July 23 - Grapevine

We got a new housemate in the morning, Kim from NY, so I went and chatted with her and her roomie Manjit for a bit. She needed supplies and I wanted to head to Preston Market, so it ended up that a lot of people wanted to go from our floor, so a group was organized to teach us the way to get there by tram. Eight of us went and we split up inside and went on our merry ways purchasing necessities. Aidan called me while I was there and met up with us and he and I walked around for a bit and he asked if I wanted a coffee, so I said goodbye to the group and he and I went and sat down for a coffee and a chat, then he drove me home.

When I got back, the outside cricket game was already in play, so Aidan and I went out and checked out the scene. Turns out my new RA was one of his students that he tutored. Cricket got moved to the big field and Aidan decided to head home to do some stuff and I would see him later for dinner. I went out to the big field, but it was too windy for cricket so we played soccer instead. All was great and fine until I got smacked by Nasrin (the downstairs RA who is all of 100lbs) and her knee landed right across the bridge of my foot. That took me out of the rest of the game. I tried to keep playing, but it hurt pretty bad, so I decided that was my cue to head inside to get ready for dinner with Aidan’s fam.

He came and got me around 6 and we headed back to his place to get his mom’s dogs and headed to his older sister Tiffany’s house. At the house I met Tiffany and her partner Simon, Aidan’s younger sis Lucy, and his mom was there too. We went to a restaurant called Red Vine and had a great dinner (I had snapper with mashed potato and crab over chorizo) and we had some great wines. Simon, Tiff’s boyfriend, is from Adelaide and had some good thoughts on wines, so I asked him about getting a list of “must-try” wines. Dinner was fun and Aidan’s sisters are great. Both are just totally cool and gorgeous. Tiffany works in fashion somehow – it was not quite explained to me, but I would totally go shopping with her. Lucy is still a student at Uni of Melbourne in Commerce and Engineering double major! Not sure if she’s crazy or smart. She’s a complete doll and strikingly pretty (or so I think). They all have a good relationship with each other or so it seems. It was a really nice time.

Aidan and I had been invited to stay at Lucy’s for the night, but I had to get back for plans in the morning. As Aidan and I drove back, he had to go through a sobriety checkpoint. It’s a strange way of structuring it, but he went through the line and blew and was fine. So strange! Apparently they are a pretty common occurrence.