The first few days was actually spent mostly still recovering from my New York illness. That's not to say i didn't still enjoy myself. I was lucky enough to meet Heidi and Ashes (Amanda's dog and cat) and even some of Heidi's friends at the dog park.
It was here in Orlando too that I had my first taste of domestic life in the U.S of A with a trip to the local shops. Now to some, this may seem boring to the average 'traveller' but to me it opened my eyes to another level of American stereotypes. Some considerable differences I noticed; 3litre size coca cola bottles, giant marshmallows, everything is soooooo much cheaper than at home, target sells groceries as well as home goods etc and they had about 30 check out counters. I was able to buy TIm Tams which meant i could teach Amanda and her mum how to partake in their first Tim Tam slam. Now for those of you who don't actually know what that is, before you take that and run with it, let me explain. A Tim Tam slam is not some wrestling move administered by my friend Tim and I (Tam) but rather where you bit the diagonal corners of a Tim Tam and then dip it into your hot drink and suck the hot drink though the bitten end just long enough to melt the biscuit. Then you devour the biscuit and get taken away to a happy place :)
I was introduced to the card game Euchre also, which i believe i wasn't too bad at for a beginner ;) The other people on my team might beg to differ though haha. A great night shared with new friends over pizza and beer. Who could ask for more? But alas there was more.....
Amanda, myself and Tammy (Amanda's mum) were up bright and early Saturday morning for the Walt Disney World Marathon. Unfortunately Amanda was injured so was unable to participate, however we were then assigned the role of 'Official Cheerleaders' for Tammy who had flown all the way from Indiana for the event. Due to our poor planning, of which i can only put down to the 2.30am wake up, we never actually 'saw' Tammy run by us. We were prepared with banners and all, only to find ourselves running around like headless chickens in hope of spotting 1 in 27 000 people. Despite this obvious mishap it was still a great morning.
Later that night we (and by we i meant I) downed a few drinks in downtown Orlando. Nothing too crazy though as a fun filled day at Universal Studios awaited us on Sunday morning.
After great deliberation, we decided to go to Universals 'Island of Adventure' park. This was where we did lots of crazy things like ride mega rollercoasters, visit Harry Potters Wizarding World and due to my poor judgement, spent the afternoon completely drenched after insisting we go on the Popeye River Rapids. Sooooo much fun!!!! For all ride enthusiasts i STRONGLY recommend the Harry Potter ride at Hogwarts. It was the most amazing ride i have ever been on. I would describe more but its one of those things that words can not do justice.
So after an amazing week with a truly inspiring, amazing person, it was time to say good bye to another friend. The goodbyes don't seem to be getting any easier the more i do them but i have limited the blubbering to a few short moments now ;) I'm forever greatful for the hospitality and life long friendship. Thanks Amanda Bennett!!!!!
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