All I want for Christmas is...

#14

Not 'you'.
Not my two front teeth.
Not snow.
But a very expensive course of antibiotics and a trip to the Emergency Department at the local hospital.

I contracted an infection in Houston, mighty painful and in need of antibiotics pretty desperately in Phoenix. Christmas Eve, and Dice and I loaded into the Minx Mobile and were at the hospital for most of the morning. The good news is - I got what I needed and am on the mend. The bad news is - it cost me almost a week's budget, #mericapublichealthcare #bringinobamacare and I still have more medical bills to come! Le sigh. Damn you America *shakes fist* damn you.

The Minx Mobile

Dice snapped this cheeky one when I wasn't feeling so flash

Anywho, after I was all dolled up on painkillers and antibiotics and a concoction of all sorts of yummy things, we were both feeling more festive and yes, it was Christmas Eve and time to bring out the Santa hats. The people at the hostel loved it. Don't mean to toot our own trumpets but yes we are a feature on their Facebook page. No, they probably just loved us. They are all so nice there, the hostel has a very spiritual, humanistic and wholesome feel - they burn incense, encourage tranquility and have a lot of cool little hammocks and fire bins with pillows around it, rooftop decks and zen gardens. There's a lot of Native American art and hippie things about the place - in the middle of the desert, its a fantastic place to chill out with relaxed people, meet all sorts and sort of let the serenity slide over you. The Hostelling International logo is; "To help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and it's people through hostelling". You walk in, and the stitched art piece that greats you says very boldly "We are Human". 

There's still the occasional intersection where I pull out onto the left side of the road. old habits die hard. But I'm glad I didn't forgot how to drive (like my dream in Boston you'll remember if you're a loyal blog-follower)

Feenix

Kinda reminds me of the West Coast or the Gold Coast at home

It's a great place, the staff are all like a family, they really legit seem to care about you and your well being, there's a lot of communal meal times, where everyone helps cook or contribute and then we eat together, a lot of evening socialising, and musical jam sessions with pianos and guitars, and soulful voices. Dice enjoys jumping on the piano, and serenading us with her musical talent. She doesn't think she's as good as she is, but I love listening to her play, and I've seen many other guest admire from afar or stop to listen and/or join in. It's unlike any hostel I've ever stayed in before - maybe because of it's smaller size, but it's so intimate and they make you feel so welcome and loved. Apart from Boston, this is a real place that feels like home in America. 

Christmas time

These guys were wondering through town singing some pretty dreary Christmas carols

Forever alone

When you have no one else to take the photo for you and you have to take it yourself...

#festive

Feenix

Not going to miss American frozen yoghurt

Anywho. Enough about tranquil love and fake familial feelings. It's warm here kids! Being the desert, we have pleasant warm days around 20 - 22 degrees celcius, and cooler evenings, in need of a couple of wollen blankets and the heater. It's fabulous. Do I miss the snow? Nope, it's overrated. Do I yearn for a white Christmas? Nope, been there done that, and also overrated. Do I love Phoenix? YOU BET.

City in the middle of a desert

We scampered around like mountain goats. Shoutout Clam

My fave of Dice. She so pretty

Dat Feenix

It's sort of funny actually, when Dice decided that she would indeed come to America, I was already in Boston and we had a six hour Skype call (yes, 6 hours) to plan our entire trip. As you can imagine, 6 hours - something was bound to go wrong. (In actaul fact more than one thing went wrong, I booked our LA accomodation for JUNE not JAN and didn't get to sorting it out till a coulpleof days ago. Much to Dice's dismay she always shook her head and me and threatended that we'd be sleeping on the streets or something horrible would happen and I sort of just let it slide for months on end but that's not the issue here. I'll let you know about street sleeping when we come to it). Anywho, the thing that went wrong. Yes. We started in Boston, and finished in LA. We sort of planned from Boston onwards and then about halfway through planned and booked things from LA backwards. Only to realize then that we had an entire 5 days accountable for over the Christmas period that we hadn't allcoated a place to go. That wasn't good. What's worse, the last place we booked (booked and paid for ladies' and gents, booked and PAID for) was Houston...and then San Fran. So it was illogical to head North or East. We had to find somewhere int he middle for those days. I suggested Phoenix. Dice said no.  I suggested Tucson. Dice said no. Ok, Tucson was pushing it. Phoenix it was. We both weren't terirbly thrilled when we relaized it was in fact, a desrt, in the middle of a mountainous range. However, determined to make the msot of it, I assured Dice it would be the best place we would visit.

The warmer weather feels a little like home

Abandoned church

And Phoenix stepped up, kids. It's great and we love it a lot. I think the fact that we were able to get a car (even though it was a 2-hour, muddle of a bank-payment-wiring-money situation, calling-24-hour-Commonwealth-Bank-hotlines-in-Australia, calling home and thanks to my sister who had to run down to the bank in Australia to withdraw ash and then wire blah blah), the hostel and the tranquility of the place made it special. 

Phoenix is different to the cities we'd been to. The South West has a lot to offer cowboys, so I beg you don't judge it as we so rudely did. Phoenix gave us a fantastic Christmas eve, singing a collection of hilarious country Redneck songs that we now know all the words to from Camel FM, climbing South Mountain to watch the sunset, being silly, laughing, meeting internationals and then cruising around in the Minx Mobile listening to carols and seeing the lights around our local area. It was a different Christmas Eve, maybe not as flash or as fancy or as traditional, but Dice is all the company I need (really truly) and unlucky for her I'm all she's got. 

Sick of the sunset yet?

The Grinch. Shoutout Emily

So no, I rephrase my earlier statement, and the title of this post. All I want for Christmas is not a course of antibiotics (despite the pain), it is actually you Dice.

Merry Christmas.