the salesman cometh....
so the next step was to find an agent. i decided looking at MLS listings online was not getting me anywhere. for-sale-by-owners (FSBO) were hard to come by and took a lot of time, not to mention - gas. and when crude is $60/barrel - you don't want to be driving aimlessly, looking for little red-white signs in unfamiliar neighborhoods.
and this is where (and when) my true learning began. of how different the culture is here in the northwestern part of the country. how openly intolerant and prejudiced the masses are once you step outside of the familiar, cerebral, 'blue' neighborhoods in a fiercely (proudly) red state.
i felt that i had to be close to the city center in order to be safe in a house by myself. i could not move too far out into suburbia - among the christian-god-fearing white masses with the portraits of a blue eyed, white skinned Jesus hung on every wall.
my last name is a matter of pride for me. but it leaves nothing to the imagination as to my religion. before moving here, in my 6 years of living Stateside, i have had only one person ask me abt my religion while i was in - apparently "hole in the ground" - motown, wv (my Remax agent's ice-breaker during our first meeting). but now, i was completely unprepared to dodge my way in and out of conversations about my religion and my beliefs. about my being a 'practicing' muslim. about the frequency of my mosque attendance. about the war in iraq, about the justice and fairness of 'shock-and-awe'. in all this, very little data was exchanged on what kind of house would best suit me.
perhaps nobody in NYC (or Chicago or Miami or LA) would believe what comments were directed at me unless i taped these conversations and replayed them. even as i sat through their seemingly casual remarks and observations, i could not believe my ears. are they just ignorant? uneducated? prejudiced? bigotted? rude? have they never been taught how to conduct a civil exchange with a relative stranger?
after all that, you wonder, what madness makes me want to stay here?...because, soon enough, the immigrant population here will outweigh the locals. then this will be a lovely place to live. with its natural blessings of good weather and great outdoors.
i hope.
and this is where (and when) my true learning began. of how different the culture is here in the northwestern part of the country. how openly intolerant and prejudiced the masses are once you step outside of the familiar, cerebral, 'blue' neighborhoods in a fiercely (proudly) red state.
i felt that i had to be close to the city center in order to be safe in a house by myself. i could not move too far out into suburbia - among the christian-god-fearing white masses with the portraits of a blue eyed, white skinned Jesus hung on every wall.
my last name is a matter of pride for me. but it leaves nothing to the imagination as to my religion. before moving here, in my 6 years of living Stateside, i have had only one person ask me abt my religion while i was in - apparently "hole in the ground" - motown, wv (my Remax agent's ice-breaker during our first meeting). but now, i was completely unprepared to dodge my way in and out of conversations about my religion and my beliefs. about my being a 'practicing' muslim. about the frequency of my mosque attendance. about the war in iraq, about the justice and fairness of 'shock-and-awe'. in all this, very little data was exchanged on what kind of house would best suit me.
perhaps nobody in NYC (or Chicago or Miami or LA) would believe what comments were directed at me unless i taped these conversations and replayed them. even as i sat through their seemingly casual remarks and observations, i could not believe my ears. are they just ignorant? uneducated? prejudiced? bigotted? rude? have they never been taught how to conduct a civil exchange with a relative stranger?
after all that, you wonder, what madness makes me want to stay here?...because, soon enough, the immigrant population here will outweigh the locals. then this will be a lovely place to live. with its natural blessings of good weather and great outdoors.
i hope.
