Goose Chase Ends in a Golden Egg

Yesterday I did a lot of research for my project, when to an event entirely in Spanish, and eventually went on an errand for my boss. This errand sent me to the senate buildings... where I was given the wrong room. This led me on a bit of a goose chase... but it turned out well.

As I walked towards the entrance to one of the senate office building I noticed some people coming out of the door I was about to open. So instead of going in, I opened the door for the people coming out. The guy at the front of the group walked by me, smiled and said thanks... and this is how my thinking went:

- He's cute... He looks familiar, he looks like- Oh my goodness... That's Nick Jonas! -

Yeah, so I continued to hold the door open for his entourage and all of the girls who were following him, giggling and fawning. As he got into the limo two boys (yeah, I was surprised too) ran over screaming "Nick! Oh my god! Can I get your autograph!" and got his autograph. Another girl hurried over and got in line too.

After I checked to make sure I had nothing that would indicate my job, I walked over and asked his security detail if Nick wouldn't mind signing something for my sister. After he finished signing the autograph for the other girl he looked up at me, smiled, and asked how to spell S's name. The autograph is to the right.I think S is going to love it! I need to make sure I don't lose it before I get back. =)

Thinking about S after I got that autograph got me thinking about the family. I do miss being home and knowing I'm so far away doesn't help. Ahh well.

Tomorrows Forecast:

• -Event on National Security
• -Continuing research, but for one of my supervisors (not my national security research)
  

This one's untitled...

I'm very tired, so I am going to blog about Monday and save today's stories for tomorrow.

Monday kept me running all day. I visited the Capitol and got a tour, learned about the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and visited the DEA. As I waited for the people I toured with to arrive, I wrote the following:

I'm sitting outside the capitol building sipping my iced venti caramel latte. I'm in the bus drop-off circle waiting for the person I'm meeting to arrive with our tour group. As I read one of the three 400 page books I have the pleasure to read this summer, two busses arrive. After a few moments swarms of presidential scholars pour out of the buses. Bemused, I lower my book and begin to watch. The first thing I notice is the advisers, who all felt compelled to apologize -- as if my amused smile really meant I was annoyed.

The second thing I noticed was how half of the students attempted to dress professionally (most looking like little kids who played dress up in mommy and daddy's closet), and the other half was- painful. If a dress has tule... it's probably not appropriate for the capitol. And I'm all about expressing oneself through what you wear... but red converse with black skinny dress pants are not acceptable -- even on a guy.

During my day, I got some amazing shots of the capitol and the DEA museum.
Lincoln Statue Beautiful... I want it.

Tomorrow I will update on today... because it was memorable.

I Got it Bad & That Aint Good

I am officially in love with this city... and that's even with being sick as a dog on Thursday.

On Tuesday the Drug Cartel event was canceled, unfortunately. However, I got a lot of research done for my supervisor and her project. Wednesday I was able to watch a congressional nomination for our new commander. It was so interesting! And then came Thursday...

One of my coworkers was out Monday and Tuesday sick. Then another person was out Wednesday. Well Wednesday afternoon I noticed my eyesight was getting a little poor as my eyes got dryer, then I got a headache, and then I got a tickle in my throat. I woke up Thursday feeling dreadful. Wanting to power through it, I tried to go to work. I got there and was miserable... so I went home. By this point I had a horrible headache and was dizzy. Actually, when I was going down one of those two-story long escalators I actually almost toppled over. I stumbled down a few steps but caught myself. When I got home I slept from 10 am until around 6.

Yesterday was a lot better. It was our department head's birthday so we went out to celebrate for a late lunch and then went home early. Hooray! Then I was able to spend the night with Liz, who left this morning to go home for the summer. And today I went with my friend, Andy, to the African Art Museum, the International Art Museum, and the Smithsonian Castle (where the picture is from). In the International Art Museum there was this amazing exhibit on the Russian Tsars and gifts given to them by the Persian Shahs and the Turkic rulers. I couldn't take pictures though. Sad.

