After two days of vague, one-line posts, I think it's high time I write an update on what's going on in my life. I am back in Charlottesville subletting an apartment not far from the university. Thankfully, it's furnished, so I didn't have much to do in the way of moving in. But yesterday was a huge headache; I arrived at the airport around 10:30 AM coming fresh off a red-eye from Los Angeles (and then the shortest flight I've ever been on - 15 minutes, maybe, from Dulles to Cville). Emily drove me to my apartment, where I waited for the key-check exchange. This happened without much ceremony or difficulty. However, things came to a crashing halt about five minutes after my key-provider left, when I figured out I couldn't open the front door. Emily, being the wonderful, kind, and obliging person that she is, let me stay at her place for a couple of hours to rest while I tried to resolve the key situation. Finally, after a helpful call to the actual apartment renter in NoVa, I discovered I could get in through the back door. Such utter relief!
I dropped my things off in the bedroom and went to Lemongrass to reunite with Pooja, which proved to be quite a successful outing, not least because I got to eat for the first time since my veggie quiche at Dulles about twelve hours earlier. Then I went to Annie's new place and watched my first ever James Bond movie, Goldfinger, with Annie, Emily, and Jacqui. I found it entertaining in the sense that it's nearly fifty years old, so it's hilarious ("Are they going to have a literal roll in the hay?!"), and young Sean Connery was attractive, so he wasn't bad to watch for a couple of hours. Then Emily me drove to my apartment for the fourth time that day, and I tried to get used to my new surroundings and go to sleep. This was more difficult than you might think; my apartment has no air conditioning (it was about 100 degrees yesterday, which means a lot more in Virginia than it does in El Centro) and there was a lightning storm outside. Once I did get to sleep, however, I slept really well.
Today I unpacked everything, was inexplicably given a bottle of water by a kind stranger who addressed me as "sweetheart," spent a few hours at work, and went grocery shopping with Pooja. Being an adult is expensive! At least I won't have to buy this much next time I go shopping; I stocked up on soup, pasta, and beans, and once I get sofrito from my mother and some rice shortly afterward, I should be set for my summer staples. Right now I'm enjoying a movie on television that I already own (Clueless) and looking forward to eating fresh fruit for breakfast. First day working with Noah tomorrow! Good night, all!
