I’ve now lived in Arizona for over a month. Was it everything I was expecting it to be? No. Of course not. Like many people, I had built this perfect picture in my head of how my move would go, and reality was a sharp slap in the face. I had pictured showing up in Arizona, having instant friends, entering a new school and quickly becoming acclimatized, and settling into a new and wonderful home swiftly. Instead nothing feels like it’s going right.
My new state
My home has been a constant to-do list. Always living in apartments, I have never had to deal with all the trouble a house brings before. When I moved in, my house was missing a few important things, like a refrigerator. After the new appliances showed up, I was excited to move into my new home, only to find that I had no hot water. It took 2 maintenance guys 3 visits, not to mention a formal complaint for inappropriate behavior- long story, and 3 weeks to finally get my hot water working. I don’t have time to “settle” because I moved into my house the weekend before I started teaching, and all my energy is going to that. So currently, I have a couch, two book shelves, a desk, and a bed. The rest will come, but it will also take time. I do think that by the end of the month I will have a roommate, and although I haven’t lived with anyone for 3 years, I’m actually really looking forward to have someone else around to talk to and go shopping with.
My bedroom
Work has been a constant challenge. I don’t necessarily mean this in a bad way, but it has taken a lot of adjustments. Life in the desert is not the same as life on the beach, even if both places have a lot of sand. The culture here is completely different from that of my small private school. My students are facing life issues that they should be protected from. Although I had several students in the past who had survived true trauma and struggles, most of my students were lucky to have loving parents who were supportive and concerned about their education. With more students comes more diverse life stories. I’ve found this job to include weekly, and sometimes daily, heartbreak as I find out more and more about what my students have survived or are surviving. On top of dealing with their lives, I’m trying to teach two new classes, neither of which align to anything I’ve taught before. In essence, I’ve become a first-year teacher all over again. It’s mentally draining and physically exhausting. I’ve forgotten how difficult it is to create a course or just become comfortable with a new course.
With work taking over my life, I don’t feel like I really have time for a social life. Joli and Dustin have been amazing. Not only did they let me live on their couch for over a week, but I’ve been invited over for dinner several times and Joli has done what she can to introduce me to some of her friends. I’ve had the chance to get to know her kids a little better too. I used to babysit Laila occasionally before her first birthday, but after Joli and Dustin moved out west, I rarely saw them. Now I love walking into Joli’s house to get hugs from Laila and Kenadi and hearing Kenadi excitedly announce my arrival. Dustin Jr., more commonly known as “handsome” is such a cutie too. It’s been nice having them out here to lean on…a lot. I couldn’t have done this without Joli and Dustin’s help, and I will have to work hard to come close to repaying them for all their aid and support.
"little D"
As far as other friends go, I’m lucky to be part of a pretty great department. The people in my English department are funny, kind, and witty. I miss Carolyn and Stephanie a lot, but I’m loving having an actual department. The only downside to my department is that we don’t all live in the same area, and we are by far the most involved department in the school- or at least it feels that way. Happy hours on Fridays are a good time though, and I’m hoping to continue to get to know my co-workers. Joli has also introduced me to several of her friends. Everyone has been really nice, but it’s overwhelming meeting so many new people at once, and I have a hard time keeping track of who is who. I also feel a little out-of-the-loop sometimes because most of Joli’s friends are married and have kids: two things I cannot relate to. Add to that the fact that I’ve been so tired lately that all I want to do is sleep, and as you can imagine, my social life is DOA.
My goodbye party
I miss Michigan all the time. I miss having lunch everyday with Laura, and running across the hall to talk/complain to Carolyn. I miss Jeri having coffee in the office and my bosses knowing me. Again, these were all things that took time to build, and I’m sure I will build them in my new life too, I’m just impatient and want things to be steady and comfortable as quickly as possible, but as the song goes, “you can’t always get what you want”.
Finding Direction 