It took a while for the adjustment to be made, and for my flights to be well on their way. I arrived close to 10pm in the evening, having taken an Uber from the airport. I arrived to a particular building that I would soon call home for the next ten weeks. I checked in and made my way up to my room- the 9th floor of a great local hotel in Ballston. When I keyed into my room, I looked around. A feeling overwhelming sensational reality burst through my body in an instant- I realized that I had made it. After so long waiting for this opportunity, I stepped with my belongings into a a stunning room of elegance with the perfect array of decorations and feng shui. The modern kitchen connected to the portion of the living room, but with counters large enough to meet any standards of cooking needs that my heart may desire. The bathroom connected to the kitchen in the outermost part of the “hallway” for lack of a better term because it was just big enough to fit two doors, both across from each other; one for the washer and drier, the other for linens and storage. As you walked through the spotless bathroom with granite counter tops and a tinge of off-white ad beige accents, you felt as though you were royalty.

At the other end of the bathroom was the connecting door that lead into the master bedroom. Inside, lay a single queen size bed, with the comforts of exactly how you would expect royalty to sleep. There was a window overlooking the neighboring building, but nothing too amazing. What was incredible; though, was not the one, but two walk-in closets that could hold what seemed it could hold the whole wardrobes of 3 people that shopped from Shein, H&M, and Forever 21 respectively.

I was quick to settle in, and and grew comfortable in taking my luggage out and placing it in the closet before I went down the street to Target to grab food. As I made my way into the lobby, I spoke to the hotel receptionist, Shahawar (a great guy with the heart of gold and the desire to help in any way possible), whom I had informed that I, in fact, was placed in a 1 bedroom apartment, in the pretense that I believe my roommate had been unable to make it, and the booking company placed me in an apartment all to myself. It was blissful thinking to say the least.

As I returned from Target, I met up with the receptionist again who waved me down and exclaimed,

“Hey, your roommate just got here, he went up to check out the room.”

“Roommate? What are you talking about?”, I questioned eagerly.

“Yeah, your roommate Beck just got here, he went up to check out the apartment.”

I was frantic at this point, “The apartment room is only a one bedroom. How is it possible that I have a roommate?”

Shahawar was equally as puzzled as I was as we were trying to figure out what to do. Just then I met Beck for the first time in person. Beck was standing there, seemingly quite calm but with notes of obvious tension after traveling all this way from Utah only to find out he didn’t have a place to stay. Since a third-party company from the Department of State ordered the rooms, it had to go through the mediators that booked the rooms initially. Unbelievably, the guy who Beck called actually suggested he pay out of pocket for another room at another hotel. Beck refused to do something so absurd since it was never his responsibility to have the accommodations in the first place- it was all the duty of the State Department.

Eventually, Shahawar, told us he found a two bedroom on the 9th floor. I was skeptical and wanted to stay in my room, but it wasn’t until I finished eating that I reluctantly packed up my freshly unpacked clothes and walked with Beck who helped carry my stuff into the new apartment. When we both got inside, we were awestruck with what met us. Probably one of the nicest apartments in the entire building- as what Shahawar told us, was a 180-degree view of floor to ceiling windows that covered the spans of the city-scape below from the 9th floor. Wood floor with a beautiful island countertop and sink combination with a state-of-the-art oven and stovetop. Beck and I went to our respective rooms and I just happened to get lucky, throwing my stuff down into the master bedroom. Inside was access to an outdoor balcony, another personal walk-in closet, and my very own bathroom inside of the room. My bed stayed a queen size, and the room itself was spacious and fitting for the overall experience. 

At first I was timid about the move, but waking up to this view every day got me thinking about how enjoyable this opportunity really is, and how making every moment count comes with first appreciating where you are.