We get to live here?

Sunday was a free day, with nothing scheduled until dinner. The nice part about it was that we could catch up on some quality sleep, as well as explore the area. Fremantle has about 27,000 people- but is not very large geographically. It has a very cool area of shops and cafes that give it a real mellow feel to it.

I slept through the first wave of people heading out, but a group of four of us decided to walk around the area and go to the store. The first thing I realised (im going to try to use the Australian spelling for some of these words since I'm here) was that you cannot take two steps outside on a sunny day without your sunglasses. I thought I was going blind, and had to run back and get them. The city is very clean. It is not very new, but they have used a lot of old buildings and turned them into new useful shops.

We went into a cafe for lunch, and I learned a few helpful things. I ordered a salmon sandwich was tremendous, but they asked if I wanted salad on it, which was extra. This is the way you must order it if you want any lettuce, tomato, pickle, etc. They also do not serve water at the table unless you specifically ask, and even then it has no ice and comes in the smallest of glasses.

The best part of the day was heading to the beach. The larger group headed about a 20 minute train ride away to one of the most famous beaches here, but we decided to take a 15 minute walk to the nearby South Beach. It was amazing. The view is tremendous, the sand soft and white, the water crystal clear, and it seems to have less salt than I am used to in the Atlantic. The temperature was about 90, and it was just a laid back day in the warm waves of the Indian Ocean. There is a great park there as well, and I have to ask -- how could anyone not be happy at a place like this?

We went to the beach 30 seconds from our dorm on the way home and waded through the water. There is a McDonalds right on the beach, which may not seem like a good thing, but they have free WIFI there, and 50 cent icecream. We call it "Mc Beach" and more than a few 50 cent pieces will be dropped there over the coming months.

We had dinner with all of the American students from all of the schools. There are 77 of them, and we had dinner in a courtyard with all of them. They come from many schools, almost all Catholic. Catholic University (Washington DC), St. Johns, St Bens, Gonzaga, Boston College, St Marys, Notre Dame, Iona, Portland University (Catholic), Sacred Heart, and others. We are spread out over three dorms, but only ND, Sacred Heart, and BC are in our dorm.

There are many Blue Laws here: bars close very early on Sundays, and you cannot purchase any from a store on a Sunday, so we did not go out last night. We stayed in and hung out, and had a great time bonding- pretty hilarious stuff.

After that much sun (I did get a litte burned and will have to be more diligent with my sunscreen), I was so tired by 11 that I crashed.

A great day at the beach.
PS- pictures coming soon