Lasts

March 31, 2002-Sex Saga

I couldn’t resist one more chapter in the sex worker saga. The paper announced that a soon to be opened brothel in Queensland would cater to men as well as women. They claimed that Sydney & Melbourne were already filling the need & they intended to keep up. Sorry about that pun.

We got our last set of photos back today. I got some great “tusch” (rear-end, bum) shots of the guys at the surf lifesavers competition. One is suitable for a postcard. April 1, 2002-In The Chips

I had lunch today with a woman who is studying for conversion & is eager to go to Israel to live. Yes, she intends to change her last name when she’s Jewish. David suggested that she convert in Israel since the orthodox have just been forced to recognize progressive conversions. That ruling by the Supreme Court can be overturned by the K’nesset ( Parliament). During our conversation, she mentioned that a rabbi asked her if she believed that Jesus is the Messiah. She said that she was brought up as a Christian & that’s what she was taught. I tried to pin her down & it seemed that she couldn’t say she no longer believed that Jesus is the Messiah. That makes her a Christian. I’m happy David won’t be continuing his work with her. Something about it doesn’t feel right.

While I was lunching David was across the street at Jupiter’s Casino. It was his first foray into gambling there & he managed to escape with only a $A 40 loss. That puts him ahead by $A 50 in gambling for our entire stay. The good thing here is that when you lose, you don’t lose a lot in U.S. dollars. But then when you win, you don’t win a lot either.

Some of the things at the casino were different than in the States. David plays blackjack & if there were no seats open at a table, people would “play behind” someone who was seated. They would bet on his hand & place the chips on the table next to the seated “player.” Another difference was that if the player wanted to double his bet, he could. After he saw his last card he could withdraw the double losing only his original bet even if the dealer breaks (goes over 21). That seemed kind of generous on the part of the house. They also pay higher if you get “21” with 5,6, or 7 cards.

April 2, 2002-Provisions

We’re down to one roll of toilet paper. We should make it on that, but we’re taking precautionary measures just in case. We were at the mall & decided it would be more prudent to use the public toilet facilities instead of waiting to get back to the apartment Waste not want not.

We sent two more parcels home today. We still have one more box to mail tomorrow. How could we have two more to ship home than we shipped here? We used up a whole bunch of stuff in the seven months. I thought we’d come out even. I guess we bought more “souvenirs” than we thought we would. Yesterday a family came by to give us a huge & heavy book on Australian history. It comes with a CD & is a magnificent gift, but it took up a lot of room in the box we sent out.

April 3, 2002-Our World

Today was supposed to be our easy day. David had services for the last day of Pesach in the morning. He said there were a lot of tears as he left. He too felt sad knowing they really do need a rabbi but have a slim chance of getting one. Hopefully, this will be the last of the lasts for him. We planned to pack the last box & our suitcases in the afternoon, mail the box at the Post, pick up the rental car we were taking to Sydney, & return the temple car, TV, & VCR. We’d figured on a short “afternoon sleep,” as they say here, & dinner at the Thai restaurant with the Bruces tonight. Now would be a good time for those of you who saved these emails to re-read August 8, 2001, paragraph three. In it I mention how we miscalculated the time we needed to pack to come here. We did it again. One of the problems was that it was awhile before we could admit we needed yet another box. The total is now six parcels coming & nine going home. That meant we had to walk across the street to the Post, debate over whether to get a medium or a large box, buy it, & decide what went into it. I also had to buy a card for a thank you note to my manicurist who’d gotten me a gift. Fortunately, it was small. In my super-efficient state, I suggested that David get the luggage cart from the complex, so we could load not only the now two more boxes, but also the TV & VCR. As we pulled out of the garage to go to the Post for what we hoped would be the last time, we realized we’d intended to return the TV & VCR when we returned the car, but they were now in the back seat. We didn’t think it was safe to leave them there in plain sight until we got the rental car, so we made an extra trip to the Bruces to return them.

At 5:30PM we went to get our rental. We’d ordered a Toyota Corolla size & were afraid it would be too small for our luggage to fit in the trunk. Lucky for us, we got an upgrade. It’s a white Mitsubishi Magna. We came home & loaded everything into the car. We’re ready to roll after our haircuts tomorrow morning.

We cut it close on provisions, but I’m happy to report we still have most of a roll of toilet paper left. The soap is holding out now that I redirected the shower so that it doesn’t pound down so directly & melt the bar away too fast. We’re down to our last piece of matzo but do have some peanut butter & a bit of jelly for breakfast tomorrow. Since Passover ends tonight, we can pull out the rolls & cereal I had stashed away. There’s enough OJ for our morning vitamins & we have one apple to take with us in the car. Life is good.

I was driving the temple car as we pulled away from the car rental office & I got a rush of excitement. Our adventure was ending, but our adventure was beginning too. We’ll once again be a self-contained unit. We’ll be encapsulated in our little white pod & roam freely. We only have to be in Sydney by evening on April 9th. Until then we’re once again in our own tiny world of us.

Toby