I'm bored...story of my new life

I have nothing better to do so I guess I'll update this thing. I hate writing blogs.

Anyway, no job as of yet. And the only openings are at the coal mines for things like "Underground coal miner" and scary things like that which I am NOT about to do (even though they get paid something like $24/hr). When there are regular job openings, everyone within a 60 mile radius applies and there's always someone who has a better connection than you. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA with my B.A. dammit!!!! How can you not hire me for a position that only requires a GED?!?!? Not to mention I'm totally charming and lovable...right?

Whatev, I'm in the process of getting my Colorado certification to be a substitute teacher. That may take 10 more weeks to process, and then I can apply to the county. This takes forever! But it's not like I have anything else going for me so I might as well do it. Plus, I think subbing could be at least mildly enjoyable with decent pay, and taking vacation days won't be an issue.

Besides the job search my life is a complete waste of time at the moment. I've been exercising and cleaning like a madwoman, 5 days a week. That's all I have in this town. My highlights of the day include checking our mailbox (which is usually empty, but sometimes not!), and having lunch with Camilo for a measly 30 minutes. Weekends are not much better but at least then I have some company.

I am SO incredibly excited for my brother's wedding in 2 weeks. I'll get to see the WHOLE family in Michigan (a rare treat). Then my parents should be coming here with the rest of my stuff. I miss my couch!! After that I don't think I'll have anything to look forward to until December when we should be going to Bolivia for Christmas. Yay! I'm super excited for that but it will be a little sad to miss my family's Christmas for the first time ever. Ah well...

Ok, I'm done :)

Some good things

Here's a little update for you. As far as internet goes, this town sucks. Some people came out to install it today only to let me know that it wouldn't be possible because there are too many tall trees around our apartment to receive the satellite signal. Damn it!! So now we have to go with this other company to get DSL but they also force you to get a land line phone as well for additional $30/mo. F-you internet companies!!!

Other than that it was a lovely week. We went rafting down the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs, sat in actual hot springs along the river, and saw a family of 3 mountain lions on the way home. Absolutely amazing!! Camilo's company (SEI) and his co-workers are all turning out to be fantastic so that's good. The weather is slightly less hot this week, and this weekend we will consider purchasing a real bed. Hooray!!! No more air mattress!!!

And now I'm being kicked out of the library because it's closing. I hate internet companies!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have arrived.

Alright, quick update. I have to use the internet at the library because we've yet to figure out where to go to actually get internet at our apartment. My cell phone barely works here so don't bother calling. I'm pretty much dead to the world right now.

Anyway, Paonia is chock full of real hippies, poser rastafarians, mexican immigrants, and organic "farmers" (although I suppose they could be counted in with the hippies). It's super hot and sunny here everyday. Occasionally it will sprinkle for 5 minutes and then be hot and sunny again. The town is small and strange. Yesterday they had the World Cup Final playing at the local movie theater for free so we were able to watch that with a strange mix of people and their children. This town is also full of very small children.

I'm not sure what to think of this place yet. The locals seem eager to meet us and very friendly. People keep telling us that we'll love it here and that's it's an amazing place to live. I think they have a different perspective and a different way of life than us though... Well, at least this place is cheerful. I just need to find some new hobbies.

Change in Plans!!

Yes, Camilo got an official job offer today with Solar Energy International in Paonia, Colorado. We are officially moving to the Wild West in about 3 weeks which doesn't leave much time for finding a place to live, figuring out how to get our stuff there, etc. Holy wow! I love spontaneous major life changes.

What am I going to be doing in that podunk little town you may be wondering? Well, I'm not exactly sure but hopefully it will involve making money in an at least somewhat pleasant manner. The big question of the day is, can my little Pontiac Vibe pull a smallish (but still 850 lb when empty) UHaul trailer through the Rocky Mountains? I don't know. And I'm not sure I want to try and find out. So I have no idea how we're going to get our stuff there beyond what can be crammed into my vehicle. We may live with nothing but my clothes & shoes, kitchen stuff, and maybe a few things for Camilo :) Okay, okay...maybe I could limit the number of shoes I take with me to fit his stuff in. But other than that I'm afraid we won't have room. So no furniture I guess. We'll have to buy a bed anyway but perhaps my gracious parents will bring stuff out in their ginormous white van eventually? I don't know. I guess we'll live like hippies for a few months without any possessions. We'll totally fit in there! Awesome-o.

I don't feel like titles.

Today it got up to 92 degrees here. Crazy warm! This has been the most unusual spring/summer. It feels normal! I didn't even get a snow storm in April, and May has been totally gorgeous. I had to break out my hot weather clothing that's been wasting away in the bottom of my drawer for two years. It's not nearly as fun though without anyone here to enjoy it with me. Damn it boyfriend! Why do you have to be in Colorado when we actually have summer weather?

