Live Free or Die!

Welcome to Dover, New Hampshire people! I finally made it! My dad and I pulled into Dover at 5pm Saturday, Aug 2. I met my new landlord and roommate (he even helped me unload my car, which was VERY nice of him, considering all the crap I have). I am exhausted from the trip, I just want to sleep all day.

I initially planned to give you an hour-by-hour, play-by-play account of my trip, but I failed. I did try, however:

Thursday, July 31
9:30am - Leave College Station
11:00am - Arrive in Houston to drop Dad's car off at my little sisters
12:30pm - Still in Houston (brother drama). We probably didn't actually leave until closer to 1pm.

This is as far as I got on the play-by-play of the trip. Let's just say I grew annoyed pretty fast when my dad spent over two hours dealing with my little brother's problems. I'm the type of person who approaches long road trips with one objective: get from point A to point B, very quickly. Our plan to drive 15 hours a day and get to Dover in two days was completely ruined by this unnecessary attention (trust me, it was very unnecessary). To top it off, Dad wanted to stop around 10pm that night. I was still wide awake and could have driven more, but he wanted to relax before bed. Relaxing before bed does not fall into my long-trip objective, but I went along with it.

I did jot down a few things during that first night:

• Dad keeps commenting on my driving, likening it to tailgating, which is not the case. He likes to start off his "lecture" with "You know... I probably wouldn't be following this close...." which then goes on and on and on and on about good driving skills and sudden stops.


• First meal: McDonalds. I ordered a mighty kids cheeseburger meal. Dad comments on my choice: "Why didn't you get the grilled chicken?" Me: "Because I wanted a burger." Dad: "Chicken is better for you." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. No crap chicken is better, but I wanted a burger! I hardly ever eat burgers and always get grilled chicken. He wouldn't know this, but I was still aggravated by his "lecture" in healthy eating. Food police are generally pretty aggravating.
  
• Dad's worried about Tri and how he's not drinking. He mentions pulling over at Walgreen's to get a plastic syringe to "force feed" Tri. I told him that wasn't necessary. I know my cat... he was fine. I wasn't going to force feed him water and stress him out even more.
  
• Dad tells me that another little brother of mine stole and pawned my Xbox. Needless to say... this was upsetting and only increased my irritation, which sadly never dissipated for the rest of the trip.


• At our last hotel stop, somewhere south of Scranton, PA, Tri broke free and made a run for it (or a scoot, it's hard to run on three legs, but he manages very well). I opened the carrier door for him so that he could pee, drink and eat at night, and the moment I did, Dad jerks the tarp off the roof of the car, which frightens my cat. Tri bolted out of the door and to make matters worse, Dad started chasing him, which causes Tri to run even faster (on all three legs) -- he's running toward traffic, btw -- I'm positive that I'll never find him in the dark and that some car will run over him. Luckily, I found Tri hiding under a truck and managed to grab him. This was the most stressful part of my drive.


• I suppose Dad's pretty proud that I'm following my dreams, although he sometimes struggles to express that. I had to learn from my oldest brother. All dad ever says to me is "I hope it works out for you"... I hope so too.

Needless to say, 2.5 days in a car hearing lectures -- regardless of their good intention, and my dad always means well -- left me pretty cranky. But getting here to NH made it all worth it! The place I'm staying in is beautiful, the people are great, and the location is so fantastic. It's been sorta warm, in the high seventies, which I'm not complaining about. Normally I wouldn't mind, but my upstairs room doesn't really have central air, so it's sorta stuffy. My fans are working well though. I may need to go get a big heavy duty fan to keep me cool at night. The family I'm staying with is fantastic; they've really made me feel at home here. The husband (who is 54) even said that I should think of them as extended family and offered to teach me how to drive in the snow (score!). It's nice that they're so friendly and generous with their time. It's slightly awkward still, mostly because I'm not sure what's expected. I don't want them to think that they need to provide anything but this room for me, but it really is like living with my parents in a way. Not the same of course, but similar. They have a little 2-year-old, adopted from Guatemala; she's precious.

Photos: (Top): a shot of the the area where I live. You take an exit just off the little bend in the road (heading toward the right of the picture). The bridge you see connects Dover to Newington, where I'll probably do most of my shopping. At the base of the bridge there is Hilton State Park, which is pretty beautiful. The water is the Piscataqua River. (Middle): My new home! Look at the trees! (Middle Bottom): A picture of Hilton State Park and the Piscataqua River. (Bottom): Old Sullivan Bridge, the old bridge that connects Dover to Newington. You can now walk across it. Click on the image to make it bigger (especially the bridge, it's pretty!)

I'm learning my way around town, which will take a few days. I'm hoping to land a job by the end of the month as well. Anyway, it's definitely going to be an interesting adventure.

A Tribute to Texas

So... today is my final day in Texas. Am I ready to leave? Ehhh... the heat yes, friends no, but that is to be expected. I'm taking a break from the hot heat to make one last post before I lose my internet connection, which I suppose could be any second. So... adios Tejas, you've been pretty good to me!

Goodbye 100+ heat. Goodbye tasty Mexican food. Goodbye authentic cowboys. Hello New Hampshire.

Officially Going!

So... I guess it's official now. I've accepted my admission to UNH for fall 2008. This is Hamilton Smith--where I'll be spending the majority of the next three years. It's a nice building--old, with lots of history, I'm sure.

