Summer Solstice

Another Friday, another evening of jazz in the sculpture garden. this time we took a blanket, snacks, and a few more people. It was not as hot as last time, although the music was not as good either. Still, it was a great time of relaxing and getting to know some of the other summer interns.

Saturday was a summer solstice pool party here in the neighborhood. I forgot how much I enjoy lounging in the sun!

Today I visited the Newseum, a recent addition to the Washington, DC scene. Despite the $20 entrance fee (most of the museums here are free), another summer intern (Ellie) and I decided to check it out. We started in the gallery of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. At first I thought, "Ooooh, this should be good," but my interest very quickly turned to sadness. What I didn't realize is how much news is about death, destruction, hatred, and violence. So many of the photos wrenched my heart and really made me wonder how someone could take a picture of that without doing something. Pictures of starving children, executions in Africa, children running from a city being bombed... Sobering. Certainly, some of the photos were beautiful and touching in a positive way, but it was hard to view them in the context of the tragedies.
Other exhibits were much easier to view, my favorite was a timeline of newspapers. The first sets were from the 1500s! There were papers highlighting every critical moment of history for over 500 years. To see them with my own eyes was incredible!
They also have a peice of the Berlin Wall there, with a guard tower, too. I wanted to touch it with my own hands, feel the cement that separated and imprisoned so many people. But there were signs posted saying not to touch it.

After the Newseum, I wandered around Chinatown. This was definitely more of an urban center than I've seen yet. We grabbed some dinner at the Chinatown Garden (delicious fried rice!), and headed home.

Alexandria and The National Gallery

This weekend I decided to do a little bit of touristing. Friday night my CGU friend and I headed down the metro a couple of stops to Old Town Alexandria. First, we stopped to enjoy a couple of Beatle-inspired happy hour drinks (and let the temperature cool off a few degrees) at a cool bar. Then, we wandered down King Street, through some shops, and toward the waterfront. It was actually nice outside as we sat on a bench overlooking the Alexandria waterfront of the Potomac River. I loved it! (alas, I was sans camera, but will take pictures next time!) We strolled along the waterfront, and headed back up Prince Street. There were some great colonial-style homes, and was cobblestoned for a few blocks. Did I mention I loved it there?

After spending most of Saturday working, I decided to head out on Sunday (today). I hopped on the metro and rode into DC. My first museum visit: The National Gallery. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations. I absolutely LOVE the National Gallery in London, and I knew the American version wouldn't even come close. But really, their collection was very extensive and they had a few good peices. A couple of Monets, a few VanGoghs, a ton of Renaissance paintings, and a few excellent modern peices - oh and the only DaVinci painting on US soil. It didn't beat the British National Gallery, but it was way better than anticipated!

First Saturday - a bit delayed

My first saturday in DC was good timing on my part. I arrived here just in time to be invited to my company's 60th anniversary party. The party? An afternoon "lunch" cruise on the Potomac River!
I met up with my friend from CGU at the metro, although a bit late due to a metro delay, we barely made it before the boat sailed away (we ended up having to walk from a farther station, in the sauna heat, and if we hadn't been able to flag a cab about halfway there, we would have never made it!). Anyways, the cruise was a great way to spend my first weekend here. We had lunch, I took a ton of pictures, and there was even dancing. It felt a little like a wedding, but without the annoying family or crazed bride. My pics didn't really turn out very well, but here are the highlights:




After the cruise I headed home, tried the walk from the metro station home (note to self: TAKE THE BUS), and crashed inside the cool, relaxing apartment. That evening, I went out with my new roommate to a party for her neighbor. I got to meet all of her neighbors, plus the friends of my California roommate who connected me with Amy (the Virginia roommate). It was nice to be greeted by warm and friendly faces!

The next day, I had vowed not to leave the apartment (due in large part to my lengthy walk home from the metro the day before). This turned out to be a pretty good plan, considering the record heat wave passing through the DC areas the past few days. Plus, I had done enough on Friday and Saturday to last me a while.

First Friday

another summer intern sent out an email about weekly jazz in the National Gallery sculpture garden on Friday evenings. so a couple of us met up after work and headed over. despite being super hot (eventually it cooled off to something more tolerable), it was a great experience. people gather around the fountain in the garden, and they pump the live jazz through speakers throughout the garden - so even if you don't get there right at 5, you can still get a comfortable place to hear the music.

we were there fairly early, and got pretty good seats by the fountain. we hung out for a while, and then the other interns met up with some of their local friends and took off. i had some time to kill and so i decide to wander around DC a while to help orient myself to the city. walking past the national archives, the national mall, and a handfull of ginormous museums helped me remember that i am blessed to be able to spend a few short months in a very historically and culturally important place. and, i got to do a little sightseeing while it was less than 170 degrees outside. that's always a plus.

i had dinner at a chic mexican place, alone, which i never really do. it was nice to feel like an actual adult, but a bit isolating to be the only solo in a restaurant filled with cheerful friends and families. i think the plate of melted cheese i had for dinner helped me feel better :)

after dinner, i headed over to artomatic, the huge art show where i was going to meet my new roommate. the building itself looked incredible from the outside - i was wowed before i even walked in!

