It’s been a little over a month since I’ve moved here and I’m slowly but surely falling in love with Western Australia. It helps that there are some striking features that remind me of home — sitting on the west coast of some kind, watching breathtaking sunsets at spectacular beaches.
And that’s exactly what I did two weeks ago. It happens to be one of my favorite days that I’ve spent here and I love looking back on it.
“Finding similarities in each other’s lives across our different countries and cultures makes the world feel a little smaller.”
It started on a bright Sunday morning with a handful of friends. The weekend was already off to a great start because it was the first time in weeks that the sun was shining and the rain had finally stopped.
We hopped on the bus to our first stop of the day, the Fremantle Markets. This open market runs every weekend from Friday to Sunday and a variety of stalls are gathered around selling arts, clothing and — of course — food. With so many options and preferences, my friends and I split up, agreeing to meet after an hour.
After browsing my choices, I opted for Eat Street’s filling dish of seafood and chorizo paella. After lunch, I grabbed a cup of cold brew from the nearby stand called Dark Star. Then I walked over to the farmers’ half of the market, where I bought a pack of mixed fresh fruit for cheap.
Once my friends and I had regrouped, we took a short walk to the Fremantle Station where we boarded a 20-minute train ride to our main destination of the day — Cottesloe Beach. There, we picked a spot on the perfectly warm sand where we sat and chatted away under the sun for the next five hours. When we waded our feet into the water — it was warmer than expected but none of us had packed our bathing suits thinking it would still be too cold.
Still, it felt great to be on the beach.
Hours later, we grabbed a classic order of fish and chips from across the street and sat on higher ground to watch the sun set. The warm yellow and orange glow bled across the blue sky slowly, then it was quickly engulfed by the cool evening.
Disregarding the fear of the birds possibly attacking me as I ate, it was truly a lovely day. I would do it again on another warm and refreshing weekend.
It’s on calm and relaxing days like these where you don’t realize how much time you start to spend with people, how many stories about home are exchanged and how suddenly they’re not just “people,” but friends from all over the world. And now we’ve planned more weekends together.
Finding similarities in each other’s lives across our different countries and cultures makes the world feel a little smaller. It makes the ache of missing home a little duller.
To chasing sunsets and finding friends along the way!
Kat Hidalgo is a fourth-year kinesiology (physical therapy emphasis) major. She is studying at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia for the fall semester.
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 
Reblogged this on cogito ergo sum.
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