After our volleyball training we went to the music festival as a part of bondstock this week. It would be the only event we would be attending and the locals talked it up a lot. We got dressed quickly and headed out the door across the quad to Don's for the event. When we got there it looked a lot like the set up for our high school homecoming dances. Minus the fancy dress, awkward smiles, awkward dates, and of course the alcohol. After an immediate trip to the bar and stealing the coolest stubbie holders I have ever seen. We hit the dance floor. We got to the festival around 9, and we left around 10:30 to pre-game before heading off to East for the night.
Around 11, we all gathered in our room to leave for the buses. The Bentley guys were coming up to get us and I had to run downstairs to let them in. As I was leaving I physically almost ran into Kayleen, our house mom, aka Mummy. She looked perplexed and then peeked into our room and let herself in. I ran down the stairs as quickly as possible to get them and took my time as I made my way up the stairs with the guys again. When I got up there Mummy was gone, and Libby looked pissed (angry, not intoxicated). Apparently, we were loud and Libby was trying to talk herself out of the situation. The guys claim that Mummy was going to give us a fine on the spot but Libby argued with her to show that we need to receive a written warning first. Now we were going to have to have a meeting with Mummy and Daddy about tonight's incident. Glass bottles, that is why we were in trouble. Granted, taking a quick scan of the room, there was glass everywhere. Oh well, everyone is going to have a little stint at some point or another. Ours just came sooner rather than later.
We went to East so much as not thinking twice about it and would figure it out in the morning. Everyone had their wobbly boots on at East and loving life. We somehow acquired an ACES hat (Australian Culture Education Society) and we were now using it as a dance hat. If you received the hat, you show off your best moves in the center and then pass it on when it was time for someone else to show off their moves. Who would have thought that someone SO SIMPLE could occupy our time for SO LONG. We had to be one of the last people to leave East that night. We got back to our room and had some people over to hang out. It was close to 5 am when I started getting tired and wanted people to leave. Libby had the same idea as me and passed out on her bed with everyone there. After I ushered everyone out, I was happy to change and get ready for bed. Then Libby sat straight up, jumped out of bed and was ready to go. She wasn't tired at all, just wanted everyone out. I have not laughed that hard in awhile and often think about it now and still laugh. We checked our email before we left and saw that Mummy and Daddy requested to meet with us tomorrow to "talk." Reality came rushing back.
As I stirred to wake up I hear the most obnoxious girl screaming down the hall in front of the elevator. Around the 7th round of screaming I finally scream from my bed to shut up and respect quiet hours. Then I look at the clock. 12:11. Well, so much for quiet hours, but she was still obnoxious. We do our daily chores and workout before our meetings. Quite the busy day includes a meeting with Mummy and Daddy, a meeting with Ryan "pre-Perth departure," quickly followed by a bus and train ride away to go to the Rugby match! Gold Coast Titans vs. Sydney Roosters in the semi-finals for the NRL. If only we survive the meeting.
All day we dread it and really just want it to go away. But once 4:30 rolls around we head down to Mum and Dad's apartment. It is a really nice place for living in a dorm, and makes me a little envious of their apartment. She asks us the worst question. "So what occurred last night", followed by, "and why are you guys in trouble?" blah blah blah blah. Long story short, no glass bottles! It was a giant misunderstanding followed by rash rudeness on Mum's part, from our side at least. We thought it was only beer stubbies not allowed, apparently it is mixed stubbies as well. But the weird part is, is that you can have bottles of wine or hard alcohol, just no stubbies... It is by far the dumbest rule ever created. They explained why the rules were there and how to fix it. Dad, of course, is way nicer than Mum and makes me wonder what in God's name he ever saw in her... But they let us off with a verbal warning. Actually they let us off with the LAST verbal warning ever given in the AC. From now on, it is an immediate $200 fine on the spot, and if it happens again it is a $500 fine and a meeting with the vice-pro-chancellor-provost-really-high-up-there-guy and you are pretty much kicked off living on campus. Not good. So from now on it's bags of goon and bottle of wine for room 4-36 and will stay that way all semester.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA JOE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FATHER! I LOVE YOU AND WISH I COULD SPEND YOUR BIRTHDAY WITH YOU! eat lots of carbonara and cake and make sure mom makes you breakfast in bed!!
love you and miss you!
love you and miss you!
Week 2. I am over school.
For starters, it is only week two in school and I am ready for this whole classes thing to be over. Luckily, We will leave for Perth after this week and I won't have classes until week 4. Waking up is getting harder and harder every day, and those 8 am are taking a toll on me.
