Beginnings

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Beginning anything can be a daunting task, but when everything is new, life takes on a different perspective. New home, new job, new people, new town, new everything. Same old me! I can't say that things were easy my first month here. But if it had not been for Jana, things could have been so much worse.

Home:
I lived with Jana and her son, Christian, for the first month of my time here in Maryland. I had not been successful in my search for a place to live prior to my journey east. So, Jana, the sister of a friend of mine in Houston, volunteered to let me live in her fully furnished basement for free. (It does not get any better then that.) It was a great place to stay and the Blakes could not have been more hospitable, but it was an hour drive to work and I could not stay there forever.






So, I set out trying to find an affordable, safe place to live. Not an easy task in Baltimore. Though it may be less expensive than DC and NY, it is definitely not cheaper than Texas. As for safe, is that really possible in the 2nd most violent city in the US? Living on my own was not exactly an option with those two as the most important features of my new domicile. Thus, I finally settled for answering "room for rent" adds on Craig's list. It is kind of like pot luck in college, but you get to interview them first. I moved into one of Baltimore's familiar row houses with Berkeley, a first-time home owner and not-for-profit grant writer, and Danny, a gay, traveling, pediatric nurse. Both are very nice, but I chose this place as I did not have to sign a lease. I am hoping to make friends here and move in with a new friend looking for a roommate. I will wait for the Lord's leading in this. As for safe, I guess I am as safe as it gets for inner-city Baltimore. I just heard gun shots outside my house this evening, but as long as they are not directed at me, I guess I am safe.







Job:
Let's just put it this way; I get nervous every time I pick up a chart, wondering, am I going to be able to take care of this patient, or will I kill them trying? ER is quite a difficult job with so much to learn. People tell me it gets easier, and I am counting on that. All I need is experience. Great! That is why I am here. My co-workers are wonderful and the attendings are patient with me. Hopefully, I will have some great patient stories to tell as time goes on. My first month here all I did was drive to work, work, drive home, sleep, and repeat. Not a great way to live, but it was all I had energy, or time, to do. Things have changed now that I am closer to work, but that is for another posting.


People:
Have you ever noticed that you ask the same four questions of almost everyone you meet? What is your name? What do you do? Where are you from? How long have you been here? Try having that same conversation over and over with everyone you meet and never getting much past that. After a while you begin to feel very shallow and can't remember whose responses went with which person. Unfortunately, no matter how much you long for deeper conversation, you really have to go through those first four to get to the nest stage, friendship. I am ready for the next stage.



Town:
Baltimore really is not a hard place to get around in, thanks to mapquest. I am not sure what we did before the age of the internet. I just google Target, and can look up the address of the nearest store for my shopping convenience. The only bad thing about this place is that it is all row houses and not many trees, and it is not safe to go out at night. The good thing is that you can walk to just about anywhere you need to go and the weather is so great you want to be outside. Almost everyone I spoke with who had ever lived in or near Baltimore about moving here told me how much they loved this city. I refuse to pass judgement on the place till I have been here long enough to speak with any knowledge. Since my first month I lived out of town and really only worked and slept, I have not had much to go on.