Kate, since you are technically a "hurricane," I just want you to know now that I don't mean that type of hurricane... (:I was taken back after reading Kate's post about her life in a bubble. Her move to DC from New York struck a chord with me -- probably because I had a similar experience when I moved to Tallahassee, Florida to attend Florida State University for college. Our experiences are as identical as identical twins. Her unimpressed attitude towards DC being from New York was/is very similar to my unimpressed attitude towards Florida being from Maryland. The North and the South are two completely different worlds. I bet you think DC is the south, don't you, Kate? (:
I initially went off to college in Boca Raton, Florida to attend Florida Atlantic University, but ran home traumatized due to the back-to-back-to-back-to-back hurricanes (yep, four) that rocked South Florida in 2004. I'm used to five feet of snow, not 80 mph winds. I vividly remember boarding up my window in my dorm and packing a few weeks worth of clothes in my suitcase because all students were being evacuated from university grounds. I thought I was going home to Maryland, but the FAA would have the final say on that. One that would forever change my attitude towards Florida. My flight was scheduled to leave at 12:05 pm via Southwest --it was the earliest flight I could get -- but all flights after noon were canceled. WHAT?! I don't remember the day, but I remember that it was a Thursday. Needless to say, I freaked out, and my mother, well, she panicked like any mother whose daughter was a 17-hour drive away would. Where was I supposed to go? And with who? And how? I didn't have a car. The entire region was being shut down, and since Florida Atlantic University was a bike ride from the Atlantic Ocean, this was certainly not somewhere I wanted to stay. Again, where was I going to go?
I would soon find myself practically running away from the hurricanes with a group of out-of-state students who literally had no where to go (hotels were forced to close, too). We teamed up and devised a serious game plan: first stop, West Palm Beach, then Jupiter, then Orlando, then West to Tampa, then South to Fort Myers, then Naples, and then across Route 75 to Miami, then North on 95 back to point A- our destroyed campus.
School had been indefinitely suspended until further notice; of course it was. There was a city-wide 7:00 pm curfew strictly in place because the city had lost all power, and I still had no where to go. NEVER AGAIN, I thought. I was terrified, and I was 110% positive I would get out of Florida for good after the semester was over. I remember thinking to myself: "Who lives like this? Who wanted to have their lives constantly interrupted by hurricanes? Hurricanes!" That was/is something I certainly never want to get used to! I ended up staying with a family friend of one of my friends, who wasn't really my friend at the time, but we are now thanks to his fateful
After hurricane season faded away, so did my anxiety about living in the hurricane taunting region of South Florida. I did move home after the school year -- shocking, not after the semester, huh? -- and spent the entire summer recovering from an eventful, and I don't mean fun -- freshman year. A summer completely free of hurricanes, might I add! Here comes the part where I tell you about my move back to Florida. Hard to believe... I honestly still can't believe it!
I packed up my life once again to move to Florida, but this time I avoided the South. Tallahassee, Florida would be my new home away from home -- even though it never really was. See, much like you here in DC, Kate, when I lived in Tallahassee, I felt so unbelievably disconnected from everything and anything "Tallahassee" including their beloved Seminoles (ya know, football). When FSU played Maryland during football season, I cheered for the Terps. How could I not? When FSU played Maryland during basketball season, I cheered for the Terps. How could I not? I even had a bright red shirt with the Maryland flag that I would wear to class (in retrospect, that was pretty lame, but at the time I thought anything Maryland was far cooler than everything Florida). I became known as "the girl from Maryland." Actually, my name is Erika; Erika with a "k." One day during golf class (yes, I took golf -- I was practically required too being a sport management major), I overheard a group of guys discussing Bobby Bowden. Well, who the heck is Bobby Bowden? Was that another name for Jesus? I innocently asked who this man was, and up went the golf clubs! Not to swing at the ball, but to swing at me! Well, not really, but it felt that way! I felt like I asked: "Who is Jesus?" Well, Jesus in Tallahassee was/is Bobby Bowden, and somehow I did not know this before I moved there! Big mistake. HUGE! For those of you who don't know, I surely didn't, Bobby Bowden is one of the winningest coaches in college football, second only to Joe Paterno. Now I knew who Joe Paterno was, largely because my neighbor signed a full-scholarship to play for Penn State. Go
I tried to do anything to connect with home, whether it was staying up-to-date on my beloved Redskins, or having hour-long chats with my sisters. I even racked up some serious miles with my frequent two-day/too short trips home for the weekend. They were so not worth it, but they were so worth it! I did all of this because I never really connected with the people at school or with Tallahassee, let alone Florida, period, so I craved connection to the people I had already been deeply connected with. Blame it on the hurricanes -- and no, I don't mean "the U." By the way, we (I can't believe I just said that) smashed "U" [get it? ;)] the other week 47-17, but I bet neither of us even care! Matter of fact, I don't care, and I know don't! I didn't even watch the game! It's safe to assume that you didn't either. It's also safe to assume that 99% of Florida residents were tuned in to that game, no exaggeration! How about the only reason I even know that Florida State won is because of my Seminole infested Twitter feed. As I digress... Nevertheless, somehow my mind couldn't get past the torment of those traumatizing weeks from my freshman year, which were seriously preventing me from enjoying the state in love with oranges and college football. I don't like oranges, and I'm indifferent about college football. Basketball is my sport.
