About more than a month ago, my family made one of the biggest decision of our lives: moving from Arizona to Maryland for good. You might wonder, why would you transfer from coast to coast? Yes, we could have stayed in Arizona. All is well out there (except for the crazy summer weather) while the cost of living here is over exaggerated (imagine paying around $2k monthly just for a 3-bedroom apartment.) But what really made us move to this new state is the wider range of opportunities. Not to forget, we're now closer to more states. That's a big yay for travelling *cough* about 35 mins. from Washington, DC and 5 hours away from New York! So, if you would like to read more about our road trip chronicles and my ranting about my new exposure to a whole new environment, then stick around.
One option of moving is riding a plane and shipping all your furniture and whatnot to your new home. That's a big load of money though. If you're a big traveler, however, another option is to have a road trip! I must admit, I hate sitting in a car for long periods of time. 8 hours at the most per day. It wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Nevertheless, it pays off in the end because you get to stop on each state you pass by. In our case, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and finally Maryland. You can even have the chance to maybe stop over at your relatives' place if their flat is somewhere along the way. My dad, for example, was able to meet his cousins again after more than 30 years.
Second thing that you need to do is look for a new home or apartment. If you can't fly before your move to check out the possibilities personally, you need to rely everything over the internet. This was probably the most stressful part of our move. Since my mom's a teacher, we had to look for a place near her school, 10 miles away at the most. We found this apartment with all the facilities complete. One thing though. Only one pet is allowed. That shattered my heart into pieces (we have two dogs, btw.) We were in the brink of choosing which dog to give up. Until the best of me came that I was able to find another apartment wherein they allow 2 pets, a lot bigger than the previous one, and it's nearby town centers. And so, after all the calls we made, our new temporary home was finally settled (you're welcome, mom.)
I may be getting a little too talkative now than my usual length of post, but I swear this is the last.
My new school. Even before our move, I was already scouting for information about my about-to-be school. I was already scared, honestly. I've never been exposed to a big population of African Americans; this was the biggest change actually. Our school district's policies were different than Arizona's. Whichever school you're near to, that's where you must enroll. Thankfully, God was by my side. My school assignment was considered the "best" in our district. On my first day, as usual, I was the lone one. I rarely talked to anybody, except when I introduced myself. Classes averaged to about 30 students. To be frank, it is very rowdy, and the teachers seem to not care anymore. Education-wise, most have been covered in my previous school and most of the time, there is no homework. AP or honors classes are available, but I couldn't be put in there since it's halfway of the year, and I'm new.
I think I've covered most of the major parts. I don't want to bore you any longer. Overall, it may seem bad from my perspective but it's not (don't always trust me.) And by the way, we are most definitely not gone. Forgive us for not providing you posts for the month of March. All of us girls are really trying our best to work out our schedules together in order to write our next monthly article. :)
One option of moving is riding a plane and shipping all your furniture and whatnot to your new home. That's a big load of money though. If you're a big traveler, however, another option is to have a road trip! I must admit, I hate sitting in a car for long periods of time. 8 hours at the most per day. It wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Nevertheless, it pays off in the end because you get to stop on each state you pass by. In our case, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and finally Maryland. You can even have the chance to maybe stop over at your relatives' place if their flat is somewhere along the way. My dad, for example, was able to meet his cousins again after more than 30 years.
Second thing that you need to do is look for a new home or apartment. If you can't fly before your move to check out the possibilities personally, you need to rely everything over the internet. This was probably the most stressful part of our move. Since my mom's a teacher, we had to look for a place near her school, 10 miles away at the most. We found this apartment with all the facilities complete. One thing though. Only one pet is allowed. That shattered my heart into pieces (we have two dogs, btw.) We were in the brink of choosing which dog to give up. Until the best of me came that I was able to find another apartment wherein they allow 2 pets, a lot bigger than the previous one, and it's nearby town centers. And so, after all the calls we made, our new temporary home was finally settled (you're welcome, mom.)I may be getting a little too talkative now than my usual length of post, but I swear this is the last.
My new school. Even before our move, I was already scouting for information about my about-to-be school. I was already scared, honestly. I've never been exposed to a big population of African Americans; this was the biggest change actually. Our school district's policies were different than Arizona's. Whichever school you're near to, that's where you must enroll. Thankfully, God was by my side. My school assignment was considered the "best" in our district. On my first day, as usual, I was the lone one. I rarely talked to anybody, except when I introduced myself. Classes averaged to about 30 students. To be frank, it is very rowdy, and the teachers seem to not care anymore. Education-wise, most have been covered in my previous school and most of the time, there is no homework. AP or honors classes are available, but I couldn't be put in there since it's halfway of the year, and I'm new.
I think I've covered most of the major parts. I don't want to bore you any longer. Overall, it may seem bad from my perspective but it's not (don't always trust me.) And by the way, we are most definitely not gone. Forgive us for not providing you posts for the month of March. All of us girls are really trying our best to work out our schedules together in order to write our next monthly article. :)
