Allaahu akbar

This morning I woke up at 8 am with the sounds of the Muslim call to prayer blaring through my windows. I live right across the street from a Muslim prayer temple and today is Eid ul-Fitr. It's the end of Ramadan, so I'm guessing that's why there are hoards of people streaming into the tiny prayer temple. According to Wikipedia it lasts three days, so I'm wondering if I'll be waking up to this for the next three mornings.

Generally I hear the prayer services each night, but they're not usually broadcast loudly through the streets, so it wafts in my window just faintly enough to lull me to sleep and provide a nice background to my evenings, but this morning was a bit more invasive. I didn't mind too much as it got me out of bed earlier than usual when I don't open the cafe, but Loulou was a bit freaked out and unnerved by the whole thing. Days like today I feel as if I'm in a different country...which I love.

Living on a whim...

A week and a half ago, I started pondering Philadelphia.

Today, I moved here!

It seems like ever since I decided I wanted to move, no place, job, idea caught my attention long enough for me to actually begin pursuing it...and if it did, the pursuit usually ended in failure. So, as I started considering Philly, I casually browsed Craigslist one night only to find the most perfectly located and perfectly priced apartment for rent. I jumped on it, and found out yesterday that I got it...and today I signed the lease and moved in!

I'm still a little shell-shocked at how fast this all happened, but it all played out so easily and perfectly that surely it's meant to be.

My tiny one-bedroom apartment is perfect for me and Loulou (who will be joining me Sunday) and the sorry amount of stuff that I own. The kitchen is pretty bare, but the rest of the place is actually looking quite nice now that I've got some furniture in it.

Behold...some photos...

From my door...


Furniture filling it up!


The kitchen, once I had it all clean and organized...


I am those front two windows on each corner above the barbershop...


Cozy little bedroom...

Goodbye Stone Soup

Today is my last day at Stone Soup. I put in my month's notice about a month and a week ago, so it's been a long time coming. I knew I wanted to take some time to myself before I upped and moved my whole world somewhere new, but I have a feeling it's going to be harder to part than I anticipated.

Lately, it's been a highly stressful and disappointing job due to the customers and their overall treatment of the servers and insanely low tips (you would not believe how many seemingly decent and nice people leave less than a dollar these days). I know the economy has a lot to do with this, but I still find it a bit inexcusable. I mean, don't go out to eat if you can't budget for a tip...it's simple! Anyway, enough ranting...

Aside from the bad customers, things there have really been better than most any other job I've had in the past at a place like this. It's definitely unique (mostly organic food...located in a 200+ year-old building...a total of six servers and five kitchen staff), has allowed me to do things I never thought I'd get to do (be a line cook, become a wine connoisseur, work out my leg muscles at work [it's a two story restaurant and I'm always the upstairs server]) and it's become like a family to me. I know that it will take a while for me to realize I'm done there, but I'm sure once I do I'll feel just the slightest bit of sadness.

Then I'm sure that sadness will quickly turn to relief and happiness...and soon thereafter, panic about what I'm going to do next.

So now, the question is...what am I going to do next? Well, that is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Keep your fingers crossed that I come across some awesomely cool opportunity and am able to jump on it.

As for now, I think I've earned a little vacation time.

[Stone Soup Bistro is the smaller building on the right]