A couple of weeks ago, I acquired a library card to the general University of Cambridge Library. It’s not your typical library; at least I have never seen such a place like it before. First of all, you have to have a purpose to be there. One cannot just waltz in to take a look around, this is a very “special place.” I don’t know the generalities of the whole place, so I will just talk about my experience.

Once I actually received a library card, I was very excited to take a stroll through this seemingly remarkable place. The librarians didn’t really give me a briefing or anything. The only thing they told me was to leave my book bag in the baggage room, and that when I was ready to come in, I could scan my card and be on my merry way. I hastily left my bag where other bags were hanging, all unattended, unlocked. There were lockers but everyone seemed to honor the honor system here, so I left my belongings and decided that no one would find anything to steal in my bag anyway (which is sadly true).

(scanning entrance)

I half-proudly sauntered through to the scanning device with card in hand, expecting some kind of beep telling me to go back where I came from, but nothing happened. So, I made my way up the stairs and was greeted by three directions, and from those directions the possibilities seemed infinite. People passing by all were very scholarly, like they knew what they were doing and why were there. Me, a mere observer (with an idea to check out a play), felt like I had landed on a type of academic moon where reading glasses and cardigans were the suit of choice and cartons of books and wooden desks were its crater covered terrain.

I needed to loan out Yerma by Lorca so I decided to duck to the corner where two computers shined. I typed in Yerma and sure enough they had it. I looked at a map of the library on the wall and found the section, the general reading room, which incidentally was right around the corner from me. I cut through a room filled with grey and people standing at computers to get to this reading room. The room was dead silent, except for the librarian typing away on his Dell. I asked him if he could show me where this number was, pointing to a tiny piece of paper with the library code for Yerma. He smiled at me, and I explained that it was my first time here and didn’t know how this worked:

“Ok. Well, you can either request this book online or in the section of the library where the book is located. Since you are already here, what you need to do is grab one of those slips of paper and fill it out. The book will be grabbed for you within the amount of time listed on the board.”

I thanked him for the information, and turned to the board. It read 45 minutes. Clearly they are really fearful of people stealing their books, because they don’t let you bring a bag into the library. However, to have someone else grab the book for you, that seemed a little ridiculous to me. Nonetheless, I needed to read the play for the next day so I decided to fill it out. I dropped off the green slip and decided to walk around the library while I waited for the book to meet me on shelf G.

Now, I would have taken pictures but A.) I didn’t have camera and B.) They don’t allow cameras into the library. Even though I could easily sneak my stealth, bite size Canon with me, I have decided to honor their system.

I remembered seeing a sign to the “rare books room” and decided that might be interesting. Who knows what rarities I might find? Well, I walked in and there was a glass entryway that read, “do not push, wait to be let in” or something to that effect. Already, this place seemed to be like a china shop. It was a large brightly lit room, filled with tables and people working behind them. I walked around the room, trying to decide what to do. The librarians/door guards were watching me as I walked around the perimeter. I didn’t know if I was allowed to grab books from the shelves (they didn’t look that old to me), but I decided not to in case an alarm would go off and I didn’t really know what the procedure was. Once I got close to their table again, I smiled at them and walked out.

I thought the place was rather boring after I once was out of it. What were people looking at with those rare books? Words on a page are words on a page, old words on old paper read the same as old words on new paper.

I meandered my way upstairs and found the manuscript room. It looked just like the rare books room, and decided not even to wait to be let in. I then decided to leave the section all together and made my way to the courtyard. It wasn’t a pretty courtyard, just a place for people to smoke. Since I didn’t smoke and I didn’t feel like sitting down, I left.

I walked around and was brought back to the spot of three directions. I still had 20 minutes to kill. I decided to go back to Clare College (which is conveniently right across the street) and drop off my bag at my room, just to kill time.

(view of Clare from the library)

I returned in a half hour and my book was waiting for me. I took it downstairs to check out, but I was told that my card wouldn’t let me take it. My card didn’t give me such a privilege. I shrugged and gave the book back and left. It wasn’t a rare book, but I couldn’t take it out. I’m not sure what the rules are there, or why I couldn’t check out the book specifically. What good is a library, a place of intellectual comfort & stimulation, if you can’t utilize the books in a way that is comfortable and stimulating for you?

