Simple Weekds

Oh the festivities of the weekends. I really LOVE free weekends. There is just so much freedom in how to spend your time and how to explore, versus going around as a large group of American tourists. I’m not sure if I blogged about this yet, but last Monday we had to talk about our biggest embarrassment on the trip and I said my biggest embarrassment was walking around as a large group of Americans who were loud and disrespectful and whom the Australians didn’t want to interact with. Oh that went over like a lead ballon, but it was truthful. So anyway, my weekends where I get to go exploring in small groups are much more appealing.

Friday, Shane and I left after devotionals for the city. We only had half a day to be there, so we ran some errands (including getting loose leaf tea now that we both have our tea strainers) and then settled down in the Fitzroy gardens. We had been there once before, so we settled into a part of the garden we hadn’t been to before, on a bench watching a family with a toddler play with him around the trunk of a big tree. All I could think of was pieget. How sad. Haha. After a while Shane and I gave up on trying to get through two books in so little time and just sat on the bench enjoying the sunshine before heading to Broadmeadows to help with Kid’s Club. Oh fun story there. Well actually several. First, let’s discuss how we were told by Coco, our Australian friend, that it would take us oh 30 minutes max to get to Broadmeadows from the CBD. Yeah, over an hour later we were there. At first, we didn’t get a seat on the train, but then Shane scoped out two seats and headed towards them. He then asked me if I wanted the seat on the inside, but I thought he was asking something else so I said no. Not a smart idea. The inevitable happened and I ended up next to a stranger, which really meant I was almost on top of Shane’s lap. Ahhhhh….stupid fear.

When we got to Broadmeadows we met up with four other HDU kids to go help with kid’s club for kids age prep (kindergarten) through third grade. It took us forever to find the church, which really isn’t a church at all, but an abandoned building that the women who runs the program bought – along with two buses so the programs could run. Seriously the women who runs this program is amazing – she also runs three – four other ministries out of this building and is a doctor two days a week even though she is beyond the age where one is allowed and expected to be retired. When we got into the building we were greeted by a woman who I recognized from church on Sunday. Her greeting was honest – as all Australians are – as she told us that kids could either be angels or Hellions, our job was to show them the love of Christ either way. The kids ended up being really well behaved, mostly because with the HDU help we had a 1:1 ratio. I sought out, as I usually do, the little girl who looks to be the most excluded and lonely and befriended her. Her name was Lisa. She grew up in Iraq but had to be evacuated along with her eight brothers and sisters a few years ago when her uncle was arrested. Wow. That tugs at your heart strings. By the end of the night she was playing with the other kids though which was amazing. The women could not stop thanking us for helping with the program and what we meant to both them (as encouragers) and the kids.

After Kid’s Club Shane and I departed ways with the rest of the HDU kids and went out for my birthday dinner. He was picking the restaurant for the evening and wanted to go to Liegon Street. We walked around for over an hour trying to find the street, but It was totally worth it when we finally arrived at the restaurant. Amazing. Excellent choice. Shane had pasta with the best shrimp I’ve ever had in it and I had gnocchi in a white butter and wine cream sauce with spinach and sun dried tomatoes. So good. For dessert Shane was going to head over to the gelato shop next door so he encouraged me to get ice cream too. Yeah, we never made it to the shop because they brought out four scoops of the best homemade ice cream ever. Mint (which normally I don’t like but this is one of my top two scoops of ice cream I’ve ever had), pineapple/ lemon, strawberry, and vanilla. Yummy!

Saturday I took Amy, another HDU girl, to the ballet, Destiny. It was a two part show the showed the evolution of ballet chorography over the years. The first half was from the 1930s and told the story of a man going to battle for love against his own emotions. Very well done. But the second part, the more modern piece from this year, was fantastic. It told the story of a man who was struggling with falling in love and how women manipulate the emotions of men. It was all done against a white backdrop that emphasized shadows, beautiful. I spent more time captivated by the beauty of the shadows dancing against the backdrop – simplicity at its finest, showing off lines and moves without the distraction of the person dancing. Wow. Then as the man went through all of these emotions, images mirroring his moods were projected on to the screen. For instance a thunderstorm with large rain drops to show his melancholy mood. So well done.

Sunday Shane and I along with three friends (Becky, Lydia, and Jeremiah) went to the Mozart Requiem. I don’t think I can put into words how touched I was. A small orchestra performed this amazing piece before the requiem began. It made me miss orchestra. A lot. I go through these phases where I miss band, but every time I hear a well defined bow grace a string or see a great vibrato I miss my viola. The requiem itself was performed by a community group, but the quality was better then any community group I’ve ever heard in the states. It was sung in what I believe is Latin, but a translation was provided in the program. One line really stood out to me, “Remember me, merciful Jesus, that I am the reason for thy journey, do not destroy me on that day.” Wow. It’s the basic Christian concept, but presented in a whole new way. We were all thoroughly amused.

After the show we took everyone down to South Gate and ended up eating at The World, a bar/ restaurant that Shane and I had desired to stop at a few weeks prior. We were not disappointed. On the table we started with three appetizers – brochette (which was the best I’ve ever had), Turkish bread, and Australian dumplings (crocodile, emus, and kangaroo). Then came main courses, Becky had some type of chicken, Lydia had steak, Jeremiah had kangaroo, I had gnocchi in a tomato and basil sauce with a fresh greens salad, and Shane had peppercorn steak. And dessert – wow – fruit crumble which is a little like apple cobbler only a lot better with pears and apples and some other fruit in it and mango cheese cake. And that was my weekend of pleasure.