I really am falling more and more in love with this city. I want to do graduate work here more and more. And my supervisor, god love her, wants me to do the Presidential Management Fellows Program... the most prestigious fellows program in DC. She thinks I have a chance. Of course, you need to have completed some sort of graduate degree to apply. So the fact that she 1. thinks I can get into grad school and 2. have a chance to get this fellows program makes me feel, to say the least, very honored.

I'm going to end this by sending a message to my littlest sister. I wore your bracelet today! I love it a lot. To those of you who haven't see it, my little sister got this for me at Disney World. It says "Go Green." So to my littlest sister: "I miss you!" Of course, I miss all of my family, but I really wanted to send this message for my littlest sister.

Days that are over ... Will not continue to last

As I left work this afternoon I ran into another worker in our office building (though not my office). She looked at me and smiled saying, "one down, four more to go." I just sorta smiled and nodded... but the thing was, my supervisor had to remind me to go home today and I cannot wait to get back tomorrow morning to finish my research.

I was thinking about this realization as I walked to the metro. I realized that yes, I will have boring days that go by slowly... possibly even boring weeks. However, it's when every day at work is one that drags on that you begin counting down to the weekend. And when you count down to the weekend every week... that's when you should consider a new job. Hopefully I don't get to that point with my internship.

Hmmmm so what did I do today? I went to a panel on "Detention, Rendition, and Human Rights." They discussed Guantanamo for most of the panel. It was really interesting. I also found out I will get credit for my internship, so long as I read three books related to my internship before school starts. No big. Yay for 3 poli sci credits!

Tomorrow's Forecast: An event on drug cartels and a day of research!

Lizzy Want A Taxi?

The only thing I have come to despise in DC is the taxi system. Everyone's told me to take a taxi if I have no one to walk with at night. I've only had to take a taxi twice. The first experience was the worst. My destination was about a 17 minute walk away but it was 10 pm. Yeah, taxi necessary. Anyway, it takes like 15 minutes for the taxi to get there and then, when we're making our way to the place, the driver takes a long route. I kindly inquired, "isn't there a more direct way?" He completely flipped on me saying "You should respect your elders and not question them!" He then mocked me saying, "if you know so much, tell me the streets." I explained that I was in new in town and did not know the streets, but I had taken a more direct route before. He refused to acknowledge I was right and continued to tell me how rude I was and that I should never question my elders. That ride stunk.

In other news, I had a great rest of the work week.

That is General Petraeus... yep, the former commander of troops in Iraq and the current head of CENTCOM. I saw him speak on the plans for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq on Thursday. Too bad I didn't get a better picture. My boss was nice and waited with me to see if we could catch him on the way out. Weirdly enough, his motorcade left without him. Diversion? Quite, possible.

I also had a chance to go to the Pentagon. It's not my official tour; but it was a meeting, so I was able to see a lot the building while walking to our meeting.


This weekend was absolutely phenomenal. I went to Artomatic with my friend Liz. She and I only made it to two floors during our 4 hours there. We got caught up at the "Education" room, where we made dioramas in old cigar boxes. I found the most amazing central asian designed elephant, so I decided to base my design around it. I found a cigar box with a similar centra asian design. The result is the picture to the right. Hooray for art! I'm pretty proud of it.

Today consisted of sight-seeing with Katharine again. This time we made it to the American History Museum and the National Archives. Both are amazing. I was able to see a lot of letters, clothes, etc. that belonged to my second-cousin 10 times removed, also known as George Washington.

Here's to hoping that my work week is just as exciting as it was this week!

"Life's Not Fair"

Today I didn't feel right about writing about my internship. Instead, I'll write a reflection on the shooting today at the US Holocaust Museum.


Today was a scary and sad day in DC. Two of my coworkers had taken me out for ice cream. On the way back to the office we cut through the underground mall and exited out the Marriot. As we were leaving the lobby I noticed the TVs on CNN had on breaking news- "Shooting at the US Holocaust Museum."

