"Transition"

I've been gone for a bit - because I've been ultra-busy. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (which is likely, I don't know how anyone would find this blog otherwise) then you know I recently moved to Seattle, to work with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps for El Centro de La Raza. Let's recap what happened before that:

Two weeks ago was my last week in Portland. I was sad to leave; I loved Portland, with its strange and wonderful denizens, bike-friendliness, ease of navigation, weather, and more. I dreaded the move to Seattle, except (and this is a very, very large exception) for the fact that Lisa would be in Seattle! Even if I was going to be working as a dirt licker, I would have welcomed the move.

I had a lot to do the last week - I had a blog to write for this one guy, I had some work to do for Charles, I had to pack, I had to finish my sign twirling, and I had to get my summer reading done for LVC (still haven't completely finished that). On top of that, I found out early in the week that my brother was going to be hitch-hiking up to Portland with a friend! So once he got there, most of my time was spent with him and I couldn't spend much doing the stuff I needed to do. But it was good to see him. We still don't really see eye-to-eye, at all, but it was a good time. We hung out, busked a bit for tobacco money, and talked. It was a good time.

Anyway, I left Portland, gave my garden to Sal, and drove up to Seattle - and met Lisa! And we spent a week looking at roomshares for her to live in. I found out where I'm going to be living too, and it's gorgeous and less than a mile away from where I'll be working (pretty freakin' convenient). Lisa's place is OK; we definitely looked at a bunch of dumps. The best thing about it is that it's month-to-month, so she can jet out if it turns out to be just terrible. I guess the worst thing about it is the location (Magnolia); it's not super far from downtown or anything but it's just not central or in a cool neighborhood like Ballard.

The next couple days Lisa and I spent garage sailing in search of a desk; Emily and Brian gave us a dresser and side table that will work well. We found a cool one at "Not Yo Mama's Garage Sale," which was pretty sweet. The rest of the garage sales were pretty lame.

So far my review of Seattle, vs. Portland, is that Seattle is, and definitely feels, like a much bigger city. Seattle is extremely difficult to get around in. The street names seem arbitrary, and the directional designations (NE, S, SW, or none) are difficult to wrap my head around. Portland was so easy. Lisa and I got lost basically every day. I think we're starting to get the hang of it, now. I'm going to be glad to be taking the bus most of the time, I guess? Or walking to work? Not having too far to drive. I hope I can get a bike soon, I suppose.

Anyways, I didn't spend long in Seattle; at present I am back in Washington, DC, for a week, to do a training thing for LVC. I took a red-eye flight and didn't sleep really, which is a bummer. I arrived in DC at 8:30am, which is 5:30am PST. I don't have anywhere to be until 2:00, so I am at an Au Bon Pain down the street from our registration area waiting it out. I'd be nice to sleep here in the cafe but I don't see that happening :)

I do like DC, though. When I lived here I don't know if I took advantage of/appreciated the city as much as I could have. I love the metro. I love the feeling of the city. I love its overtly diverse nature. Anyways I'm here for a week. It's hot. Luckily it's going to get cooler while I'm here, but anything's hot compared to the perfect Seattle weather right now.

In other good news, I got two paychecks in the mail today - as soon as I get my reimbursement from LVC and my deposit back from Larry, I am officially going to have my credit card paid off! YES! That means that I spent two months in Portland, spent my savings (there really wasn't any) and my graduation present cash (also not too much, but a sizeable amount), and basically came out even. But the experience - was it worth the experience? I don't know; I ended up getting a job in Seattle anyway (which I could have done from home and saved $1000 or so). But Portland was a great time. And I found out how much I loved the city. I am glad I did it, so then, yes, it was worth it.

That's all for now :)