Oberlin Blogs

The Nomad Narratives, June edition

June 21, 2012

Chinwe Okona ’13

So let's take a moment and reflect on the irony of my current situation. After all my hoopla about being uprooted and consistency and junk, I find myself in the Bay Area, where it's been fifteen full days and I've had three different addresses. Oh life, how contradictory and wonderful you are. And wonderful it has been. I definitely dove right into the mix when I got here and never looked back.

I've come to realize that absolute housing turmoil is the reality of moving to this place. People are constantly moving, subletting, etc., which turns into a fairly systematic cycle of people always looking for subletters/new roommates, as well as people always looking for rooms. Because my whole summer came together two weeks before I flew out here, I obviously didn't have enough time to secure a living space. Against the wishes of my parents, I made the trek anyway. Now I know that if I'd waited until I found something, like they asked, I would still be sitting my little booty in Coral Springs. Not ideal.

The last time I was in the Bay Area
, I became extremely good friends with two of my coworkers at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. And being the awesome people they are, they both managed to make space in their homes for me so I would have a place to reside while I looked for something permanent. Straight off the plane, I found myself in the lower Haight in San Francisco, sleeping in my friend's bed while she biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles. This was probably the best way for me to get reacquainted with San Francisco. The location? The best. Her roommates? The best. Two cats? The best. I can't believe that I ever considered not coming here this summer (another story for another time). I loved everything about this house so much that I'm moving back for the first two weeks of August before I return to Oberlin.

A lil' something I painted for my housemates for their hospitality.

Once my pal got back from her trip, I packed up my suitcases and made the move across the Bay Bridge to my other dear friend's place in Oakland. Haaaaay East Bay. Fact: I love Oakland more than San Francisco. I'm not at all ashamed to admit it. I managed to acquire a beautiful bike and spent four days exploring the area and just falling more and more in love with everything Oakland has to offer. In the midst of those four days, I was offered a spot in a home right next to Lake Merritt. And again, I moved.

I'll be residing lakeside through the end of the month, and per usual, I'm way down with the space. It's a ten-minute walk from Trader Joe's and Arizmendi, and about fourteen steps from the lake.

Pretty much the view from my house. Gotta love it.

Tell me that is anything but perfect. It's a super cute spot, and whoever is moving in after me is a lucky ducky.

That's pretty much my housing situation. As we speak, I'm between meetings with potential roommates for July, so look forward to 'The Nomad Narratives, July Edition.' I still haven't written about my internship, the real reason why I'm here. Typical Chinwe. I'll do that soon. And Pride Weekend is upon us--there will be stories. SO MUCH IS HAPPENING, I'm just trying to keep up. Until my next scatterbrained post.

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