Going to UNH is going to be a huge gamble for me since I don't have funding, or a job yet, but there's a sense of thrill to that. A thrill and a huge fear considering that my expenses now are a bit astronomical. But... it'll all work out, I know it will. In the mean time, I think I need to get a part-time job here in Texas to save up for the move and for the expenses that I'm going to have the first few months of transition. So that will be my weekend plan. I'm thinking of looking at Barnes and Nobel--I'd probably enjoy working at a book store. It'll be ten steps better than that shelving gig I had at the library as a sophomore.

Anyway, one step at a time, I guess. I have about five months to really figure things out--less if I get the job I applied for. That's enough time to make a lot of things happen. I'm excited.

** Work doesn't know yet... I'd like to keep it on the DL until closer to the time I need to leave. So if you work with me and you're reading this--please keep the news to yourself. Thanks so much! **

Possibly my new home...

So... this is part of the University of New Hampshire's campus. Beautiful, huh? It had been snowing most of the morning and I was walking up toward Hamilton Smith where the prospective student day would take place. So many people were sick and tired of the winter. I guess it snowed over 100 inches this winter, a record according to several people. I may get sick of winter for a while, but I'm really looking forward to a few years of it. And who knows, maybe I'm just made for snow! And skiing... I'm really looking forward to skiing.

Anyway, I only have good things to say about UNH. The people, the campus, the little surrounding towns. Everything was great--I really felt comfortable and at home there. That's a big thing for me too. I definitely want to come here, it's just figuring out logistics: moving and hunting down a job. But... when you really want something, you make it work right? Well, I'm going to make this work. I see the potential of the infant MFA program UNH has--and it sits securely on a 30-year-old foundation, so honestly, how young could it be? I can't not go. I'd be hurting myself. So I might as well send in that acceptance email and start making things work!

More pictures from my trip can be found here.

I can't wait to take pictures in the summer and fall. I'll definitely make a trip out to the seacoast then, I'm sure that it too is amazingly beautiful!

Heading out East...

So, I decided to buy a plane ticket to visit UNH next week for the prospective student day on Friday. I'm pretty excited about it actually. I've never been to New England, but I've always wanted to go. I think that's because I'm a Gilmore Girls fan. I think show was set in New England... I could be wrong. I suppose I'm not a big fan after all.

Anyway, I'm about 80% sure that I'm heading in that direction come summertime. I need to find a job, but I've applied for one and once I'm 100% sure about my decision I think it'll be easier. I think everything will be easier.

For other people interested in UNH, I found this blog post from the MFA Weblog:

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
University of New Hampshire, MFA

I thought I would give some basic information about UNH for those out there applying or looking to apply to schools. So far, it's been a great program. It's new, but the 2nd years are happy here, and they've been really welcoming to the rest of us. There are 100 graduate students in the English department; of that, 36 are MFAers. That's 12 in each genre, 4 per year. There's not that strange genre divide there seems to be at other schools either; I'm friends with poets and fictioneers along with my fellow nonfictioners (who are particularly awesome, I must say).

Over half the department is getting some sort of TA/GA thing, which covers both tuition and offers a stipend. As someone with one of those, I'll say that they trained us well to teach, and although it's terrifying to suddenly be teaching 24 kids, I feel confident in what I'm doing. They also have you take though, your first semester teaching, a semester-long course in teaching, and you have a teaching advisor, all of which are safe-guards against feeling overwhelmed by your role as a knowledge-sharer.

One of the great things about UNH's English Department is that they're really big on conferencing. Every student meets one-on-one with their professor of each class bi-weekly. That's really rare, and incredibly
useful. Yes, right now, when I have started conferencing all 24 of my students, it seems like a lot, but it's a great way to help me get to know them, and to help them with their writing. It will also be great for my writing to get that much attention when I start conferencing with my professors.

As far as professors, they're all totally available, even those on leave right now. They offer all the wonderful extras, like class at their houses , going out to the bar with mfa-ers after class, etc. But
it's also that the professors make an effort to really get to know us. The first time my advisor met me, she asked really specific follow-up questions to my personal essay, and to later emails I had sent her.
What's more, she wasexcited to have me here at the program. Same with how others have felt.

There's definitely an emphasis on publishing, but it's not overwhelming. I'm writing a profile for my nonfiction class, and tomorrow we have to submit a mock query letter to a real magazine, and
then the other people in the class are going to consider the proposal. Conceivably, it doesn't have to be a mock letter at all.

Oh, and the area is gorgeous. It's New England (re: foliage, Gothic Architecture) and it's on the Atlantic, next to the oldest town in New Hampshire (so it's also got charm). It's also only an hour from Boston
but still close to the White Mountains. Campus itself is 1000 acres, a lot of it trails and lakes; they rent kayaks and hiking gear for about $5 a pop.

Let me know if you have any more questions about this program. I also have friends at other programs around the country, so I can certainly rustle up information about them.

Anyway, I hope that's helpful for someone. So, I'm starting to see the light. I realized this week that it would be a huge mistake to base my decision solely on money. Sure funding is great--and I hope that I receive it in the 2nd year--but it can't be the end all for me. This is what I really want to do and I don't want to put it off for another year.