#lydia de winter needs a hug

[conquerthenight]

It just occurred to be that I never actually shared the fic that my last post was referring to. Anyways, here it is. Two chapters are posted so far, working on the third. Of course, since this is in my Lydia centric series, I had to stick with the Beetlejuice lyric title theme 🤣

TW: PTSD, self harm, suicidal ideation, past child abuse, coercion

[rosieandthekangaroo]

Last days of winter

I started this post in Catalan and then decided to translate to English because I am a mess. And it ended up being very long, so let’s go!

So, here I will be talking about the last days I spent in Australia and, even though *the feeeeeels*, I will try to narrate what happened without boring you with sentimentalisms (is this a word?). I have been postponing this moment for a few days but if I have managed to have a blog for an entire year, I am not going to leave it unfinished.

The title is both literal (I went from winter to summer) and a kind of reference to the second album by Noah And The Whale, “First Days Of Spring”, but don’t read too much into this.

So, let’s go as it happened. I will go by topics or groups of people because we all know everyone loves reading about themselves so this way people can find the activities they shared with me all together :D

The day I left + the trip will be at the end of the post and in chronological order because I decided so.

UNI.

Exams: blahblahblah, boring, I am excellent, very good grades, boring boring. bye.

Things with 1206 girls and friends:

We went to the beautiful Grounds Of Alexandria.

We walked around for a while, took some cute pictures and then sat for lunch.

We also enjoyed a walk around The Observatory, where we took some pre-teen pictures of our feet that I am not even going to upload because I am too old for that.

But as you can see, the views were cool and my camera dirty.

The same night we went out and woke up very fresh for a beautiful sunrise at Circular Quay:

A post shared by Rosie (@sitagram) on Jul 1, 2017 at 2:58pm PDT

The next day was Katie’s last Sunday (and las day) in Sydney, so we did what people are supposed to do in their last day: Manly by ferry and Bondi walk!

I didn’t take many pictures in Manly because I was very busy buying this jacket:

A post shared by Rosie (@sitagram) on Jul 2, 2017 at 4:24am PDT

I had been trying it on forever but I never ended up buying it because it was too expensive, so when I saw it was 30% off I took it as a sign and got it. In the following days four (4, quatre, lau) people told me they liked it without me asking so that’s a win.

The waves were amazing that day. Sometimes I wish I was a better swimmer... But we are not, and it was cold, so we decided to just stare at them:

A few days later was Lydia’s last day in Sydney, so obviously we did some of the last day musts. In this case, we did Coogee to Bondi.

Gordon’s bay was pretty pretty:

And I sat on a rock south of Bondi pretending to be cool:

A post shared by Rosie (@sitagram) on Jul 5, 2017 at 7:45pm PDT

With half of the girls gone came the time for my last days... Maisie, my true savior in life, came with me to do some hikes I had never done and helped me discover new spots in Sydney.

We did a hike around North Sydney and Watson’s Bay, very pretty <3

She also came with me to do Coogee to Maroubra 

We love each other but don’t sit together in the bus because having a window is important.

My last day was a Sunday so we followed the rules and did Manly by ferry and Bondi to Bronte. I don’t have any good pictures because I was focused on enjoying it, but you have seen it so many times that you can probably imagine it. Thanks Maisie for being there for me so much. Love you.

Since it was a Sunday, it was also infusion day! It’s not my favorite day of the week, but it was slightly better because I got Jarnae to cook my remaining frozen fish for me and I ate it in the sofa and then got Kate in charge of the sauce:

Change in people:

TXOKO THINGS!

First of all, let’s go with San Fermin:

The Txoko organized it Saturday the 8th of July, the day before leaving for Uluru. Or maybe I pressured Uluru friends to leave the day after San Fermin so we could enjoy both. Who knows... (<3)

San Fermin is a tradition that has many things I don’t like but, luckily, the Sydney version didn’t involve them. I dressed up in white

And ended up in not so white.