I’m sure there are different rules for students who are there full-time, but I would rather have a welcoming take-all library like Northeastern any day. Sometimes going away from home makes you realize what you love about home to begin with.

(Cambridge’s Library)

(Northeastern’s Library)

Note:

Each College does have its own library, that does function like a regular library. But, the University library functions quite differently. Over the summer, there is a specific summer library which has been great, but it’s about the size of the living room in my last apartment.

One passage in particular rang true to me, and I thought I’d share it:

“Where rose the mountains, there to him were friends;

Where roll’d the ocean, thereon was his home;

Where a blue sky, and glowing clime, extends,

He had the passion and the power to roam;

The desert, forest, cavern, breaker’s foam,

Were unto him companionship”

- Canto III. Stanza XIII.

Often times when traveling, you learn to take refuge in the nature around you.  Sometimes even, you don’t have the indulgence of someone else to be with you to share the experience and you are seeing these wonders alone. I say this, and then I think… well, that’s not entirely true. For me, as much as I did find peace in nature and appreciating the natural beauties of say southern Portugal; I also did have something there to share it with me. I wrote in my journal one day while strolling along the coast after a day of sunshine at the pool:

My camera is my companion sharing with me these experiences. Its pictures will remind me of what I saw like an old friend does at a much overdue lunch. It will remind me of the times gone by; it will be my keener and more vivid eye as my own memories begin to fade.

This is true though, not just for traveling purposes but also in remembering times that have long since passed. I am not quiet like Lord Byron at all in anyway, but I can relate to him in some ways: the seeking refuge in traveling – hoping to escape the memories of love and other times of happiness – and then falling victim of painful nostalgia. It seems, that no matter how far you go, these memories can still grab a hold of you and feel as sharp as it would anywhere in the world. I like when Byron says, “What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?” and those scars are painful to remember. Yet we carry on, through the adventures… then pretty soon your other pictures are buried with newer pictures, of new sights sought and lands conquered. I have come to realize that scars tend to fade with a lot of sunshine, a tan can cover a lot of things up; nonetheless, covering it up does not mean that they do not exist. Now I am getting lost in metaphorical messages, enough.

I have finished four full days here at Cambridge. I have been more than comfortable in my accommodation, and I have quiet literally received a royal treatment here; it is truly an academic oasis and it is inspiring. I do not have a camera right now (long story), but it was supposed to have arrived on Monday. Hopefully, when I do receive it, I will be able to share some photos and in turn document some memories.

I am contently sitting in my Lagos bachelorette pad. At 15 euros a night, this place is a great deal. For its supreme location, compared to other cities, this price is really unheard of – it’s even good for Lagos. Wow, what a great deal. I was telling Allan that I did the math and living in some of the hostels I’ve been in would equate to around 400-500 euros a month-, which is great considering that it includes everything. I think if I went to school in Europe I might be tempted to live in a hostel, I’m half joking.

Lagos, thus far, has proved itself to be much more to my liking than Lisbon. It has beautiful weather during the day, and then cools down at night. Also, there are all sorts of great food deals- for example tonight for dinner I had fish, soup, salad, a beer, a water, and a scoop of ice cream, all for 7.50 euros. It was the best deal I found, and it actually tasted good too. The other night I had sardines, boiled potatoes and salad for 7 euros. The restaurant food is a great deal, but wait, it gets better. I went to the grocery store, where, I was able to buy 6 1.5 liters of water for 25 cents – and 5 apples for 75 cents. Can you believe that? I’ve never seen such brilliant prices, even in Mexico.