Monday was a disaster and a half. We were running around going from one class to class and my to-do list out the door. I was running from the library to the cafe for lunch and off to the post to send my dad's birthday present. I did a LOT of research finding the best Cabernet Sauvignon and dark reds in Australia. A total of 5 different types of wine so that we can rate them and know once and for all which wine is the best in Australia. After a large sum out of my bank account (my actual bank account not my credit card) I brought the bottles of wine to the Post to send home. Do you know what the Post told me? Since 9/11, you are not allowed to ship wine to the United States unless it is through a certified winery and a case is being shipped back. Thank you Osama Bin Laden, you ruined something else for me. Now not only do I have to be thirsty during flights because of the lack of liquids, you just ruined my father's 60th birthday. Score- Bin Laden= 2, Marisa=0. Luckily, we can drink in his honor and take pictures of the label. OR wait until he arrives in the Gold Coast and drink it with him. It is a toss up at this point. For those at home that can find these labels. PLEASE TRY THEM AND LET ME KNOW HOW THEY ARE
1 PepperJack 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Saltram of Barossa)
2. Penfolds 2009 Thomas Hyland Cabernet Sauvignon (Southern Australia)
3. Rolling 2007 Cabernet Merlot (Central Ranges, Australia)
4. Wynns 2008 53rd Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonwarra)
5. Wirra Wirra 2008 Church Block Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot (Mclaren Vale)
On Tuesday, I did not pay attention at all in psych. In fact, my marks (aka grades) might take a toll because of that one. Instead, I found flights to every place we want to visit for cheap prices. In fact, I think it probably more productive than learning (re-learning) about the scientific method and what is considered normal. However that night we planned all of our trips for the semester. I am so excited to start traveling more and seeing all of Australia. My biggest fear is that we aren't going to have enough time and I am not going to see everything. Our attentive schedule looks like this
Week2/3- September 26th- October 3rd- Perth with Australian Games
Week 4- October 5th- October 9th- Surfer's Paradise (Kevin comes into town!)
Week 6- October 21st- October 24th- Whitsunday (Girl's trip!)
Week 7- October 28th- October 31st- Sydney (Halloween!)
Week 8- November 4th- November 7th- Byron Bay
Week 9- November 11th- November 14th- Cairns (Libby and Adam's 21st!)
Week 10- November 18th- November 21st- Melbourne
Week 11- November 25th- November 28th- Brisbane (Thanksgiving!!)
Week 12/13- December 2nd- December 6th- New Zealand
Week 13- December 6th- December 10th- Fiji/Tahiti
AH I CANNOT WAIT TO START TRAVELING :))
Now that school is out of the way for the week I can focus on the fun. I also do not need to think about school work until October 4th when I come back from Perth. Life cannot get better than this. If I haven't said it enough, this place is paradise that just happens to have classes on campus.
Monday was a disaster and a half. We were running around going from one class to class and my to-do list out the door. I was running from the library to the cafe for lunch and off to the post to send my dad's birthday present. I did a LOT of research finding the best Cabernet Sauvignon and dark reds in Australia. A total of 5 different types of wine so that we can rate them and know once and for all which wine is the best in Australia. After a large sum out of my bank account (my actual bank account not my credit card) I brought the bottles of wine to the Post to send home. Do you know what the Post told me? Since 9/11, you are not allowed to ship wine to the United States unless it is through a certified winery and a case is being shipped back. Thank you Osama Bin Laden, you ruined something else for me. Now not only do I have to be thirsty during flights because of the lack of liquids, you just ruined my father's 60th birthday. Score- Bin Laden= 2, Marisa=0. Luckily, we can drink in his honor and take pictures of the label. OR wait until he arrives in the Gold Coast and drink it with him. It is a toss up at this point. For those at home that can find these labels. PLEASE TRY THEM AND LET ME KNOW HOW THEY ARE
1 PepperJack 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Saltram of Barossa)
2. Penfolds 2009 Thomas Hyland Cabernet Sauvignon (Southern Australia)
3. Rolling 2007 Cabernet Merlot (Central Ranges, Australia)
4. Wynns 2008 53rd Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonwarra)
5. Wirra Wirra 2008 Church Block Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot (Mclaren Vale)
On Tuesday, I did not pay attention at all in psych. In fact, my marks (aka grades) might take a toll because of that one. Instead, I found flights to every place we want to visit for cheap prices. In fact, I think it probably more productive than learning (re-learning) about the scientific method and what is considered normal. However that night we planned all of our trips for the semester. I am so excited to start traveling more and seeing all of Australia. My biggest fear is that we aren't going to have enough time and I am not going to see everything. Our attentive schedule looks like this
Week2/3- September 26th- October 3rd- Perth with Australian Games
Week 4- October 5th- October 9th- Surfer's Paradise (Kevin comes into town!)
Week 6- October 21st- October 24th- Whitsunday (Girl's trip!)
Week 7- October 28th- October 31st- Sydney (Halloween!)
Week 8- November 4th- November 7th- Byron Bay
Week 9- November 11th- November 14th- Cairns (Libby and Adam's 21st!)
Week 10- November 18th- November 21st- Melbourne
Week 11- November 25th- November 28th- Brisbane (Thanksgiving!!)
Week 12/13- December 2nd- December 6th- New Zealand
Week 13- December 6th- December 10th- Fiji/Tahiti
AH I CANNOT WAIT TO START TRAVELING :))
Now that school is out of the way for the week I can focus on the fun. I also do not need to think about school work until October 4th when I come back from Perth. Life cannot get better than this. If I haven't said it enough, this place is paradise that just happens to have classes on campus.
