Then on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and the first part of Tuesday

One of the best reasons to run a full or half marathon is that the sponsors give you free stuff. And by free, I mean you paid for the race so you can take as much as you want. At the Portland Marathon in October one of the vendors sampling fruit bars said, “Only take two.” I, with my party decided that two was not enough. I won’t mention names here, but those of us who were there helped ourselves to three, four, and five bars. It is because of this cheating greed that Daniel and I were able to eat breakfast in our room the next morning.
We only had one inspection appointment set up so we consulted our map and set out for a new part of Brisbane. This time we made our way to East Brisbane and were twenty minutes early. At ten in the morning I was surprised by how much heat was already pouring off my body by way of sweat. At almost ten thirty a young Indian man joined us during our wait to see the apartment. He was pleasant and told us about the neighbourhood. He’s been living in Brisbane for six years studying and working. He is in the process of becoming a permanent resident. He noticed the tattoo on my wrist and immediately asked me when I got it. I told him 2003. Then he asked if I knew what it was. I smiled and answered him, “It’s an OM.” Finally he asked me if I knew what it meant. I was happy to tell him that I do in fact know what it means. Some of you know that Daniel and I became very interested in Ayurvedic yoga and meditation years ago and along with that also learned some of the Sanskrit language. He showed us the bracelets on his wrists and told us which parts of India he is from and the parts he loves. Daniel guessed correctly that he is part of the Sikhs religion and told him that we had recently considered moving to India. A place we’d still love to visit.
The agent who was going to show us the apartment did not show up. We waited forty minutes before finally asking another young Indian man if we could take a peek inside his apartment. He was in the process of moving out. He kindly took us upstairs into his studio and gave us his phone and the number to his own agent to see about renting the flat. There are not typical property management companies here. Each apartment has its own agent working for different businesses. His agent’s business happened to just be around the corner so we thanked him for his help and walked over to the company office. The woman working there was extremely nice and helpful. She had a tiny chihuahua puppy sitting in a basket on her desk, which was very well behaved. And though hardly classified as a dog, was quite cute.
That evening we walked around Queen Street mall, on the hunt for sunscreen and an electrical adapter. We found both and then explored outside where we searched for a vegetarian restaurant Daniel read about online. When we finally found it, it was closed. Surprisingly for such a huge city, businesses here close rather early, even on weekend nights. And even though we were downtown on a Saturday it wasn’t quite as crowded as we thought it might be. We stopped by a sidewalk eatery called “Pie Face” that we’d seen all over the city and got a few things to munch on for dinner. Back in our hotel room we ate, read, and went to sleep around nine. Unfortunately at midnight we were woken up by our neighbours having a horrible fight. The walls of most hotels are not thick and it was so uncomfortable listening to their argument. I kept doing energy breaks and tried to engage Daniel in our own conversation. Finally Daniel said, “Just forgive her!” It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, but I appreciated his gesture. The situation lasted on and off for an hour and a half. These are the same neighbours, I might mention, that we’d twice heard having sex earlier that day, as well as the night before. They checked out of their room the next morning, Lord have mercy.
Sunday is a day that Australians really do rest. We had a difficult time finding anything open for business. I decided to take it easy that day, emailing, reading, and watching crappy old American television. We’re talking, Cheers, Happy Days, and The Brady Bunch. Daniel went on a walk to find an apartment we had an appointment for the next day. He didn’t end up finding it, although he did bring back some Thai food for dinner. That night we snuggled in our bed to watch the final instalment of the Harry Potter films.
The great thing about waking up at six in the morning is you feel like you have three hours before you actually have to do anything. We readied up our hotel room and took a walk to Daniel’s University. The campus is beautiful and it was easy to find. We went to the student centre where Daniel got the information he needed. Walking back to our hotel we were both excited about our next year and a half here in Australia. Not wanting to miss out on our free 30 minutes of internet time we made our way to the restaurant lounge where the Super Bowl was playing. It made us happy because we knew our families were together watching it in the states. We saw the second quarter and at half time went downstairs to check out.
