Weekends in Brizzie

Hi Hi!

Since I've been spending waaaayy too much money lately, I decided to stay in Brisbane this past weekend. Besides hanging out at the beach, getting a nice tan, watching some movies and catching up on much needed sleep and homework...Kim, Theresa and I decided to have a little bit more fun on Saturday. This boy that Theresa has become fond of (he's an Aussie boy and his name is Jori) invited us to the Doomben Horse Races for the day on Saturday. Doomben is like a 20 minute train ride out of the city. The coolest part about going to these races is that they are a really big deal to a lot of Aussies. So big that you have to look super nice to even get into the place. Women go all out with their fancy shoes, dresses, hats and hair pieces and the Men where really nice tuxes and suits. The three of us girls had soo much fun getting ready for this day. Kim and I decided we wanted to fit to the point that we went out and bought huge hats to wear for the day (pictures to come). While we were at the races, we kept on getting compliments on our hats and we never knew if the women were kidding around or being serious so we just pretended that all the compliments were good hehe. I know I don't like to bet, however you only go to the horse races in Australia once in your life. I decided to bet money on a horse named Mohawk (mostly because I liked the name) and he ended up getting 3rd to last. While everyone else made fun of me, I basked in the glory that at least he didn't get last place (right??) haha. The other awesome part about this day at the races was that it was "Ladies Day Out". So they like catered to us. We got free candy and drinks. They also had a best abs and best keg contest that all the men could compete in and the women got to vote. Sooo fun! The best part of the day was the DragQueens and Boys Gone Wild show they had for us. I swear to you that every woman at the races was screaming out loud for these guys...they were VERY good looking. haha. All in all we had a great day at the races.
School has been going very well. I very much enjoy all of my classes and I'm meeting new people each and everyday. I love going to class and having people to sit with..it just makes class and school in general that much more fun and enjoyable. School is definitely picking up though and assignments are starting to be due, so I'm starting to have that stress on my shoulders. I'm trying to keep up with my readings as well as my assignments in advance so I don't have to have late nights here. It just makes life easier that way.
Today was a great day. I had class, went for an awesome run for Jason and then took a nice shower. After the shower however, the day turned for the worse. I was making myself a nice pasta dinner and as I'm cooking the noodles a freaing cockroach the size of literally my big toe came out of nowhere! IT WAS HUGE and disgusting. I screamed bloody murder and Bruce (my roomie) came running out of his room. By the time he got to the kitchen though it was gone and now we can't find it. I swear to god I'll be coming home earlier than planned if that freaking creature is found in my room. I'm not even kidding. Haha. Ewww why do there have to be bugs in Australia or in my house for that matter. Ew Ew Ew!!
Loving life over here! Love and miss you all!

-Manda