The jump

I jumped from an airplane yesterday. No, seriously. I jumped out of an airplane yesterday. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

As soon as Rami proposed the idea of skydiving, I didn't think twice. I'm usually not the risk-taker in any group, but doing this seemed so simple. It's true that jumping out of a plane with a parachute attached to your back (or the back of your tandem master) is safer than, say, driving around the block in your 4 door vehicle. Just think about THAT the next time you try to decide how to get to work in the morning.

We started our drive at 8:30am for an 11am engagement. The drop zone was Bennett Airport in Salisbury, on the eastern shore of Maryland. We got to the location, and immediately discovered why it was a smart idea to arrive 10-15 minutes early: airport security. Her name is Daph-a-nee. Or at least that's how the old guy pronounced it (sorry, I forgot his name...).

We spent 30 minutes watching a video and signing our lives away. Then we met Bobby and Anthony, our tandem masters. They taught us how to arc our bodies during the free fall and then got the first two pair dressed in jumpsuits.

The ride up to 10,000 feet in the air took around 20 minutes. The plane was only a small Cessna, run by propeller, so what can you expect? Small and dinky. Not a plane you'd want to ride in for long, believe me. We were happy we were jumping out of it.

The experience in the air was just tremendous. After 40 seconds of freefall, where I was concentrating more on breathing than anything else (what else would you do while falling at a clip of 120 mph, with the cold wind slamming against your face, as you stare down 10,000 feet?), Bobby pulled the ripcord and we slowed down to a nice glide. I immediately started to giggle (Bobby liked the giggling). The experience is just too much to describe in words. The beauty of the Chesepeake landscape was in front of me, and I was just in awe. Bobby loosened the harness around my legs and lower body and did some twirls in the air. The sky was an absolute gorgeous color of blue, no clouds in the sky (I thought of maybe catching a couple in a ziplock bag, but there were none to grab), and unfortunately, the ground was getting closer every passing second. All I wanted to do was stay up there forever.

As we got closer to landing, Bobby gave me instructions of what to do with my legs. We hit the ground with our feet, and I immediately dropped to the ground and started the giggle again, just trying to let the entirety of the experience sink in.

People think we were crazy for going. But I say we were the smartest that day. To witness the the beauty and wonder of the world God gave us, from litereally a birds-eye view is something we don't get to do so often. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

To see the entire slideshow, click here. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of me while in the air. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Geronimo!

Skydiving.
Amazing.

Will post pictures and description of the day's event after WORK tomorrow evening.

G'nite.

Surprise to come

Check back sometime Sunday evening/night for what will hopefully be a very cool and interesting story. Maybe even some pictures.


Shabbat shalom!

Last day

It's my last real day of freedom. Got one more unemployment check to collect and on Monday, I'll be back on the road to stable employment and security. It's been a rollar coaster of a ride, the last few months. Or shall I say the last year or so. My loyal readers have read enough about the trials and tribulations of my search, the anticipation, the frustration, the good and the bad. So no more of that.

Instead, I'd just like to show my gratitude to the tax-paying public of these United States of America. The bi-weekly checks helped support my internet-addiction. Verizon thanks you.

Thanks to my friends for their support.

And I'm really forever grateful to my parents. They have given me a tremendous amount of encouragement and support; I can't thank them enough. Thanks for the push.

I have been neglecting my writing the last few weeks. Not sure exactly why, since there's a lot to write about... if this blog were anonymous and my friends weren't reading it, there might be even more to write about... but I digress. :-)

On Friday morning, I had coffee with, Cheryl, a fellow Maxwell alum, who graduated in 2004. She had actually contacted me two months ago, asking if she could set up an informational interview with me when she would be in town. She is very interested in starting a career in the conflict resolution/international development field, and found my name in the alumni database as someone with experience in the field. The truth is that the timing of the request couldn't have been worse; I had just found out a few weeks previous that I would be losing my job, and the hunt for a new employer in the CR/ID field wasn't going too well. And this woman wants advice from me??

Cheryl finally made it to DC this week, and we talked for over an hour. Cheryl is a wonderul person, with seemingly so much to contribute to the field. But I had to be honest with her. She already knew that I had lost my job, and as I explained the situation, I shared with her my frustrating experiences from the last two years- the never-ending job search, the internship, the part-time job, the unemployment, the lack of funding, etc etc etc. Jobs? Yeah, there are plenty of jobs out there, which we both were applying for. But for some reason, the fact that we both had degrees from the #1 school in the nation, excellent job experience, both overseas and in the US, and other qualifications, didn't really matter much.

I'm not saying all this to brag or show off. And there are plenty of reasons out there that we can list when discussing why we weren't getting interviews. But here's what bothers me. I spent 2.5 years trying to find a job in this field. I graduated in 2003 from Maxwell with a goal, a dream. I turned down opportunities for potential employment with the government and the private sector to dedicate these years of my life to nonprofits doing CR/ID work. I moved to DC with a full-time job doing stuff I wasn't interested in, then started working part-time so that I could take an unpaid internship with a CR organization. Then I was unemployed, and a few months later, a job opened up. I was ecstatic. But that fizzled after a bit, because of lack of funding. Then I was unemployed again. Throughout this whole deal, I was still sending out cover letters and resumes, meeting with people, networking, and trying to find a more stable position. But no luck.

