Every day I leave my internship, I leave happy. I am so satisfied at the City Paper. In my life, I’ve been surrounded by people who dislike what they do, and I’ve had jobs, some similar, that I’ve absolutely hated, but I feel good when I am there. I feel so lucky to only be 21, to still be in school, and to know exactly what I want to do and that that job will make me happy.

I’ve also already been published. I spent an entire summer at the Coral Gables Gazette two years ago and only once did they let me write. Here, after only a week and a half, I was published today in the City Paper ("Bear Baiting": http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A45644, a CD review: http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A46014). While the majority of what I am doing is basic and press release-based, it is still amazing to have physical proof of what I am doing and the experience I am getting.

This morning, Katy and Meg left me, having arrived to the city on Sunday night. It was beyond wonderful to have them here. It was also unreal to be with two people I’ve known for years in a place I’ve known for a week and that they don’t know at all. Exploring is better with friends. It’s also less terrifying to be lost when you have company. Having them here gave me the opportunity to find new places to go without being alone and uncomfortable. We went to a show at the Tin Roof, which was just a smaller version of Gainesville’s Common Grounds. We unearthed a quiet beach. We found a yummy vegetarian-friendly restaurant and the art house movie theater next door. I like that there’s all these different things and they’re only a little bit longer of a drive than things would be in Gainesville. Now I’ve been in every direction but north.

It was so nice to have them here. It was nice to have noise and other bodies asleep in the same house. Now it’s quiet and I have to find ways to occupy my (too much) time again. Tonight I’ll be the only person here when I sleep and it doesn’t help that last night I had a terrifying nightmare that involved me fighting off a serial killer. I hope that some of my other friends can come and that I can learn about this city with them even more.

I have had no success with finding a job. I’ve applied to so many that I can no longer keep count, but I know it is at least 20. I have applied to retail stores, some that I would never be able to afford to shop at even with a job there and a discount. I’ve applied to two different Starbucks and every local café or bakery that would let me. I applied to Whole Foods Market three different times for three different positions. My biggest hope is for a pizza place that I would have to drive to but that I think could be fun and the manager gave me positive feedback but I still haven’t heard from them. I feel so defeated by this it’s overwhelming sometimes.

I need to start plans. There are so many projects I want to do this summer and instead I’ve been spending my afternoons and evenings watching television. I need to start making lists.

To end, a photo essay:

I live about block away from a prison:



Not creepy at all.

And we decided to go explore it last night. We thought it was private property and decided to hop the fence. Meg was brave enough to go first when I said I’d spot here, only I’ve never spotted anyone before and was terrible at it:



She tried to show me how:



But we gave up and Katy did it instead:



Meg got over and I couldn't spot Katy either:



Katy was going to spot me, but I failed at that too.



We were upset:



But I decided “Fuck it” and walked a few yards to the hole in the fence and got in that way instead:



It wasn’t private at all. Other women showed up and they said there was a tour starting in a little bit:



I miss them already. I hope that one day we all move to a new city together and do all of this all over again, but for real.

When you drive into South Carolina, there is a brick gate at its entry, welcoming you. But really, it’s just like I drove in some weird circle and am in a different part of Florida. Their flatness are the same, their greenness is the same. It’s like Miami but smaller. Like Gainesville but bigger. Like both but older.

The air smells like flowers and horses - there are horses everywhere leading carriages swarming with tourists. I am already frustrated by tourists; they walk slow and it‘s hard to get around them. It’s hot but so far there is always a breeze. I like that I’m so close to water. Living in Gainesville has shown me that landlock has a feeling and I don’t feel that here.

The buildings are all so old that they don’t seem real to me. I’ve never been around buildings with such age and so therefore they can’t be real. It’s like living at a theme park; everything looks fabricated. Main Street USA.

This place suits me. I’m not sure why yet. I don’t feel overwhelmed or suffocated. I haven’t made friends yet but I’ve spotted road bikes. I’ve found a coffee shop that sells peach French sodas and where I plan on spending my unoccupied time. There is a good record store and a good used book store.

