The biggest struggle with this entire process so far has been the three Ts. Okay, maybe not the biggest struggles, I don’t necessarily enjoy reading research for three weeks. However, due to the nature of a Distributed Research Experience for Undergrads, one may end up paying rent in two locations. Fortunately for myself, I was coming up on the end of my lease and was able to stay with a friend until it was time for me to fly out.
With the dominoes falling into place, my successful placement with a mentor at an institution not my own and my lease coming to an end, I had to find a new place to live for just two months during the summer. Two month leases are not really a thing. Thankfully, my mentor Dr. Isaacs was instrumental in helping me find a place. He lives in a townhouse complex that is adjacent to the school where we would be doing our research. He posted on NextDoor for his neighborhood and within a few days we had multiple hits. I was able to make contact with him and negotiate a reasonable price. I believe, in this sense, I got very lucky. I could see this process being much longer and frustrating.
The biggest downside of this being distributed is not having access to a car. While, of course my host family (this is what I call the people I live with) obviously has a car, they have been gone for the first four weeks and did not feel like letting me drive their car. Unfortunately for me, it may be a suuuuuuuper convenient walk to campus, it is many more miles than I want to walk to the closest grocery store. For the past three weeks, I’ve been having to get Lyfts to go get food. This is an extra $20 added to my grocery bill every time. However, I imagine that when my hosts return from their vacation, I will be able to ride with them when they go grocery shopping.