Fast-foward to September 2005. I put my foot down and decide that I'm worth more. I'm better than this, and don't deserve to be on unemployment, temping, just to make ends-meat. So I apply for a job with a private consulting firm. In one week's time, I have an interview set up. Then, David referes me to a friend of his, who was looking to hire a consultant for his new firm. Now, two interviews set up. A week after the interviews, I have two firms fighting over me. I'm getting phone calls from managing partners from both firms trying to convince me to choose one over the other. And I spend my Rosh Hashana trying to figure out whom to choose.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm so thankful to God for these opportunities, and I honestly feel blessed to be in this position now. But please answer me this: what the hell is wrong with the nonprofits?? I was practically throwing myself at them, ready and willing to work for half the pay, because I believed in something.

Idealist? Yes.
Naive? Maybe.
Impractical? Why should it be?

But who cares? It's what I wanted. Really, really, really wanted. It's my passion, and I hope to have the opportunity to return to that work at some point. Maybe in a few years. I can just hope that I'll be happy with my new job, even if it's not the dream job that I came down here for.

I had been feeling bitter for a while, because I couldn't really identify anything I actually did wrong. If I could, then it would be my fault and I would be ok with that. But I guess it just didn't work out. And I try to look at these situations and see that it all happens for a reason. What that reason is, I can not say. Maybe it's so someone can warn the Cheryl's out there that it won't be easy. Or maybe it's for something totally different, that I can't see yet. Who knows.

But I'm not bitter anymore. I start a new job on October 31st, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Well, except for having to wear the dressy shoes.

Not really sleepless in Seattle

I flew out to Seattle yesterday to spend the upcoming holiday with my good friend, Marti. I've only been on the West Coast once before in my life, and that was for a journalism conference in Los Angeles. I didn't really get a chance to walk around, take in the life, tour, etc. This time, I won't really have much of an opportunity either, since I'm here for a holiday, and we all know the restrictions a Jewish holiday puts on too much moving around. But I did get to see a whole bunch of Seattle yesterday, and I'll be doing the Seattle Underground Tour in a few hours, which I heard is a lot of fun.

Some random thoughts on the city:

The cloud cover is very different then what you see on the East Coast- more complex, more color variations. Makes for an interesting sky, at any time during the day.

People here aren't in a rush.

The extent of the people diversity here is White and Asian. Some African-American sprinkled inbetween, but definitely mostly White.

Had some really great kosher vegan Asian food for dinner last night. I didn't think I'd like it much. Who knew tofu could be so good?

So I'm pressing for time to get ready for Yom Kippur, which begins tonight, and then I'm flying to Seattle on Sunday morning to spend the next Jewish holiday with my good friend, Marti. My apologies for not updating this thing for the last week and a half. Been busy, and admittingly so, quite lazy as well.

The good news of the week is that I'm starting a new job on Monday, October 31. Last Friday, I accepted an offer to work as a consultant with the Global Public Sector division of Grant Thornton. It was a tough decision, since I also had an offer from a much smaller, but very promising, public sector consulting firm. In the end, I went for the stability and positive long-term outlook that Grant Thornton can provide. I'm nervous that I'm not up to the task for consulting, since it's a bit out of what I thought was the scope of my work, but I'm anxiously looking forward to my first day.

Now, back to the cleaning. Hopefully I'll update more on the other side of the holiday.

Answer

Two months ago, I posted this question.

The answer is no.

Well, that's not entirely true.

The real question is whether or not men and women can have strict platonic relationships. And the answer to that question is no.

Of course, it's more complicated than that, and I have my own theory on the subject. But I'll leave the expounding for a later time.

:)

Special Shout Out

A lot has happened the last week or so, but I'll keep the most substantial update for the end of the week. Until then, I'll share a story from my drive up to NY for the Jewish New Year.

I left DC on Friday at around 11am, but didn't really get on the road until 12:20pm. I took I-495N to I-95N- not the usual way, but I started driving from the ARC in Falls Church, and the entrance to the highway was right there. Traffic was moving very well...until 1:40 or so, when I hit a stand-still 3 or 4 miles from the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge. Those who make the drive between DC and NY know it for its wonderful view of the Susquehanna River. I turned off my engine, as the highway was a literal parking lot. I turned off my iPod, rolled down my window, and asked the guy sitting next to me in the left lane if he knew what's going on. A few minutes later, a woman walked down the left shoulder with her dog and told us that there was a bad accident and someone needed to be medivac'd off the bridge. Should be 45 minutes to an hour's wait.

Crap, I think. Waiting one hour will put me at 3pm before any movement, which doesn't bode well if I need to get to northern New Jersey by 6:21pm for candle lighting. Thankfully, I have a friend who knows the roads and at a flip of a switch, and can give me at least one or two other routes to get where I need to go. The only problem here is that I'm 4 miles before the Susquehanna River and there is only one or two other ways to get across if you get off of I-95.

So I called Matt and, after giving him my precise location (mile marker 90 in the middle lane of northbound I-95) in 2 minutes, he found a different route. And thankfully enough, I was situated perfectly in the middle lane, with enough space behind me and to my left, so I was able to turn my car around, drive on the shoulder, and get on the southbound lanes, which were completely empty (traffic was stopped in both directions before the bridge).

20 minutes and a $5 toll later, I drove over the Susquehanna River and found myself back on I-95N- but this time, the entire highway was deserted. The bridge was still closed and I had the highway all to myself (and the other lucky ones who knew what Matt knew).

As it turns out, I was very lucky to have taken I-495N in the beginning, instead of taking DC-295N, like I normally do until Baltimore. 15 minutes into my drive, I heard on the radio about a bad accident near the NASA-Goddard exit that shut down a lane and was causing massive delays northbound. Ironically enough, it was Matt the night before who solidified my decision to take I-495.

So- here's a public thank you to Matt. Because of your help, I was able to avoid getting stuck in a Grauman-esque pre-Shabbat/pre-chag situation.

A more contemplative and serious change-of-status post to come by next Friday.

Now, off to sleep.