SomeFrills

First Thursday is a monthly event down in Fayetteville (where most things are in this area), and I had the opportunity to go earlier this month. It’s technically a free event, with art vendors and the Fayetteville Underground gallery, located inside the building atop whose balcony I shot that trio, are both open to general browsing.

The Underground uses it as an opportunity to switch up their exhibits as well. Obviously purchases can be made, but it’s mostly a nice venue to mingle and be inspired.

Or so I had thought.

My co-workers found out that there is also a wine-tasting happening in the old Bank of America building, that houses the Underground and in front of which the artisans sell their wares. So that’s where I was for most of the night. I paid some money in exchange for wine and a tour of some ridiculously opulent condos that were for sale/rent.

The floors were bamboo and the counters marble, but there were also some great mixed-media, textual, rough sketchy art for display/sale on the walls to make it a little less decor magazine. And the view from the balcony was phenomenal.

However, next month I think I’ll just hit the galleries. I went later in the month, and they were superb!

Where does one draw that line? The easiest way to meet people is to talk to them (I know, there’s a Nobel Prize in my future), and it is a lot more accepted in the South than it would be back in New Jersey (thank goodness!), but I still feel myself wondering when I’m being friendly and when I’m starting to cling to strangers.

There are a few other people who have also just arrived at the office, so the social pool has opened up, and we are all in a strange land with strangers.

There is camaraderie in circumstance, and I’m also applying that approach outside the office. I found my local yarn store by the farmer’s market yesterday and will be going to knit night on Thursday, even though I haven’t knit in weeks. Friday I purchased a bike off Craigslist so I can commute to work more efficiently, and also go bike riding. There is a poetry slam Tuesday night that I’ll attend solo, because unfortunately people were busy. Basically, anything that sounds vaguely interesting is going on my calendar.

Sometimes I get a little nervous though, because what am I thinking running to all these random events? I went to a history lecture in Chestnut Hill which populated almost exclusively by older, rich folk who could trace their roots back to the first German settlers of the area. It was a self-congratulatory and insular affair. I felt so awkward and out of place. I could only grab one cookie and feel like a complete girl anachronism.

Luckily, there was a really sweet woman there who was knitting, and I approached her about that. Although I never did make it out to the yarn stores she mentioned, her conversation made me feel like less of an intruder. I don’t know what the implications of Chestnut Hill becoming part of Philadelphia were: I hadn’t even heard of Chestnut Hill until I started my internship outside of Philadelphia!

So it is with some trepidation that I’ve compiled a short list of things to see in Arkansas. Some might be hits, some might be misses, but even the dreadful evening of miss had a bright spot. Feel free to suggest additions!

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I had a friend over this weekend, so Saturday morning we headed down to Fayetteville to see their farmers’ market and meet up with one of her friends from college. The market itself encompasses the entire downtown square and is definitely worth a trip if you’re in the area.

There is a lot of fresh produce and meat and prepared foods to munch on, as well as handicrafts. The produce variety is, perhaps, not as wide as I would like, but I still walked away with some eggplant which I will cook tomorrow.

When we parked the car my friend saw a cupcake cafe, so of course we had to go. The Lavender Honey cupcake at Bliss wasn’t too sweet and, for a cupcake boutique, the price was decent too. I would recommend it! She said the green tea slushie and chocolate cupcake were also wonderful.

We strolled around the square itself and there were some cute shops and boutiques, including RiffRaff, that we saw.

But neither my friend nor I were locals so one of the things we had to do was see Razorback Stadium, home of the U of Arkansas Razorbacks. It is pretty impressive, and reminds me that, Toto, we’re not in Kansas New Jersey anymore. I’m down in football country now, and it’s going to be an interesting fall, for sure!

The past two weeks of training in New Jersey have been really phenomenal. At the risk of sounding incredibly naive, I will fully confess to adoring the people in my training “class,” about 35 in total. They are all very smart and ambitious—we are part of a leadership development program—but more than that they have desires and ambitions outside the corporate food chain. It wasn’t just a giant morass of cut-throat competition.