"Oh dear God," I half-shouted, knowing that my roommate is an intern there. My two coworkers turned around and joined me in front of the TVs. We stood there in silence for a few moments before leaving and heading back to the office. On the way we saw a Homeland Security police car rush down the street.

When I got back to the office all the TVs were on full volume. They're usually always on CNN but vary from being on mute and full volume. Because of this, I was able to keep fully updated... but I still had no idea how my roommate, R, was. We had been silly and not exchanged information (we have now, though).

Of course, I knew R was not one of the people shot. They said the only individuals shot were the security guard and the shooter, but I still worried about R and how she was handling the crisis. I know I would have been freaking out, even with crisis situation training.

I did not know how R was until about 50 minutes ago, around 8:30 pm. She told me about her experience during the shooting and it was hard to swallow that she had gone through such a horrific experience. I couldn't begin to imagine how she was handling the situation.

But what struck me most was her emotion over the death of the security guard. She had spoken about the security force to C and I on Sunday. She had mentioned a large man whom she compared to a large teddy bear, one of her favorite security guards- the man who died today. It turns out he was the first person she met at the museum. He gave her her first tour and helped her out multiple times with her job. Even talking about his death brought her to tears, and she had only known him for two weeks.

One of the things that will always stay with me is something she said, with great difficulty, near the end of our discussion of today's shooting. "Today a good man died... and the man who should be dead is lying in stable condition in a hospital... Life is not fair."

"One Short Day, in the Emerald City..."

"And we're warning the city: now that we're in here, you'll know we've been here." Oh Wicked, you speak so true.

I am officially done with my first two days of my internship and I just have to say... "wow." It's been a whirlwind of a week and its only Tuesday night. Let's see? What can I actually talk about?

Monday morning I was able to attend an event at George Washington University. One of the men speaking, Thomas Shannon, was just nominated by Obama to be the US ambassador to Brazil! It was a informative, well-organized event, but also quite overwhelming because I didn't really know the background going into the event and had to learn as I attempted to take notes. I figured out the background as it went, however, and talked about it even more afterward with my co-worker. I learned so much just yesterday.

And today, I attended a congressional hearing on the situation in Guatemala in the building to the right. That was absolutely phenomenal. I cannot believe I was in the same room as the former Vice-President of Guatemala.

I also got to see Liz, one of my favorite Pi Phis, today. Hooray! I've also met so many people (I was introduced to two congressmen today); and it's not even half-way through the week.

My supervisor is very attentive. She wants me to create a development plan so we're both on the same page as to what I want to get out of my experience and so that she can do all she can to make sure my experience is a good one.

The only downside, so far, is that I am the only intern in the office. Whereas most interns are in a large program and meet other interns, I have to meet other interns through my roommates, my friends who are interns, or if I decide to be awkwardly friendly at the events I attend (like I did today). Ahh well. It doesn't come close to making this week less amazing.


The Rest of the Week's Forecast:

• -Meeting (fun one)
• -Tour of the Pentagon
  

And that's really all I can talk about as to what I'm doing this week. =) Oh, the picture to the left I took of the capitol before the hearing.

Apartment Update: My mattress sucks. No, I cannot flip it over and it will be better. It's box-spring, pretty sure, and the outside is plastic, so there isn't even fabric to cushion. Soooo uncomfortable.

It's Lincoln on a Segway

Today I had arranged with Katharine to meet up and take our routes to work, followed by a trip to Target. I knew her parents were coming (they're very nice), and I could wait to spend some time with her and them.

After riding my route to work (it's pretty dang easy... just a long metro ride). I arrived out in Virgina, where Katharine is staying, and met up with them at the metro station. We rode it into the Capitol and went over to her office building... only the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters. But before we reached the headquarters, we came across quite a sight.

Yes, that is a man feeding a squirrel. Click on the picture for a closer look.

After taking pictures of myself and Katharine outside of Katharine's office (as of tomorrow), we looked down Pennsylvania Avenue. Her mom mentions that she absolutely loves the Ols Post Office because it's beautiful from the outside and the view from the tower is phenomenal. She convinced us to go over. We quickly learned, however, that it would not be open for another 40 minutes.

