For those interested in continuing to follow my life, you're welcome to go to margarita007.livejournal.com.

I'm not finished yet...

Just so you know. There will be more. I still plan to post Sydney and Uluru and ETC Show and farewell BBQ photos. I've just been very very busy the past few weeks, what with moving halfway round the world and all.

The flight back was alright. I didn't get to sleep at all because this baby would not stop crying. Seriously, DO NOT TAKE A BABY ON A TRANS-PACIFIC FLIGHT! Christ, wait a year or two. Go vacation somewhere within driving distance, or at least on a shorter flight. Or make the grandparents fly to you. Your fellow plane passengers will thank you.

The only truly annoying thing was the no-liquids nazi in the Sydney airport. Because flying wasn't already a huge pain in the ass. Now you can't have any liquids. This includes water, makeup, anything. They threw out my lip gloss. Lip stick, lip balm, these are okay. But lip GLOSS? Nosirree, bob. That's just not kosher. They also threw out my mascara, which I had forgotten was in my purse. Oddly enough, I discovered another tube of mascara in my backpack that their full search didn't find. So, really, what was the point? It was the first time I've ever had the pat down like in the movies. They also threw out my eyedrops, which pissed me off something royal. YOU'RE ALLOWED TO HAVE EYEDROPS! But I, however, didn't have contacts or a prescription (how you can have a prescription for an over-the-counter drug, I don't know), and so Nazi woman pitched them. What really gets me is that she wasn't even the one checking my bag. She was checking the guy next to me, but kept butting in and telling my checker to get rid of things. Stupid Bitch. She tried to get rid of my eye shadow (a POWDER) and even my benadryl pills. THEY'RE PILLS! She asked if I needed them. YES! I HAVE ALLERGIES YOU STUPID BITCH!

Part of me is convinced that the whole thing was cooked up by the owners of drug stores. It's not the soda and drinks guys. So we have to buy a bottle of soda. That's what, a buck? But the cosmetics and medecines, they're expensive. They only got rid of three things of mine, but it was worth a good $20. A lady I saw had not been informed about the new rules until just then. And they don't do the liquids check until you're AT the gate. By then it's too late to check anything. So this lady lost what must have been hundreds of dollars to the trash can. Or, I think, to some of the security people looking through our bags.

Why can't we put our stuff into a ziploc bag, label it with our name, put those bags into a bin, and then check the bin? I've seen flight attendants have to check bags at the last minute during boarding before. Why can't this be an option? Why trash our stuff? Think about it, we have to replace everything that they throw out. It's a racket, I tell you .

I have one and a half papers to write before I leave. And so of course I'm writing in my blog. And I might go see Snakes on a Plane tonight, since it is finally opening here. Oh, procrastination. To be fair, though, I am mostly packed. All I have to do is toss everything into the suitcases- it's all sorted and folded and whatnot.

A big part of me is incredibly sad to leave. I've come to know these people extremely well, and I feel closer to them than I did to many people I knew for years in undergrad. I'm also sad because I'm leaving just before they go to New Zealand on ETC's dime. And yes, that New Zealand trip includes a visit to WETA. I have forbidden all of them from ever speaking to me about it, because I think I would start crying if I hear anything about it.

Part of me is, of course, very glad to go home. I prefer Pittsburgh as a city over Adelaide. I'm excited to see my family again, and dear god, do I miss Mexican food. I've promised my friend Patrick that I will send him a photo of me eating Taco Bell. Mmmmm....

It's all very bittersweet, but I'm certainly glad that I came. I'm not horribly poetic today, so apologies for the non-interesting writing.

The photos of Sydney and Uluru and the ETC Show will likely be posted while I'm in LA, because blogger apparently doesn't resize photos that you link to. Thus, it takes forever for this page to load. It's an easily solved problem, but it takes a bit of time. And right now I want to spend as much time as I can with my friends and not in front of a computer.