Two Years in Nova

It was after Thanksgiving in 2011 that I drove from Williamsburg to Sterling with Adri, Ricky, and Dominic.  Adri played angry birds on the ipad, and I sat in the back, next to my sleeping baby nephew, uncertain of what the future may hold.  We stopped at the Virginia welcome center rest stop half way, there, and we stood outside in the cold cold weather, Adri giving me a pep talk about how many opportunities await in nova.  They are hiring everywhere, she said.

I always loved visiting Adri and Ricky, when we're together we play hard, until exhaustion, poker, movies, netflix, shopping, wine, beer, feasts, games.  Visiting Sterling was like a vacation.  It seemed logical to want to move to the area, facilitating more frequent hang out sessions.

Here I am, two years later, I have many memories to cherish, and much anticipation for the adventures that will await.

Williamsburg Trip

The week was eventful.  It was a vacation, and I got to do many of the things I missed since moving to Nova, like taking Rudy on walks, working out at the dojo, hanging out with my mom, teasing my brothers, and being around my old friends.  The week went by extremely fast, and now I am here back in Alexandria, trying not to miss Williamsburg, friends, and family.  I arrived at that blissful exhaustion, after trying to do as many things as possible while I was there.  They say when you are travelling act like a local and when you are home act like a tourist.  that was not difficult since I used to be a local there and I found it hard to decide what things I wanted to re-visit.  It was fun working out at the dojo, and cleaning out old boxes of stuff which were being held in storage in the basement.  I cannot wait to see what my parent's house looks like the next time I visit.  there are still things I wished I did but that will have to be saved for my next visit.  I am in the process of revitalizing my energy levels for when I return to a full work schedule.  I have to decide how long I want to stay in Nova.  The jobs I have could be really good.  I am very optimistic, and having that hopeful feeling.

A tale of two cities

I love Alexandria, I also love the city of Baltimore. Who could blame me? They are both incredibly charming places with offerings of their own unique sort. In Baltimore I can walk around Alex's neighborhood, we can go to the Shnapp Shop and pick up a bottle of Champagne. In Alexandria there is the widest variety of everything imaginable, people of every ethnicity, a store for every interest. I need to narrow my scope for me to grow personally, and professionally. It's possible that the broadness of my search is hindering my progress. My job search has not been intense because I am still recovering from failing out of my teaching program. I feel that psychologically I have progressed a lot in the past 3 years since graduating college, but I have not established myself or attained many new skills. I have a wealth of stories and knowledge about a lot of cities. I can tell you a lot about a lot of places. That would be useful if I were paid to be a travel writer. But right now, this wannabe travel writer has stumbled into a stale mate.

 Here is a poem by Tracy K. Smith.

The Good Life

When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back, and it makes me nostalgic
For the years I lived on coffee and bread,
Hungry all the time, walking to work on payday
Like a woman journeying for water
From a village without a well, then living
One or two nights like everyone else
On roast chicken and red wine.


this poem is a accurate description of my lifestyle right now. I must admit though, I love coffee and bread. Happy Monday!

Summer

The spring time

I stopped working at target on the weekends. I am preparing myself for a Spanish Praxis exam, which means evening library visits, more chats in Spanish with Ingrid, and podcasts in Spanish. It is hard to not feel isolated from this whole process. In about one month I will know what the plan is.

Inspired by "Girls", the HBO show

Lena Dunham's character Hannah is out to dinner with her parents and the conversation turns to what Hannah will do, to make a living, to support herself. She wants what many of us want, whether we admit it or not, to write for a living. She proclaims she is "the voice of her generation". She continues "or a voice of a generation". I cracked up at this line. What marks the generation I grow up in? My peers in "this generation" graduate from college with some vague hope that they worked hard enough to deserve a "grown-up job". The show depicts college educated young people navigating through life. Hannah's awkwardness entertains me, even though she is annoyingly pretentious and I cannot relate to her life in certain ways. This blog is my version of "Girls". I will share the drama of growing up in this generation. I moved to the "big apple" (Northern VA, the big apple of Virginia) in hopes of following my dreams and finding love. I can safely say I don't have any stories of accidentally taking crack (Shoshanna), or deciding to marry someone only a few days after meeting them (Jessa). It won't be as exciting as HBO "Girls", but I want to brag about the happy things, and vent the sad things. Get ready for girlsy writing!!