My financial aid came through! I qualify for $8,500 a year in Stafford Direct Subsidized Loans (a VERY good thing) and for $12,000 a year in Stafford Direct Unsubsidized Loans (also good, but rather unnecessary since my tuition and fee costs will be approximately $6,000 a year). I'm not quite sure how to accept one and not the other so I've emailed CSULB asking and hopefully will receive a reply soon.
The loose ends are finally starting to tie up - my textbooks have arrived, I'm signed up for classes, my financial aid is waiting, my car was packed up and shipped off on Saturday morning, we have our plane tickets, my utilities are mostly ordered, and I get to apply for a good assistantship as soon as I land and find the right office to drop the paperwork off in.
Shipping off my car was hard. Mom is steadfastly unsympathetic, commenting that my car is going off on a nice adventure and he's not even going to get tired since he's not driving. This of course has inspired me to write a children's book about moving, and having to ship a car. I think I'll call it Tammy Toyota's Cross Country Adventure. It'll be a team effort - I'll write it, Lidia will illustrate it, and Mom will shop it to publishers. I'm sure Toyota would LOVE to sell that at all of its dealerships. Right?
I've managed to unpack and organize my room, and of course I now have to begin packing. I have 45 pairs of shoes and deciding which ones I'm going to bring is absolutely impossible. I have to bring my sneakers and hiking boots for exercise and possible field schools, I have to bring sandals because that's what I wear on a daily basis, but how many pairs of high heels do I need? I also have to remember anything I leave here may be stolen by a certain little sister in the next room, which complicates things. I might not NEED three pairs of black leather boots, but bringing them ensures they won't be destroyed when I come back at Christmas.
I'm also going to have to pick and choose books and dvds, although Mom had the brilliant idea of shipping me a few a month in those USPS flat-rate boxes, so that I can have them while I'm there and slowly bring them back when I visit.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a superfluous income?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Utilitarian
I finally plucked up the courage to call the gas and electric companies today, and everything is organized. I have to put deposits down for both of them - the electricity deposit is NINETY DOLLARS! - but I do that once I've arrived and they bill me for my first month apparently.
There was an amusing incident with the electricity company however. I maneuvered through their automated menu and finally got a hold of an actual person. She answered in Spanish, and I had an immediate panic reflex. ("But I didn't press #2 for Spanish!)
I say, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish." The lady replies, "Oh I'm sorry. How may I help you?" I reply that I want to set up a new account. She says, "Okay, what's your name?" When I say "Carla Pereira" I suddenly realize the irony of the situation and have to stifle my desire to laugh hysterically at the complete silence on the other end.
Things are finally coming together, although I'm now worrying about my car, because the truck assigned to carry it might arrive in Long Beach as early as July 30th which is bad because we don't want to pay for storage and I only arrive there on August 2nd. I left a voicemail, hopefully they'll get back to me tomorrow and we can work something out. Mom is renting a car, so hypothetically we can do without mine for a day or two.
We went to IKEA last Sunday, to look at possible furniture for California. There was one little loveseat in particular that I absolutely adored - gray, simple and comfortable, it folds out to be a twin bed AND was just $100! I really want two of them, because that will be ample seating and somewhere for any visitors to sleep, not to mention relatively inexpensive.
Mom and I are going to Target soon to look at another futon, so who knows what I'll end up with.
In a "starter apartment" I can't exactly get a designer haven, but I'm sure know enough do-it-yourself to dress it up. Thank you, HGTV!
There was an amusing incident with the electricity company however. I maneuvered through their automated menu and finally got a hold of an actual person. She answered in Spanish, and I had an immediate panic reflex. ("But I didn't press #2 for Spanish!)
I say, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish." The lady replies, "Oh I'm sorry. How may I help you?" I reply that I want to set up a new account. She says, "Okay, what's your name?" When I say "Carla Pereira" I suddenly realize the irony of the situation and have to stifle my desire to laugh hysterically at the complete silence on the other end.
Things are finally coming together, although I'm now worrying about my car, because the truck assigned to carry it might arrive in Long Beach as early as July 30th which is bad because we don't want to pay for storage and I only arrive there on August 2nd. I left a voicemail, hopefully they'll get back to me tomorrow and we can work something out. Mom is renting a car, so hypothetically we can do without mine for a day or two.
We went to IKEA last Sunday, to look at possible furniture for California. There was one little loveseat in particular that I absolutely adored - gray, simple and comfortable, it folds out to be a twin bed AND was just $100! I really want two of them, because that will be ample seating and somewhere for any visitors to sleep, not to mention relatively inexpensive.
Mom and I are going to Target soon to look at another futon, so who knows what I'll end up with.
In a "starter apartment" I can't exactly get a designer haven, but I'm sure know enough do-it-yourself to dress it up. Thank you, HGTV!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Classket Case
Today I finally got through to the financial aid department as CSULB! The very helpful lady explained that though my FAFSA is complete and I don't need to send anything in, they're going to "review" what was sent to them (from the government and my application apparently) and then decide what loan I'm eligible for, and send me a letter. Once I get the letter I can accept the loan they offer on my CSULB account, and all will be in order.
She asked if I'd registered for classes and I said I hadn't - that I thought I needed to have the loan approved first - and she replied that everything would be settled within a week or two and I should go ahead and sign up.
