OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

SO!

I have been out and about in the city a few times (all by myself, even!) and I have gotten to see a couple of really exciting things: I saw the tail end of a brawl outside of the library downtown, and I got to see a beautiful view of the city.

Yesterday on my job quest, I went to downtown Cincinnati, which was very great. They have little shops and whatnot, and a lot of them are three stories tall, since that's pretty much the minimum height for most of the buildings (as is very...common for cities), and some of the shops look as though they've been there forever...and I'm sure that some of them may actually have that legacy. While walking downtown, I got to a street where I saw a bunch of people fighting...and there were police and, you guessed (probably not...who am I kidding?) library security! They had to break a few people up and a couple of cops were talking to a few people. So, since I'm curious and from a small town, I decided to talk to the cops about it (also, I was kind of lost, so I wanted directions on how to get back to my vehicle to miss rush hour...which I'm fairly certain that I missed, but I was still stuck in traffic for a bit.

Today I got to spend a few hours drawing, and that was very nice...and very cathartic, though it did bring back some lingering "omg omfg OMFG wtf am I doing here" type feelings. I think that they are still stirring a bit, but the feeling ebbs and comes back in dissipating amounts...I feel like such a burden for Joel, since I don't have any other friends here yet...I feel very dependent on him right now...which I'm sure he doesn't mind, but I don't want to feel like a pet, either. ...and I'm kinda sad that we didn't go to the Bengals game last night...that would have been very fun, though I wasn't aware how much more expensive freaking football is than baseball. ...I suppose, very different sports.

Also, this is on a minor note...which...no. I'm really irked. We watched "Unbreakable" last night. What the fuck, M Knight Shamalamalan? Really? The movie was terrible. UUUGGGHHH. That's two hours of my life I'll never get back. But whatever. It's okay.

I'm really grateful for all of the support I've had from everyone so far, and to everyone who I've met in this city who has been wonderful to me...even though none of them know who I am or read this. All the same...

Meah kai

Emotions? what?

So, I have been informed that how I am actually doing would be something that others might be interested in hearing as part of my transition. Since there IS a lot that happens, and there has been a lot that has transpired in this (almost) week, I figure that that is a legitimate thing to add.

When I first arrived, and until about Tuesday, I was incredibly shy and quiet. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself, and I felt so strange being in a new place. The whole, "Oh my God what the fuck am I doing?!" thought probably crossed my mind twice every moment. I talked to a friend about these feelings, and the talking helped, and I went to sleep on Monday night with the "ohmygod, ohmygod" thought getting quieter and quieter until i drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday, I had decided to to out and to explore a little bit. It was alright, and I felt very much more confident. I have been decreasingly experiencing panic, and am adjusting just fine so far, though I am very aware of culture shock and other "moving to a different area" type things that can happen when moving (thank God for all those communications courses!)

I finally told my roommate yesterday that I was just going crazy and that I was incredibly unstable emotionally for the first few days that I was here. I think that he felt bad, but I'm not sure that there was anything that he could have done. ...I think that I just needed some time. How was I emotionally unstable? Weeellllllll, every once in a while, I just started tearing up, and I just kept getting waves of thought that were just the whole "what am I doing?!" thing.

I am definitely okay now, and I know that I will be okay. ...if only I could find something to do with myself! The people who I have met here have been wonderful though. I haven't been put into any bad situations at all, and I have just been having fun. I am very thankful that my roommate is super cool and that *this* gets to be my first experience here. ...I'm not sure about having to find hookers for him, though...but I won't get into that (I hope that you don't read this, Joel!) other than to say it was mostly in fun...and curiosity.

Oh, and feel free to leave comments or to contact me with any questions or anything...I don't think that you have to be a member to comment or anything and junk...so I'm off to do whatever it is that people in Cincy do...until next time!

view from outside balcony

This is the stage on the third floor, and where band practice is held.

This building has a lot of history. We are the only apartment in the building (unless someone else is hiding here somewhere), and there is a bottom floor that has a store front, and a middle floor that has a couple of office type spaces and this apartment. The third floor used to be a speak easy with a brothel. Yes, there is a non-functioning brothel upstairs. It is kinda creepy, but very cool. There are a few other rooms upstairs and a giant room with a stage. And apparently someone was killed here...but I think that I mentioned that in my previous entry. I have many other pictures and plan on taking more, but my camera died. ...so while I revive its battery, I will just post some pictures.

Wednesday!

Greetings to all reading!

SO! I have just moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. This is new news to some people, and just kind of an update for other people.

I arrived sometime between Friday and Saturday night...probably after midnight, but whatever. That was one of the longest car rides of my life, and I was very excited to finally get OUT! The first place that I went when I got here was not to my temporary residence, it was rather to a very beautiful house (not that where I live isn't beautiful!) where I proceeded to meet my temporary roommate.

My experience was very interesting at this house. There was some drinking, not a lot, though as far as I know everyone was drinking before they had arrived. Then everyone else proceeded to get into the pool and, oh yeah, my new roommate decided to go skinny dipping. HA! What a good impression. Oh yeah, did I mention that I had never met him in person?

The past few days I have been going through a lot. I am in a really good place right now, though. I think that I am fast adjusting to this, and I just have a few things that I need to accomplish to feel right at home in this place (this city anyway, since as I mentioned, this living arrangement is only temporary). I have gotten to go to my roommate's show on Saturday night and to meet his interesting physicist friend. On Sunday, I had my first Indian food (like India indian) and it was sooo good! Monday I went and tried to find a job, and became all sorts of overwhelmed. Today I went out and galavanted about the city for a while, and was somewhat adventurous.

I will talk about the place I'm staying at later, when I have some pictures, since this place is SO amazing (there's even a brothel and the place used to be a speak easy apparently...and also someone was bludgeoned with a baseball bat).