"Well then, let's look around until it opens!" Katharine's mom suggests. 3 hours later, we had walked down to the edge of the national mall, seen both sides of the white house, and had a fantastic lunch. We did end up back at the Old Post Office too. It was a lot of walking, which I had not anticipated (my feet are paying the price); but it was worth it. I'm not sure I would have been super motivated to see the sights we saw by myself (museums- yes, looking at someone's big white house- no). One of my favorite parts of our self-guided tour of Pennsylvania Avenue was the following sight:

Yep. Lincoln on a Segway. Cute Lincoln, at that. Possibly my favorite of the strange sightings for the day.

Tomorrow's forecast (besides the real one of rain and humidity):

• -First day on the job!
• -Try not to freak out
• -Get more groceries (ramen noodles, anyone?)

And finally, I'll leave you all with some pictures from my trip down Pennsylvania Avenue.

---------------

White House- I really like this shot.













The US Capitol Building. I also love this shot.

Settlin'

I'm in my apartment!

It's pretty nice, for a DC apartment at this price. It's two levels with the kitchen/dining room and one bedroom on the first floor, and the living room and second bedroom on the second floor. The outside of it is ugly but overall- I am content!

I didn't take any pictures from my camera in the cab but these pictures represent some of the things I saw on my way to my apartment.

Unfortunately the sky is pretty much the sky I saw when I came in. Oh, and I knew that DC was going to be humid but oh--my--gosh!

So I arrived in my apartment and two rooms were closed. I opened one and someone was passed out so I quickly shut the door. The room upstairs were also closed so I assumed that it was also a bedroom and someone else was sleeping. With two suitcases and nowhere to unpack, I sat on the couch and worked on my computer for a good twenty minutes.

After the first roommate woke up, R, I decided to move in with her. The second roommate, C, I met later after I moved all my things in. C is definitely more similar to me, personality wise, but I think rooming with R will work out. Plus, the room we have has a bigger bathroom. Very important when sharing a room.

While exploring the apartment I noticed that the fridge was, I kid you not, practically empty. R and C hadn't even made ice with the ice trays. Le sigh. They claim they hadn't gone grocery shopping because of the rain but it's been a week. No excuse.

Unable to deal with this, I went with C to go grocery shopping. Well... long story short, we went in the direction of no grocery stores. Finally, after getting pointed in the direction of the nearest grocery store, and 15 minutes later, we arrived at a grocery store. Now knowing that it would be a 20 minute walk home, I was very limited as to what I could by. Nonetheless, I am pretty stocked now.

So now I am officially moved in.

Tomorrow's forecast:

• -Farmer's Market shopping
• -Test the metro ride to my workplace and my friend, Katharine's, workplace... with Katharine!!!
• -Get some practical shopping done
  

Memorial Day/T-Minus 5 Days and Counting

Recognizing that last week was Memorial Day, I thought I'd share a picture I took from the Memorial Day parade I was at. The parade is a tradition my family has with some of our close family friends. I've always enjoyed the bagpipes and I really enjoy how this particular picture turned out with the flag hanging behind the man.

On to the subject of DC. It's getting close to take-off and my preparation check-list has been completed. All that I have left to do, I cannot do until Friday (pre-board registration) and Saturday (fly to DC and get to my apartment).

So what shall I be doing my last week at home? Well my best friend has just gotten home from her first year away at college, so I will spending a night of movie watching with her. Another night will hopefully be spent with my old co-workers from last summer's internship. And the rest of the week will be with my family.

My youngest sister's birthday is on my first day of work and she's turning 13, a milestone for any junior high girl. The poor girl will not only have her big sister gone on her birthday, but my dad will be away on a business trip too. So, recognizing that both her older sister and her dad are super lame by being gone, we're celebrating my sister's birthday on Friday.

The next post may or may not be in DC. Until then, have a great week readers!