Crib Clubbers should have prepared me more...
For those who were unaware, Libby decided to join us up for the Australian University Games in the Mixed 4's Beach Volleyball league. The Australian University Games is equivalent to the Olympic games of all the Uni's. It is a huge deal in Australia and there are only 3 Americans going from Bond for sure, and possibly in the whole tournament. Considering I only playing intermurals last year with the Crib Clubbers, my technique and skills were limited to being hungover and not very good. We would start training twice a week immediately and hopefully improve by the time Perth came along.
The first training session we had went well. My self esteem was up and I figured if I can play with these people I should be fine to play in the games. They also told us that we were D2 so we were not going to be playing the hardest people in the league, but they weren't going to be easy wins. It turned out, the people we played with at first were schoolies (in high school) and that our competition was going to be harder than them. That is when we noticed the girls playing on the other court. They were beast. No tanks. Made for destruction on the court and we were going to be their first victims. I could smell the blood in the air already. We hesitantly questioned our trainer, Robert (who's real name is Glenn by the way... isn't that unusual?), and he calmed our fears immediately. They were on the national tour team but went to Bond. One just got recruited to play in Sweden and the other as a coach in Europe. Thank god. We would never see them in a match and I rejoiced inside.
So when we played beach volleyball on the beach the next day, my self-esteem was high enough to play with all the guys. I should have stayed laying out. I swear I got worse as I played more. It was not a good sign for me.
The next day in training we met our teammates. Benji is from Western Australia and is on our Mixed 4's team with us. He is good and will probably hold his end up and most of mine during these tournaments. We also met Felipe, a guy from Chile who lives in Broadbeach. Felipe is really good but is playing in pairs with Aaron who he claims is "fat around the middle and we are trying to get him to lose it." His words, not mine. There are also some people from Germany who are playing with us, but we cannot figure out if they are coming to Perth, or just want to train in hopes of joining the team next year. It is still to be determined. Robert fixed our form, got us out of the mindset of indoor volleyball and said we were continuing to improve.
We have training twice a week an are getting better every time. Sometimes training is really serious with drills and patterns, and other days there is just enough people to play a game and we have matches instead of training. That is when Robert told us to go to indoors tonight. We figured, eh, we are already sandy, already sweaty, why not? I will NEVER again go to an indoor volleyball session. The ball is a lot harder than I remember, the spikes are that much more intense, and I fear i will break my nose like Ben Stiller does to that poor girl in "Meet the Parents." We played with girls on Griffin University indoor volleyball team. They were trying to set up who would be setter and who would be hitter and so forth. Like I had any idea what that meant. Don't we all do every position at some point based on rotations? This was so different than what I was use to. When we finished our matches, Libby and I made up the first excuse in our heads and high tailed it out of there. My arms were purple the rest of the night from the intensity. I learned very quickly I should stick to beach volleyball, plus I can get a tan that way :).
Practice yesterday was hilarious. It was Libby, Robert, Ben who is in high school, and I. We played pairs the entire time and were taking nothing serious. I kicked every other ball and were throwing them all over the place instead. We make a great team let me tell you. I had a flashback to senior year of high school when obnoxious noises and obscenities were cool. I would make the most random noises out of nowhere when I had to run to the other side of the court. I was the butt of every joke that day.
Needless to say, I am loving playing volleyball. I am meeting so many people I would never have met. I cannot wait for Perth this weekend. It is going be PERTHection
The first training session we had went well. My self esteem was up and I figured if I can play with these people I should be fine to play in the games. They also told us that we were D2 so we were not going to be playing the hardest people in the league, but they weren't going to be easy wins. It turned out, the people we played with at first were schoolies (in high school) and that our competition was going to be harder than them. That is when we noticed the girls playing on the other court. They were beast. No tanks. Made for destruction on the court and we were going to be their first victims. I could smell the blood in the air already. We hesitantly questioned our trainer, Robert (who's real name is Glenn by the way... isn't that unusual?), and he calmed our fears immediately. They were on the national tour team but went to Bond. One just got recruited to play in Sweden and the other as a coach in Europe. Thank god. We would never see them in a match and I rejoiced inside.
So when we played beach volleyball on the beach the next day, my self-esteem was high enough to play with all the guys. I should have stayed laying out. I swear I got worse as I played more. It was not a good sign for me.
The next day in training we met our teammates. Benji is from Western Australia and is on our Mixed 4's team with us. He is good and will probably hold his end up and most of mine during these tournaments. We also met Felipe, a guy from Chile who lives in Broadbeach. Felipe is really good but is playing in pairs with Aaron who he claims is "fat around the middle and we are trying to get him to lose it." His words, not mine. There are also some people from Germany who are playing with us, but we cannot figure out if they are coming to Perth, or just want to train in hopes of joining the team next year. It is still to be determined. Robert fixed our form, got us out of the mindset of indoor volleyball and said we were continuing to improve.
