Bienvenidos a Miami

Where I was last week-- San Juan, Puerto Rico

You may have noticed that I've taken some time away from my blog. I went through a phase a few months ago where all I thought about was entries that I could post. I looked forward to checking my Google Analytics page each day to see how many hits I had and where my visitors were coming from, and I enjoyed the comments that readers would post to my blog.

Lately, though, I have felt completely uninspired. I can't seem to figure out what my focus is-- whether I want to write really personally, or focus on fashion, or crafts, or do something totally different. I am unsure what my readership is-- whether there's anyone out there who reads what I write and gets a kick out of it.

I am now living in Miami for the next month or so. I have an agency down here, Mega Models, and they asked me a few months ago to consider spending my winter down here (you can view my portfolio here). Few people seem to understand how it works, but the short of it is that I am not here on a job. I do not get paid to be in Miami. Like an actor who moves to LA to try and find work, a model moves from city to city in order to find work. I have the luxury of picking which city I want to live in (most major cities have at least a little modeling work, although the top three cities to make a living as a model are New York, Paris, and Milan). That said, I pay all of my expenses-- I book my plane ticket there, find accommodations, and pay my own day to day expenses. It can get quite expensive, especially if I don't end up finding work in that city. So far, I have lived and or worked in New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Athens, Greece; Mumbai, India; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Istanbul, Turkey; and Amman, Jordan.

My lonely little apartment in Miami

I arrived in Miami last Saturday, and found that I am living in a small, studio apartment that my agency is renting to me. I was expecting to be put in an apartment with other girls, as is customary, but instead find myself all alone in this foreign city. My apartment seems to be located on a stretch of road that is mostly other dilapidated-looking apartment buildings. So far, I have not found any places to eat, nor have I found a grocery. The agency is located about a half hour's walk from me on Lincoln Road, which is, thankfully, much more populated.

I've found that I am pretty bored living all by myself in a city where I don't have many friends (I think the count is up to two-- my friend Christina, who has a three week old baby, and Amanda, another model living here that I have just been reaquainted with-- we actually met for the first time in 2003 in Athens, Greece). I am not much into exploring places by myself. I think having a twin has spoiled me so that I don't like to do things by myself. So far, I've walked along the seashore (which my apartment building backs up to), gone to the library (where I actually read a whole book in one sitting), and toyed around in the Apple Store on Lincoln Road.

Me and Amanda make friends at a hostel

Last night I finally had some excitement as Amanda and I decided to explore the South Beach area a bit. We were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon a barbeque at a local hostel. For $5 we got all-you-can-eat burgers, and made instant friends with some other out-of-towners. We hung around there until midnight, then we headed to Ted's Hideaway, a local dive bar, with some of out new friends. I had a great time, and was immensly relieved to be out of my solitary apartment for a night.