Our new motel is in Fortitude Valley, an area that we sort of like, and sort of do not like. Luckily Daniel and I have stayed at some pretty lowly inns before so we’re used to places that are, well, gross. This place is gross, although it does have a hot tub. No, we have not been in. Who wants to sit in 105 degree water when it’s 90 degrees and humid outside? In any case, we scoped out the apartment we had an appointment set for the following day and then explored until we found a spot to eat. Many of the pubs here are called hotels, and we sat down outside to share a garden burger, fries, and apple cider. For those of you who plan to visit us, and enjoy a pint of brew every now and again, be well prepared that they cost about ten dollars each. Big city living, means paying big prices. The Royal George Hotel had a projector screen outside playing highlights of the Super Bowl. Daniel asked me who I thought won the game and I told him the Patriots. He said, “Okay, you’re on!” So we watched and cheered at the past and had fun pretending it was a big deal to us. When the Giants won Daniel cheered loudly and I said, “Poor Janelle.” To which Daniel answered me, “Way to go, Christopher!” That’s my sister and brother in law cheering for different teams. Mostly I was betting on my sister. No offence, Bro. 
After our meal we set out again and made our way through Chinatown. We bought a lighter at a small store selling, “Legal Ecstasy” so we could light incense in our nasty smelling motel room. To be clear, that’s all we bought in that store. We looked around for flip flops, which they call thongs here, only to find that the cheapest ones we could locate were seventy dollars. Daniel did his best to talk me into purchasing them; I let him know that’s just too silly of a price. Back at our motel we sat outside while looking online for more places to live. After thirty minutes of trying to stave off the mosquitoes we gave up and came inside. Daniel was bit twice on his ribcage, and I smashed one on his toe. It was not pleasant because the creature was mid suck and blood covered Daniel’s entire toe. Our burger from earlier kept us away from hungry until later that evening. So went on a walk to find the grocery store for some foods since we have a small refrigerator in our motel room. The grocery store was closed, because, you know, it was 8:15p.m. Instead we went into 7-11 to purchase a loaf of bread, a small block of cheese, a large bottle of water, cereal and milk. I am not going to tell you how much it cost. On the way back we were admiring all the strip tease and adult joints along the road, questioning whether or not we want to live in this area. Daniel suggested I get a job at one of these places because I “look good enough”. We both agreed I’d make a lot of money, and we also both agreed that probably I will find some other type of work.
The internet at the motel, which we are paying for, according to Daniel, is like, “Pins and needles prickling through my skin. It’s so bad!” is a very slow connection indeed. For the next few days we will be in less contact because of this.
Today we have two appointments and as always we’re hopeful one will be our new home. Tomorrow we have three inspection appointments set up. We have taken pictures of all the places we’ve seen and I plan to put up the photos so you all can guess which one we will choose. Since you can leave comments, it just sounds like fun. Engage!
Since I cannot get on the internet I am going to continue writing. One of our appointments cancelled so we made our way downtown to QLD to look at a high rise hotel apartment. It was on the top floor next to the river complete with an outdoor pool and an indoor gym. Both of those things are important to me. If I could have an assisted pull up machine in my house, I would! The views were amazing. Walking amongst all the people and buildings I told Daniel that we’ve never actually lived downtown. In San Diego we were close, in Eugene we were close, and I think it would be a neat new experience. It could be noted that on our long walk today we spoke only French as last night on a short walk we decided that we would dedicate one day of the week to that task. It’s not really a task as much as we just have to use our brains more.
Tonight for dinner we’re having Indian food. Daniel found an advertisement in the hotel lobby and they have a deal where you buy two dishes and you get garlic naan for free. We love garlic and we love naan. So we’re cooling down in our room right now and in an hour we’ll set out again for some good food. Cheers!