A "Goodbye" to My Last Few Days of Unemployment

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in the capital city.

For one, it’s been HOT.  And when I say hot, I mean over sixty percent humidity and near one hundred degree temperatures each day, several days having set records for heat dating back to the early 1900’s.  And while I’m used to midwest humidity, it’s nothing in comparison to the show DC’s been putting on. As a local reminded me, DC was built on a swamp.

I guess I should've been expecting this...

Outside of surviving the heat, I’ve still managed to get in a fair amount of exploration around the city.  I’ve visited quite a few different museums including the National Gallery of Art, Natural History Museum, Air and Space Museum, and the National Botanical Garden, all of which are a must-see for anyone visiting (and free), especially the National Air and Space Museum for those with small children.

Yet I think the part of exploring I’ve enjoyed most is seeing parts of the city that are often overlooked when touring - the parts of DC that make it the diverse city it really is.  U-street, the historically African American-influenced area of town, Yards Park, Chinatown and many more are some of the neatest places to visit. Catch them at the right time and you may even just stumble upon a small festival or concert.  A lot of these little neighborhoods have their own character to them and their own history, some having only been developed in the past ten years into areas of town visitors would actually want to travel to instead of being areas where they’d feel unsafe as some had once been.

But if I were to suggest any place outside of the monuments and museums to tour when in our nation’s capital, without question Georgetown tops that list.  Outside of being one of the more beautiful towns I’ve ever visited with its cobblestone streets and historically-preserved homes, the shops offer enough entertainment to fill a day.  Several times I stumbled across stores that I would’ve never entered otherwise simply because the name on the front didn’t give away their contents inside. And while my day in Georgetown proved to be just as hot as every other day has been, it was filled with enough to make me want to go back on my next day off.

Outside of exploring, I’ve also managed to find a church here on the Hill that I’ve been attending the past few weeks.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt more welcome at a church before. Beginning the service the very first Sunday I attended was a young pastor who stood in front of the entire congregation and said, “No matter who you are, your race or ethnicity, where you come from, who you love or what your background is, all are welcome here.”  

Such a message of inclusion is what church is meant to be.

I knew then I was taking a step in the right direction and that I was meant to be there.

Since that Sunday, I met with Pastor Alisa for coffee to talk about Methodism and what their church believes in.  After hearing that I would have this week off from work, she somehow roped me into helping out with their vacation Bible school that started on Sunday evening and ended yesterday.  When I’ve talked to some of the other adults helping out and the inevitable question comes up of when I moved here - to which I respond a mere three weeks ago - they marvel at how I’m already helping out with the church and getting involved.

I blame Pastor Alisa’s good persuasion skills.

But all kidding aside, I’ve absolutely loved helping out.  The kids - all forty-nine of them - are absolute gems who bring a smile to my face with their own goofy smiles and continual laughter.  I’ve also managed to forge a few relationships with some of the adults.

Baby steps.

Yet with all of this fun I’ve been having, I’ve slowly come to the realization that living on my own in a new city isn’t impossible. Is it hard? Sure. Impossible? No.  For one I’ve absolutely loved living on my own, something I hadn’t been entirely confident about when moving here.  I’ve managed to finish a few books, have cooked for myself most nights (even having made some homemade chocolate chip cookies which my upstairs neighbors said were delicious *hair flip*), and have started running on a daily basis again.

Having found a church and beginning to find a few friendly faces in a sea of a million others who may prove to be good friends in the future is also comforting.  And while it takes a fair amount of awkward first conversations and interactions, it all starts with that first step in being brave enough to step out of your comfort zone to meet new people.  Slowly but surely I’m pushing the border of that zone out a little further each day.

Brings to mind the old victorious mantra, “look Ma, no hands!”

The next big “to-do” on my agenda is starting work next week.  And while I’m excited to start and to get my name badge with “Riley Rosengarten, RN” emblazoned across it, it’s still a bit nerve-wracking to be starting my first nursing position - a position that just so happens to be in the only level I trauma center in the District with a daily patient population averaging in the four-hundreds.  And while there will be plenty of hard days and struggles I’m sure, four years of hard work have led up to this point.

And while I may be a tad bit hesitant, I know I’m ready.

What’s life without a little adventure?