---
layout: post
title: The balance of my trip to the USA
tags: [ personal improvement ]
published: true
---

Tomorrow will be a week since I left Portugal on my first attempt to live alone
and begin a new life on my own at the United States. Apparently it went wrong
and for all of you guys that actually think that, _this is my final statement_
on this week full of adventure, risk and emotions.

I got in the plain Saturday, July 19th 2008, 9h30am. Everything was still an
exciting mistery. Arrived at Newark, New Jersey at 3pm. [Jim
Starace](http://agencyaccess.com) picked me up to show me the town of
Hauppauge, New York. He showed me my office, my home and some parts of town.
For two days we drove to various spots like some stores for me to get some
stuff to eat, sleep and fill the house. It was an interesting weekend, we could
actually chat a little and hang out so me and Jim could get along as friends
and colleagues at work.

Monday came. Jim picked me from the hotel on our way to start my first day of
work. A wonderful day that was. I met the boss, Keith, a wonderful guy indeed.
Everyone at [Agency Access](http://agencyaccess.com) is just lovely! I started
my role as the in-house PHP developer in order to start the project I applied
to. The whole day went just great. I had the perfect work day. I wish these
days could exist where I live.

Then another major event came upon: my moving in. When I first saw the house
and said to me: "I won't be staying here too long, I can tell...". The house
«looked» kinda nice but it was only that. The house smelled funny and it had no
lights in the living room nor the bedroom. The floor was carpeted - I am not
used to it - and the couch was dirty. I would get a new couch cover and the
problem would be settled. I was so excited with all the adventure that I didn't
even think about that whole mess. I just wanted to experience all of it;
unfortunately it turned out the other way around.

The first night at the place was ... peaceful. Until... the landlord turned the
TV out loud till after bed time. I had the whole bedroom lit up by the
moonlight so I just couldn't get no sleep because of these two incidents. I
managed to get some sleep.

Next day I wake up with pain in my back from the lousy night I had. I get up, I
have breakfast and go to work. A lovely 20 minute walk in the midst of the
trees that fill New York's suburbs. The whole work day was very pleasant and
productive. I was actually enjoying working there very much, no doubt on that.

When I came home, I felt this deep voidness inside. I was looking at my still
unpacked case, my dirty couch, my TV set and decided to chill out a little bit.
I laid on the couch with my laptop trying to chat with my friends in Portugal.
A nice time that was. When all of them were off I decided to get something to
eat. I had previously got those add-water meals so I could easily start off
with something rather than milk & cereals. So I put turn the oven on and it
didn't last 5 minutes until the fire alarm went off...! I had to turn it off so
the house wouldn't go nuts because of that. So milk & cereals it was for
dinner.

I tried to listen to some of my music to see if I could relax but the moment I
turned the music on I felt like I wanted to dance it with some girl. Guess
what? There were no girls! Turn it off so I won't be crying. What could I
possibly do at that time (it was like 9pm) ? Nothing but go to bed. And so I
did. What happened? Landlord's TV out loud. Moonlight. I was trembling for so
much disaster. I started crying in despair. That's where I found I was having
no peace. The next morning I got the tickets and went back home.

Life lesson: never face something _that_ unknown. I lost a lot of money on this
adventure and I must get them back no matter what. If you are reading this and
want to do something alike this, be careful! I learned a lot in this week
concerning risk taking, investing and inner joy, peace and happiness.

I appreciate everyone's help and support. But there are three people I want to
thank with kind attention: Jim Starace, for all the incomparable support during
this week, my deepest _thank you_ goes to you; _my mother_ because she is my
mother and there is no one like her, period; [Tony
Chester](http://onwired.com), leader of the OnWired team that first offered me
a job but it didn't work. However, his concern has always meant a lot to me. My
regards to you, Tony.