We have training twice a week an are getting better every time. Sometimes training is really serious with drills and patterns, and other days there is just enough people to play a game and we have matches instead of training. That is when Robert told us to go to indoors tonight. We figured, eh, we are already sandy, already sweaty, why not? I will NEVER again go to an indoor volleyball session. The ball is a lot harder than I remember, the spikes are that much more intense, and I fear i will break my nose like Ben Stiller does to that poor girl in "Meet the Parents." We played with girls on Griffin University indoor volleyball team. They were trying to set up who would be setter and who would be hitter and so forth. Like I had any idea what that meant. Don't we all do every position at some point based on rotations? This was so different than what I was use to. When we finished our matches, Libby and I made up the first excuse in our heads and high tailed it out of there. My arms were purple the rest of the night from the intensity. I learned very quickly I should stick to beach volleyball, plus I can get a tan that way :).
Practice yesterday was hilarious. It was Libby, Robert, Ben who is in high school, and I. We played pairs the entire time and were taking nothing serious. I kicked every other ball and were throwing them all over the place instead. We make a great team let me tell you. I had a flashback to senior year of high school when obnoxious noises and obscenities were cool. I would make the most random noises out of nowhere when I had to run to the other side of the court. I was the butt of every joke that day.
Needless to say, I am loving playing volleyball. I am meeting so many people I would never have met. I cannot wait for Perth this weekend. It is going be PERTHection
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What to do on a rainy day?
We woke up after pub crawl to look outside and see it was a not so nice day. We attempted to go to Broadbeach to have some fun and take some photographs for class. It was so windy and cold (aka in the 60's) I wore a sweater on the beach as I read and lounged around.
The following day we planned to go the Wildlife Conservation. We were so excited to hold koalas and pet kangaroos. It was a great disappointment to see it was down pouring outside and it looked like we would not be able to go see some animals. We decided to head to Surfer's Paradise in the daytime and without alcoholic beverages accompanying us. We jumped on the bus and headed somewhere new.
Surfer's Paradise is a lot like Miami, Florida. There are high end shops, boutique, touristy thing, and outdoor cafes. It was so much fun to walk around and shop and have it be okay to look like the tourist we are. Then we find a winery which was the greatest find all day. $6 box of wine and $2.99 bottles of wine. The cheapest wine we have found since arriving and we immediately grab a box and a few bottles as the girls decide they want to go back and into the hot tub. The guys decided to stay and bowl, which is an activity is perfect for my mood.
I buy some snakes (who can bowl without candy?!) and some cruisers, while the guys pick up a case as we bowl. The bowling alley was all in black light and cosmic, and music videos were playing on the big screen. It was kind of like a club, but bowling instead of dancing, and family members instead of drunken idiots. The first game, only one of us broke 100 (way to go Adam), and some of barely broke 50 (keep practicing Stephen). The second game we decide to make team and place a bet on the table. It was Fink, Adam, and I vs. Jeff, Jon, and Stephen. The goal was Fink stay with Stephen, I stay with Jeff, and Adam stays with Jon. Needless to say, we got our ass kicked. And we now owe them a case. Great Job team, I mean we all fell short of our marks. But overall it was great fun and something I hope we do again soon.
The bus ride back it started down pouring again. Right as I got off the bus, my bag ripped open and I dropped my $2.99 bottle of wine. I was actually quite upset because I was intrigued on the taste and quality. It was all you can eat sushi that night, but the horrific downpour kept us from attending. So after a fun rainy afternoon activity, we took it easy on Sunday night and prepared for week 2 classes and what was to come.
The following day we planned to go the Wildlife Conservation. We were so excited to hold koalas and pet kangaroos. It was a great disappointment to see it was down pouring outside and it looked like we would not be able to go see some animals. We decided to head to Surfer's Paradise in the daytime and without alcoholic beverages accompanying us. We jumped on the bus and headed somewhere new.
Surfer's Paradise is a lot like Miami, Florida. There are high end shops, boutique, touristy thing, and outdoor cafes. It was so much fun to walk around and shop and have it be okay to look like the tourist we are. Then we find a winery which was the greatest find all day. $6 box of wine and $2.99 bottles of wine. The cheapest wine we have found since arriving and we immediately grab a box and a few bottles as the girls decide they want to go back and into the hot tub. The guys decided to stay and bowl, which is an activity is perfect for my mood.
I buy some snakes (who can bowl without candy?!) and some cruisers, while the guys pick up a case as we bowl. The bowling alley was all in black light and cosmic, and music videos were playing on the big screen. It was kind of like a club, but bowling instead of dancing, and family members instead of drunken idiots. The first game, only one of us broke 100 (way to go Adam), and some of barely broke 50 (keep practicing Stephen). The second game we decide to make team and place a bet on the table. It was Fink, Adam, and I vs. Jeff, Jon, and Stephen. The goal was Fink stay with Stephen, I stay with Jeff, and Adam stays with Jon. Needless to say, we got our ass kicked. And we now owe them a case. Great Job team, I mean we all fell short of our marks. But overall it was great fun and something I hope we do again soon.
