Spiders

Today I saw my first spider! Spiders were my biggest (and deadliest) concern about Australia. The first thing I did when I arrived was check the apartment, and inspect my shoes and the toilet seat on a daily basis. I was obsessed with it!

Well, today I had my first encounter. It won't go down in history as my first "major" encounter, and I hope that day never comes. I was riding in Pat's (my flatmate) car, window shut, when i noticed the smallest creature on the outside. It resembled the shape of a spider, but in its 1mm blond glory, it could easily have been just a flea with legs! The microscopic nature of the subject, plus the fact that it was on the outside of a perfectly sealed window combined for what can only be described as a very encouraging first encounter!

You see, Australia is quite a unique location, when it comes to dangerous animal species. I come from Portugal, where there isn't a single poisoness animal, or any other type that might constitute any sort or threat to anyone bigger than a lepricon. The only threat over there is the treasure department (those motherfuckers can bite pretty hard!) Out here, you can come across sharks, box yellies, crocodiles, snakes, etc. It is true, bites of crocodiles, sharks and black mambas are to be avoided, but it is spiders I dread the most!

There are 4 or 5 species that constitute a threat, from which the bite is quite harmful, but to the extent that's often publicised. In recent history, the last recorded person to die from a spider bite was in 1980, from a Sydney Funnel-web. Of course, to me that amounts to nothing, as the first sight of their multiple legs will make me run faster than a Jamaican, or indeed a Portuguese tax payer.
Still, design wise, they're fascinating creatures...

Old man's blues

Last August 26th marked my 22nd birthday (cof cof!..). It was my 30th actually. It was a sunny warm winter day in Sydney, and instead of spending this special day with my friends, I got to meet new ones. It was a very pleasant day, and I must thank all of you that sent me emails and messages, for you made me feel like I was close to all of you, and not across the world as I physically am. My new friends took me to the highest tower in the city, to a revolving restaurant that rotates 360º in one hour, allowing for stunning views of the harbour.

For all the circumstances, it turned out to be a pretty special and different occasion. That made me think about past birthdays, and dusting through my brain i came out with the memories of 2.

1992. I was turning 14 on the 26th. We were moving 500km south on the 28th. All my life, older siblings and friends were about to be left behind. Tough days for a kid. My house was an absolute chaos. Just after lunch time I got the visit of Gato and Gaspar. They were there to sing me happy birthday, and going through the mountains of cardboard and bags, they found a very small biscuit and a candle, and made me feel special. To this day I hold that memory as one of my most precious ones, and feel very proud to have made friends like that.

1996. Finally, the 18th birthday! I can get a driver's license and I can go to jail! My 3 great friends from childhood were staying in the south with me. Francisco had a license by then, and I got my father to lend us the car, an old 2 seater VW Golf, that took more people on the back trunk than the Lisbon buses! At one point Gaspar decided to taste the wheel and got it a bit wrong in a turn, smashing the tyre against the curb. We basically spent all night from bar to bar trying to come up with a story to tell my dad the next day. I had such an exciting time! I could actually end up in jail! :) My father decided not to press charges, as it turned out. On the dictionary, next to the word cool, you can find a picture of him.

Cheers to old age!

The show must go on

When I moved from London to Sydney, I knew my beloved concert life style was to be sacrificed. Still, 2 weeks into my Down Under days, I got an invitation for a concert. My office is responsible for all the Apple stores this side of the blue dot, and Apple organizes concerts on their store worldwide, which are transmitted live through the web. So I got an invitation to see the Sneaky Sound System, the band of the moment here. It was a very cool event, and even though I barely knew them, its was very enjoyable.

Soon after, randomly surfing the web, I found out Goldfrapp are playing the... OPERA HOUSE!!! Now that's more like it! :)

OMG

This last weekend I was talking to a brazilian, in portuguese, naturally. There was an aussie girl next to us, who asked us where we were from. From Brazil and Portugal, we said. "So, what was that language you were speaking then?". Portuguese, we replied. Then she says, "oh, ok, that's that other type of spanish, spoke in South America, right?"

I smiled (while burning inside). "Right. That's the one".... and walked away.

Jet lag

According to scientific knowledge, Jet lag "... is a physiological condition which is a consequence of alterations to circadian rhythms. (Whatever that means...) Such disturbances result from rapid transmeridian travel."
It's definitely an effect not to underestimate, especially when you face a 9 hour difference. Prior to my arrival, I spent 4 or 5 nights of bad sleep, between early mornings, sofas and planes. So for the first 2 nights I was able to sleep on Australian night time. But never more than 4 hours. I didn't think much of it and the accumulated fatigue culminated in one disastrous Saturday:

I woke up at 6am, and couldn't sleep more, even though I felt tired. I started looking for house share online, and found something really interesting. Called and set up a visit for 4pm that afternoon. I was staying at a fantastic but temporary serviced apartment that the office set up for me. I had wireless internet but everyday had to collect the password from the reception before 6pm, so I had to go and collect it soon. But because I wasn't sleeping properly and was feeling nauseous, I thought of "dozing off" for an hour or so. It was 12am...
I woke up at night! Fuck!!! In 1 second my brain sounded all the alarms of self respect, as I had managed to blow my jet lag acclimatization back to square 1, miss the apartment visit and lose the internet password for the rest of the weekend. I called the guy, and heard the words I most dreaded: "Sorry. The room was taken".

So, there I was, hungry, alone, homeless, and most of all absolutely sure that there was no way I was gonna sleep that night. My fears were legitimate and by 7am, in the peak of my desperation night, I took to the street, knowing that only one thing would make me smile again... the Opera House. At 7:30 I was there, alone with the white princess, and ready to make the picture the world was waiting for. The morning was more beautiful then I could have asked for...

Wikipedia says that "Throughout the duration of jet lag recovery it is important to maintain a solid amount of sleep each day in order minimize mental disturbances." My comment is: HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU GET A FUCKING SOLID AMOUNT OF SLEEP... IF YOU'RE FACING JET LAG??? Retards...

4 weeks went by and I still don't feel like I'm over it. Andres, my Colombian workmate says it took him 2 years! Oh dear...