amy's exhibit was on the 12th floor (there were 8 full floors of exhibits!), and i headed up to start there. the work she displayed were flowers constructed from giant chunks of latex paint that had dried and thickened. i'm definitely not doing them justice. the show had some really great pieces.

sadly, my favorite section was called "peepomatic" - it was a number of dioramas that artists had created using Peeps (the loveable marshmallow treat). The dioramas depicted a number of historical and pop culture events, such as the burial of king peepenkamun (complete with a peep-shaped sarcaphogus), the peeps next door (with playboy bunny peeps and a peep hugh hefner), and dancing with the peeps. here are pictures of my three faves:

after artomatic, amy drove me to pick up my stuff, and i moved into my new place!

the office and the weather

At first there was "no room" for me in DC, so my project director (aka: my boss) spent a lot of time trying to find me a workspace. For a while they were talking about having me work on the secure floor (you can't even get to the floor without security clearance!), but one of their employees is going to be gone all summer, so I am lucky enough to use his office. I don't have a window, but if the door is open to the office across the way, I can see out of his window! Either way, it beats the cubicles all the other interns are working in. (I know that was bad grammar)

So I didn't realize how close my office is to DC "proper" (since I have no sense of geography here), until about half-way through my first day. Unfortunately for me, the women's bathroom on my floor is on the exact opposite side of the building from me, so every hour or so when nature calls I take a leisurely walk half-way around the building. It was my 4th or 5th trip when I realized the building I was staring at every time I came around the corner was the pentagon! And then I noticed that I could also see the Washington Monument! I love it!

Today I was sitting at my desk, gazing out the window across the hall when I noticed a dark and ominous cloud moving in the direction of our office. As I watched it draw closer and closer, I realized that it was going to start raining very soon. Sure enough, within 10 minutes it was pouring so hard outside that I couldn’t even see the buildings across the way! It was just a mass of dark gray. The storm continued off and on for the rest of the afternoon, and I got soaked walking to RiteAid to buy an umbrella.

**This just in: there is a tornado warning for just south of us!**

It's fun to stay at the YMCA

alright, so i said to wait for tomorrow and then didn't post anything. sorry. i can't set up the expectation to find new information every day! that is a pace i cannot maintain all summer!

so. the housing crunch. i started looking for housing on craigslist pretty much as soon as i knew i would be heading out to dc. but it has been an uphill battle. i was a bit picky, trying to find somewhere relatively close, with furniture, and without a male roommate (or at least not being the only girl with male roommates). but i found that not very many advertisers responded to my inquiries. to make matters worse, some of the really good leads i had either gave the room to someone else or changed their summer plans. so i arrived in dc homeless (as previously mentioned).
i visited a place on sunday night that was so-so. i had really high hopes, but because i would be sharing a townhouse with an older man and no idea who might rent the 3rd room (or if anyone would), i passed on it. he was not pleased with me, as he had turned down other potential renters with the belief that i would rent the place. but alas. the cons outweighed the pros (5 to 2, respectively).
then today i visited a friend-of-a-friend who lives in the suburbs. she is a cool, self-employed artist who likes quirky comedies (think the office and arrested development). she wasn't really looking for a renter, but was willing to sleep in her den (giving me her room and bed) for a little extra cash. we got along really well. the only downside is that it is pretty far off the beaten path and will cost me a bit extra (in time and metro fare) to get to and from work. but it is a much better situation for me than the townhouse with the middle-aged man.
i'm also visiting a place tomorrow that is within walking distance of work (hooray!). but it wouldn't be available until july. fortunately, the friend-of-a-friend is okay with me only staying a month if i found a better (i.e., closer) place. so wish me luck that tomorrow's meet-and-greet with the renter goes well. worst case scenario: i live with the friend-of-a-friend all summer and pay a fortune in metro fares. good thing she's giving me a good price!

luckiest girl in the world

so for those of you who i haven’t talked to recently, i have been given an incredible opportunity to spend my summer in Washington DC (okay, technically it’s Arlington, Virgnia) working for my dream organization. this is the place that i tell people i want to work when i grow up. and they want me for the summer! it is very exciting. and a little bit unbelievable. it hasn’t quite sunken in yet…

anyways, after months of waiting and six weeks of back and forth about location (there was a chance i was going to stay and work in the Santa Monica office). i was officially hired as a summer associate in DC (okay, Virginia). i had some difficulty finding a place to live (i.e., no one would rent me their apartment), and a fellow student, who is working through the same program as i am, was kind enough to offer me a warm place to spend the first few nights. i have a couple of good leads on places to live, i’m just struggling with not finding the *perfect* place. (reminder to self: get over it and go with a second choice – it’s only 3 months!)there should be more news on that front tomorrow.

in the meantime, i am SO excited and nervous about my first day and i can't wait to get to work!