Settling In. . .

After moving from the suburbs of Northern Virginia to a very cool part of the city of Norfolk, I'm settling in to my new place (pictured here). It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside is pretty cool -- I even have hardwood floors! And, um, the whole building isn't mine, I just have the two windows on the middle floor of the far left-hand side of the building (but my apt goes all the way to the back of the building). This morning I got up and walked a block North to Elliot's Fair Grounds Coffee, a coffee shop that sells ONLY organic, fair trade coffee and that has a sign by the counter that reads, "Be Nice or Leave -- go to Starbucks" (which is across the street). I'm plenty nice, and of course I opted for the non-corporate coffee. Then I walked two blocks South to the health food store. After a long day of unpacking I headed back a block North and had dinner and a very good margarita on the patio of a little Tex-Mex place called the Colley Cantina. So this is definitely a good spot for me.

My school was built in 1918 and the building is BEAUTIFUL. As if that weren't enough, I have an incredibly sweet schedule -- I'm teaching one prep (AP Human Geography) and, at last check, I have only 60 students. Since the course is double blocked, this is actually a full schedule. AND I have my own room. Things have been going well so far. My Social Studies colleagues have been very helpful, especially my next door neighbor who teaches World History and Government and is the sponsor of the Young Democrats (which I've already agreed to help out with in the Spring).

So yeah, things in Norfolk are pretty freakin awesome.