The bus ride back it started down pouring again. Right as I got off the bus, my bag ripped open and I dropped my $2.99 bottle of wine. I was actually quite upset because I was intrigued on the taste and quality. It was all you can eat sushi that night, but the horrific downpour kept us from attending. So after a fun rainy afternoon activity, we took it easy on Sunday night and prepared for week 2 classes and what was to come.
"Bond Behind Bars" aka the longest day of my life.
I have heard nothing about good things about Pub Crawl. From the random waitress in South Beach that told me to go, to local Aussies, even the high schoolies that we train for volleyball with all recommend us to go. The second later Pub Crawl sold out within a few hours and by the time we bought our tickets we got on the 2:30 pm pub crawl. The best part about Pub Crawl is that it is sponsored by BUSA which is the equivalent of SGA at SLU. It is the student government and a huge fundraiser for the school. It was going to be 5 bars, tons of people, lots of drinks, drunken idiots, and hopefully no bodily fluids that didn't reach a toilet on anyone's part.
We grabbed lunch at Bond Cafe before the crawl so that we had some substance in our stomach before a long day of drinking ahead. We jumped on the 2nd bus in front of Don's and headed to the first bar Robina Tavern. When we arrive we notice that there are kids playing in the playground outside. This is not normal. So we hurry inside to hide our shame of day-drinking. We were welcomed into the door with a shot of mixed drinks in hopes of us buying the drink at the bar. We walk to the bar and ask for the specials. The bars are super smart and only allow people to buy pre mixed drinks that do not have a very high alcohol content. Libby and I make a rule that I insist on following for the sake of my reputation and my liver. Absolutely no more than 2 bars per bar and a water bottle at each. So I start out the day with a white wine spritzer called West Coast, a surprising choice on my part that will soon become a go to drink of choice. The guys find the greatest thing ever in their minds. MAN-weisers. For a very low cost of $5.50 a stubbie. That is actually one of the cheapest beers/drinks in the bar and to everyone's embarrassment they stand in a single line saying the pledge of allegiance, happy to not only have an American beer (which it isn't anymore mind you) but a St. Louis beer as well. That is when I spot him. PAULY-D from Jersey Shore. ok ok don't get your panties in a bunch it wasn't the real Pauly-D, but it looked IDENTICAL to him. I knew we would be fast friends, when he falls off his chair. I restate that to, IF he makes it far in the crawl, we will become fast friends. That when the prison-guards blow their whistles and we are bused off to the next bar.
We next head to the ever popular CBD as our second stop on pub crawl. I FINALLY get to meet Pauly-D, who to my disappointment, is actually named Shaun, but I refuse to call him anything but Pauly-D all night. He and his friend Wes start talking to us and buy us the next round. They order a round of shots and I say a silent thank-you that the bar won't serve them. It is only 4 and I should not be taking shots. So I stick to my drink of choice and stay with it all night. We here a bunch of commotion coming from the corner of the bar, and just shake our heads when we see all of our friends from SLU playing Zumie Zumie and flip-cup in the the corner of the bar. We have to go join for a least one round. After a few rounds of Zumie Zumie, Libby and I take a lap to meet new people. We find some girls on our floor and chat for a little when Pauly-D comes up to me again. He wants to dance of course. He being a drunken stumbling idiot, and myself laughing at his stupidity. My response? Sorry, I do not know how to dance I was never taught. Granted, for those who do not know me, is quite possibly the largest lie I could ever tell and just a down-right insult. He claims he will teach me, and I again respond, sorry I've tried and it's an impossible task sorry! And silently think to myself this better not be a persistent thing. I excuse myself to go "smoke," even though I refuse to smoke and hate the smell of cigarettes. Luckily the prison guards blow their whistles shortly after as we leave CBD for the next bar. On the way out they hand out stubbie coolers (coozies, so I grab 3 naturally) and a bottle of water and I run onto the buses.
It feels unnatural to arrive at East when the sun hasn't even set yet. But the familiar bar feels right as the music is pumping. Pauly D continues to try and dance with me, and it gets to the point where I see him on one side of the bar and I RUN to the other side in order to avoid him at all cost. The best part of East was when i saw him being escorted out of East for being entirely too intoxicated. My heart fluttered with excitement as I skipped back to my friends and joined in on the festivities. That is when the great thing in the world happened. The Asian foreign exchange students were taking an obscene amount of pictures together. I knew I had to get into this picture and befriend them all. Yes. I know NONE of the people that are in this picture and yes I am newly found friends with every single one of them. I am only disappointed that the crazy American jumped in our picture. (no not me, the only other one). And as the whistles ring, we jump on the bus to the next bar.
