Oh no...

it's been quite a while since I've blogged...School and work have kept me more than a little bit busy! I promise to try and get some pictures up here soon!

Big Week...

So I've had quite a few interesting experiences this week - thought I'd share a bit about them...

On Tuesday, I had the chance to go down to the Object Conservation Lab in the basement of the museum. That is where objects are brought before they're put on display to be cleaned or repaired or anything. The lab is SO interesting, and the ladies that work in there are wonderful. They showed me and another intern all around the lab and showed up what they're working on right now. They have so many tools in the lab for conservation - all kinds of interesting potions and stuff! They were working mainly on projects for a new exhibit opening in '09 called On The Water - it's a new maritime exhibit. They were working on several model ships that were really cool. They were also working on this big wooden trunk that was off of a ship - it was so gorgeous! They were also working on a couple of things for the new 'artifact walls' that are going to be up when the museum opens. They were working on some mouse traps for an artifact wall and also were working on some artifacts from the first ladies collection. There was some beautiful silverware that was one of the first ladies' (I don't know whose) and also this amazing silver castle thing that held perfume. I'd definitely never seen anything like it!

On Wednesday, I went with the interns on a tour of the Archives Center at the museum. I'd never been there before, and it was really interesting. The museum has a huge collection of archives, but many of them are specialized - like the Duke Ellington collection and a collection of CCC Records from the Depression era. Many of the interns will use the archives for research on their specific project. I wish I had something to work on in there! It was really interesting.

After I left work on Wednesday, I was walking to Barnes and Noble and the president's motorcade drove by on the way to the capitol building. That was a pretty exciting moment, I'm not gonna lie ;-)

Today we had a briefing (ie -class) at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is the office building next to the White House where the VP works. In case you were wondering, Dick Cheney's office is #246, haha. We actually went to a conference room and were briefed by a former advisor to the President who worked with Bush on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that failed in June. It was very interesting, and I'm not gonna lie, the building was pretty great. I was excited to be in there ;-)

So that was my week...

Things I've learned since I came to Washington...

A random list of things I've come to realize since I've arrived in this wonderful city:

1. how to spell thesaurus
2. Oprah's book club has some excellent selections.
3. Martha Washington was not that great looking, but she was extremely interesting. Random fact - she buried two husbands and four children in her lifetime.
4. Learning to be independent is exhilirating - and kind of fun.
5. Buffets that have Chinese food and pasta next to each other are not good.
6. The Toasted Marshmallow Mocha at Starbucks IS good.
7. Having a Barnes and Noble within blocks of your work causes one to spend money involuntarily.
8. The metro is convenient and inconvenient at the same time.
9. Walking a mile is not at all far. Walking 9 miles is far.
10. The zoo is not that great. Mount Vernon is pretty great though.

more to come....

Snip snip

So I've received several requests for pics of the new haircut...sorry these pictures are terrible, but they're a fairly decent representation of the cut ;-)

Thoughts (and pizza) warmed over...

As I sit eating a leftover piece of CPK pizza (chicken and garlic - yum), I'm reflecting on my week...not I that I actually have too much to reflect on. This last week went by so quickly, and I actually am not too sure where my time went ;-)

I spent a couple of hours writing a reflection paper about my internship - and quite a few hours procrastinating writing the paper. I reflected on what I've learned since beginning my internship - mostly not really the tasks I've learned to do, but how my internship has changed my thinking. I've thought a lot about my career since coming to Washington - it's not really something that one can avoid here, where the world's highest concentration of power hungry people reside ;-) Although I'm still not really sure where a career fits in among my major life goals, it appears that at this point it's something I should figure out. I'm looking into development and public programs options at the museum...I think it's something that I'm really interested in. We'll see, I guess. I keep trying to remind myself that I have a while before I graduate...

I'm also working on my DREAM Act paper - which is AGGGGGH! I hope it turns out better than I think it will. I've put so much time and effort into the paper, but I just can't seem to pull it all together like I want to. I'm gonna have to work pretty hard this week to turn in something that I like...

So besides working, working, working, not to much is going on in the district right now...besides of course, the ever present pizookie baking party. If you've never had a pizookie, I would recommend that you figure out what it is and put it in your mouth. It's amazing...and it's making me fat. lol.

Brrrr...

Washington got cold today. It's time to pull out the Uggs and fleeces (yay!) Send me blankets and mochas ;-)

Where is my life going?!

