Tomato Sauce.

15 January 2011

Today I squeezed an entire packet of ketchup all over myself. I was sitting down to a sunday afternoon lunch at the cafe with my burger and chips served with a packet of ketchup. I was pleased to see this as ketchup has been a rarity in the time I have spent dining here so far.

There are ways of getting around embarrassing instances because living in Australia there are many things that I have yet to be accustomed to including food packaging but the "I'm an American" excuse does not apply here, even a monkey could have played this one out more smoothly. This particular package was called masterfoods tomato sauce--ironic I thought because this ketchup packet owned me. Ketchup squirted everywhere--dress, neck and face. I should have just pretended that I was bleeding--at least then people wouldn't have looked at me like I was an idiot, rather they may have been the least bit concerned--or maybe not—after all, they are Australian and are used to gruesome violence.

It's amazing how quickly humans recover after traumatically embarrassing moments. Without even thinking about it, I gathered my arms together to cover the awful mess and did the ever popular head thrust and gaze. You know, the abrupt jolt of the neck where we pretend that something suddenly captures our attention and then we gaze after it as if we are watching a meteorite plummet from the sky. Everyone is guilty of it and I used it as my recovery mechanism. I seemed to have had everyone in the cafe fooled until I darted my eyes across the table to the cute aussie watching me with his mouth agape. I thought to myself, please don't laugh, please. 

No sound of laughter escaped but I'm sure he was holding back. 

I attended a church called New Life Uniting Church for the evening service, and although I didn't enjoy the music selection, the message regarding the disaster in Brisbane struck me. As of today, 16 people have died in the flood and 14 are still missing. The number of casualties is expected to rise because the search of these missing people has been going on for days. 75% of the state of Queensland is considered a "flooded area" but Robina has not been touched. Monday when the flooding began, I had arrived at Brisbane airport. Shuttling to Bond Uni the rain came pouring down. I feel fortunate to have made it safely. God is good. Prayers to those searching for loved ones and for those who have lost them. Prayers that the state of Queensland can make a full recovery.