If Y'all Wanna Party Like We Do

So Spring Break 2K9 has finally drawn to a close. While I didn't get to go to Canada, I did do quite a lot of traveling anyway - mostly between Richmond and DC, but still. Let's make a short, cliche-ridden list of things collegians are supposed to do that I succeeded in doing over the break:

1. Get absolutely shitfaced most/all nights: check, 8/10 nights.

2. Met people I will Facebook but do not remember meeting: check (read: half of my new friends as of this week).

3. Engaged in at least two instances of drunken sex that seemed to be a brilliant idea at the time but ended up being the worst decision(s) ever: check checkity check (just...check).

4. Slept until between 2 and 4pm most days, only to be awake (and usually drinking) until 6 or 7am.

5. Walked (read: staggered) through no less than 3 of the most dangerous 'hoods in DC at or after 3am.

6. [This one is DC-specific] Got drunk laying in Dupont staring at the stars with an aforementioned Facebook friend I don't remember meeting, only allowing the occasional socioeconomics discussion with a random European backpacker to interrupt.

7. Find myself absolutely petrified at the thought of returning to Richmond later tonight and having to re-join the real world, complete with not excessive drinking and sleeping until the early afternoon.

Hope everyone else's breaks were as fun and/or more productive than mine. Until next time!

Ship Up, Ship Out

I've hit a point in my life at which I no longer feel comfortable in either places I call home. The people, the places, the cities themselves no longer feel like places I belong. Of course, ideally, I would pick up and move; I'd ask for a relocation from my job, or I'd up and find a new one. But university doesn't allow that, so what's a girl to do?

Well, I'm going to do what I think is likely the next best thing. I'm shipping up, and shipping out. This coming week is spring break, and while most of my classmates and friends are going to various tropical islands or exotic locales, I think I just need some time to myself - but somewhere new.

An old friend suggested I visit her up in Ontario. It seemed silly at the time, but the drive is only slightly longer than the drive to Boston used to be. What better place to find my own peace than with people who want me around in a place I've definitely never had the opportunity to explore.

I can keep myself busy while keeping myself unattached. I can take as much time to myself as I need (9 hours in a car each way will be the best for that, of course) and I can find that place in which I feel good in my own skin. And around other people.

When I come back, there will be no one waiting for me. Though this should feel worse than it does...it doesn't. And I don't particularly mind right now. As I cross the border coming home, I will surely feel a sense of dread looming, growing larger with every state further south I get. But the true test of my own capacity to find my footing and bring it all back will be the return to Richmond itself.

So here's to break. Tonight, we drink; tomorrow, I do laundry at my parents' place and grab my passport. Monday, I set out for some much-needed closure from the only person who matters.