In Spanish there's a saying, "dime con quién andas y te digo quién eres" (tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are). Very insightful, but I would offer the corollary of "dime dónde vives y te digo quién eres" (tell me where you live, and I'll tell you who you are).
I have lived in Missoula, Montana, for almost two years and have come to the realization that this place resonates with me far more than my home of Florida ever did.
For one thing, here I can enjoy a life of the mind like never before. As an attorney, I get to participate in appellate work, something I'm particularly good at but never had much access to in Florida because of the paranoid, guild-like protectionism of appellate attorneys there, who consider themselves experts in an area no ordinary attorney could fathom. Apart from ordinary work, I tutor two or three Spanish students at any given time and enjoy chatting with each of them in fun places such as cafés and wineries, and I have gained new friends who are from Latin America but have precious few Spanish speakers nearby for company (in Florida, Spanish speakers are as plentiful as palm trees). I spend a lot of time at the law school with young and intelligent attorneys-in-training, especially nowadays because I coach the international-law moot court team and get to discuss esoteric but crucial legal principles. There is chess, which I have studied and improved at since coming here, and which already has earned me several good friends. And there is my personal writing, some of which I do here and some of which I do on the side, but all of which allows me to express myself in a way that the demands of Florida life would not allow.
There is a sense of community here, not the alienating isolation of being swallowed by a big city. The friends I already mentioned were incredibly easy to meet but have provided a level of warmth and camaraderie that matches none from Florida, save for my childhood friends. Perhaps only one, or at most two, degrees of separation stand between Missoulians. If you mistreat someone here, it will come back to haunt you as it should.
There are seasons that reflect life, as the splendor of spring and summer gives way to the gloom of autumn and winter, only to be reborn once again. My ancestry has re-emerged and allows me to face the bitter cold without any problem. Sometimes I leave the gym after swimming and walk through snow wearing flip-flops, a damp bathing suit and a pullover, and I feel just fine.
And there are the women. I've dated several here and have been with my current girlfriend for a few months. Each woman is unique, but they all share a quality extremely hard to find in Florida -- character.
Missoula is my new home, and it's a good fit.
I have lived in Missoula, Montana, for almost two years and have come to the realization that this place resonates with me far more than my home of Florida ever did.
For one thing, here I can enjoy a life of the mind like never before. As an attorney, I get to participate in appellate work, something I'm particularly good at but never had much access to in Florida because of the paranoid, guild-like protectionism of appellate attorneys there, who consider themselves experts in an area no ordinary attorney could fathom. Apart from ordinary work, I tutor two or three Spanish students at any given time and enjoy chatting with each of them in fun places such as cafés and wineries, and I have gained new friends who are from Latin America but have precious few Spanish speakers nearby for company (in Florida, Spanish speakers are as plentiful as palm trees). I spend a lot of time at the law school with young and intelligent attorneys-in-training, especially nowadays because I coach the international-law moot court team and get to discuss esoteric but crucial legal principles. There is chess, which I have studied and improved at since coming here, and which already has earned me several good friends. And there is my personal writing, some of which I do here and some of which I do on the side, but all of which allows me to express myself in a way that the demands of Florida life would not allow.
There is a sense of community here, not the alienating isolation of being swallowed by a big city. The friends I already mentioned were incredibly easy to meet but have provided a level of warmth and camaraderie that matches none from Florida, save for my childhood friends. Perhaps only one, or at most two, degrees of separation stand between Missoulians. If you mistreat someone here, it will come back to haunt you as it should.
There are seasons that reflect life, as the splendor of spring and summer gives way to the gloom of autumn and winter, only to be reborn once again. My ancestry has re-emerged and allows me to face the bitter cold without any problem. Sometimes I leave the gym after swimming and walk through snow wearing flip-flops, a damp bathing suit and a pullover, and I feel just fine.
And there are the women. I've dated several here and have been with my current girlfriend for a few months. Each woman is unique, but they all share a quality extremely hard to find in Florida -- character.
Missoula is my new home, and it's a good fit.
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