Life here in the Washington bubble seems to pass much more quickly than I would like it to. My weeks are just flying by, and I have no idea where they are going!

My family was here for the weekend, which was so much fun! I loved being able to show them around the city - I'm a great tour guide, lol. We went to Mount Vernon on Saturday, and it was so gorgeous. What a beautiful place....if you ever have the chance, you should definitely go. Oh, and for those that are not as historically inclined as I am, Mount Vernon is the plantation of George Washington. It is fully restored and is just beautiful. There is so much there to see and it's really fun.

So, as far as school goes, immigration has become my life. We're working on a paper about immigration, and all of our classes for the last 4 weeks have been briefings by various stakeholders in the immigration debate. Today we're going to talk with Rep. Mike Pence (IN) about his view on it. My paper is about the DREAM Act, which if you don't know what that is, you should look it up. Immigration is such an interesting topic and one that I'm very conflicted about. It's a huge issue and there's so much to grasp about it. It's crazy.

I am officially...

a speed scrabble loser. It's pretty bad. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of playing speed scrabble, you should really invest a night in learning - it's really fun. However, last night I had the worst speed scrabble game of my life. But it was still fun. I headed over to my seminar advisor Amy's house (along with about ten other people) and was fed reallllly yummy taco soup. I think it was the first time that I have eaten real food in ages.

And that leads me to my real point. Why am I completely incapable of feeding myself? I really thought I was much more capable than i have turned out to be. It's amazing how many days I skip meals because I'm too lazy to cook something, and how all of the other days I eat pasta or salad - the only two things I'm proficient at. Now, I used to be able to cook at least decently. You know, chicken, veggies, waffles, something not pasta-ish. But with the lack of readily available groceries in this city (don't even get me started on that. lol.) it's hard to actually cook things. Especially when you're cooking for one. So, we often end up eating things made only out of ingredients that can be found at 7-11. Like this...

Potomac Fever...

I think it's starting to get me. The Potomac Fever...the dreaded Washington disease. I'm starting to love it here. I mean, the grocery store and Target issue still gets me...I hate not being able to just get in my car and run somewhere. But other than that, this city is pretty great. I spent the weekend not doing homework and just having fun. I went to the zoo Saturday and went down to the Georgetown waterfront on Sunday. It was pretty great. The weather has been so nice - a little bit fall-ish, but still very warm. It's great.

I've never been good at journaling...

I've never really been a good journaler, and apparently I'm not that great of a blogger either. Wonderful.

I find myself ensconced in the middle of Washington DC and also in the middle of a paper. I know, already. DC has been an insane whirlwind so far. I've had precious little time to reflect, and at this point, that may be a good thing. Although I love DC, I thoroughly miss home and all that stayed there when I left. It's hard to feel like life goes on without you, you know?

However, DC has been a completely surreal experience. Everyday when I get off the metro to go to work (I know, I take the bus and the metro - no cars. Crazy.) I glide up the escalator to find the Capitol building on my right and the Washington Monument on my left. Honestly, I'm still a little stunned by it. Going into my museum is also fairly surreal. Since the museum is closed, I go in through the parking garage and flash my id to get in. As creepy as this is, I walk through this darkened exhibit to get the the elevator. It's called America On The Move and it's all about transportation. So I walk by full-size semi-trucks, locomotive engines, buses and other creepy things that are all covered in plastic to protect them during renovation. There are also all these creepy manequins in there as well. It doesn't sound so bad, but I walk through there pretty quickly ;-)

Work is great; experiencing museum work first-hand is pretty fun ;-) I have a lot of administrative duties, but my boss is wonderful and really wants me to have fun. I've already seen a lot of cool things - plus, I get into the IMAX for free, lol. The other day, I was on an elevator with my boss, and this lady walked in with two pairs of shoes on her cart. Turns out, one was Hilary Clinton's and one was Mamie Eisenhower's. Nice. I was pretty excited.

I have to get back to my real work - the paper I'm working on about government funding and the arts. It's not as great as my internship, but I guess we all have to work sometimes, right? ;-)

Two weeks, four days, and way too much to do.

I can't believe I'm leaving for Washington in less than three weeks! Where has this summer gone? It seems like it was just a few days ago that I got back from Spain and settled into work and school. A couple of paychecks and two Spanish classes later, it's almost time to go. I am SO not ready.