The bus ride to Mermaid Beach Bar and Grill was by far the funniest thing ever. We were screaming chants with all of the South American kids. Classic soccer (or futbol I should say.) chants like OLE OLE OLE OLE and then we started the SLU chants. The SLU fight song is rung throughout our bus as we lead everyone is singing the song that get the half full chafeitz arena every basketball game. Then Jeff leads high school football chants that gets everyone together. I didn't even realize when we arrived at the bar for our next stop. As we were waiting to get into the bar I felt a sudden immediate pain on the 4th toe of my right foot. I look down to see a cigarette, face down, on my toe. My precious 4th toe that is the main victim of anything that happens with my feet. I scream at the top of my lungs at the male who dropped it and demand that he buy me a drink to compensate for my pain. It didn't work. He said sorry and ran away. oops! Mermaid was an interesting bar. The upstairs was full of bondies, but the downstairs is a much older male crowd. And the waitress/shot girls were in just racy lacy underwear. As a female, I was uncomfortable. As someone under the age of 35, I was uncomfortable. As a person that doesn't like to be objectified, I was really uncomfortable. We learned quickly to stay upstairs. We were playing games and having fun and I didn't even notice Shauna grabbed my arm. Apparently some people wanted to meet us. That is where I met these guys who shall remain nameless, that turned out to be stage 6 clingers. I am still dealing with that in hopes to break free of the cycle. I was all okay with heading out to the next bar.
Shooters. The Final Bar. They dropped us off in the middle of Surfer's Paradise, and we had to find our way to the bar. After running through the shopping areas and just trying to stay with the people who were dressed like us, we finally found our way. Shooters was a sweet bar and very efficient to be on their VIP list. There was dancing and craziness and around 11/1130 we all got very tired and tried to find the bus back. The bus was in the most bizarre location and it took around 10 minutes to find it's location. Once we did, the bus driver was not present. So Libby and I got behind the driver seat and honked the horn pretending to drive it. After we finally got his attention, we drove back to Bond in a hopes of getting a great night sleep.
It was finally time to rest my liver, body, and most of all my wallet.
We grabbed lunch at Bond Cafe before the crawl so that we had some substance in our stomach before a long day of drinking ahead. We jumped on the 2nd bus in front of Don's and headed to the first bar Robina Tavern. When we arrive we notice that there are kids playing in the playground outside. This is not normal. So we hurry inside to hide our shame of day-drinking. We were welcomed into the door with a shot of mixed drinks in hopes of us buying the drink at the bar. We walk to the bar and ask for the specials. The bars are super smart and only allow people to buy pre mixed drinks that do not have a very high alcohol content. Libby and I make a rule that I insist on following for the sake of my reputation and my liver. Absolutely no more than 2 bars per bar and a water bottle at each. So I start out the day with a white wine spritzer called West Coast, a surprising choice on my part that will soon become a go to drink of choice. The guys find the greatest thing ever in their minds. MAN-weisers. For a very low cost of $5.50 a stubbie. That is actually one of the cheapest beers/drinks in the bar and to everyone's embarrassment they stand in a single line saying the pledge of allegiance, happy to not only have an American beer (which it isn't anymore mind you) but a St. Louis beer as well. That is when I spot him. PAULY-D from Jersey Shore. ok ok don't get your panties in a bunch it wasn't the real Pauly-D, but it looked IDENTICAL to him. I knew we would be fast friends, when he falls off his chair. I restate that to, IF he makes it far in the crawl, we will become fast friends. That when the prison-guards blow their whistles and we are bused off to the next bar.
We next head to the ever popular CBD as our second stop on pub crawl. I FINALLY get to meet Pauly-D, who to my disappointment, is actually named Shaun, but I refuse to call him anything but Pauly-D all night. He and his friend Wes start talking to us and buy us the next round. They order a round of shots and I say a silent thank-you that the bar won't serve them. It is only 4 and I should not be taking shots. So I stick to my drink of choice and stay with it all night. We here a bunch of commotion coming from the corner of the bar, and just shake our heads when we see all of our friends from SLU playing Zumie Zumie and flip-cup in the the corner of the bar. We have to go join for a least one round. After a few rounds of Zumie Zumie, Libby and I take a lap to meet new people. We find some girls on our floor and chat for a little when Pauly-D comes up to me again. He wants to dance of course. He being a drunken stumbling idiot, and myself laughing at his stupidity. My response? Sorry, I do not know how to dance I was never taught. Granted, for those who do not know me, is quite possibly the largest lie I could ever tell and just a down-right insult. He claims he will teach me, and I again respond, sorry I've tried and it's an impossible task sorry! And silently think to myself this better not be a persistent thing. I excuse myself to go "smoke," even though I refuse to smoke and hate the smell of cigarettes. Luckily the prison guards blow their whistles shortly after as we leave CBD for the next bar. On the way out they hand out stubbie coolers (coozies, so I grab 3 naturally) and a bottle of water and I run onto the buses.
