I guess I’m going to throw one last post up here, so I don’t leave any readers )that I likely do not have anyway) hanging. My last post was somewhat over 3 months ago, from Praia. So what have I been doing since then? Americanizing! That’s right, I now have a job, a house, a 401(k) and a morning commute. Is it weird? Hell yes. But I get ahead of myself.

Upon my return, I hid at home for 3 days, fastidiously avoiding any interaction that wasn’t my parents or a burrito. It doesn’t help that I came back with a rockin’ cold and was being treated for amoebas in my intestines. In any event, I was launched back into the world of normal socializing when I drove up to Wisconsin for my sister’s wedding. Now, this was no average wedding. It was preceded by 5 days of family reunion, involving nearly all of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family, plus random friends, cousins, significant others, etc etc. It was, in a word, bonkers. I ate a ton of food, schmoozed around a bunch, did a little sailing, kayaking, swimming, reading and the like. I also got mocked a lot, because I was not allowed to drink alcohol due to previously mentioned amoeba medication. Fortunately, that prohibition ended on the same day as the actual wedding. The day itself was really phenomenal, with a big turnout of friends and relatives, plus (predictably) criminal amounts of delicious food and a beer truck with 10 kegs in it. They know how to throw a proper wedding bash up in Wisconsin.

Post wedding, I bummed around my house for about 10 days, doing absolutely nothing worthwhile. It was as great as it sounds.

I flew out to Connecticut in mid-September, where I visited my brother and a bunch of my friends. It was awesome to see people, especially my brother and his kids, one of whom (my nephew Logan) I had never even met before. Ryan, the 3 year old, was an infant when I left, so it was pretty wild to see him walking, talking and assaulting the people in the booth next to ours. He’s a cute kid.

After CT, I went to Brooklyn with my best friend Phil, where he has been living for a couple years. I had dinner with a big chunk of the Wesleyan crew, though a lot of people couldn’t make it. It was pretty much just how you would have expected it to be: everyone is doing a little better, moved up in their jobs, and overall seems a bit older. I mean, we didn’t drink nearly as much beer as we would have 3 years ago…

From there, the real adventure started. My buddy Ari put me up in his apartment for the next 6 weeks while I looked for a job and my own place. I lucked out pretty well in both those areas. I spent a while just sending out resumes and doing my damnedest to get any kind of interview. Ari made things easy by keeping me busy socially and introducing me to about 7 gazillion people every single night of the week. Anyway, after about a month, I got a call back from a little place called DAI for an interview. Since I am such a charming guy, I guess I did pretty well on it and they hired me. It took me another couple weeks to find a place. I must have sent out 15 emails to people on craigslist, and only heard back from a couple. Fortunately, on such email was from 3 guys with a newly opened bedroom in a great neighborhood for a bargain price. We went out a few times, and lo and behold, we got along and I moved in.

So there we go. A happy ending to a two year story. I’m now the acquisitions coordinator at Development Alternatives Inc, where I spent my days learning more than I thought possible about government contracting and proposal writing. I actually like it a lot and I can see myself staying here for a while. DC is an amazing city, and my social calendar is almost always full up for like a week in advance. What a good time.

Thus ends this blog.