

This is when a little homesickness started to settle in-I’m about 5 weeks into the trip now and it is starting to feel like it. It is more of missing my comfort zone. I know I have preached about stepping out of your comfort zone continuously, but sometimes it is just so nice to see a familiar face or have a conversation with someone without explaining where you’re from, where you’re traveling, why you’re traveling blah blah. For all of you who know me pretty well, you know how much I love to be home and see friends and family, and this is definitely going to be the longest I will have gone without some Mark and Gina and Manlius in my life...I know this feeling is only natural and it was bound to happen-especially to me-but ugh, it is hard to snap out of it-so I popped a tylenol pm and passed out. 

Random Day: completely random and unplanned I rented a car with 2 girls from England and a guy from LA. The weather wasn’t that great so we figured we’d follow the sun up and down the coast. What an amazing spontaneous decision. I had nothing planned for Thursday so I was probably going to wallow and be homesick all day, so it was a blessing that I woke up and chatted with these people at my hostel and got in the car. Thankfully the girls from England could drive cause there was NO way I was going to try driving on the other side of the car on the other side of the road. We went up to Port Douglas, Palm Cove, and pulled over along the way to take in the views and snap photos. The weather wasn’t perfect, but the experience and company made up for it. 

Night…hmmm started off with some “goon” in the room with my roommates Mimi from London and Alyssa from Germany. We proceeded to go down to the lobby area of the hostel and play some trivia in hopes to win a $75 bar tab…no such luck. Considering none of us were from Australia, there was no way in hell we were going to be able to win-oh well…it was good fun and we met some New Zealanders (Clint and Tim) who helped us out. At the end we ended up getting 3^rd place out of 7 teams! Continuing with the night we ended up at Gilligans-a “night club” in Cairns. Absolutely hilarious, tons of people-mostly foreigners…it was a blast. Mimi and I lost Clint and Alyssa-turns out she had to go home-but we danced the night away on the platforms. I met loads of people from everywhere-Hong Kong, Scotland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, US, Australia-the list goes on. There is something about this little town. I labeled it as “spring break” like, but it is way cooler-instead of annoying US college students, it a group of people who all appreciate traveling. Yes, we’re all still in our 20s and like to party and go out and dance, but there’s nothing like hoping going across the globe to party with people from all over the world. So the club closed at 2, we got gyros and walked back to the hostel-epic night for sure. When I find Mimi on facebook I will be sure to grab some of her photos cause she was paparazzi-style snapping shots of us all night.

Hmmm…in case you haven’t noticed, I have been writing this blog post continuously over a few days-I’m starting to really think about my Thailand trip and I am really trying to fit in the Full Moon Party (google it!!) it looks absolutely fantastic and wild…it is a party on an island where close to 20,000 people go to watch the full moon rise and fall and basically djs and musicians play music all night and nobody sleeps…but I also want to get scuba certified…AH there are wayyy too many things I want to do and never enough time. Oh well, I will try and plan everything out as soon as I return back to Sydney.

Sidenote-I’m really really really looking forward to seeing Neekaleek in Israel-I know I will really be needing a familiar face when I get there!

Hm, I think that is enough for now…I just bbmed my parents telling them that after I return I think I will have to write a book about everything because my blog posts are close to 5,000 words each! My apologies!! So Ciao for now, and I will post an update on my Thailand plans as soon as they are solidified