floridian day

Last night roomie tells me, 'Oh yea, you're goin with me to work in the mornin'.' I just go with it, & she tells me to bring my swimsuit. Which, seeing as how she works with dolphins, can really only mean so many things.
What it meant, was that i got to swim with a dolphin!!!
Roomie has worked at the research center for two years now (with an internship prior to that,) so i've been fortunate enough to squeeze in some dolphin interactions whenever i visit. In addition to a couple of 'meets' (a program where you stay pretty dry on the dock,) i've also been able to participate in a 'play' session, & i also had a 'paint' program, where a dolphin paints you a tee-shirt!! But never, have i been lucky enough to be in the water with a dolphin. Best birthday present ever.

I want to write this elaborate entry about the incredible experience, but, there's too many amazing things to write, & it's really a blog i'd rather leave to roomie.

But, almost as exciting, after she was off work, roomie & i played tennis!  Now.  To clarify, i have never played tennis.  I was really concerned that i would just frusterate Roomie, with my lack of racquet-eye coordination, & inability to keep the ball in play.  Turns out, she & i are equally great at tennis.  And, to clarify again, by tennis, i mean, 'jogging at stoplights'.  Realizing we weren't getting much of an aerobic work out, standing still while the other chases your serve, we just started 'keepin' up the hustle'.  It was great.

So, i'm a real Floridian!

busy morning on the canal

At home, sitting at ground level on the porch, sounds came in a straight line, origin easily identified by their volume & directional line.  Eighty feet above the canal, noise floods in from all direction, the waves lapping against the coral intertwine with screaming gulls, shouts of people in their million dollar homes on the next island, & the fishing boats carting tourists into the great Atlantic, building one solid wash of noise, a cacophony from only one direction: below.

So, in the event that is of any interest to you at all...

A List of Sounds Overheard from the Canal:

- construction

- spanish-speaking workers doing said construction

- a barking dog that lives in a near-by sail boat

- a boat captain discussing the following items with today's clients:

- the weather

- what kind of fish they'll catch

- accidentally spilling motor-oil into the canal the last time he was maintenanced the boat

- his new haircut 

- "do it from the top, or you'll kink it!" (i think he was talking about a hose?)

- the color of his hands after this week's sunburn

- "it was nasty, but i had to do it.. it was just a bunch of muck." (i have no idea what this line was in reference to)

- and of course, the incessant screaming of birds

jobless

It has become immediately apparent that my planning wasn't as thorough as it ought to have been before moving across the country.  Mostly my financial planning.  Not only did i just plain not save as much as i had initially intended, but i spent a lotmore getting down here than i had expected. 

Additionally, i'm starting to worry about my employment prospects.  Never in my life have i worked to get a job.  I'm young, good looking, & smart, on the rare occasion i have to actually look for a job, i have no problem landing one that i want.

Before i left home, I had applied for a job taking pictures at the Dolphin Research Center.  Having never had a 'resumé' before, i got over-intimidated & spent weeks perfecting it, editing it, sending it off for proofreading, re-editing it.  So, by the time i sent it in, they had already started interviewing for the position & i didn't make the cut.  Lesson learned.

I had been keeping an eye on the local classified ads, scanning the employment & cars sections daily for new additions.  I was not surprised to see that most of the jobs said 'no phone calls' or 'please apply in person'.  My parents taught me that how you apply for a job is just as important as how you interview:  always look nice, speak with a manager when possible, fill out your application in house (don't take it home & wrinkle it all up,) so i always did, & when i started to be responsible for hiring, i would always take those things into account.  So, I decided that i'd rather follow proper procedure & charm the pants off of these employers my first week in the Keys.

Wrong.

Firstly, there aren't a lot of jobs.  Of any kind, not to mention those that i am actually capable of doing (although that ad for 'able bodied workers needed for lobster boat, NO DRUNKS!' keeps catching my eye, i don't think it's for me.)  Plus, not having a car really limits my options.  So, in addition to the gallery job in Islamorada that i never heard back from, my roommate drove me around Saturday to get applications of places that are within reasonable walking/biking distance: two of them.  One of them, not receptive at all.  Definitely not hiring.  The other, a keyzee restaurant (where the waitstaff has to wear hawiian shirts,) seemed super receptive, the manager handing me an application saying, 'Why don't you bring this by tomorrow around 3 or 4 & we can have a chat, I'm sure we can find someplace for you.'  Hooray!  Exciting!  No.  Sunday, i pay a $10 cab fare to be driven to a place i can see from my balcony (which sounds super lazy, but it's on the next island over, so even though i can see it, & it's maybe a half mile from our apartment, it's a two mile walk to get off my island, across the canal, & down that island to the interview... & i didn't want to be sweaty!)  I arrive, on time & adorably hirable, only to have him take my application & say, 'Thanks, we'll be in touch.' as he walked away.  I tried not to act disappointed, instead, i saved all my self-pity for the 45 minute walk home.

Luckily, the walk turned my self-pity into self-motivation & i spent the next day & a half working out a complete (ten year) job history, as well as perfecting two different resumés, one for management, & one for service.  Also lucky, a restaurant on the island where my roommate works had put out an ad for servers!  I called the number & arranged (what i hoped was) an interview for this morning.

I rode to work with my roommate & walked to the resort [sidenote: Amazing walk.  This island has a bike/walking trail separated from the highway by a wooded area, so it was like walking through a jungle!  It made my day.] Intentionally, i arrived about 15 minutes early, only to find the restaurant locked.  Undeterred, i sat & read, assuming that the guy would show up closer to interview time.  When he did not, i decided to call his mobile after the girl at the front desk said he would be out of town for a week.  He was on his way in, if i didn't mind waiting, so i sat back down to read.  Moments later, i hear some lady with a thirty-year whiskey-voice calling the same guy, with the same concern.  Discreetly, i looked at the balcony entrance to see a keyzee lady (too tanned, fake blonde hair) in a tee-shirt, shorts, & sneakers saying that she was scheduled to meet him at 11:00 or 11:30 (it was 10:35.)  Moments later, she shouts at me from the balcony, "Who's the author of your book?" Politely, i replied, "Kerouac, i'm reading On the Road." Her reply, "Oh.  Is that like, a mystery book, or a romance novel?" And then proceeds to ramble about how much she likes to read & where am i from because i am obviously not from around here because the color that my legs are & oh she's from iowa but hasn't been back there for twenty years, multiple times apologizing that she didn't mean to interrupt me, but then just continuing to talk until the manager arrived.  Needless to say, she was a bit confused, & maybe disappointed to realize that this young woman in a nice sundress was interviewing for the same position as she was.  It was an awkward 15 minutes.

But, to end on an upnote, while i was on the beach today (trying to adjust my leg color to a more 'local' tone,) i got a call from the keyzee restaurant on the next island, setting up an actual interview.  Let's hope it goes just as well.