ERICA B. 2002

In 2000, Erica (a Chicago-native) was a student at the University of Maryland. She was a work-study student in the cubicle next to mine at the Performing Arts Center.

In September of 2001 she was a recent college-grad exploring Australia.
Erica wrote this piece on December 2, 2002.

On September 10, 2001 I was in Sydney, Australia, having only arrived 9 days prior. I was to fly the next day, September 11th, 2001, up to Port Douglas, the town where I was going to live for the next several months. Another American girl that I had met there, Tammy, and I were taking care of things in Sydney before we moved and were busy enjoying the sights and people of Sydney. A not so small chunk of my day consisted of packing all of the things I had taken with me. Typical day to day things for the most part.

We went to the grocery and had a nice breakfast of rolls, fruit and juice on the steps of the Town Hall. We meandered through the "mall" that seemed to wander through the lower levels of the entire CBD of Sydney. I’ve never seen so many stores just strung together.

Later in the day we went to the Council office to buy our cell phones and then register them. (In hindsight, I am SO glad I decided to buy one as it turned out to be my "connection" to the news back here and a way for my parents to reach me instantly. Though…I was the one who told them about 9.11.) We checked a bit of e-mail and called home to say hello and tell our families we loved them. Again, more common things that can so easily be taken for granted.

After that we went back to the hostel for what was to be a quick nap or rest, but of course, after footing it ALL OVER the city (literally), we fell asleep for several hours, waking just in time to go have dinner in the quaint, Georgetown-ish Sydney neighborhood called the Rocks. A hole in the wall pizza parlor with a pretty good pie. That was capped off by a nice walk back to the hostel before getting up early to go to the Botanical Gardens before our flight out.

All in all a pretty average day in terms of what was done. A good day nonetheless