Changing neighborhoods...

I've been thinking for a long time of changing neighborhoods.

My funding is running out this year, and not only am I sure that I want a service industry job (waiting tables, bartenders) to complement my dissertation writing -- you can't teach to live and still remain sane, though you can teach on occasion for experience and the salary is helpful then -- and you just don't have those opportunities in my neighborhood, and plus transportation back here at night is a bitch.

Additionally, I know of a neighborhood I think I'd like to live, and if I'm going to be on the job market in 2 or 3 years, I think I would regret not having tried living there.... The neighborhood is pretty (black), and it has a bunch of African immigrants to boot.

The other week I was up there, and the following happened:

1) I ate at an African restuarant, and the hostess loved my saying the portion of jollof rice was bigger than my head, so how could I eat it?

Also, a 30-something couple had their young son in, and he looked tired, so she was like, "Come here, baby, I will make you fufu," and she went up to him and took him in her arms.

2) At the McDonald's that I swung through, this big group of (black) teenagers hanging out was talking about some girl, and the one was like, "You know, Maria with the ugly face and the big titties," and then one was like, "You mean with the mark here" - and at that he gestured to his eyebrow - and then the other one was like, "No man, the one with the gap in her teeth, Mexican Maria."

3) Walking out of the neighborhood, I passed a storefront church on the main drag called "Temple of Victory", and a huge gospel sound (live!) was coming out of it.

...

Plus, I think I can the same price for an apartment. If I work at a restaurant or bar 3-4 times a week, what's the difference between living near there, and commuting to school, versus living near school, and commuting to a restaurant or bar job? I say live in a new neighborhood and try it out.