It's been three weeks, and not a word from us. The job hunt has had something to do with that. Ashley found one job waitressing within a week and a half, and another waitressing job soon after. I am still waiting to get my first job in any field. But things are starting to look up, so there's no need to delay the blog any longer.
We live in the Mission district of San Francisco. The Mission is the city's main artery of artists, junkies, and Mexican restaurants. We live on a quiet street, set back from the clamor of sirens and drunken revelry. Nearby stores and coffee shops decorate their windows with posters reminding the locals that we have a community, for which we are responsible. The first item of business on the poster is addressed by a "do not poop on the street" drawing, hanging over the "do it in a toilet" facsimile. Next to that is the "shake hands with people" below the "don't shoot them" stick figures. Some one must be paying attention, because there have been no shootings of late, though some are choosing to ignore the toilet message.
Our street is sandwiched between Mission Street and Valencia. A stroll down Mission Street is like a stroll down most streets in Latin America. Spanish is by far the chosen language here, and there's a taqueria in every third shop. So far I've settled on El Farolito (Spanish for "burning anus") as my spot for tacos, and La Taqueria, ironically, as my burrito joint. Taueria Cancun gets an honorable mention, only for the amount of sour cream and guacamole they put on their tacos for an additional 40 cents, though it's clearly a ploy to mask their caustic chorizo, and their tortilla chips are garbage, to boot.
Valencia is the hipper street, home to the city's population of dilletantes and hangers on. Tapered jeans and American Apparel hoodies are the uniform of the bohemians walking between trendy dive bars and hipster eateries. Dave Egger's writing workshop, 826 Valencia, is just a few blocks from our house. For those of you who don't know Dave Eggers, he wrote A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and cowrote What Is the What. 826 Valencia is a place for kids and teenagers to go to get help with their writing, and also happens to be one of the city's premiere pirate supply stores.
Our place is nice. Definitely small, but clean and functional. The neighborhood is safe. The people are friendly.
There are days when it is easy to think what the hell are we doing out here? given the cost and my lack of employment. But we agree that it's worth the risk. That we like the feel of this city. There is always so much going on, so much culture, art, music... we're happy.
I just need a job.