dimanche 12 novembre 2006

The day following St Martin's Day
All started when I discovered my town was sister city to Bayside,Melbourne and that a trip was under way. I joined the association in charge with linking the two cities and we took off for Australia March last year.Being used to sail or fly over the Atlantic ocean in my past days, a long-haul flight was not frightening me.I could not imagine it would take us three days to reach the world of DownUnder,leaving on a Thursday and landing in Melbourne the following Saturday.Most of all I was so happy to renew with the English language.My husband is not from a family of intellectuals, and he is not one either. Since I married him,thirty years ago,I have lost contact with the language. We went but once to London.I studied English in French universities for seven years and was an English teacher for some few years,but all was long gone when I reached Australia.And surprisingly enough,I cried on leaving the land of Aussies.Back to France, they nicknamed me the Australian,for I could not help speaking of the country to everyone I met.Australia became my favorite topic.I had to go back there by any means.Lucky I was to meet Patrick and Seb Cros.Pat is a reporter and writes articles on Australia and his brother is a tour operator. Seb runs two businesses: one in Darwin, the other in Sydney.Seb was willing to sell us one of his tours,and he helped me convince Pierre,my husband,to go back there.We had our thirtieth wedding anniversary last January, a good excuse to plan such a trip. And finally,Pierre wanted Laure,our daughter to discover the land.We ,finally,took off on April 21th.My first trip took us from Melbourne to Sydney,then Ayers Rock,Alice Springs and Cairns. I went in a romantic mood on arriving in Alice Springs, for our guide told us about a film:A Town Like Alice. I did not know then how I would hate that Alice Springs airport,nor that I would experience something almost similar: missing the one I loved so much to meet as he flew to Sydney on the very day of my arrival.I had a good contact with Peter,our driver. Speaking English helped a lot.He gave me a bear hug at the airport on my departure day and that moved me.Back in France, I sent him a postcard and I expected an answer for two long months before I got the idea of phoning the bus company. A charming lady answered me that she had the card but did not to whom she should hand it over. Was it Peter,the German man? I remembered the latter told me he was born in Germany.Luckily enough, he was back working for her the following week-end. In fact, he had not worked for her since I left Alice Springs.I waited for an answer in vain. He never replied,even after having got the Xmas gift I had sent him.On the other, the lady at the bus company has become a good friend of mine.Denise is a bit older than me but we look much the same. She has had quite a few rough times in her life. Her husband she cherished died when 42 and she was left on her own to bring up her for children.She is a dancer lover,same as me, but a car accident when she was 18 injured her legs badly taking away her dream of becoming a ballet dancer.She met Wayne in Sydney, ten years younger, and they started the bus company in Alice Springs. Unfortunately, they parted last year and she is on her own again to cope with the business. Laure said to me we looked like two sisters when we met in Paris last December.The Bojangles.Something changed my life greatly when Laure gave me her old computer and could surf on the web.It was not long before I met Pat who was back from the Alice.He asked me if I had been to the Bojangles when in Alice Springs. I had not.He explained to me that it was a bar and restaurant with a dance floor and that the shows were broadcasted on the internet each night.So it is with a bit of anxiety that I connected to Bo's for the first time.I did not know it was a long way to Hell.They have two DJs working there and they take music requests from the internet,the phone or SMS.I sent my first request and waited till I heard the DJ say:"this one goes out for Mary who is listening over in France". Suddenly, Alice Springs was so close again.They have four webcams rolling on different parts of the place. I started scrutinizing the screen searching for Peter,hoping he might drop at Bo's for a beer.I started to like the moments in the company of DJ Marty better than those with DJ Dan.Marty played a better music to my opinion. He was commenting on the people at Bo's.Most of all,he was adding a few words to the requests before playing them.That's how our funny relationship started.I started to send longer mails,telling about my life over here and Marty would reply on his mike."I could not play golf this morning,it was too cold and the links were frozen""You would not have played golf here either,Mary. It's too hot!"Or,"Mary is sad today for her husband has just had a car accident"Slowly I stopped watching at the bar to stay focussed on the dance floor and the console. Peter had lost his interest.I started missing the days with Marty. I noticed his looks, his scruffy beard,his long dark hair,his casual clothes.Dan was still saying "this goes out for Mary",but what a surprise when he started saying:"Mary,oh Mary, I love you". It took me quite a while to find out his girlfriend was called Mary. We sorted it out with a big laugh.Marty, long way to Hell.We developed a relation based om my mails and your replies on the mike. It took a certain time to find out you could send messages through the songs you played. At first,I would not believe it.The count down had started and you were the first one to know when I was going back to Australia and Alice Springs.The weeks preceeding my departure,you turned queer.You stopped playing my requests. I begged you more than once to know the reason why,but you would not answer me.I started to smoke as never as you kept me waiting in vain.I decided to phone Dan. This boy shouted on the mike:"Mary says DJ Marty doesn't love her anymore,but,you know,Mary,I still love you".By that time,Dan had got used to finish the party with a request of mine: "Welcome to my Life" by Simple Plan.You then started to play my requests again,but without dedicating the songs for me. I was going nuts.I decided to phone you then. You said Dan had told you I was on my way to Australia soon. As if you did not know...You asked me for my dates I had given to you thrice before.Xhen I said I was arriving in Alice Springs on May 1st, you said: "Oh,Mary,I'm sorry,I'm leaving for Sydney on that day". You added you would stay there for a fortnight, the length of my stay in the Alice.The day I got back home I connected to Bo's on the web and you were back at work.I sent you a mail saying we could not have done better.The news came as a blow. Nobody,even Denise,understood why I had decided to stay for such a long time in that town in the middle of Australia.It was meant to meet you at last and you did not seem to be aware of it.Cairns.After that phone call,you took my requests and things were going a bit better.Since I connected to Bo's on the first time, I said I would connect everyday without missing one day.I have almost succeeded.After travelling for three days with a stop in Hong Kong, Cairns was in sight.I checked into my in-box at the hotel for a mail from Seb. Seb was living in Darwin at that time and we were to meet there.Big surprise,it was a mail from you waiting for me.Such a nasty one!You were advising me to enjoy my holidays with my husband and you said you were just a DJ wondering what I was expecting from you. I have forgotten to mention you told me on the phone you were to meet Johanna , your girlfriend,in Sydney. That puzzled me a lot for you had told me on St Valentine's Day that you were single.Well,what a blow again!I replied at once,giving you my age,and saying I was not expecting anything from you.Hard to tell,though.I was deeply hurt and had to hide it.Hopefully I was busy visiting Cairns and its surroundings,with Pierre and Laure.We enjoyed a day on the Great Barrier Reef.Well,it was not new to me,but Laure was discovering the country.I had on my mind my future meeting with Seb.He would welcome us in Darwin and drive us through the Lichtfield Park to Katherine.We would go on a local bus from there to Alice Springs along the Stuart Highway.Life seemed brighter thinking of what was ahead of us.Hell with you,Marty!!!