The bus ride to Mermaid Beach Bar and Grill was by far the funniest thing ever. We were screaming chants with all of the South American kids. Classic soccer (or futbol I should say.) chants like OLE OLE OLE OLE and then we started the SLU chants. The SLU fight song is rung throughout our bus as we lead everyone is singing the song that get the half full chafeitz arena every basketball game. Then Jeff leads high school football chants that gets everyone together. I didn't even realize when we arrived at the bar for our next stop. As we were waiting to get into the bar I felt a sudden immediate pain on the 4th toe of my right foot. I look down to see a cigarette, face down, on my toe. My precious 4th toe that is the main victim of anything that happens with my feet. I scream at the top of my lungs at the male who dropped it and demand that he buy me a drink to compensate for my pain. It didn't work. He said sorry and ran away. oops! Mermaid was an interesting bar. The upstairs was full of bondies, but the downstairs is a much older male crowd. And the waitress/shot girls were in just racy lacy underwear. As a female, I was uncomfortable. As someone under the age of 35, I was uncomfortable. As a person that doesn't like to be objectified, I was really uncomfortable. We learned quickly to stay upstairs. We were playing games and having fun and I didn't even notice Shauna grabbed my arm. Apparently some people wanted to meet us. That is where I met these guys who shall remain nameless, that turned out to be stage 6 clingers. I am still dealing with that in hopes to break free of the cycle. I was all okay with heading out to the next bar.
Shooters. The Final Bar. They dropped us off in the middle of Surfer's Paradise, and we had to find our way to the bar. After running through the shopping areas and just trying to stay with the people who were dressed like us, we finally found our way. Shooters was a sweet bar and very efficient to be on their VIP list. There was dancing and craziness and around 11/1130 we all got very tired and tried to find the bus back. The bus was in the most bizarre location and it took around 10 minutes to find it's location. Once we did, the bus driver was not present. So Libby and I got behind the driver seat and honked the horn pretending to drive it. After we finally got his attention, we drove back to Bond in a hopes of getting a great night sleep.
It was finally time to rest my liver, body, and most of all my wallet.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The parties NEVER stop.
Day: Tuesday
Time: After volleyball
Things to do: Apparently go out.
We bought tickets to "Illegally Bond." A party for the law school students to raise money and fundraise. I could think of no better way to raise money than throw a huge party and sell tickets to kids on campus. All I know is that this would never happen on SLU campus. It is almost taboo to drink (from the viewpoint of the Law School or SGA) let alone have these organizations selling tickets to their parties. Then again that is probably why America has huge underage drinking problem. The more taboo it is, the more kids want to feel included and participate. Anyways... off my soap and back to the party.
The buses were suppose to leave around quarter to 8 for the law party, and of course none of us were ready. The guy were not back from class yet, and I hadn't even jumped in the shower yet. Around 8:15 we decided we didn't want to go and sold all of our tickets to people who were dying to go and be apart of this "illegal" fun. I think it took us all of 5 minutes to sell at least 5 tickets, and we even got all of our money back so it was beneficial for us too! So we stayed in the dorms playing games until it was a more appropriate time to go to CBD's. We even met some new friends tonight! Mallory and Mackenzie heard us playing games and came to join us. And while playing Zumie Zumie, our new friend name Greek heard us playing down the hall and came running to join. Apparently she love this game and was so excited that others knew how to play, she threw away the insecurities of a room with absolutely no one she knew, and joined us immediately. We left for CBD with some pit stops for pictures in front of the fountain that turned out all of us mid-laugh, and quite humorous.
CBD was really fun that night. We got a few tables and were talking and laughing all night long. That is when I noticed it. Stephen walking around outside, by himself, aimlessly, looking way more confused than he should have. I notice this from the table and run outside immediately in my brand new black strappy heels that were not meant for running. He had been asked to leave CBD (well not allowed in would be a better description) and was trying to go home. I open the back door and told him I would meet him inside anyways. Around 20 minutes later, I see the security guard talking to Stephen and he was being escorted out of the door. "Time to go home early I guess," is my first thought. I accompany Stephen back to the AC and start getting ready for bed myself. Then Libby calls me saying come back and it is really fun and I will be missing out if I go to bed now. Knowing very well that I hate to miss out, I make a quick phone call to Kevin to walk me back to the bar since it is around 300 meters away from campus.
When it CBD was closing, we all started to walk back. Kiley grabbed my hand and was like let's take this taxi back Marisa! Thinking to myself, 1. I am lazy. 2. I do not have to pay. 3. Quicker to campus. All signs point to yes of a taxi (even if it was only 300 meters) and I told the others I would meet them at campus and quite literally jumped into the taxi. As I am getting to know my cab-mates, I see the beautiful Bond Uni whiz by me in the taxi. Now really confused where we are going I finally ask my new friends. "Surfer's Paradise Naturally." Oh naturally, was my first thought too. So off to Melba's with Kiley and our new cab-mates, Brennan and shaggy-dog boy.
Melba's was surprisingly fun, even though I didn't want to be there. There were a ton of Bondies there, so it felt like I was there with a ton of people, even though I only went with Kiley. After taking a few laps and meeting some people I feel like I have seen 123093742458x but never met, I was so ready to go home and go to bed. I still had class at nine am, and the time was slowly reaching 2 am. After trying to find Kiley and others, we finally grabbed a taxi back and I finally was able to rest my eyes and get some shut-eye before my nine am.
