The worst day vs. the best day

My Saturday and Sunday were absolute polar opposites this weekend.

To put it bluntly, Saturday sucked. I’ll keep it brief: I had to work – it was the third day of our strategic planning workshop. I was also worrying about how I’d find a new housemate, would a new person actually stay put until I leave, etc. No fun at all.

Sunday, however, was simply one of the best days I’ve had in a series of extremely non-awesome days (weeks...months... year...). It’s funny, you know, entries about disasters are interesting; good days aren’t usually that funny in the retelling, or at least not the way I write. But it’s so nice to have a good day to write about that I want to share it with you regardless.

I took myself out for breakfast at Dili Beach Hotel, wrote in my notebook, and read a fantastic book while the sun glittered on the waves ten metres from my table.

I bought seven books that all look great, from the book exchange downstairs (The Color Purple, Last Chance Saloon, a Margaret Atwood called Wilderness Tips, Sophie’s Choice, Barack Obama’s Dreams from my Father, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and Bronte’s Story – MUM you will want to read that last one for sure, I’ll bring it back for you).

I internetted for two hours.

I went for a swim with Angie at the beach in front of Caz Bar. For reference, this is rather similar in calmness to the Evans River, although parts of the ocean in Timor can look deceptively flat but actually harbour very strong currents (as Angie and I found out when we first tried the Cristo Rei beach earlier in the afternoon). I thought, ‘I am swimming at the beach, in May. In Canberra, it is probably 4 degrees outside right now’.

I made roast vegies and chocolate muffins for dinner with Angie. We played swing music (Ella Fitzgerald, and then George Washingmachine – ha) to drown out the Indonesian pop from next door.

It rained solidly while we were making dinner, the electricity and water *didn’t* go off, and I sat on the verandah for half an hour and just watched it rain. I especially love the sound of the rain on the roof (although it is very loud here, due to no insulation).

That was my best day. It wasn’t perfect – I was a little sick and just ignoring it; and of course I still had to find a new housemate. But I am used to being a little sick and I am used to the uncertainty of my housing arrangements, so I ignored that and classed the day A+.