viewing the busy street of Roscoe Blvd from my bedroom

I lived in the heart of Panorama city since I left the monastery in year 2010. I was lucky to have met a Filipino couple who were looking for someone who may want to share their apartment. I got the room for a very economical rent: 300.00 dollars. It was a blessing for me as I couldn't afford to rent one that costs 500. or more.

cloistered

This photo was taken inside my room at the  monastery of St Meinrad in Indiana. I was a student monk-seminarian then taking my program for priesthood formation (MA in Divinity). I was still cloistered despite the fact that I was in the seminary with lots and lots of social gatherings that would make one seminarian as busy as a bee.

 Yet, I did shy away from these activities  because i felt uncomfortable making socializations with the crowd of diocesans. This caused my mentor and spiritual advisor to had a talk with me and stressed me out the reasons why my behavior was such. The rest was a history to be told!

apartment

Apartments and dwelling places were what surprised and amused me after landing myself in the  city of Los Angeles.

These apartments and  bachelor type of housing units with two bedrooms and two bathrooms  that lined up along the streets and boulevards of the city   were surprisingly high risers on their rentals.

 I found out later that a unit would cost nearly a thousand dollar rent per month but with free water and electricity. A bit exorbitant compared to other states like New Mexico when a whole house with three bedrooms and three bathrooms would only cost five hundred dollars per month of rental.

The apartment where i  currently live is a three-storey one with limited parking at its back.

 This would prevent the surge of tenants in each unit to acquire their own car parking space hence, they either  have second thoughts of getting a share-unit apartment  and or delay their plan of  getting their personal car for their daily transport to their work and back home.

There were  sorts of challenges which I surmounted and survived  yet I was bent on  keeping myself on the ground and keep the battle for survival in the city of man!