Thursday night after an intense volleyball day, Libby and I run and get our Don wristbands before the long line so we do not need to wait in line when 10 o'clock rolled around. We get ready to go and the guys get very antsy waiting impatiently for us. We head to Don's where there are too many people as usual as we try and snag a table. There is a man that has to be AT LEAST 45. We quickly name him the professor and as strolls over to talk to us. He claims to be 28 and has to be the most awkward person I have ever met. Pulling the dancing by himself, trying to talk, and look cool all at once moment, I feel uncomfortable in his presence. Slowly we excuse ourselves and head outside to the guys.
While outside we spot from a distance Allie's friend, crazy Aussie from East. He is the one that tried to get his driver to drive us home instead of waiting for the bus like everyone else. Allie is mortified he is there as we all die with laughter as he strolls up to her to try and talk again. It was hilarious to watch and even better that we were snapping pictures as all of this was occurring.
On the other side of things the guys decided to make up their own frat, Beta Rho Omega Sigma, BROS as they call themselves with the symbol of hang loose. I didn't want to be the one to tell them a Rho is actually a P and their symbol looks like BPΩΣ. I mean I am not one to judge. It was all in good fun. After Don's a lot of people went to East, but being so exhausted from the intense school week I had, I had to go to bed early and finally get a good night sleep. After all, Pub Crawl was tomorrow and going to a disaster of a day starting well before 2:30 pm.
Time: After volleyball
Things to do: Apparently go out.
We bought tickets to "Illegally Bond." A party for the law school students to raise money and fundraise. I could think of no better way to raise money than throw a huge party and sell tickets to kids on campus. All I know is that this would never happen on SLU campus. It is almost taboo to drink (from the viewpoint of the Law School or SGA) let alone have these organizations selling tickets to their parties. Then again that is probably why America has huge underage drinking problem. The more taboo it is, the more kids want to feel included and participate. Anyways... off my soap and back to the party.
CBD was really fun that night. We got a few tables and were talking and laughing all night long. That is when I noticed it. Stephen walking around outside, by himself, aimlessly, looking way more confused than he should have. I notice this from the table and run outside immediately in my brand new black strappy heels that were not meant for running. He had been asked to leave CBD (well not allowed in would be a better description) and was trying to go home. I open the back door and told him I would meet him inside anyways. Around 20 minutes later, I see the security guard talking to Stephen and he was being escorted out of the door. "Time to go home early I guess," is my first thought. I accompany Stephen back to the AC and start getting ready for bed myself. Then Libby calls me saying come back and it is really fun and I will be missing out if I go to bed now. Knowing very well that I hate to miss out, I make a quick phone call to Kevin to walk me back to the bar since it is around 300 meters away from campus.
When it CBD was closing, we all started to walk back. Kiley grabbed my hand and was like let's take this taxi back Marisa! Thinking to myself, 1. I am lazy. 2. I do not have to pay. 3. Quicker to campus. All signs point to yes of a taxi (even if it was only 300 meters) and I told the others I would meet them at campus and quite literally jumped into the taxi. As I am getting to know my cab-mates, I see the beautiful Bond Uni whiz by me in the taxi. Now really confused where we are going I finally ask my new friends. "Surfer's Paradise Naturally." Oh naturally, was my first thought too. So off to Melba's with Kiley and our new cab-mates, Brennan and shaggy-dog boy.
Melba's was surprisingly fun, even though I didn't want to be there. There were a ton of Bondies there, so it felt like I was there with a ton of people, even though I only went with Kiley. After taking a few laps and meeting some people I feel like I have seen 123093742458x but never met, I was so ready to go home and go to bed. I still had class at nine am, and the time was slowly reaching 2 am. After trying to find Kiley and others, we finally grabbed a taxi back and I finally was able to rest my eyes and get some shut-eye before my nine am.
Thursday night after an intense volleyball day, Libby and I run and get our Don wristbands before the long line so we do not need to wait in line when 10 o'clock rolled around. We get ready to go and the guys get very antsy waiting impatiently for us. We head to Don's where there are too many people as usual as we try and snag a table. There is a man that has to be AT LEAST 45. We quickly name him the professor and as strolls over to talk to us. He claims to be 28 and has to be the most awkward person I have ever met. Pulling the dancing by himself, trying to talk, and look cool all at once moment, I feel uncomfortable in his presence. Slowly we excuse ourselves and head outside to the guys.
While outside we spot from a distance Allie's friend, crazy Aussie from East. He is the one that tried to get his driver to drive us home instead of waiting for the bus like everyone else. Allie is mortified he is there as we all die with laughter as he strolls up to her to try and talk again. It was hilarious to watch and even better that we were snapping pictures as all of this was occurring.
On the other side of things the guys decided to make up their own frat, Beta Rho Omega Sigma, BROS as they call themselves with the symbol of hang loose. I didn't want to be the one to tell them a Rho is actually a P and their symbol looks like BPΩΣ. I mean I am not one to judge. It was all in good fun. After Don's a lot of people went to East, but being so exhausted from the intense school week I had, I had to go to bed early and finally get a good night sleep. After all, Pub Crawl was tomorrow and going to a disaster of a day starting well before 2:30 pm.
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