Well, the good/interesting news of Camilo being out there is that he has a potential job offer from the Solar Energy International place in Paonia, CO. Which is amazing! They told him to apply because they love him so much. At first when he told me I was totally disappointed about not moving to Dayton. I mean, yes, I kind of hate Ohio but I'd really pumped myself up about all the positive aspects of moving there like proximity to family (relative to here anyway), less snow, more job opportunities, potential for grad school, nearby dance companies and studios...all kinds of stuff. So when I heard that we may have to move to a town that's smaller and more isolated sounding than Houghton, well...I wasn't exactly overcome with joy. I'm getting used to the idea though. It would be really great for Camilo, and I will figure out something to do. It would probably only be for a year anyway, and it looks like a very beautiful, adventurous kind of place. I'll feel like I'm in the Wild West!

Life with my Bolivian is unpredictable to say the least, and I kind of love that, even though it often drives me insane :)

Blue Peeps?!?!

The weather has been so gorgeous here. Puts me in a good mood and makes all the job searching seem really unimportant for the time being. Yesterday as I was out on the patio, enjoying the sunshine, something shiny caught my (as shiny objects often do). It was a blue peep, sugar glistening in the sun (yes, those disgusting little marshmallow chicks you get for Easter). My first thought was "Wow, I didn't know they made blue peeps." My second thought was "Why in hell is there a blue peep on my patio?" Upon further inspection of the surrounding area, I found an additional 8 peeps lounging around on my patio, in the yard, and next to the back door. Where did they come from? I have no idea. I'm inclined to think that our neighbors found it easier to throw their uneaten peeps into our backyard rather than the trash. I have a suspicion that they called the cops on one of our previous parties so why not throw their trash in our yard too?

In other news, one of my best friends, Kaye, is leaving to study abroad in Jordan for the summer. I know she reads this so Kaye, darling, I love you and I wish you the absolute most amazing time while you're there. I miss you so much already!

Meanwhile Camilo has also abandoned me for two weeks for a photovoltaics workshop in Colorado and I'm stuck here in Houghton alone, bored out of my mind, with no one to play with. Thankfully I still have work to keep me somewhat occupied, and the Canterbury House (which I'll actually be getting paid for now!). Today I met with three of my students: Neila from Italy, Sahar from Iran, and Lina from Colombia. They're all really sweet girls and speak English pretty well already so it's more fun than work to help them out with conversation skills. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with a new student, Dimh(?), from Ukraine and I'm a bit worried about that. His English is probably intermediate which is fine but I think he actually has some mental issues. I'm not sure what's wrong with him exactly but he picked me as his coach because I'm a "pretty girl." Yes, a little creepy. I've never dealt with anyone like this before so we'll see how it goes.

The Joys of Job Searching

Alright, I've decided to start blogging again. I'm not doing anything particularly exciting at this point in my life but, I don't know, it's something to do. And what better place to voice my complaints about the world than to random people on the internet?

Anyway, at this point in my life I'm a college graduate with a BA in Communication and Culture Studies. What does that get me? Apparently a minimum wage job at the front desk of the Ramada. Not quite what I had envisioned for my future. However, living in Michigan (and Houghton, MI at that) I suppose I'm lucky to even have a job. Hopefully mine and my boyfriend's move to Dayton, Ohio this summer will bring me some new opportunities. What I would really love is to find a job at a university or somewhere, working with international and/or study abroad students. I found some jobs about a month ago that would have been great but a couple of weeks later when I went to apply for them, they were already gone. Needless to say I was sorely disappointed.

Since then I've been sifting through the endless search results of what comes up when I type in "international programs." It's kind of ridiculous how many companies unnecessarily add the word international to their name. Out of those results, it's extremely rare that I actually find what I'm looking for. Yesterday I finally found the type of job I want, only to discover that it was at an evangelical community college (who knew those even existed?), and all of their staff had to be "born again Christians." Furthermore, in addition to the regular application and resume, you also had to submit a letter of reference from a pastor, and a copy of the doctrine of the church you currently attend. I briefly thought about applying anyway and trying to explain that I really was a good person, despite my absence of faith, but then I realized that I don't really want to work in a place where I would most likely be forced to attend church, and where my colleagues would alternate between trying to "save" me and telling me that I'm going straight to hell. No thanks.

Today I happened across a position called Administrative Assistant/Receptionist. I could totally do that! In fact, I think I'm overly qualified to do such work. As I read through the requirements I found "Must have strong work ethic, sense of urgency and a high energy level." This I read as I sat at work, head resting sideways on top of my desk, looking like I was either mostly dead or really hung over (but I was mostly just really tired and starving). Kind of made me smile anyway.