In addition to all of the great deals, I am very happy about the beautiful scenery. After this Euro-trip, I think, although I appreciate human made beauty, I most enjoy the wonders of nature. What it comes down to is that I just really love the beach. I can spend all day there, and be totally content. I’ve been spending my time at Praia de Dona Ana. It’s very beautiful, but the water is pretty chilly. It is not unbearable, but the water at Cascais near Lisbon was unbearable. It is just so cold, I swear after laying out and then hoping in the water, I saw steam rise from me. I am not the only one that found the water quite chilly, otherwise I would have thought that maybe I had been spoiled from the 4 months of warm Pacific waters I had grown accustom to this past “winter.”

Here are a some pictures from my day-time adventures:

Currently sitting in my hostel, with a sleeping French guy diagonally on top of me (I mean he’s on the top bunk next to me). Everyone else is downstairs hanging out in the lobby, I’ve done my share of that this week, and now I am here. Exploring the slue of websites I have accumulated over the years, I have come to realize that I really miss making videos; in any context. I wish I had brought stuff to edit, or my camera didn’t die, or my external hard drive wasn’t stolen. I guess my creative film odds were against me, like they were in Australia. Every camera I had broke while I was there, except for my most loyal techno-companion: the iphone. So it remains my most loyal techno-companion, I am knocking on every piece of wood I see, and I urge you to too (if anyone reads this??). I don’t really believe in the whole knocking on wood thing, but hell anything is better than nothing.

Tomorrow I am bussing south to Lagos. I am excited about it, for I plan on getting my tan on. I also want to bike around, and I have this vision of reading in the shade of gigantic ocean rocks on the beach; we’ll see if my vision comes true.

It is hard to believe that in exactly two weeks, I will be moved into Cambridge. Wow. Anxiously discussing these plans with my family and friends seems like it was just yesterday, but at the time the plans felt like they were years away. Time sneaks up on you and the predictions become the present almost faster than you had the ideas to begin with.

OK, so I’m not really surrounded by sombreros, and no nachos in these luggage worn hands. However, the combo of the blasting 80′s music and every waiter speaking perfect English. makes me think that I am at some kind of American ChiChis (although I think those waiters had accents) restaurant, in an American camping ground such as Mohican National Park.

It is all very funny, because I am not sitting at an American camp ground. No, no. I am also not sitting in an American restaurant. Actually, really, I am sitting in just 20 minutes outside of Rome, ITALY. Sometimes I feel like there are more “Americans” in foreign countries than there are “Americans” in America.

Sarah and I have decided to be economical on this trip to Rome and are staying at a cabin in a camping ground outside of Rome. Needless to say, it’s our first night here and it’s already a memorable experience. Just another “hostel” to add to my hostel resume. No complaints- after all- they say when in Rome do as the Romans do. I guess you can say we are doing just that.

I took the train from Prague to Krakow. There is a stopover and because our train broke down and caused a two hour delay, I was required to share a van cab with a Canadian, a couple from Singapore and a guy from Vienna. It was one of those side trip random adventures that I’ve always thought only happened in movies. While we were driving through Poland, I couldn’t help but note that a year ago I never would have expected to be driving through Eastern Europe – Poland even. I’m happily surprised; I like not being able to predict what great adventures await me.

So far I’ve been to: Madrid, Barcelona, Prague and now Krakow. I’m headed back to Prague on Sunday, I’m going to try and take the night train. However, someone told me that it’s a bit unsafe in standard 2^nd class on the night train, so I’m probably going to either upgrade to 1^st class or just take the day train. I’m going to have to make my way to the train station tomorrow and figure it out.

Barcelona was beautiful, but it really does have a sketchy feel. Matt and I were constantly being offered drugs. I also didn’t like the feeling that I always had to be worried about my wallet being stolen – in fact what I did was wear my passport neck wallet underneath my shirt – but that just made my shirts look weird. See below.

Somehow Matt and I survived Las Ramblas (the main tourist street in the old part of Barcelona), and neither of us had anything stolen.

Prague was fun the two days I was there, but I didn’t really get a chance to sightsee. I was mainly hanging out with Matt before his trip, he leaves tomorrow. When I get back Sarah and I are going to be starting our journey together and we will have a very packed itinerary in Prague and everywhere else.

Right now I am happy to have a really nice room (I’ve never had such a nice room in a hostel) and am ready to catch up on some sleep debt that I’ve accumulated these nights of fun.

