First Impressions

"A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life."- Saul Bellow

Before I arrived in Cleveland I had my doubts. Almost every time I mentioned that I'd be living in this city, someone had something negative to say or cringed. Most the negativity was composed of safety issues that they had heard through word of mouth that painted the picture of some unearthly ghetto that creeped in and ravaged the city during after hours. From my experiences so far... its exactly the opposite! Here I am "packing heat" around Cleveland..... (jk! I was carrying a pocket knife though) just to find out the area I live in is pretty peaceful and decent. My observations from today and yesterday tell me that I'm in a semi-safe area that has just as much potential for crime as any other city. Now I'm not saying that ALL of Cleveland is like this nor am I saying that at one point it hasn't been... but isn't there a bad place in every Metropolitan area? A couple quick points, in close proximity to my apartment building is a nice little town square with lots of trees and small businesses, it looks great! I also heard a calming comment today from a Cleveland "native" saying that people in OH call this city "The Country Up North" because it has a slower paced lifestyle. Additionally, the people have been real friendly! Funny, huh?

...but on to my adventures! I'm now living in an area I'm unfamiliar with and I'm currently all alone until my school orientation starts on August 1st. Here's a recap of my day so far:

I woke up at the apt that one of my classmates let me sleep on the floor in for my first night. My classmate was a pretty cool guy and enjoys playing the acoustic guitar and chilling out. I'll take that over paying $90 + for a hotel any day! I signed the lease for twenty something minutes! Then placed all of my possessions in my room. Since I moved all the way across the country all I brought was clothes, my laptop, and an X-box. Basically anything I could take on a plane ride that fit in two carry-ons, and two check-ins. HOWEVER, I did NOT bring a bed, furniture, bathroom stuff, cooking utensils, dishes or any other thing necessary to sustain living outside of your parents' house!! But luckily, I've saved enough money to make most of these purchases; I just need to shop around for them... but oh wait, that's right.. I don't have a car!

My mission for the day was to temporarily resolve my sleeping issue (on the floor), find a stand for eating/to place my laptop on, get some kitchenware, and bathroom stuff, then bring it back with my two hands and a backpack! I thoroughly researched the city transit website, which was a headache, to find the correct bus route, then I grabbed my backpack and hucked it to Walmart for what was approx. a 20 min bus trip/15 min hike one way. I found everything I needed which includes a camping cot and a coffee table so mission completed! But I don't have to describe the trip back.. you can only imagine! Did I mention it's been in the 80's with 60% humidity? Need-less to say, I am thankful that my girlfriend will be here in 9 days so I have her and a car again, haha! Until then I'll be doing things like grocery shopping and taking the bus around the city on my own :)

So far, I can see Cleveland being a decent home for the next 4 years and maybe more if I specialize here! For now I'm going to find something to do with all my free time I wont have pretty soon!