April has been a month of many ‘1st-time-things’ for me. It was the 1st time I went to a footy game, the 1st time I went to a nursing home, the 1st of many times I went to a mosque in Australia, the 1st time I met anyone who is over 100-years-old, and a 1st time of many other random things… So where should I start?
Well, in the end of March I met a neighbor from Egypt, Ilea, who
has been living hear for over 20 years. She asked whether I wanted to join her to a mosque near home where Muslims from all over Geelong gather once every two weeks to eat, talk, and pray. On my 1st trip to the mosque, Ilea introduced me to her Syrian friend, who I came to know as Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe is a very independent old man who refuses to use a cane and drives his own car. I know what you’re thinking, there’s nothing strange about this… But if you hitched a ride with an old man who told you to guess his age and told you he was 104, I’m sure you would be shocked! I know I was!! I made sure my seatbelt was fastened tightly after that…
During
my visit in the mosque I met a lot of immigrants from Iraq, Albania, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, and many more. We had interesting lectures about the morals behind our prophets’ miracles. Although I must admit, the thing I liked best from our meetings is lunch time!! I have never tasted anything like Egyptian food!!! It’s so thick and delicious, and yet, it mostly consists of a large variety of vegetables, so even though you know you’re being a pig, you still feel you’ve made a healthy choice… hahaha…
Another interesting visit that I had was to a nursing home with high-level care. My next-door-neighbor, Rex, has a cute dog called Bindy. Every twice a week Rex takes Bindy to nursing homes to entertain the elderly and they asked me to join them once. It was fun. The thing that I love about old people is that they have never ending stories about themselves and they’re family. The people in the nursing home had dementia so they couldn’t be very talkative, although there was an Italian gentleman, Freddy, who did talk a lot. I enjoy talking to them.
The highlight of my month would be going to a footy game and barbeque with some Australian friends
in Melbourne. Duyen and Mai came to Melbourne for a visit from Brisbane and we went sight seeing around Melbourne. One thing is for sure; those girls really love to go shopping!! During their visit, a friend of mine asked us to go to a footy game and a barbeque afterwards at his place. We watched Esendon versus Carlton. I decided to cheer for Carlton because one of my friends was a big fan of Esendon (I don’t know why but I always enjoy contradicting people). During the first half of the game I wanted to switch teams and cheer for Esendon since they were winning, but regretted this decision since Carlton managed to catch up and win the competition. I enjoyed the game, but I think it was more because I enjoy yelling and cheering, rather than the game itself.
As you see, it has been a month of many 1sts. Besides the activities above, I often go with a friend of mine, Nina, who is also from Indonesia, and try out new restaurants and cafés in the city whenever we feel bored. So far, we’ve tried a Vietnamese restaurant, a chocolate café, a pancakes café and a long list of restaurants that we’ve tried for the first time. Well, there’s nothing like new experiences when you come to a new place, especially
when you know you won’t be able to go through them again once you get back home. Right now, you could offer anything new to me, and I promise you that I’ll give it a try… well, as long as it’s legal… and doesn’t involve alcohol, of course… hahaha…
Dhika
P.S. explanation of pics: 1. Nina and I enjoying Vietnamese food, 2. Me in front of the parliament of Victoria, 3. Mai, Duyen, and I inside the parliament,
4. Esendon v.s. Carlton, 5. a huge chess game in melbourne...
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