20 months and counting...

So I promised that when I got back to Seattle, I would start a job search blog. I'm starting the count off right; I haven't worked since January 2009, when I quit my job at John Stanford International School so that I could graduate from the UW. In retrospect, I probably should have found a reason to stay at both places, but I wasn't thinking that great in those days on account of my mother having passed away.

The last year and a half had been nothing short of interesting. Here's a short recap:

• I finished classes in March 2009.
• I finished my thesis in June 2009 and attended my departmental graduation. I went Winston Churchill style.
• I applied to several nonprofit organizations, and received interviews at Jobs with Justice in Portland and Stand for Children in Seattle. I was rejected from Teach for America on the basis of a history of theft, which at the time was a 9 year old charge.
• In July, I began applying to anything that contained the word "Spanish," my most unique skill. I interviewed with a parking lot cleaning company and a seafood company. Because of a lack of "real" work experience, the parking lot cleaning company was more interested in my IT skills but said they had no money to hire even a part-time networking assistant. The seafood position required a more detailed knowledge of species names than I studied in college.
• In August, I started to get pretty desperate. I told my landlady to hold out for a month while I got things together. I was having a hard time keeping it together mentally. The details are known by the people who saw me that month. They're not my best moments.
• In September, living at my ex-girlfriend's house, I received an inheritance from my estranged grandfather for a considerable sum of money--about a year's salary.
• I spent most of September and October looking for property to buy. I couldn't secure a loan. Everyone told me to pay my debts off first.
• In October, I paid off some of my parking tickets, a portion of my student loans, and a handful of other debts, including my 2001 accident.
• I still couldn't secure a loan. I bought myself a second car and fixed my first car for my ex-girlfriend to use.
• I went to Florida and Houston to hang out with my ex-girlfriend's family and my own family, respectively.
• In December, I met the director of Project Ganas.
• In January, not having much else going on, I agreed to a volunteer teaching position in Costa Rica.
• In February, I bought my ticket.
• In March, I headed for Costa Rica. I discovered that things weren't very well organized. I spent a bunch of money on hotels and resolved to come see my ex-girlfriend for our anniversary to make myself feel better about the whole thing. I blogged the whole experience here.
• I bought a motorcycle. I heard about the BP oil spill from abroad.
• In May, I focused on trying to become a part of the community in Colonia Libertad, which was difficult because I never had an official position there. I was fairly successful though; I organized night classes and spent my days making lesson plans and trying to find ways to adjust to the heat.
• I came back briefly in June. I saw a job with Nintendo of America for a Spanish-speaking consultant who would analyze the content of video games for cultural sensitivities. I refrained from applying; why, I will never know. I did, however, finish my EP.
• I went back to Colonia Libertad in July. Response to the idea of more English classes was lukewarm. I began to doubt my future as any kind of teacher, although I was a bit encouraged when Pablo told me that there was nothing wrong with my teaching, that it was just a matter of bad planning.
• I came back to the States early to look for a job. I thought the economic situation would be turning around by now.
• Boy, was I wrong.

I spent the last of my "year's salary" to pay off my car insurance, my student loan payments, my return to the country and the first/last/deposit payment on a small house in Beacon Hill. With my bills paid (for the moment), I have resumed my job search.

So far I have applied to several AmeriCorps volunteer positions and a part-time position as a community organizer for the Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). I haven't received any response yet, but I'm hopeful about the second one. I have lined up an ESL student for October, which is small beans compared to an actual job, but I'm grateful nonetheless.

Living in Beacon Hill is definitely just as funky as anywhere in Seattle. I have met a number of different kinds of people. People are doing whatever they've got to do to survive these tough times.

Speaking of tough times, I was saddened to learn about the death of carver John T. Williams, who was gunned down by a relatively inexperienced policeman last Monday. As close as I still get sometimes to having to wander the streets, and with the fact that I am also slowly going deaf in my left ear, it really hit home that it could have been any one of us out there.

So let's all try to be nice to each other and survive this madness for long enough to be able to create urban farms everywhere. That way we can all live happily ever after in the post-imperial anarchist utopia that's sure to come.

I'm off to utopia land. Good night.

CE