Top Bunk Again

So I am in Melbourne. The hostel is getting to me. Is it just me, or is it required that German is always spoken in volumes about 3 times louder than normal conversation volume? And how come the thinnest girl in the hostel stomps the loudest? And the boys pick stupid movies to watch. And I come back to the door standing wide open because the girls leave it open when they leave the room. I have to be at the mercy of the 11 other people in the dorm with me, but not any random person who is able to shuffle in off the street and want to help themselves to my clothing (everything else is locked up in a locker). I don't know, maybe I am aging out of hostel life. But I can tell you my bank account isn't.

Anyway, I got here last night. Sarah, who is engaged now by the way (she will gladly share the story if you missed it trending on twitter Wednesday night; she has plenty of pictures and video of the event), drove the 10ish hours it took to get us here. We were supposed to leave by 6am, but due to the late night proposal and following congratulative activities, we didn't get out until nearly 7am. We still made it to Melbourne by around 5:30 (and I forgot about the 30 minute time change until this morning). Anyway, We had made a couple stops along the way, including one at the Big Koala, before arriving. I bid her goodbye until Monday, checked in, and with no surprise, claimed for myself the only bunk open in the 12 dorm room- a top bunk. Yippe HooraY! I threw my stuff down, locking up stuff like laptops and money and passports, and booked it to the nearest grocery store. I bought some lunch meat and cheese from the deli, a couple of rolls, some fruit, and breakfast stuff to cover breakfast and lunches over the weekend. I noticed a cheap stir fry place on the way home and got dinner takeaway. I only ate half of it, so it ended up being dinner for 2 nights (score). I was so tired. Like shaking, maybe a litle dehydrated too, tired. I stayed up until around 9 (probably really 9:30 since I didn't take into account the time change) and then climbed into my top bunk. I read for about an hour, then stuck my earplugs in my ears, rolled over, and fell asleep with the light on.

I didn't hear anyone all night, and awoke around 7:45am (which I guess was really 8:15am) and no one was up yet, besides the 3 people who must have checked out early since their beds were empty and stripped (who I also didn't hear). I grabbed my already set-out-the-night-before clothes (I am so dang considerate!) and walked down the hall to the bathrooms. Ok, the bathrooms here. It makes up for being on the 3rd floor (which gets annoying when you keep forgeting things you meant to get). The bathrooms are self contained singles. I mean, you close the door and you have a toilet, sink, shower, and mirror, like a home bathroom, all to yourself. There are 3 of these on our floor. There are also a couple regular shared bathroom/showers down the hall, but Miss rise with the Sun is going to make sure I get up before 9 so I can grab the good stuff, haha. Anyway, I finish getting ready, grab my pre-packed bags from the night before, and go downstairs. I make breakfast and eat at the same seat against the wall as I did last night at dinner. Again, as always, all boys in the kitchen (do girls eat?), watching something so dumb on TV. I finish up, make a sandwich for lunch, and head down the street to catch a free tourist shuttle I had heard about. I finally locate the stop and realize I missed the first bus by 4 minutes. I wait 26 minutes with an older Australian couple, then climb on as it arrives. The bus has prerecorded commentary as well as commentary from the bus driver. I do a full loop of the city, taking about 90 minutes, then decide to get off at the Victoria Markets. I eat my packed lunch as I stroll through the aisles of produce outside. The people manning the booths are shouting, competing with neighboring booths, shouting about "Mangos! Pineapples!" I almost buy something in the excitement, but remember I have fruit at the hostel. I do want to buy a new temporary mascot for Melbourne. I forgot Gnomie at home, I was so upset. So I spot an adorable wombat and the man says they are 6 for 10 dollars. So I get 3 wombats and 3 more friends and pay him. He makes conversation while I pick out the least deformed stuff animals. I tell him I am from North Carolina. "Ah, that's where Micha Jordan... Michael Jordan was from," he says. "Yes!" I say. I love when people make that connection. I told him I also went to the university he went to. He tries to sell me a kangaroo pelt for $10 less than it was priced, but I say no thank you and move on. I explore the indoor area and get my dad some kangaroo salami from Hanhdorf (yes, I realize the idoicy of getting Hahndorf salami in Melbourne when I'm from Adelaide) and left before I spent more money. I walked the length of Victoria Street back to where I started my morning. I decided to go to Melbourne Museum because the bus driver said it was good and that it was only $10 and it was rainy, so a good day to do museums. The museum had a small rainforest area inside in the center. It's an actual growing rainforest with the massive ferns I love. There was an exhibit for animals, a dinosaur section, a human body section (with much more nudity and child nudity than would ever be allowed in an American museum- but to be fair, they did have signs posted warning of the nudity), a rock section, and a Melbourne section. I spent about 2 hours seeing everything before I decided I was tired and needed to walk to the hostel. I texted with Samara and we decided to get together Sunday afternoon. I got back to the hostel and ate my leftover noodles from the night before. I will probably also be making it a relatively early night again tonight. Maybe I am getting old, but I am tired, and I just don't feel like going out, especially alone. I will be meeting Grace in the city tomorrow. She wants to give me a tour, I am excited! It's been years since I have seen her and she's a local, so she will be able to take me to some good places!