And you’ll be wondering what happened. Well, we’ll have to go through the pictures to figure it out.

It started with a cup of kalimotxo and a delicious lunch.

It looked like a promising night, even the TV was there:

As you can see, and all Australians could see because this is a still from the piece of news we were in, I was sitting at the end of the table, between the people and the kalimotxo.

Therefore, I was in charge of all the table’s refills and obviously took my 3% every time. 

All good.

And it got even better when I found my true self. My spirit animal. She approached me and asked me to avoid standing next to her. I was very confused until I realized we were both wearing the same jacket. 

I am no Sherlock Holmes, but I think the stains in my clothes appeared just before this picture:

I do have other pictures that could help us solve this mystery, but maybe the public eye is better without them.

The morning after San Fermin we went to Uluru (see the previous post), and the same day we returned to Sydney Montgarri and I went to my last Euskara lesson (straight from the airport!). 

We played some games and learned some words and then more people came and we ate dinner all together <3 It was very nice and I am very thankful for the great moments we shared, and I am pretty sure that in September I will start looking for a place to keep learning Euskera! A part from the lesson and the beautiful dinner, they gave me a t-shirt and a handmade plate that I will keep forever. Eskerrik asko!

My last Saturday was also spent at the Txoko because we celebrated a Castellers lunch, CHRISTMAS IN JULY! The menu was a traditional Catalan Christmas menu

But a down under version: the pilota (meatballs) were of kangaroo meat (or that’s what I was told).

We also had delicious canelons and sorbet the llimona. And to finish, homemade Suchard!!! (Montgarri, this was excellent!).

I had a personalized balloon as a farewell present (and I actually took it all the way home!). 

It was also Maria’s farewell and we both got a Castellers de Sydney bandana signed by everyone

It was nice and sad, thanks for so much, colla!

But let’s not cry, for now. 

Later we played some canalla-friendly games and said goodbye to the canalla and to the Txoko :_(

And held the tears to enjoy a fun night out! We started at Frankie’s Pizza (I could not leave Australia without going to the fucking famous secret room!)

Then we took a cab to Soda Factory and pretended to be fine. YAY. 

Then we said goodbye. And it was bad. Actual images of me crying on the way back home. 

Good thing I was with Maria. Or bad, I don’t know, because she was also crying.

Tip: don’t say goodbye while drunk. 

Ok let’s change topics.

FUN PART CALLED: THINGS NOT CLASSIFIED!

This first one is from castells, so it is linked to the last section, but it’s not a txoko thing... whatever. Last day of castells was fun and I am lucky it was the last because Montgarri broke my pants. I have to say that Anna started breaking them a while ago when she confused pocket and faixa, but Montgarri made the hole ten times bigger and did it in the middle of a tower, so I couldn’t move to cover myself. We laughed a lot, so it’s alright.

The search for new strings became ridiculous because I went to too many stores and they were “out of strings”, “don’t have this kind”, “never had strings”, “closed for whatever”... BUUUUT, it led me to one of the most beautiful music stores I have ever been so there ya go.

I also ended up going to enjoy the sunset at the Opera and it was bananice.

On one of the days I went with the girls to the Bondi area I went for a walk with Bruno. While I waited for him the sky was falling red and super nice. 

After that, they invited me for dinner (after my absurd intentions to pretend I wanted to leave) and we ended up sharing a nice meal and beautiful evening. We even sang the song I wrote for them (this one) with a ukelele. I have a video but don’t know how to upload it here. But here you have a screenshot:

It was nice, thanks Ocean People. 

And now... LAST DAY + TRIP.

To be fair, we’ll start with the last evening. 

We did a nice reunion home. We didn’t do a dinner because of logistics (I was getting my infusions and stuff), but all 1206 (minus Katie, plus Liz) spent a nice evening together. We saw a very entertaining tv show and shared some good laughs. 

