Maria's 20th!!!!!! AHHHH

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i am so slack....... haven't blogged in yonks (written by my host sister Fran). Which is true. Thursday the 13th was the light show at South Bank which was so awesome! There was a boat spraying water and lights. We all went with our professors and had dinner.

Friday was normal. Class at Uni, then Maria and I met some funny 30 year olds that gave us their business cards in the West End! So that was cool.

Saturday was Maria's 20th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Maria and I got up SO early, dead tired from the night before. We did our usual sprint to the bus, only to wait there for 15 minutes. We went back to Surfer's Paradise at the Gold Coast, had lunch, and met Forest and Henry. Forest was also turning 20. They were not Aussies (actually from CT doing an abroad program). They invited us to their SICK CRAZY apartment on the 32nd floor to have a joint birthday celebration. We could see the entire city from their balcony with all the lights glowing in the dark - it was the most beautiful view I had ever seen. Henry had a camera that took pictures every second and he had it on the whole night. I'm pretty sure they were loaded. They popped open the champaign (like a hose over the entire room, what a mess) and we were off to the bars. We crammed 20 people in an elevator and went to Surfin Safari! I don't remember anything memorable here....Henry led us all to the next bar. People were dancing and having a great time. Melissa and I comforted Maria (maybe having too good of a night), and my favorite one liner became, "Stop petting me! I'm not a dog!" We took a cab home, back to the hostel at 11:55. It was the best night in Australia. Hands down.

Sunday morning Maria and I got brunch together at the beach. We laid out in the sun laughing for hours - only to conclude the best birthday celebration anybody could ever have. I am such a lucky person. I am so thankful!

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