The District

Hello,

Well I've been in DC since Friday afternoon ... and so far so good, I think.

As I mentioned in twitter my place is kind of in a sketchy area....my Dad absolutely hates it and kept saying, all weekend, you can move out if you want, you only need to stay here at least a month since that's all you paid for, I can come back and move you, or worse case you can move into a hotel. So yeah maybe that'll give you an idea of my area. For those of you who have been/are familiar with the DC proper/metro/area I'm in the North-West, a block away from the Shaw-Howard Metro Station (that's the Green/Yellow Line), right by Howard University, at 7th & T Street
Plus, my place is not like the 820 or for that matter my 5301/2 Dodge Street in good ole Iowa City ... if anything maybe it's reminiscent of Ralston Creek ... or one of the random (gross) houses you went to Freshman year for house parties and think "who the hell lives here?!" Yeah, that'd be me. I have a really large room, especially compared to my roommate Jen, but the wood floors need to be cleaned, there are lots of outlets that don't work (my Dad is concerned about electrical fires that I may start), and alot of the windows seem to have a significant draft. Oh and last night the hot water stopped working (I haven't showered in a day ... which really isn't a stretch for me but I do feel disgusting and would LOVE to shower ASAP).

The Shaw/Howard neighborhood...Is a progressive-transitional area. My Dad did not like the fact that five "Thugs" (his words, not mine) were just "hanging out outside my place doing nothing." My response, "Dad would you rather them harassing us and doing something?" I thought I had a pretty decent argument. But for what it's worth, these guys seem harmless...they're just lonely/drunkies/junkies/etc....it happens. But everyone said that I'd only find a place for about $900 (which may or may not include utilities) .... and I found one for significantly less (which makes sense considering the state of the house) and is a block away from the Metro, which you really can't beat in this town...especially without a car.

Sunday morning my Dad left and my new roommates had not returned to the house yet ...Corinne was out of town for the weekend Skiing with family in New York (or someplace East Coast like that) and Jen is in California for a few weeks. So I had a more than a few hours, alone in my new-sketchy house and I got VERY VERY homesick. It was not fun. But then Corinne came home and we talked all night...she's a cool kid. We'll get along fine. She told me earlier when we'd talked on the phone that they didn't have cable which I came to terms with, however over the weekend I pressed a button on the TV to change it from DVD to basic Television (TV/Video) and KAZAM! Cable!!! Yes, you can call me Santa Clause because I make Miracles happen! Corinne was very impressed with my technical abilities and shared my skills with Jen who was also very impressed.

Yesterday, Monday, January 11, 2010 was my first day at my internship ... it was very exciting, being at the Watergate and all that. The other kids in my program (around 23 in total) seem really cool. Of course I don't remember half of their names yet but I will in time. And I signed a sheet yesterday that said I would not share confidential information about the company or defame them in any way in the course of my internship on social networking sites ... so I'll do my best to work around those restrictions.

Oh here's a fun fact ! Yesterday us interns were getting to know each other and they organized a "Human Bingo Game" where you had to go around and find people that matched certain statements you had on a sheet and get their initials ... first one with five in a row won. This guy,another intern whom I hadn't met or talked to before (and I only knew his name from his name tag) approached me and said "You have very piercing blue eyes, I saw them across the room." I didn't know how to respond to this odd compliment, I thought he was going to ask me which statement I could sign my name to and then move on like everyone else was doing. This other girl she works part-time at a yogurt place and told us all the store name/location. She told me tonight that he went there last night and stayed for 2 hours. Either this guy is socially awkward or in desperate need of human contact ... not quite sure yet.

...to continue. Today me and the other two (girl) interns working in event department got our desks, work email, work number, etc ... all very official. And we met with the managers/directors of the department. This guy, who's only a few years older than us (kelsey you would like him ... and you'll soon learn why): He has a beard-in-progress, and he told us out of nowhere "In case you haven't noticed I'm growing a beard, it's because I'm growing a mustache for my 2nd annual mustache party which you all are invited to in a couple weeks ... but you need to either have a mustache or be wearing a fake one to attend." Yeah, he's funny. I'm going to have a professional work crush on him.


...after work us interns went to the Newseum which was amazing. And very cool because we got a sweet private tour ...( this thing usually costs like $20!). But it's all news/media focused and extremely interesting with awesome historical material and content... they have one of the three guard towers from the Berlin Wall, the antenna from one of the Twin Towers and other remains from 9/11, unique newspaper clippings and never-before seen photographs and footage from news stories. Next trip to DC I highly recommend it.


So yeah, so far so good.
.. I hope my hot water works in the morning otherwise I won't be a happy camper.
Oh also... I followed my mother's advice and for the past two days I've recorded what I've worn to work in my own "Clothing Calendar" so I can keep track of my outfits so I don't repeat things too close together. Not sure how long this will last but I'll keep you updated. Speaking of which...I should probably think about my outfit for tomorrow now. This whole 9-5 thing kind of sucks ... it's not even 9-5 it's more like 7:30-5:45 ... considering when I get up and the time I get back home.


Sorry this is sssoooo long. It's ok if you don't read it all.
My mom just told me to "Write as much as possible, you could write book about your experience. I mean there have been books based on blogs that are worse." However she has never read one of my blogs but I appreciate her semi-vote of confidence.