Tonight I had some real Polish pierogies. They were potato cheesy deliciousness- especially since they were SO cheap. I love Eastern European prices, love them. I am 25% Polish and my Great Aunt, whom I was extremely close with was 100% Polish and was very proud of her heritage. She would be really happy to hear that I am visiting where the Gabriel family first started. It’s so crazy to be in the country where your name originates, not that I am meeting anyone from the family or anything; it’s just warming to be in your family’s homeland. No one else in my family has been back here, so it’s also cool to know that even though I am one of the youngest, I am still interested in remembering our roots.

I had incredible luck with checking my bags, but I’ll talk about that once I get to Boston – I don’t want to jinx my luck. Until then…

How did we get there?

You can buy a $20 bus ticket on Greyhound Australia. It leaves from Surfers and takes you right into town.

Where did we stay?

Nomad’s Hostel. They were rated best hostel in NSW of 2009 and I’d have to agree Nomad’s was awesome. Overall I’d give this place a 9. Sure, it’s definitely more on the expensive end as far as hostels are concerned. We booked an 8-person room, because there were 8 of us on the trip. We each paid $34 a piece, which in hindsight is a lot of money. Nevertheless, the room was very clean, and had a balcony. The bathrooms were very modern and were also the cleanest I’ve been in (for a hostel). They have co-ed bathrooms and also many individual restrooms within the hostel.

The staff was very friendly and sincerely knowledgeable.  They were also happy to give advice and actually remembered (or made an attempt to remember) your name. There is internet provided from Global Gossip, which of course costs something. However, if you post a picture on their facebook, or are the one who booked the hostel, you get 30 minutes of free internet. A very nice gesture, 30 minutes is the ideal amount for a weekend trip: just enough to double-check that restaurant you were recommended or to update your status or send a quick e-mail to mom and dad. Thirdly, they allowed for free printing, another major benefit.

The location of Nomad’s is perfect, right in the center of it all across the way from several bottle shops (which are liquor stores). The main beach is within walking distance. It’s also very close to the bus terminal.

Any negatives? The beds did make a lot of noise upon movement, but all things considered it wasn’t all that bad.

What did we do?

The first day we went to the most easterly point. Note, cabs are hard to come by on the street. Taxi Limousines was what we used and they were reasonably priced. From Nomad’s up to the top of the Lighthouse it cost us about $3 each of 6 of us. Definitely well worth the price and the trip, here are some more pictures.

We hiked down the other side of the mountain, and found ourselves at the Wakes Beach. Definitely the most beautiful beach I have been to in Australia thus far. The water was crystal clear, and the waves were manageable. In the distance one can see Julian’s rocks, and to the right you can see the most easterly point of Australia. It’s definitely a scenic and just beautiful place to swim around and get some sun. People were getting married while we were there. Personally, I’d prefer to swim at this beach than the main beach by town. It’s smaller and had less people, and the scene was just more visually appealing.

Afterwards we went back to town and got ready for our evening activities. A major benefit of Byron Bay, something I have never in my life, is that the clubs in the area of their own buses and will pick you up and take you to their club, for free. Take advantage of this!

Buddha Bar had a drink special, $2.50/pint for happy hour. It was a good place to start, and I recommend that if you’re in town ask the receptionist at your hostel or hotel to point you in the right direction for what is going on in the area for the night. We had the Cheeky Monkey bar pick us up and we headed over there for the ladies night special. Afterward we went to dinner down the street from Cheeky Monkey, but I can’t remember what the place was called. As the night went on, our group split up to do what the individuals wanted to do. I ended up at the Beach House bar/club. There was a live band playing and it was right on the beach. When Leigh, Kim and I were done with that we decided to go to the beach and hang out for a bit. This was a great idea. What’s great about the beach? It’s always free (at least in Australia). There were a lot of people on it (but not too many), just admiring the beauty of the ocean. There were entertainers on the beach, for example there was a girl twirling flame sticks.

When we grew tired we decided to head back to the hostel and called it an early night because we were going kayaking in the morning.

