Keep Crankin Em Out

This - three posts in an hour - is definitely not going to be the norm. I'm just feeling the need to bring blog up to date on life.

So, when we last left our protagonist, he/I was starting a search for something completely mysterious (and possibly even non-existent). But, he still started.

Skipping the probably necessary back-story to this (maybe I'll have a "flashback" post at some point), the primary vehicle for my search is/will be the pursuit of a Masters Degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (hereafter SAIS).

After packing up my way-too-much stuff into a Durango, I drove (with my dad - thanks again dad!) from New York City down to Washington, DC to begin the program. Side note - moving sucks. And second side note - f**k you hotel vending machine, I didn't want mountain dew when I pressed the pepsi button, and I didn't want mountain dew when I pressed the water button. Sorry. Random thoughts are going to be a regular occurrence here.

So I get down to DC and move into my one-month sublet so I can take one class - Intermediate Microeconomics - and get slowly re-acclimated (in my head that's being pronounced ack-lime-ated for some reason) to the school lifestyle.

On the whole, I'd have to give the month in DC a 6 out of 10. The relatively low score is mostly due to the fact that it there was never any sense of permanence. It was very clear that it was only a month, and then I would be moving to Italy where the full program would actually begin. As a result, I made a couple potentially really good friends that I now won't see for a year, which for an introvert like myself, really sucks.

Still, the flipside of that coin is that I did get myself to be more social than is my norm, which was/is one of my major goals for the coming years.

Side note - I don't think extroverts realize how difficult/how much energy it takes for some of us introverts to be regularly social. It's exhausting. But dammit, I'm going to try.

Back to the story, I went out dancing nearly 3-4 times a week because I've found that for whatever reason, I'm much more comfortable being out when there's an activity involved that's not just drinking. Dance is fun and a useful skill, and something I feel ok just showing up to by myself, so that became my main social activity.

Side note - I also think I got hit on (at a salsa dance) for what might have been the first time in my life (or maybe it wasn't and I'm just incredibly dense). It was simultaneously flattering and anxiety filled as suddenly there became another pressure-filled level to the conversation. As someone who has only ever been in one (only recently ended) real relationship (that was preceded by three plus years of friendship), the whole idea of "dating" is terrifying.

Ok - I ran out of steam. Month in DC is now to be continued. And sheesh, I apparently love (parenthetical) statements.