Cutting ties and letting go

So there it is. My ARIZONA driver's license. I went to the MVD (motor vehicles division, as opposed to the more official sounding department of motor vehicles in Illinois) last Wednesday to pick one up. Not out of any real desire to stay in compliance with Arizona law--which requires that you get a license 10 days after officially moving, but hey I would rather avoid issues with the cops since I do drive here quite frequently--but more to establish residence for tuition purposes (but I really do love Tucson! heh). It was quite an easy process, much easier than what one has to do in Illinois--no drops of blood required nor signing over the right to name your first-born child to the state. The whole thing took about ten minutes and then quite suddenly I had in my hands an Arizona driver's license.

My old Illinois license now has a hole punched in it, signifying so many things at once. They allow you to keep your old license as long as you let them punch that hole and as I wanted to hold onto it, for memory's sake, I agreed to the heavy symbolism and punch! there went my ties to Illinois, at least in officialdom. I also registered to vote here at the same time, again cutting ties. Sorry Rey Colon! I can no longer vote to keep you in office and that awful Vilma out...you will just have to hold onto the 35th ward without my help.

And so I move on, away from Chicago, away from Illinois, away from my flat but green Midwest. To say I miss it is an understatement, but in all truths I have no intention of going back--at least on any permanent basis (unless of course, something unforeseen happens in terms of employment, which is the only way I see myself returning...is the UC hiring?) Gazing at the mountains here is always a good succor for bouts of homesickness, which tend to become most extreme when I am standing in a grocery store and cannot for the life of me locate sambal olek nor a big bottle of sesame seed oil, something I could find in any two-bit grocery store in Chicago, or for a really good price at the local asian supply stores. Or dried chilies of various sorts....indian goods...non mass-market for gringo consumption thai stuff, etc. Tucson is not by any means "small-town" limited but it does lack in a great many things that were so readily available back home (and it will always be home goddammit, though Mitla is also home as well).

Tonight, though, we go for sushi. And here there maybe an advantage (hopefully). Chicago had great sushi, sure, and I am in the desert here, but the Sea of Cortez is only 4 hours away driving, while fresh seafood--or at least those species required for good sushi--were 6 hours flying time from Chicago. I am hoping to all the gods in heavens that that will translate into some awesome raw fish. We'll see, and I will of course report back later on what I am calling the "Great Sushi Experiment of 2008, or alternatively An Alleviation of Homesickness Through Raw Fish". Peace.

p.s. check out the expiration date. According to this great state, I do not have to get another license until I am the ripe old age of 65. Nice.

Adjusting and loving it!

Yesterday I attended the graduate orientation for the Anthropology department. Takeshi, as well as Dr. Kuhn, had indicated back in January that they were shrinking the number of students they would be accepting in order to increase the funding for each student. So, when I walked into the room I expected that we would be a small cohort--I didn't realize however just how small we would be. All in all, there are 10 new anthropology students...three, including myself, are archaeology students. Funny enough, we're also all women as well--no new male archaeologists. Good thing I guess that I already have a male archaeologist in mind...heh. At least we aren't in any danger of committing cohort-cest, as they call it.

Well, the orientation itself was interesting and fairly informative. I made myself ask questions and get my voice out there. After the orientation we headed up to the student lounge for lunch, where I re-met my mentor (I had no idea at the time when I originally emailed her and introduced myself, but we had actually met before at Takeshi and Daniela's house). We talked for a bit, then one of the other mentors, a wonderful young woman from D.F., came over and we chatted with her. My mentor had to leave for a meeting and I continued to chat with Natalia, la difena, and another woman everyone referred to as "DDR", or Dana. It went very well and I must say that now I am pretty excited about school.

In fact, I am already trying to get myself involved. An older fellow archaeologist is on the committee for the student arm of the SAAs (Soceity for American Archaeology), so I told him that I am up for helping with all that. Not only is it something I could add to my C.V., but it sounds like it could be a lot of fun as well. Now that I am getting into the swing of things, I am feeling much better about being here and moving away from all my friends and family and everything I've ever known. And I think that will be even more true once classes start on Monday. Sweet.

So yeah, now I'm here.

And entering adjustment period.....neeehhhooowwww. Right now I am sitting in the South Ballroom at UofA's Student Union building, taking advantage of the awesome wireless network as I wait for the next phase of the program to begin. What makes this even more awesome is that I am typing away on my brand new black Macbook, pure sex on my lab heh. I love it so much and can't stop kissing it. Silly I know but....

Anyway, still vacillating between excitement about starting this awesome new phase in my life and sadness at what I've left behind. Alex came out with me to hang out in general and help me adjust in particular. Unfortunately, he leaves today to fly back to Chicago and once he does...sigh. That's it. I am here for sure...which is a little hard to accept at the moment because all of my stuff is still in a warehouse somewhere in Chicago and I am currently living out of my suitcase, though I have acquired a desk, a kick-ass laptop and back-up drive, and soon I will actually have a real bed. Well, a futon actually, but it will be custom made and I've always enjoyed futons more than beds anyway. Hopefully, when my stuff finally arrives I will truly accept the fact that I am really here, and for the next 5 years...ack!

Well, will post another update soon. Classes start next week, and I am really looking forward to that. This Friday is also the Anthropology department's graduate orientation, so I will finally get to meet my peers and such. Looking forward to that as well. Cheers!

Saying good-byes, making hellos....

Today is the big day. I have a one-way ticket flying me to Tucson, AZ. Starting a new life there, my new incarnation as UA PhD student. This past week has certainly been a see-saw of emotions, rapidly cycling between excitement, nervousness, sadness, depression, elation, etc. My SBFFFS (super best friend forever for shizzle) Drea came up from Cow-town southern Illinois on Thursday to get in some quality time. We spent a lovely evening together, drinking and playing cards and going over the good ol' times.

Went to bed rather late that night of course but I still managed to get up around 9am the next morning. I woke up on Friday ready for the day...excited to get my haircut, excited to have my party and see my peeps. Then the next thing I knew, I was standing on my deck, wearing my party dress and conversing with friends, the sun setting behind me. How did the day pass by so quickly? How could my last month and a half here go so fast? That's when it really hit home that I was leaving all of this--friends, family, the city I grew up in and adore--behind.

Now it's Saturday morning. My flight, thankfully, leaves later this evening, so I have time to relax and enjoy myself (yes!). A bunch of friends spent the night last night...it was actually quite hilarious to walk through the house this morning seeing people randomly scatter on the floor and couches. We're going to wake up with banana bread, bloody marys and whatever else my mom can cook up. Then its time to start the long good-byes.......