Hi! My name is Alida Angafor, I am 25 and currently living in Salida, Colorado. Before moving to Salida, I was living in Durango, where I worked with SouthWest Conservation Corps in the summer and fall and then worked at the Boys and Girls Club and the local ski resort there in the winter. I intended to stay there only for the summer when I first moved there, but I loved the people and place so much that I ended up staying for about a year. I would have stayed longer, but had to move to Salida when I was offered a position here with the Department of Human Services as a caseworker with the child welfare division. I have only been here a couple of months, since April, but I can say with absolute certainty that it has definitely been quite an experience, to say the least. I do enjoy the work. Sure, working with families to ensure the safety of vulnerable populations such as children, who are often overlooked in the place I am from, is very rewarding and healing in some ways, but it is also just nice feeling like a part of things. It feels nice not having to work as hard as I have had to in the past just to feel tethered. These days I just am.
Anyway, before Durango and Salida, I spent about six months traveling in South America and about two months traveling in Europe. I started in Chile and, traveling primarily by bus, made my way to Colombia. Along the way, I worked in hostels and communes. From Colombia, I flew to Portugal and, traveling solely by train, made my way across Western Europe. My trip ended in Turkey, from where I flew back to the United States. Traveling for eight months was fun and liberating, lonely at times sure, and even tiring, but it was also just a necessary thing I needed to do. Before I decided to go traveling, I think I was at the lowest I had ever been. I was living in Hilo, Hawaii at the time, working as a program guide with Pacific Quest Horticultural Therapy Program, which is a residential program for troubled teens and young adults. I went to work and did the bare minimum I needed to do to not be homeless, but outside of that, I did nothing else. I had little to no interest in getting to know anyone or do anything; life simply did not excite me. I remember spending hours crying in my cute little studio apartment by the river, which in hindsight cost way too much. I was miserable, in truth I had been miserable for the longest time. I saw a therapist who told me that I had persistent depressive disorder, also known as dysthymia. He also told me that he did not think I was clinically depressed, but that he thought I was philosophically depressed. I don't entirely understand what that means, but I thought it was hilarious. I had quite literally thought myself into depression, it seemed. I mean, that is kind of funny. Anyway, I do not know when the decision was made, but after about six months in Hawaii, I decided I was going to go traveling. I booked a flight to Chile, packed a backpack, sold everything else, and well, the rest is history.
Prior to Hawaii and traveling and everything else, I worked in Utah as a program guide at a therapy program for troubled teenage boys. Before that, I was in college. I graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and sociology and a minor in astronomy. I am sure I will get around to reflecting on the whole college experience at some point. I went to high school in Washington, DC, and attended middle school, elementary school, and kindergarten in Cameroon, which is where I was born. I barely think of Cameroon these days, but it remains a significant part of who I am. I have not been there in over twelve years, but I would like to go back someday. I have a lot of family there. My father is there, but I do not really talk to him. He pissed me off many years ago and I suppose I am not over it just yet. I may or may not get around to writing more on that someday.
What I mainly hope to write about is my experience of the world from my standpoint. Don't ask me why, because I have no good reasons. I just like writing. I have wanted to start a blog like this for a long time and am just glad to be finally doing it.