That’s all folks, it’s over. A day and a
bit between planes and airports and I’m already back in Spain. Sandwiches,
unintelligible Scots, Daniels and Danielles everywhere, interracial footballs,
canoeing at any hour, sunsets on the beach, Bureau of Meteorology, sore index
finger, beeping sounds to guide the blind across the road at the traffic lights,
Carlton Draught, bike, Skype ……
They are all the other things that I will
gradually forget about my time in Australia just like the minutiae of my day to day to life in Madrid.
Thanks to all of you that have read my blog
and especially to those who have left comments. You feel a little less exposed
and it gives you a buzz.
I left a gloomy Spain and I think that I have
returned to much the same place; regardless of whether the president was
elected by the majority or the fact that the ETA has changed their stance. At
times for me Australia has seemed like a version of the Spanish “future that
never was meant to be”. The sequel to a fictitious Spain circa 5 years ago that
hadn’t based its wealth on housing speculation, the dictatorship of the banks
and the irresponsibility of many citizens.
This ain’t been no grand adventure- no
malaria, no crossing paths with donkeys in the middle of the highway or any
issues with becoming a member of the library. These have been the stories of my
free time and rainy afternoons. Writing about things here and taking photos has
made me notice them a little more.
You
take so long to get to Australia that you know that you would take a long time
in case you had to return. This is the “Antipodean” effect. It makes you feel
that you are very long way away. Aside
from that, it is such a “Western” country that within two hours you have
already noticed that there are no Burger Kings (they are called “Hungry Jacks)
and that they never stop asserting their supremacy in the “Southern
Hemisphere”. I like the fact that their school and university courses begin and
end in the same year (from February to December; none of this 98/99 business or
whatever) and the summer holidays begin with Christmas and their penchant for
fancy dress.
As much as their accent drove me insane (anything
I could possibly say about it is here and here-4:25), to me
Australians seem to be warm, friendly and nice with frankly Mediterranean
personality traits. If you could get past half the oceans that lie in between
it’s a good place to live (better to visit). A kind of United States but with a
welfare state and without as many “chorradas”*.
And well, dammit if I haven’t loved the
koalas just as much as the kangaroos!
Translator’s note
*Chorradas- nonsense though there
are probably stronger words you could use here
