Back to Brooklyn!

I found a place and will be moving in May 1st! I am very excited and extremely happy to be done with the Craigslist apartment hunt. :)

Thankfully, I did not end up having to run from any crazy people, which is a plus. I did wind up going to one sketchy revolving door apartment (only one!) and a couple of definite no's, but nothing too crazy. The worst was probably the apartment where I walked up to the right floor and could breathe from all the smoke coming from the apartment. The room for rent barely fit a full size bed with maybe a foot on the side to walk on. The tiny room wouldn't have been such a terrible thing (the rent was really cheap!), but I was there maybe two minutes and left with the back of my throat burning and I continued to cough for 10-15 minutes after leaving. You'd think that the whole smoke-filled apartment situation would be included in the post. Oh well - it was just two+ hours of travel time that I can't get back - whatevs.

My new place is pretty sweet. The room is very large - there's space for a small couch on top of the bed and the closet is huge and has enough shelving to make a dresser unnecessary. There's a washer and dryer in the house (it's basically a townhouse), the living area is huge, there is a balcony, jacuzzi jets in the tubs, all stainless steel appliances, and a video intercom for the entry. Not bad, if I do say so myself. :) I'm looking forward to having summer BBQs.

On the Hunt

I've been doing a lot of searching recently. Primarily apartment searching, although job searching is right up there as well. Apartment hunting sucks.

For those of you who are not familiar with the real estate industry/market/what have you in NYC, let me tell you that it is unlike its counterparts anywhere else in the world (well, at least anywhere I've been, and I've lived in a lot of places). It is, in a word, ridiculous.

First, prices are obscene, but one gets somewhat used to that...or at least resigned to it. But it only gets better from there. In order to get an apartment, you need to come prepared with every single piece of financial documentation you can think of - a credit report and credit score, pay stubs and W-2s, bank statements, and heck, bring your tax returns from the most recent year. Oh, and don't forget a letter of employment and the deed for your first born.

Anyway, also be prepared to be completely ignored or rebuffed if you don't make more than 40 times the monthly rent (so, if you are favored by God and can find an apartment for $1000/month - and don't push it on size here, you'll settle to fit your bed and have a kitchen & bathroom, even if they are combined...it's called a "bitchen" - you have to make $40,000 annually). You also need to have a deposit ready - at least one month's rent for the security and usually first and last month as well - if you don't have to go through a broker and pay a fee...tag on another month's rent if you have to pay the broker's fee. So, to sign for a cheap apartment, you're going to lay down $3,000 - $4,000 up front. Yep. I've already been blown off from even seeing an apartment because my temp work doesn't put me over the pay threshold, even though I could pay for an entire year up front if absolutely necessary (although I really do not want to do that - but I'd put down a few months extra).

All of the above is part of why people in NYC resort to Craigslist. Craigslist apartment hunting is its own little form of hell. You have to weed through hundred of postings that are posted by bait-and-switch agents or are not actual listings, but just sample ads (whatever that's supposed to mean) to find the legitimate postings. Then, you have the fun task of emailing those people and competing with hundreds of others who are responding to all the same posts. Hope your email doesn't get lost in the pile - make sure to add some personal details to stand out. Thankfully, I seem to do pretty well at that and have even gotten responses from posters thanking me for the coherent email.

The next step is setting up times to view the apartments and meet your potential new roommate(s). Also fun. This week, I have 6 apartments scheduled - all during the week after work. I had a 7th, but they cancelled yesterday. Another one of the 6 may cancel as well...I've seen 3 thus far this week (I've seen a number more in the past few weeks, and been blown off by a few as well). Hope that the people you are going to meet aren't crazy, especially if you, like me, are going alone. Be ready to bolt if necessary. Running shoes could be a plus...

On the bright side, I have met some cool people through my search. I've also become more familiar with various neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn. I'm also keeping my juggling/scheduling/organization/communication skills honed through this process, so that's a plus, I guess.

Hopefully, I'll have found my new shared home (at least for awhile) by the weekend. I don't know how much more of this craziness I can take. That, and increasing the number of places I check out increases the likelihood of running into a psychopath, and I'm trying to avoid that.

February

Inspired title for this entry, no? I am not feeling all that inspired recently. I've started to hit the wall...or perhaps doldrums better describes the state of affairs for me right now. Yep, doldrums it is.

Since my plan to be out of the country by the end of February was not coming to fruition, I took a temp job in order to cover expenses and hold me over until I do leave. While it is not the most exciting job and I am bored to tears most of the time (I finish all the projects they give me very quickly, so I've started to purposefully draw out the completion of projects now so that I have something to do with my time - very difficult for me to do, actually), it will be good to add to my resume since it is with a grantmaking organization and I am working with the grants management department. Although I think the process of applying for grants is pretty straight forward and the dos and don'ts are common sense, having actual experience on the grantmaking side is often a desired bonus qualification for many NGOs, so this will give me a bit of that. Another bonus of this temp job is that I am able to learn about more small NGOs around the world - ones that I wouldn't necessarily have found online - so it gives me more places to look for volunteer or paid positions. Otherwise, I'm still on the lookout for positions abroad (of course) and am really hoping I land an interview soon.

