Fremantle, Day 5

So, I changed rooms. I left a note for Kath: Thank you for sharing your space with me. Be well. The guys at the front put me in an 8-bed room that was entirely empty. I frolicked about for a while, deciding on which mattress was best, and did a cartwheel in my new palace. Amazing how expanding a shoebox by a power of 10 could give me such glee. It's the little things. For whatever reason I felt guilty leaving Kath and wanted her to be sure it wasn't because of the knife in the kitchen story, or the odd stare-downs she gives. Odd that anyone would put two people in a room that tiny, anyhow. I saw her this morning, and she stared me down some, and so I went over to her table to see if she'd gotten my note. She said she had, and that she appreciated having the room to herself once again, and turned up her radio. Resolved.

After one night in the palace on my own, I got two new roommates: Evelyn from Taiwan and Rachel from near Sydney. Evelyn works on a grape farm in Australia, and has a broadband wireless card on her tiny computer. Rachel has been traveling for six months. She just got to Fremantle from Egypt and is on her way to New Zealand. She is annoyed that Internet is so pricey here ("the scabs!") and likes her men with tadoos and a good beer-guzzling ability. In the courtyard I met Phil and Kath from the NW of England, traveling around Australia for four months. She was an ESOL teacher, and he, a graphic designer. Their biggest concern is whether to buy a car or not. It's all being put into perspective for me, life...seeing how busy we all get, how busy I make myself, how unavailable and occupied I "seem" to be...all of that disappears when you are traveling. It is almost uncomfortable, this feeling of "well, what should I do next?" and the answer is always "whatever you want," which for whatever reason is creating guilt today (you're saying "WHAAAT? I would give anything to be able to say that right now! Wine tasting or snorkeling??! What's wrong with you?!$*!") and a feeling of needing to be busy and maybe going to volunteer somewhere and finish up a lesson plan and go running and...and...and

It's a good lesson in knowing It Is All Good Enough. Being here right now, no matter what we are doing, or have to do, or "should" do, is more than enough, and a 1000 blessings. Be gone, Shoulds!

That brings me to needing to mention that the best thing about this trip is Claire. Claire is my bright-eyed, naturally leading, spirit-filled, beautiful, cool, strong and wise 20 year-old cousin, who is much more like a sister than a cousin. We are more alike than we really knew before this trip. I am sitting at Moore and Moore Coffee House again, adjacent to her. We are both doing work today: she has a paper to write, and I have several workshops to polish up before going to Asia. She just giggled to me: "I love days sometimes that you have so much to do that you can't think, especially if you have something fun to do later on." This from a girl who has a 10-page paper due to herself by 4. She just finished a big application to do an internship in Africa this summer, and I got to edit it for her this morning. "Did you ever procrastinate in college?" she asked. "Um, yes. I feel like I'm watching myself right now..." which led to a fantastic hour-long conversation that made me love her even more. These are the times we'll remember, not the A- or B+ , or the "perfect" handout (although those are important, too).

Although we could be anywhere having this conversation, we're not, and I am just now really wrapping my mind around the fact that I'm in Australia. Each day I realize how months are needed, years, really, to be able to experience this country. I have to stop myself from reading more about Western Australia and what I haven't seen yet, and instead make a good list of what to do next time I'm here (cause I'll be back!): Margaret River, drive down south and back again, up to Broome and the outback, Uluru. When I leave tomorrow night for Cairns it will be with excitement to see the Great Barrier Reef, Cape Tribulation, and to take a trip over the tableland.

As for today, I'll do some more writing, find a good yoga class (so far I've done yoga in LAX, on Cottesloe Beach, and on Bathers' Beach --doing downward dog looking at the Indian Ocean upside down was by far my favorite so far (and then to look up and see Claire just sitting there on the beach coincidentally with her awesome friends -- no joke! -- a pretty amazing day, yesterday), maybe go for a run, re-pack my bag, confirm my flight, and head to community dinner at Claire's dorm.

Or should I...