I think I’m still not over my culture shock from moving from NYC to Grants Pass, OR.

Especially when I dealt with my appointment last month in Portland, OR. I got excited about seeing skyscrapers and seeing a range of diversity of people. I got excited to see more than white ppl!

Oh god! Do I missed being surrounded by all sorts of different cultures, races, religions, and all forms of walks of life. I got excited finally being surrounded by something that wasn’t one note.

Which now makes me wonder if that’s the reason I been slowly isolating myself past the initial culture shock of leaving a city to a small town. I’m not just isolated by the lack of things to do, but also by lack of diversity.

It doesn’t help that I’m stuck due to transportation and finances. But I really need to find a way to reach my goal to becoming financially stable to be able to afford a vehicle so I can do things and surround myself in a larger diverse community.

For goodness sake, for almost the first 2 years I been in Grants Pass I been the only Dominican person. Sure, there’s Mexican in the area, but that’s a whole different culture than me. And then finally when a Dominican restaurant opened up I finally didn’t feel alone.

That Dominican restaurant became my island in a sea of isolation. It’s also the only place where I can get quality food I miss so much! Especially when a range of ingredients are just impossible to get on a none commercial level.

So I’m in between trying to figure out what should be my next steps. Because I need culture to feel a sense of belonging again.