When I moved to Tallahassee, Florida, I honestly felt like I had landed on Mars. Was it because I was now living in a bubble due to my prior traumatizing experience in South Florida? Who knows, but I do know that I felt so out of place, which was new to me. People dressed different than me, acted different than me, talked different than me, and, even worse, everything seemed slow. For goodness sake, way too slow! I felt stuck in a time warp. I honestly thought the joke was on me; meanwhile, my mind and thoughts were racing a mile a minute and doing full out sprints in my brain racing each other. You're from New York, you, of all people, know exactly what I'm talking about.
It wasn't until my soon-to-be best friend -- who of course is a Florida native -- sat me down to inform me that I was selling myself short by not immersing myself within the Florida State culture and suggested that I get with the program. But, I'm a Hoya at heart -- even before I was accepted to Georgetown (My parents are lifelong fans of GU, and of course that rubbed off on me; isn't that how the story goes?). What she was telling me was as foreign to me as her field of study and what she was asking of me was like asking the impossible, better yet, the unfathomable. Before I could connect to "Florida State" I would have to disconnect myself from Maryland and Georgetown, two schools that, although I had never attended, had allowed me to have some of my greatest childhood memories (Maryland football games and Georgetown basketball games) -- it was never going to happen. She might as well have asked me to help her with her bio-chem homework. That can be done, maybe not correctly, but at least I'd give it a try!
I would go through my sophomore, junior, and practically half-way through my senior year of college feeling like an outsider; an outsider who avoided garnet and gold like the plague. I don't know what happened half-way through my senior year, but something turned on in my head -- or maybe someone busted my bubble -- and I began to feel myself truly enjoying life as a Seminole. I attended football games more frequently, and I even put a Seminole sticker on my car, right next to my Maryland license plate, of course. Trust me, that sticker had a very short life. But somehow I began enjoying the college life that everyone around me seemed to love and enjoy. I also understood that most of these people were native Floridians and grew up with an intense desire to throw frisbees on Landis Green and were likely decked in university gear before they even met the sunlight outside of the hospital. This was not uncommon on Florida State's campus, and I'm pretty sure is common on campuses around the country. I will be doing this to my future children, but with gear from Georgetown. Duh! Now, I never could understand how people stayed in Tallahassee through grad school. Six odd years in Tallahassee plus me was never going to happen! Never! EVER! Two and a half years already felt like an eternity...
Maybe this apprehension towards connecting with Tallahassee and Florida State was slowly erasing itself from my life because I knew that graduation was looming and I would soon move back to my home-state, or maybe it was because my mind recovered once and for all from the torment of the 2004 hurricanes. Those weeks really got the best of me -- I still don't trust Florida weather. Or maybe it was because Tallahassee rarely gets disrupted by hurricanes and I would soon learn that life in Tallahassee would never turn upside down like it did in Boca Raton; even though it took me nearly two plus years to believe that Tallahassee was in a safe little location in the Florida Panhandle. It really is. However, Tallahassee is not safe from the worst of politicians, but I won't even go there.
Looking back, I don't dislike Florida like I used to, but I don't love it either. I have this love-hate relationship with Florida, to be honest. I often overhear people discuss South Beach with such great admiration, a city I have visited more times than I can count on my fingers and toes, and I always listen in with such discontent. My experiences in South Beach have been some of the most memorable experiences of my life thus far, surrounded by family, friends, good food and music is always a plus in my book, but staying out until 3, 4, 5, even 6 am is not something I am necessarily fond of. I'd much rather stay home and listen to Tchaikovsky and Bach while perusing the web for never before read quotes. My mother has salsa and merengue playing all day every day, I don't really need to hear it in my sleep. I also eat platanos like it's nobody's business, but I certainly don't need it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is just too much. Way too much.
Across the board, the state of Florida, and all of those cities I have either lived in or frequently visited are cities that have taught me a great deal about life, invaluable lessons, there is no denying that; but to this day, I can't say I love any of those cities the way I love home. The way I love DC, and I don't really love DC all that much. I also wonder to myself if my attitude towards Florida and my alma mater, Florida State, would be any different had those four hurricanes not rudely interrupted what was supposed to be an exhilarating and memorable freshman year. It sure was memorable! Those four hurricanes not only disrupted my life, but they disrupted my state of mind, they disrupted my thought-process, and they had a great deal, actually, they had everything to do with shaping my attitude towards Florida. I mean, can you blame them? I was only 18-years-old! I had flown out of the safety of my mother's nest into 80 mph winds and forced to figure out how to fly on my own... I like to think that I did.
Ironically, I'm thankful for my experiences in Florida, because had I not moved to Florida and been tortured by hurricanes I wouldn't know or have some of the most amazing relationships/friendships I have today. Nearly all with native Floridians. Go figure. Did I have to experience all of that for these people to be in my life? I'm sure someone knows... I'm also happy that I was able to somehow live in the moment while I was in Tallahassee, even if it was for the few months before I said goodbye for good.
Now can you believe my boyfriend asked me to move to Ft. Lauderdale?
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