I've been playing football on the weekends with a group of friends in Brooklyn to keep sane - it is so much fun! It is a really good group of people and we always have a blast. For some reason, we almost always seem to end up with an odd number of players, so we wind up recruiting random people from the park - we've added a couple great regular players that way, which is also cool. Fun times. :)

Yeah, that's all I've got right now...Happy Leap Day/Year!

Bit by Bit

January...nothing new on the job front to report. I've connected with more people and have my resume out around the world now, but haven't had any nibbles yet. It has been cool corresponding with people working in various countries and learning their stories - different paths, different passions, and different reasons to do the work they are doing, but all connected in their work. There are some incredible people out there. :)

It's hard to believe it's 2012 (and almost February!). Time has flown - I'm still hoping to be abroad by the end of February, but I'm starting to wonder if that will happen. It may be time to set a backup plan. Either way, I'm still positive that things will work out. Any advice, leads, good thoughts, prayers, etc. are most welcome!

On a completely separate note, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close are both excellent movies - I highly recommend them. Also, I'm terribly bummed that the Packers lost their playoff game against the Giants (even though I am happy for my uncle and cousin, who are thrilled that the Giants are in the Super Bowl). 

A Single Step

My latest journey has started and I am now making a point of posting at least once a month to keep people updated on where my journey is taking me. This is my December post, for those of you who are keeping track. :) I'm getting it in just under the wire.

I'm really glad that I've taken the first step in this journey and I am very much looking forward to seeing where this path takes me. There isn't much to report at the moment - I've been applying for some positions abroad and have revamped my resume (a couple of times). I have also been working to expand my network. No bites as of yet, but I have received some great bits of advice.

The one development has been my narrowing down my focus. I have decided that I definitely want to work in Gender Based Violence (GBV). This has always been something I have been interested in and I have worked within that area, but until recently I just wanted to get into the international aid field. Now I am looking specifically for positions working in GBV. My long-term goal is to work in GBV in the Middle East; however, I want to gain experience and maturity elsewhere before heading to that area of the world. Working in GBV in the Middle East will be a very intense and difficult experience and I think it best - for me and for the work that I will do - if I have more experience within GBV in an international capacity before I work in that region. Right now I am looking for positions in Africa and SE Asia.

I'll add another update in the new year - now I'm off to have some fun with friends. Happy New Year, everyone!

Haiti Pictures!

So, I finally figured out how to embed a slideshow with all of my photos in a post!  (It took me long enough...)

There are simply too many photos to post them all regularly in my entries, so I wanted to do it this way.  These photos span my month in Haiti - from my arrival and Hurricane Tomas and the flooding it caused to my departure and ride to the airport (I hadn't taken many photos and decided I had better document the amount of rubble still left as well as the beauty of Haiti since I had promised people I would take pictures, so there are a lot of shots from the car on the way to Port-au-Prince.)

Thanksgiving and Goodbyes

I leave today.  All my goodbyes have been said - it was really hard to watch as people left to go to their work sites, but it's great to know that the work continues. My shuttle to the airportis in 40 minutes.  The plan was to take public transportation to the airport, but that was squashed by All Hands' new security measures put in place for the elections tomorrow.  Port Au Prince is pretty volatile right now, so we are only allowed to go there by private transport and only for the airport for the next week.  My timing is pretty lousy - if I had left yesterday I would have been able to take the bus and then negotiate for a taxi from the bus station to the airport.  Maybe next time...

This week has been interesting and fun.  We were to have completed the foundation on school 6, but we encountered some problems with the cement mixers - that's right, not just one, but two mixers that died on us and one that never showed up at the site - so the foundation will hopefully be completed Monday or Tuesday.  I'm sad that I'm not able to be there to complete it, but I'm glad that I was able to work on it for a time.  Thursday was spent in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 140 people. :)  We invited all our local volunteers, who were able to bring 2 guests, and some of our neighbors.  It was amazing.  We had turkey (8 of them and 2 in the stuffing), cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing (meat and vegetarian), green bean casserole, corn bread, gravy, pumpkin pie, croissants (with chocolate or coconut filling), and some Haitian dishes - rice and beans, vegetable mash, a pasta salad, spicy beet salad, and popcorn.  We had leftovers as well, so they were eaten for breakfast and lunch yesterday.  It was a fabulous Thanksgiving.


I am really sad to go.  I have met some incredible people here and made some wonderful friends.  There is still so much to do as well.  I'm preparing myself for the cold that I will encounter when I get back home - I think it will be a bit of a shock.  This has been an extraordinary month and I am so grateful for all of the support that I received from family, friends, coworkers, and even some complete strangers that made this trip possible for me.  I cannot express my thanks enough.