We booked a kayaking trip through our school’s Exploration Society. It cost us $65 and included transportation and lunch and dinner.  They arrived in the morning, but we were on the afternoon trip, so we shopped around in the morning.

The kayak trip was fun, but not exactly as fun as I thought it would be. We each had a partner; mine was Simona (She’s originally from Lithuania, but moved to the Bronx at the age of 12 and currently goes to Northeastern with me). She’s athletic, so I knew I didn’t have to worry about riding with someone who couldn’t handle the trip, and (even though I don’t like to admit it) she’s fun. Nonetheless, I felt like the kayaking trip was wayyyy too guided. I guess because I had kayaked before, their instructions were a bit redundant. They also were very concerned about everybody sticking together to find the wildlife in the area. We didn’t see any dolphins, but some we did see some turtle’s that were sticking out of the water. Personally, I was mainly interested in just paddling around and getting out and snorkeling near the reef area. It was kind of funny, after a certain point I just wanted to hop out and cool off. I asked if I could and they told me not yet, so I just decided to fall off the boat; however, I knew once I got in that it would be nearly impossible to get back on the boat. Well, somehow with assistance from one of the guides, I was pulled back on the boat. Although I nearly drowned Simona with my frequent (but purposeful) boat tipping, we carried on quiet well and were in my opinion, the best kayakers in the group. If it were less of a guided tour, this would have been a 10; however, given the way the trip was conducted I’d give it about a 7.

That concludes our trip to Byron Bay: overall a great weekend trip to make, with a good vibe. I took a lot of video and will try to make a video of this trip within the next month or two.

(Written 5:20PM Brisbane Time 2AM Eastern Time)

This video is of Surfer’s Paradise. The closest city to Bond Uni, is Surfers. It takes about 15-30 minutes on the bus, and the bus leaves every 30 minutes or so. Surfers is where all of the clubs are located, and the main extracurricular in the evening tends to be frequenting the clubs in the various clubs in the area. Bond University has a binding contract for the year with The Bedroom and Sin City, where all of the students get free admission and the clubs get unlimited advertising on campus. I have to admit; I’ve gone to the clubs every weekend since I’ve been here, something that I normally do not participate in at home.

My classes are great, and I think I’m going to like them more and more as the weeks go by. This is my schedule:

Tuesday:

8AM – 10AM Cinematography & Lighting Lecture

10AM – 12PM Cine & Lighting Practical

(we work with the cameras and lights, etc)

We’ll be using these beautiful Panasonic HPX’s in this class. They are stunning cameras.

2PM – 4PM Directing Actors Lecture

(This so far seems like it’s going to be my favorite class. The professor is very good and she understands students and varies the way she teaches in order to keep the class engaged and interesting. The class is obviously about the relationship between actor and director, but it’s also about reading people and trying to get people to feel what you want them to feel (if only these techniques worked in real life).

6PM – 9PM Directing Actors Practical

(the professor brings in real actors and we do different exercises with them in a studio)

Thursday:

8AM – 10AM Editing Lecture (I’m learning to edit using Avid. Currently, I only know Final Cut Pro; however, in the industry it’s good to know both.)

10AM – 12PM Australian Cinema Screening / Lecture

(Australian Cinema starts at 9, so I’ve worked out an agreement with my professor to miss the lecture and come for the screening. Afterwards, the professor, and two grad students re-teach me the lecture. In the US something like that never would have worked out. I would have had to pick between the Editing class and Australian Cinema. I was glad I didn’t have to pick because I’m interested in both)

2PM – 3PM Australian Cinema Tutorial

(Every student is required to do a presentation on a film… Mine is on the movie “Getting’ Square” Which is a movie made by a lawyer, and is set in the Gold Coast. I’m going to try and watch it soon, so when I do I’ll let you guys know how it is.)

4PM – 6PM Editing Computer Lab

This photo is a an example of the edit suites that are near the iMac computer lab where we have class.

