rain and food stamps

I realize that the title of this blog post sounds like an emo poem, but, I assure you, it is not. Rain and food stamps = the two biggest things I have to talk about! First, food stamps.

I have been accepted as a corps member for City Year Washington, DC. As you'll recall from a previous post, I was slightly nervous that I wasn't going to make it. I should have remembered how awesome I am, though, because I totally got in. Starting in mid-August I will be dedicating myself to full-time service (probably mostly in DC public schools).

I'm really excited for this experience even though I've heard it can be pretty tough. I have talked a big game in the past few years about how committed I am to public service, etc. and now I have the opportunity to back that up.

Where do the food stamps come in? Well, I'm going to be making an alarmingly small amount of money next year and will most likely get food stamps so I can buy groceries. It's a glamorous life, I know. Hopefully this will teach me to be even more creative with meals/cooking. Steph and I are going to look for an apartment in DC once we get back from our west coast adventure. This brings me to...

Rain. We're in Seattle! We're staying with our friend, Hill, in a house in Wallingford (which is basically like one of the communities in Seattle... think like kind of how Boston has Mission Hill/Allston/etc.) Seattle is really fucking cool because there is a downtown area with big buildings and urban life, but then a lot of Seattle (including where Hill lives) feels like a small beach town and is mostly blocks and blocks of cute little houses.

Hill shares the house with six other roommates, so there is always someone coming or going. There are also two dogs, Olive and Mika, and I love them already. They both kind of remind me of Sadie, my brother and Susanna's dog. Olive comes up on our bed (and by bed, I mean pull-out couch) in the morning and cuddles.

No one exaggerates about Seattle's rain. It has rained, at least for a little bit, every day we've been here so far. I don't really mind it though, there is almost no humidity. The temperature is on the chilly side, though. I need to remember to bring a hoodie with me even if it is super beautiful out when we leave for the day.

So far we have explored: gas works park, Wallingford/Fremont (two cool communities near each other), Pike Place Market (where they throw the fish!), the original Starbucks, Seattle Public Library (which I am in love with) and the Columbia Tower (tallest building in Seattle). Main thing I have left on my list to check out: Real World Seattle house. I still can't believe he slapped Irene.

We don't have to the connector for Steph's camera so I'm not sure how many pictures I'll be posting. My camera takes big RAW files, so I'm not sure if I can get those on here. I will investigate further.