Friday, September 30th, the day Crystal was born!
Ahhh, to be 28 years old and in the prime of my life. I started my birthday by jogging in my new little neighborhood, called Hampden. It’s right next to Johns Hopkins University’s main campus as well as a few parks, so it’s perfect for jogging. My jog started out nice but it didn’t last long, because I had (have had) so much stress and tension in my shoulder muscles and neck, and the sun was hurting my head so badly (you know that really sensitive part right behind your eyes?) that I felt super nauseous and needed to hold onto a lamppost to avoid falling over. My head was throbbing. I really need to go to yoga class again soon and find some seriously large amounts of inner peace.
Later in historic Fells Point district of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, I met my Dad’s friend Jimmy (another displaced New Orleans-ian) for Chinese food. My Dad must have called him in advance, because he showed up with a big bouquet of birthday flowers. We ate egg rolls and commiserated about how sad it is to be living in a strange town without your family and depending on strangers all the time. He told me that if I go to register with the local Red Cross, I can get food stamps and a doctor exam. I’ve gotta put that one on my list!
That night, some wonderful old Peace Corps friends (Hannah and Edith) took me out to dinner at Holy Frijoles, a Mexican restaurant and bar near my new place in Hampden. It was fantastic! We were planning to go dancing afterward but had so much fun talking that we just moved to another bar — Dizzy Issie’s – afterward.
Saturday, October 1
Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 AM to meet Carly so we could make our way downtown and walk in the Race for the Cure. We were part of a team organized by the school where she teaches, called St. Paul’s School for Girls. One of the teachers has an 8-year-old son named Antonio. He is the cutest little boy (with curly black hair and long eyelashes) and one of the smartest and most charming I have ever met. As soon as he figured out that I like Starship Troopers and playing video games, we became best friends. He kept asking his mom if I could come over and help him with his Lego project. Our team walked 5K in a little over an hour – a VERY leisurely pace! It was a beautiful day.
That night, Carly took me out to a really awesome seafood restaurant that was, yes, actually called The Crackpot. We ate half a pound of shrimp and six crabs, Maryland style. I was a novice, so I ended up covered in flecks of crab and Old Bay seasoning. We drank “Natty Bo” from cans and a pitcher of Yuengling. Afterward, we polished off a Chocolate Oreo Bash and a piece of Cherry Pie a al Mode! Can you say blissful stomachache?
Last night I could barely sleep because my roommates Wendy and Keith were out of town, and I was terrified of being alone in the creaky old house. Me afraid, can you imagine?? They had taken the dog with them on their trip to Pennsylvania, so I was really, truly alone in their huge house.
They had also showed me how to use their fancy security system. Now, that SHOULD have made me feel better, but it actually made me more afraid: the gosh-darned security system TALKS TO YOU. Yes, I’m totally serious. You can push the “Arm” button, and it will say, in a very ominous voice, “Doors and Windows: Secure”. Yikes. If you turn on the motion sensor feature (motion sensors are all over the house), it will tell you “Warning. You are not authorized. You must leave now” or something like that. It reminds me of those horror movies where the security system actually works against you – you know, the ones that TRAP YOU INSIDE THE HOUSE WITH THE KILLER. I began to hear all kinds of odd noises coming from the 1st and 2nd floors. I didn’t sleep until I was finally so exhausted that I could no longer grip my pillow in fear.
Today
This morning I did my grocery shopping (Baltimore has a Trader Joe’s!!) and got some gas. Gas costs $3.11 here. (Down from $3.58 a couple weeks ago.) Then Carly and I went to see a matinee of Serenity, the new sci-fi movie. The movie is about a group of heroic space travelers who outsmart their corrupt galactic government (the Alliance) to uncover the secret of the “Reevers”, which are scary evil monsters that attack you out of rage and then EAT YOUR FACE. Thank goodness my roommates and the dog are back from Pennsylvania! There is no way I’d sleep tonight. Reevers would surely know how to outsmart a security system.