(We sit down behind the iMac computers and follow along with the instructor. Fortunately, the edit suites are open 24/7. )

I was very surprised when I found out that a.) My classes happened to work out to be only twice a week and b.) That they only meet once a week. It’s very different from the Monday, Weds, Thursday or Tuesday/Friday schedules that I am accustom to at Northeastern University. As of right now, I don’t know how it will be possible to learn as much in a given semester, but we will see. Although I am a hard worker, I’m a bit concerned about the grading system here. Apparently the professors do not give out “High Distinctions.” They are pretty strict with what they give out, but NU curves the grades to be in par with the way we do business. Another observation is how strict the administration at Bond University seems to be. Maybe because it is a smaller school, they are able to keep the students more on a tight leash, but it’s very unappealing. I understand that they are nervous about students doing things they shouldn’t be doing, but there needs to be some level of trust and understanding between the school and the students. It seems that the school is running the students whereas at other institutions I’ve been in the students help run the school. I was also surprised that classes were held on Australia Day. From my understanding, Australia day is like July 4^th. Having classes on July 4^th would be blasphemous in the USA, so like I said, although unaffected, I just was very surprised.

Having class twice a week has a lot of benefits. One of the major ones, of course, is being able to travel Thursday night – Monday night. Already I have booked my flights to Sydney for their big Mardi Gras weekend. Two of my friends and I leave on the 6:30 flight Thursday evening, we are flying Tiger Airways. My roundtrip tickets, and 4 nights in a hostel cost me a total of $205. Now that’s a bargain. The hostel we are staying at is called, Base Backpackers, and we are staying in the sanctuary room, which Base describes as “The Female only SANCTUARY DORM is for ladies who like to be pampered! 4 to 8 bed dorm, clean, modern and comfortable non smoking room comprising a luggage security locker for each person, wireless internet access (surcharge applies), security swipe card access with a 24 hour reception, heating and air-conditioning. The beds have feather pillows and doona and made up with fresh linen. The rooms are featured with full length mirrors. Hairdryers, hair strengtheners and beauty kits are available for your use on request at reception. Rate is for 1 person in a single bunk bed in the dorm. Fantastic price for that extra bit of luxury in a fantastic location, close to all the action in the heart of Sydney.” This cracked me up a bit, because who associates hostel with luxury? Well, I’ll of course, be assessing the situation as to exactly how luxurious this accommodation is.

I haven’t officially made any other travel plans. The great news is that none of my classes have finals, so I am going to have two weeks where I plan on traveling for the entire duration. Places I want to go? Cairns, The Outback, New Zealand and Fiji. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze all of this in, but the main issue is trying to find reasonably priced airfare. If I do, then of course I’ll be going to all of these places.

Other great news is that I, without even looking for one, found a job. My friend and I were leaving the pool, like I do everyday, and stumbled upon a sign asking for volleyball referees. I immediately walk in, speak to the guy and was hired on the spot to reff beach volleyball games. It’s great, happens every Monday night, at the beach volleyball courts, which is perfectly located right next to my dorm. The pay is good, and it’s from 6-9:40, but I get paid per game. And there are 5 games that are held within those hours. I did it for the first time this past Monday, and it was a lot of fun. It was a seriously nice pick-me-up; for I had been feeling the most homesick I had ever felt in my entire life Thursday-Saturday.

I’m on week 3 and my life in Boston has grown slightly more distant to me with each week that passes. The first two weeks it felt like I was only going to be here for a short vacation, but now I’m starting to realize and accept the fact that I am here for three more months. I’m starting to fully give myself to this place, allowing myself to follow the ways of the culture and accept it as my own. The months before I left, my relationships, my living situation, all were contingent on this trip to Australia. Relationships needed to end, I needed someplace temporary to live, and it was all because of where I am right now. I ask myself if it was worth it, but I don’t think that’s a fair way of looking at it. I need to realize that it’s not about it being worth it, but about realizing that life gets in the way of life at times. Sometimes you want to be able to have everything, but you simply can’t. You have to make choices, and those choices are at times very painful and uncomfortable to make at the time. So, I can’t say that this has been worth it or not worth it, but it certainly has been an experience. I never realized how different standing on the other side of the earth would actually feel.