This I did, and I'm now registered for Current Trends in Anthropological Theory, Applied Anthropology, and Ethnographic Research Methods. I was surprised at the lack of "archaeology" classes so I emailed the department head about it. I'm pretty sure the archaeology comes from independent study though, but I wouldn't want to take that my very first semester.
Mom and I ordered our plane tickets this weekend - it turns out that you can't book a roundtrip flight with a one-way flight at the same time. Don't parents escort their children to far-off colleges all the time? Trying to order by phone was just as bad as the lady couldn't grasp the idea that Mom wanted to come back to Orlando and I was going to stay in Long Beach. Eventually we ordered online in two separate transactions and managed to get seats next to each other.
Time to switch laundry loads...only a week or so left in Gainesville and then I'm in Orlando til August!!
She asked if I'd registered for classes and I said I hadn't - that I thought I needed to have the loan approved first - and she replied that everything would be settled within a week or two and I should go ahead and sign up.
This I did, and I'm now registered for Current Trends in Anthropological Theory, Applied Anthropology, and Ethnographic Research Methods. I was surprised at the lack of "archaeology" classes so I emailed the department head about it. I'm pretty sure the archaeology comes from independent study though, but I wouldn't want to take that my very first semester.
Mom and I ordered our plane tickets this weekend - it turns out that you can't book a roundtrip flight with a one-way flight at the same time. Don't parents escort their children to far-off colleges all the time? Trying to order by phone was just as bad as the lady couldn't grasp the idea that Mom wanted to come back to Orlando and I was going to stay in Long Beach. Eventually we ordered online in two separate transactions and managed to get seats next to each other.
Time to switch laundry loads...only a week or so left in Gainesville and then I'm in Orlando til August!!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Preppity prep prep
Oh the irony of having a million things to do, sending the appropriate emails, and having only one email being returned...and suddenly realizing I STILL can't do anything about that particular issue until I've discussed it with my parents.
I still have to call cable companies about cable and internet, and I hate talking to strangers on the phone.
While watching HGTV today I realized my apartment probably doesn't have a microwave, but when I went on an internet rampage I found $75 microwaves at Wal-mart, so hopefully that's something we can afford. Now I understand why budgets cause gray hairs.
So the list of Things I Must Buy In California has now expanded to: bed, desk, desk-chair, microwave, cutlery. The list of Things I Want In California is much more expansive (expensive?), including a couch, bedside tables, chairs for the breakfast nook, tv stand, bookshelf, a dresser...I'm sure you get the idea.
My dilly-dally break is over, and it's now time to brave the telephone and figure out what on earth I'm going to do about cable and internet. Here's to hoping that I can afford cable!!
I still have to call cable companies about cable and internet, and I hate talking to strangers on the phone.
While watching HGTV today I realized my apartment probably doesn't have a microwave, but when I went on an internet rampage I found $75 microwaves at Wal-mart, so hopefully that's something we can afford. Now I understand why budgets cause gray hairs.
So the list of Things I Must Buy In California has now expanded to: bed, desk, desk-chair, microwave, cutlery. The list of Things I Want In California is much more expansive (expensive?), including a couch, bedside tables, chairs for the breakfast nook, tv stand, bookshelf, a dresser...I'm sure you get the idea.
My dilly-dally break is over, and it's now time to brave the telephone and figure out what on earth I'm going to do about cable and internet. Here's to hoping that I can afford cable!!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Well...
I know I'm not in California yet, but I decided I might as well get this blog started. My name is Carla and I just graduated from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Anthropology, Cum Laude. I'm moving out to California to get my M.A. in anthropology - really archaeology, but nowhere except Boston University offers "archaeology" degrees, so it goes.
I already have my apartment so now I just need to book some plane tickets, see my car safely off with the shipping company (that won't be for some weeks, I only arrive in Long Beach in August), and get my utilities organized so that they'll be on when I get there. Okay, there's a lot more than that to do. But I like pretending there's only a little to do. I never really wanted to grow up and be responsible - I did want to grow up so I could stay up all night and eat ice cream for dinner and drive a car, and even though I've done all those things I sometimes wonder if growing up is really worth getting to do that stuff.
According to the Weather Channel website the temperature tomorrow in Long Beach is going to be a high of 72 and a low of 60. I obviously am going to have to bring every single sweater and jacket I own - I get cold when it's 75 outside, so moving from 90 degree Florida to 70 degree California is going to be somewhat of a challenge. Change is broadening to the mind, right?
I already have my apartment so now I just need to book some plane tickets, see my car safely off with the shipping company (that won't be for some weeks, I only arrive in Long Beach in August), and get my utilities organized so that they'll be on when I get there. Okay, there's a lot more than that to do. But I like pretending there's only a little to do. I never really wanted to grow up and be responsible - I did want to grow up so I could stay up all night and eat ice cream for dinner and drive a car, and even though I've done all those things I sometimes wonder if growing up is really worth getting to do that stuff.
According to the Weather Channel website the temperature tomorrow in Long Beach is going to be a high of 72 and a low of 60. I obviously am going to have to bring every single sweater and jacket I own - I get cold when it's 75 outside, so moving from 90 degree Florida to 70 degree California is going to be somewhat of a challenge. Change is broadening to the mind, right?
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