The Adventure in DC begins...Literally

I find myself at a crossroads I’m sure I have been at before. The wrong decision will very likely lead me down a gauntlet of uncertainty while the other will bring me back to familiarity. Unfortunately this isn’t some metaphor for a life decision I need to make in my new home Washington DC. It’s as literal as it gets. I’m at the intersection Kalmorata place and Kalmorata Circle and have no clue how to get home. Throw in the fact that it’s 3:30 in the morning and I’m a little drunk and this is a less than pleasant situation. The iphone, often my savior in situations like this isn’t helping me at all. The directions tell me to go north for a mile and turn right but I have no clue which way is north, south, east or west! I’ve been walking in circles for close to an hour now, the bars long closed. I'm sweating and my feet hurt.

So here’s the interesting part of this story. As I mentioned earlier I’m sure I have been in this situation before. Am I having déjà vu? Is this a horrible flashback? I wish! It’s just that I have a horrible sense of direction and I have literally been in this exact situation before.

Less than a week after moving to Colorado for college I started walking from the main campus to my off campus dorm. Needless to say I got lost….real lost. At one point I ran across the freeway (real safe decision). In the far off distance I saw a blinking red light and was certain that it was on top of the building I was looking for. I walked for miles trying to get to this blinking red light. I started to doubt myself and for good reason because I was walking in the wrong direction. I had accepted the fact that I might need to just curl in a ball and pass out on the side of the street. There was a very real fear that a large animal would tear me to shreds….and then out of nowhere a creapy molester van rolled up and I made a very rash decision to flag it down. I asked for directions and the creeper inside obliged. I’m pretty sure I rolled into my dorm room at the crack of dawn; tired, sweating and exhausted.

Why did I just tell this story?

Well, the parallels to what happened last night are remarkable. I’m new to a city, moving here for school and less than a week into living here I got lost…REAL LOST. And here’s one of the most interesting parts. How did I eventually find my way home? I found a creepy car rolling through the street at 4:30 in the morning, flagged it down and asked him where Columbia street was. He pointed down the street not really speaking English and said, “you go, you go.” 15 minutes later I was standing outside of my apartment, once again exhausted, feet hurting, sweating and thankful I made it home. I couldn’t help but notice that as miserable as I was for the last couple hours wandering the streets I was also amused by the situation. I’ve said it before, good things happen to me and I’ll say it again. I had an amazing run in Colorado that included a great education and even better friends. It started with a little fear in a new and mysterious place and an adventure wandering the streets in the wee hours of the morning. I can only hope and truly believe that the same will happen here in DC which started with the same adventure wandering the strees in the wee hours of the morning in a new and mysterious place.