While I was getting my infusion I was chatting to Montgarri. She wanted to come say goodbye but she lives in the North Pole, so I told her it was ok, we could call or skype. I thought she was home so we thought skype was better, but then she called me. I could not get it on time so I texted her: skype or call? And she answered “hug!” with a selfie in front of my door. And now tell me, what have I done to deserve people like this around me? Seriously, Montgarri, you are the best. We stayed home for a little while, chatted, even sang a little bit, and then we said goodbye. I didn’t cry because I wasn’t drunk, but it was sad. But we’ll see each other very soon, right? ;)

That evening I finished packing and had to say goodbye to Liz, my beautiful crazy friend, so I went to sleep with the weirdest feeling on Earth.

The next morning I woke up very early and finished packing and cleaning. Then I met with Coti and Beñat for a coffee, since we hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye.

After the coffee, they came to pick up a yoga mat that no one in my flat wanted. On the way home, we stopped at free store because I was told there would be a guitar case in the morning (and I badly needed one to take Daisy home safe).

The case was not in the free store but, on the way to the elevator, we saw a guy with a big trolley full of things and, I think it was Beñat, spotted the case. So lucky they saw it before anyone else could take it!

We took the case upstairs, Coti took the yoga mat and we went back downstairs to say goodbye. 

Very thankful they came so early in the morning, I feel so lucky to have these two crazy (haired) people as friends!

After saying goodbye I went to check out and said the first goodbye of the morning to Jarnae, my beautiful singer and wall mate. Then I finished packing and got Maisie and Kate to help me carry my luggage to the uber.

Then we said a quick goodbye to avoid crying. Or that’s what we thought. The poor uber guy had to deal with my ugly sobbing. 

But when I got to the airport I had to have a clear mind: I was taking too much weight and a guitar!

Have you seen this face? This is the face of a lucky bastard. 

I was allowed 2 suitcases of 23kg each. Well... I carried one of 18,5 kg and another of 30,5kg and DID NOT PAY. I also begged to take the guitar to cabin with me and they let me. Well, they told me that they might have to check it in last minute, but they didn’t, they stored it in some kind of lockers they have next to where they keep the food.

So, once I left the security check behind, I went for the important stuff: spending my last dollars on TimTams. The guitar case I got was soo cool that had side pockets that could fit two TimTam boxes!!!

Once I got the cookies I found a quiet corner where I played some guitar (very quietly, just enough to distract myself), and I ate the fish leftovers I had. 

The first flight was bad. I was supposed to stay awake for most of it and I did, but ugh. I saw Hidden Figures and Dr Strange. Movies were good, but staying awake is hard!

Then we stopped in Singapore and I chose the wrong toilet.

I was also supposed to stay awake for the first 7-8h of the second flight. I rewatched the last Sherlock episode and Pulp Fiction, but I ended up falling asleep too soon.

Then in London, the transfer was easy, but the flight was packed. On the boarding line, I saw small suitcases being checked, so I panicked. A guitar is was bigger than that!

When it was my turn the lady didn’t even look at the guitar so I walked without saying anything. While waiting at the gate chairs, while the rich people were already boarding, a woman approached me pointing at my guitar. I froze. I was ready to not-so-fake cry if necessary. But then she said “get in line with the business people to ensure you have space for that”. Oh la la. So the guitar got home safe. And me too.

When I went to pick up the luggage my two suitcases were the first to appear in front of me. The trip back home was like suspiciously good, especially compared with the way there!

And finally, the meeting! My mom, sisters and sister products (Lluc) were waiting for me with personalized t-shirts!!! They even had one for me. And for some of my friends woohoo!!! They are so cool!!!

So that’s it. That’s the end of my experience in Australia, for now. But this is surely not the last post. I am keeping this blog for other Australia-related activities and thoughts and stuff.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me make this year so fucking cool. I hope we meet again soon. Like really soon. I am not saying this just to say it, I really mean it. I have met very special people and, even though we will not be talking very often nor sharing moments, I am sure you’ll always have a special place in my brain (fuck the heart), and I really want to see you all. 

Now I am almost crying, mira per on.

Dw.