I really like the Charleston City Paper. The environment is exactly what I expected and exactly where I will want to be once I graduate: A place where people are young(ish), conscious of important issues and what good shows are coming up and who casually use the word “fuck” in an office setting. I’m already getting opportunities to be published, even though they’re small (record reviews and the like).

Being totally alone is strange. My landlords are lovely but elderly and I know I should be keeping in touch with them but my proclivity to awkwardness is taking over. I’m trying to keep myself occupied but mainly I just do things in my temporary bedroom. I’ve been looking for a job so wandering has been taking up much of my afternoons. I’ve applied at about seven different places and I hope that I hear back from even just one of them, and at this one there is someone who will be my friend.

Pre-Charleston - Two More Days

It hit me yesterday that yes, I am moving away for 12 weeks. I think it was the process of packing that did me in. While I was home in Miami and everyone asked what I thought about going to Charleston, I didn’t have much to say. It wasn’t anything I could see yet.. But trying to decide between what I will need or won’t need or won’t need but want to have makes me conscious of it all.

Leaving Miami was hard for me. It gets harder as I get older and I progress through school. Soon there won’t be any more winter breaks or spring breaks and I’ll just have two weeks of vacation time a year - if even that. Here’s hoping. And since now I’ll be 11 hours away instead of five and a half, I probably won’t see my parents for three months. And all my grandparents are getting sick.

And now Gainesville and saying goodbye to friends. Goodbyes never feel complete to me no matter who they are with. I never feel satisfied with them. I’m glad that I’m here for a few days and I’m trying to spend time with kids before I leave. I have this strange paranoia that Gainesville is at its best when I’m not in it, that many, many fun things happen and all this fun stops when I get back. I’m sure it only stops because school starts.

But I have things to look forward to. First, thanks to the creepy technology that is the “Facebook News Feed” telling me what "groups" my "friends" join, I found out Charleston has an infoshop!

Brand new! Just opened!

How is that for a good omen.

And now I am actually anxious to get up there and get involved in this thing. It will be a great way to meet some radical kids really quickly.

And there’s a good show the first (independent of my mom) weekend I am there and I don’t have to be scared of going to the show by myself because two of the loves of my life will be visiting me that very weekend and so hopefully I will transition into the Charleston scene-ry with their help.

I am finally getting antsy to be there.

Pre-Charleston: Two More Weeks

My name is Susan and in August, I will begin my fourth and final year as a student at the University of Florida, studying Journalism and History. My current post-graduate goal is to get a job at one of the many alternative weeklies scattered about the country. In an effort to have a resume and portfolio worthy enough to get me hired at one of these publications, I began in January to apply for internships and was hired at the Charleston City Paper, located (not surprisingly) in Charleston, South Carolina.


This is the first time in my life that I am diving in to the deep end with no safeguards to protect me (except possibly for a time in pre-school summer camp during a swimming lesson that I may or may not have just dreamed up). Charleston, being hundreds of years old and with its "Southern hospitality" – I’ve been told to expect to be offered sweet tea wherever I go – is a place completely different from the two cities I have lived previously: Miami, a sprawling smorgasbord of cultures, languages and lots of things I don’t like, and Gainesville, a progressive city whose size seems smaller and more suffocating with each month I spend there. I also do not personally know a single person in Charleston and will have to meet people and make friends entirely on my own, something I may be much too socially awkward to accomplish. (Needless to say, I am bringing many, many books with me to read on what I will expect to be many, many lonely nights).


The purpose of this blog is to document my experiences in this new old city, to keep my writing skills from degrading with summer laziness and, since I am completely useless with lengthy telephone conversations, to keep in touch with everyone I love and will miss in Florida or wherever summer may take them. I have created two rules for myself:


1. I must post once a week – most likely, this will be on Wednesday.
2. Each post must include a picture. Like so:





This is me at my parents' house in Miami. I am here for a bit longer before I head back to Gainesville to pack 12 weeks worth of living. It is already a baking summer in South Florida.


I am excited. I am terrified. I am ready.


But as my trip is still more than a week away, I have nothing really more to add.