Moved in, and more articles to come

So, it's been WAY too long after my last post. However, I have been incredibly busy since returning from the Philippines and have way too many stories to tell at once. I plan to release the first of my Philippines essays this weekend.




The reason why I've been so busy is that I've finally moved down to Virginia Beach. I moved here last weekend but didn't officially start work until yesterday. I am currently living in a three-bedroom apartment shared with three other employees of my agency on the second floor of a modular house. It's pretty cool and all, with it's sustainable bamboo floors and solar-powered water heating.

What's especially unique about where I live is that my house is located at the convergence of three unique neighborhoods. For those who are unfamiliar with the area, the Hampton Roads metro area is home to the world's largest naval base, as well as significant Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard operations. It's a hub for international shipping and a major center for innovation. It's a historic region, home to the first permanent English settlement in America and the first seat of the oldest elected representative body in the Western Hemisphere. It's also a remarkably crowded tourist haven. The house is located at the intersection of three roads:


To the West comes miles and miles of subdivisions full of houses that all look the same. This part of town is home to the first time I have encountered a Walmart with a grocery store. This part of Virginia Beach is so desperate for a glimpse of normal urban life that they had to artificially construct a hill our of garbage in order to give variety to the landscape and built the only tall building in Virginia Beach. To add to their desperation, they creatively named it "Town Center."
To the east lies the beach community of Sandbridge. Many of you may have vacationed in Virginia Beach and recalled a busy boardwalk packed with high-rise hotels, seafood restaurants, and body-to-body beaches. That's not Sandbridge. Sandbridge may be slightly crowded on weekends, but the community itself consists of rental homes. Much of Sandbridge has no public parking, so the beach remains relatively quiet. This is what it looked like on the afternoon of July 4th.

It's also 20 minutes south of the touristy Oceanfront (separated by miles and miles of subdivisions), so it gets slightly less crowded. That said, Sandbridge gets enough traffic that, on multiple occasions, I have had to wait a few minutes trying to turn out of my road due to the large volume of vehicles. The refuge is located south of Sandbridge and looks kinda like this:

More on that later.

South of me is the area known as Pungo. I will probably elaborate much more on Pungo due to its unique nature, but it's a combination of new, big houses, soybean fields, and swamp. Those who follow me on facebook know that during my runs through Pungo, I have been repeatedly yelled at and insulted by passing drivers.

Finally, there's Back Bay, a bizarre natural landmark consisting of 9,000 acres of water, swamp, farmland, sandy forest, pine forest, and even beach. Ah, but not sand-covered-with-reddened-skin beach. This kind of beach: Our beach is closed to surfing, swimming, picnics, and sunbathing (normal beach stuff), but it's a great place for a long quiet walk and superb photography. Both of my mornings thus far have been spent on the beach. The first was a sea turtle nest relocation, and the second was a bird survey lasting for about 10+ sandy miles from Sandbridge down to the NC border. It's a great place to view shorebirds, and I've even seen dolphins swimming not too far from shore. The beach is covered with shells of all sorts, as well as the various live crabs and mollusks that inhabit its sands.

That was a really long post. I'll definitely elaborate on some of the things I've mentioned, especially the various neighborhoods and the state of the beaches around here.

Thanks for reading!