Embracing the Colonial

Shockingly, this isn’t a post about post-colonialism unless you read beyond the text and unearth a sub-text.

I’ve been in Washington D.C. for several days now thoroughly detesting the humid weather in this swampy city while checking out housing.

It was a daunting task — I’ve no official credit history even though I’ve never defaulted on a payment. I’ve no record of employment even though I am an entrepreneur with a limited liability company to my name. Getting an apartment on my name would have been next to impossible even though I could pay an advance of 6-months in rent. The other option was room-shares and I had nailed down several I needed to check out. Luckily (or unluckily), the housing counselor assigned me to on-campus housing, which had been unavailable prior to coming to D.C.

I jumped at the chance to live on campus although now I think about it, law school will feel all too much like high school or being a “freshman” in college.I’m not sure I necessarily want that “experience” but it’s fun to slip into another role and place where practically no one recognizes you. It’s a chance to re-invent myself and figure out what I really want outside the pressures of family drama and “movement-building.”

There’s no need to act like a martyr, step on the sacrificial pyre, and give myself stress about anything that does not directly concern my life.

Nearing the first week of DC living, I can say:

• The French bistros and urban hipster places feel equally comfortable though we certainly need way more ethnic food.
• I don’t particular know how I feel about the Foggy Bottom area where I’m residing but I do love the quaint Eastern Market, U-street, the gay-borhoods and Columbia Heights.
• DC is still a particularly soul-less city for me with way too many kool-aid drinkers. I’m a critical thinker and deconstructionist. It’s like the worst fit for me, intellectually and politically. We know I’d rather be at UCLA if I could get the benefits of their David Epstein public interest program, but lets not start on that now.
• The monsoon type rains are fantastic in the summer (and deserve a completely separate blog post)

Today I went shopping at the GW bookstore and bought myself some gear. I’m a GW Colonial working on my second graduate degree this Fall. It’s like living an alternative reality. But I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

Go Colonials!