Medford, New Jersey -- night

This past Thursday night, I took Mita to the Juanes concert in Philadelphia. When we got there, we met up with Karim, her two sisters, two other girls, and two guys from Costa Rica. I really only talked with Karim and one of her girlfriends. Mita seemed to have a good time talking with a few of the girls.

The concert itself was great. The venue was sold-out and the demographic was largely Latino, a really interesting feel for being in Philadelphia. With everyone talking Spanish before the concert and the concert itself being in Spanish, I almost felt like I was back in Costa Rica. Juanes put on a very good show, and I enjoyed singing along with some songs and even dancing a little bit too. It was a good night.

Friday day was notable for lunch. I went with Sue and Karim to an Afghan Kabob House on the 1500 block of Sansom Street. It was delicious food and nice conversation too.

After work, I went to my old apartment to meet up with Corey. That was actually after I had gotten a haircut. We chatted for a little bit before I took a shower to wash off all the loose hairs. Then, we went to a coffee-shop to chill out and converse. We were there for about an hour and a half before we went back to his apartment.

It wasn't much later that Amber came to meet me. Ok, Amber. I met her two weekends back on a Saturday night with Corey, Bill, and Nancy at Kaleidoscope Kafe, just off South Street. We weren't able to meet last weekend because she went back to Lycoming College for graduation weekend to see some friends. So, we set up plans to get together this past Friday night. When she pulled in to the parking lot behind my old apartment, I ran out to get in her Jeep Cherokee. Then, we spent about the next forty-five minutes driving around looking for a parking spot. In the meantime, we had good conversation. It was towards the end of that that I presented her with two options for dinner, yet in a vague sort of way. I wanted her choice to be something of a surprise. She chose Monk's on 16th Street near Spruce. We gave up on looking for a parking spot as hunger impelled us to just park in a parking garage.

As usual, the wait for a table in Monk's was about forty-five minutes. But that was ok since I ordered a round of beers from the bar, and we began another conversation in more depth. Early on, I went on a ten-minute discourse about the public education system in the United States. She was impressed and had clearly not considered anything I had said previously. We ate dinner, and afterwards went to Copa II for margaritas. Throughout it all, we had pretty good conversation. Then, we actually stopped in to see Corey. We drank wine and watched a program about Indian fashion and culture in the U.S.

About an hour later, we went back to Amber's apartment, kissed for a little while, and went to sleep. I slept on the futon, and Amber slept on the couch near me. All in all, it was a very nice time. I'm not sure that she is sufficiently revolutionary to have a relationship. I think we'll date for a while, but just keep it pretty basic. I would like to be friends, and as I said in my last entry, it will be nice to have a girl to spend time with.

The rest of the weekend was spent reading a lot of Lenin. And that's about it for now. Future dates will be much more convenient when I have my apartment in the city. I look forward to the move.

Medford, New Jersey -- night

Now, today must be marked as the day that I signed for my apartment at 2124 Spruce Street. After several weeks of searching desperately, yet patiently, for an apartment in Philly, I have met with success. After nearly a month and a half after returning from Costa Rica to my mother's home in Medford, New Jersey, I will once again embrace independence. In this case, though, in contrast to my time in Costa Rica, this independence and self-reliance will be stationary and not mobile. For the first time in my life, I will live alone. This will surely be another important stage in my own personal development. And so, upon embarking on this next definable chapter, I will probably reference my latest chapter - my journey to Central America - less and less.

These past several weeks have only been a transitional, preparatory stage. So now I must begin to look ahead to my next goals. In practical terms, I must furnish my new apartment. This I will probably do over time, hopefully to be completed by the end of the summer. In other matters, I will like to enroll to take a course in the second summer session of either the Community College of Philadelphia or Temple University. I am considering taking a language course, either French, Arabic, or Portuguese. Or perhaps I will begin to take a course in International politics. In other purchases, I will begin to save to buy a new bicycle, which will serve for both recreation and transportation. I hope to make this purchase by mid-summer.

From there, in the long-term, I will save to buy a personal computer; this I will expect to purchase by December 2003. I will use this primarily to catalog all my political essays, as well as poetry. In a much larger project, I would like to retype all my college papers to save on disc and on hard drive. As soon as I move into the city, I will also subscribe to "The Economist." This will supplement my own self-education in international political economy.

In the meantime, professionally, I will continue to work as a paralegal at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. I soon anticipate being transferred out of the family law unit to another unit. I hope to hear word of that by the beginning of the summer next month. I am undoubtedly prepared for a new challenge in the professional realm.

With regard to girls, I have little to say. I will maintain my expectations at a low level since I clearly have other priorities at this time in my life. Nevertheless, this does not mean that I won't socialize or date if an opportunity presents itself. I am a man after all. Companionship is a nice thing to break the silence. It also usually renders life more meaningful, at least insofar as living new experiences. Happiness will always remain the ultimate objective. Of course.

Finally, in a quick overview of upcoming events, I will be doing a five kilometer walk for breast cancer this Sunday; also, Sunday is Mother's Day and the day before Jessica's birthday. So both will have to be celebrated on Sunday afternoon. Then, this coming Thursday, I will see Juanes in concert at the TLA in Philly. At the end of the month, I'll go to State College for the annual Pennsylvania Legal Services conference. And, some time in mid-June, I expect Ronald to come from Europe to visit me. We will do a tour of the Northeastern United States. So there it is!