New Year, New Life

1. I moved
On the 17th I flew to Medellin from Philadelphia. I arrived early in the morning to my new city, took a taxi to my temporary apartment and collapsed in tears on the bed. Before the true sobbing set in I called my boyfriend and told him how scared I was and how I really didn't want to be here alone. He of course reminded me that this had all been my idea, that he had offered to come with me to set things up, and I had refused, wanting instead to start this whole journey on my own. How stupid I felt in that moment, and for the next few lonely, miserable days.

2. New job
When I bought the plane tickets and decided I was moving to Medellin I had no job or prospects. I kind of just planned on talking to people and trying to find something. In the meantime, I figured, I'd take some Spanish classes and continue with my online coding classes. From my six months waitressing I had around six months of living expenses saved, so I could get my for a while, longer if I was frugal. But lady luck smiled down upon me in the form of a facebook post to an expat page. I now have a job writing drug information pages for a pharmaceutical coupon company. Still haven't actually written any drug pages, but I have done some research and emailing back and forth with my boss. Progress is progress I guess. It pays alright, especially for the living standard here. It'll cover my rent and bills and about half of what I spend on clothes and food and all that other stuff I don't actually need but feel as if I can't live without.

3. Weight loss resolutions
As usual, I have resolved to lose weight this year. In 2015 I lost around 30 lbs, which I gained back in 2016. So I'd really like to get back to that end-of-2015 weight as soon as possible. The main plan of attack is to make a lot more meals at home (should also help in the spending department) and stop eating dinner (which is also part of the culture here, they normally just have a snack or a hot beverage). I got Alton Brown's cookbook for Christmas and a Colombian cookbook (in English) and brought both of them with me. I'm also relying heavily on my weekly healthy eating newsletter from buzzfeed for inspiration. My next step will be to buy a bunch more storage containers to keep leftovers in. Bought a scale today (analog) and it told me I'm still the same weight as when I left the states last week (which I'm disappointed in, I've been walking a lot and eating less than I used to.) 68kg. Boo. My goal is to be somewhere in the 50's by March.

4. Get active
There are a few things I'd like to do in this category. First is that I'd like to get into swimming laps at least once a week, there is a set of large outdoor pools near the soccer stadium that have free admission. The second is going on hikes, which should be a fun way to also do some more photography and explore more places in Antioquia (the state I live in here). Third, I want to get stronger, perhaps get a set of dumbbells for my apartment, or perhaps join a discount gym in the neighborhood (but that's not likely, those are for men mostly and I hate being stared at and cat-called.)

5. Apartment 
Hunting for a new apartment is my current obsession. I've spent about 4 hours each day for the past 3 or more days looking through listings and calling agents and seeing spaces. It's hard for me to organize all the details. Cost, cleanliness, location, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, amount of light, etc. And then there's the headache of buying a bed and a fridge and a washing machine. Oy vey. I don't really like being an adult.

6. Creative accomplishments
I want to have a real blog again (one that I can publish my real name on, one that isn't just a diary online) and really start creating article and doing interviews with people. I'm not sure what my focus will be, but I'm excited about the possibility. I plan on doing some audio interviews and some photography, perhaps a video or two.