Commencement, Arabic, Texas, and that one time at the ER

I entered the middle of three elevators in my new building, the Dobie Center, across the street from the University of Texas at Austin campus. On the wall next to the buttons was a sign that said, "Please only Press ODD floor numbers and walk up or down to your assigned floor. Thank you!"

People make the strangest of requests. Clearly I will be ignoring that request.

A little bit of exploration of Austin, Texas has occurred in the last 24 hours, but not much. I'm looking forward to exploring the weirdness of "the Weird City"-- The Cathedral of Junk, the restaurants, the bars, the music scene, etc.

It's hot here in Texas. The kind of hot where when you walk outside the air around you consumes your body as you walk through it, you are walking through a mass of something a mass of heat that sticks to you. Walking 2 miles across town today, I was consumed by the heat around me it encompassed my whole body in the way that makes one feel faint. Baruch Hashem I came upon a small mexican man on a corner with a kiosk selling beverages. I was so thankful for his presence. It was as if G-d had put my own personal Miriam on the corner of the street in Austin, Texas.

For some reason I felt comforted.

Commencement. I suppose my life post-graduation has in fact commenced. I have moved on from my life in Florida, my life in Sarasota, and have relocated to Austin, Texas. For now that is. I guess it's really time for me to figure out what's next. Following Austin, that is.

I am quite rusty on my Arabic. I'm going to have to work really hard to stay in intermediate Arabic, but I have faith in myself that I can do it. Something about moving away from New College of Florida and all of its stressful associations has allowed me to feel rejuvenated and ready for what the world, for what this Arabic program has to offer, for what is to come next. I'm just excited. I feel ready.

I feel nostalgic and miss my friends, but we are all moving on to bigger and better things. Inshallah we will all stay close.

Thanks to Leila, I have come to enjoy the NPR show radiolab. It was fantastic listening to the episode about the past, about people stumbling upon things from the past. "Detective Stories," it was called. It was beautiful. These stories about exploring garbage mounds in New York and Egypt were really inspiring. Listening to the story about a man finding hundreds of letters on the side of the highway 101 in California, and this journey exploring the letters and their past was really moving.

I guess exploration of the past is pertinent to my current position. At this place between college and career, I'm finding myself a bit lost and holding on the past and reminiscence as sources of comfort.