We spent a lot of time at dinner together, showing the internationals the local sights, and getting to know each other. There was some corporate indoctrination, business etiquette, and low-level computer programming as well. And more snacks than you can imagine. Some people complained about weight gain because they don’t eat that often. Now I know who not to turn to when my snack stash runs low!

In many ways it felt like freshman year of college with ice breakers and group snacks, but most importantly the new relationships. I’ve heard people say that they prefer falling in love to being in a loving relationship, because there is such a rush from the not knowing and uncertainty.

While I don’t know if I echo that statement (seems like apples and oranges, frankly), I do love that rush when you first meet people and you’re trying to see how you’ll fit together. Your jokes are a little tamer, you give them more personal space, and you’re frantically repeating their name in your head so it’ll stick. Then, once you know them, things change. You make suggestive comments about their mothers, don’t feel any hesitations in hiding their shoes when they leave the room, and are making new nicknames every other day. I love that transition from one point to the other and how quickly it happens. One day you are laughing politely, but not contributing, and the next you are right in the middle instigating the silliness.

In addition to being thoroughly enjoyable (and exhausting), these past two weeks have also given me hope and inspiration for Arkansas and the space I am going to carve for myself out here. If I can meet so many amazing people in just two weeks, imagine what can happen in 9 months!

Greetings from…New Jersey, again. I know, I was in Arkansas for two weeks and now I’m back in New Jersey again? Am I completely addled in the brain?

The answer is “no,” but whoever devised our new hire orientation schedule might be. I have training in New Jersey for the next two weeks so, after a nice three hour “vacation” in Charlotte, North Carolina (an airport with white rocking chairs scattered about for your rocking enjoyment!), I am back.

Being back also means that I’m not spending my weekend in Arkansas navigating the tangle of people and connections, looking for that little niche labeled “yoli.” Out there I feel like a jungle explorer trying to cover as much ground as possible to get a better idea of the lay of the land and to statistically improve my chances of finding that mythic El Dorado.

But it’s strange being trying to meet people outside of academia, an institution built around the idea of forging connections and learning new things (you can place the two in whatever priority order suits/suited your experience best). Yes, you meet your co-workers and develop a relationship with them, but it’s called “networking.” I work in IT; I know what networks are. They involve a lot of cables, electricity, and high-velocity data transfer, well, hopefully high unless you’re big on frustration. But I’m looking for something a little different in my personal relationships.

On a personal level, I want to meet interesting people who are going places and doing things. Intellectually I know that in order to meet these people I need to keep my mind open and just keep forging ahead. But I can’t help feeling a bit of despair. I work at a very busy and very competitive office. The Arkansas branch is a promotional step that confirms your prowess as a sales analyst, and it could be the grounds for your rising up to manager or director. There doesn’t really seem to be a lunchtime social hour vibe since there is so much data to be analyzed and giant honkin’ sales to be closed. As a result I am learning a ton about the business, but interpersonal connections are more of a weekend thing. Even then there is a healthy dose of work, and some stiff alcohol to wash it down with.

Regardless of what that melodramatic description may imply, I HAVE found some genuinely interesting people. It is thrilling to know that regardless of where I go there are always amazing folk. But, at the end of the day, I am forever looking for more. Regardless of how much ground I have covered there is always the inherent possibility of the next acre. I can’t be content having just explored the coastline without knowing what’s inland. It is much easier to retrace your steps than it is to move forward, and goodness knows I need to constantly be in motion. So next two weeks we will see what other fun folks are my co-workers in different branches, reconnect with the lovely people of New Jersey (besos por todos!), and then I can head back to Arkansas and map out the interior of that strange and mysterious place. I’m starting to get a foothold of the land and people, and it is a pretty intoxicating feeling to know that there is so much out there just waiting for you to see it.