Arlington Memorial Day Service/The Great Sunburn of 2010

This morning we woke up at 8:30am to get to Arlington so that we could get there early for the 11am Memorial Day Service!! It was really really hot again, but it was so worth it to sit in the sun for 2.5 hours for the service! The only BIG problem was that I forgot to put on sunscreen so I fried and now have the worst sunburn I've ever had in my life!

But the service was AMAZING!! The marine band (or maybe it was the navy band) performed lots of patriotic/american songs while we waited and some other songs, like the star spangled banner, throughout the service! The best part was hearing Joe Biden speak, the second political famous person I've heard speak so far! And it was well worth the wait to hear him give his memorial day address! And it's just cool to see the vice president so close!

The only bad part was that we couldn't bring in water, and we sat in over 90 degree weather for 2.5 hours without any liquids! Two people fainted and had to be taken away in the ambulance because they were dehydrated! It's kind of a weird thing in DC actually, you can pretty much never bring water anywhere even though most of the time it is SO hot!

It was so great to go to Arlington on Memorial Day and actually celebrate Memorial Day because I think this is the first time I have ever done anything to honor the soldiers who are serving or have served in our military and it was an amazing way to remember all of them!

Tomorrow I start my internship, and I'm pretty nervous, but excited to get the first day out of the way!

Memorial Day Weekend Monument tour

So yesterday we went to DC for the day and we saw lots of memorials/monuments...we went to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument, the World War II Monument, and the White House!!! It was a VERY long walk in over 90 degree weather, so we were boiling hot!!! But it was fun to see everything all decorated for memorial day and I had never seen the World War II memorial, and it was amazing! It also was amazing because we could stick our feet in the cold water of the pool and cool off a little bit!

We also went to the National Memorial Day Concert which was televised on PBS! We were pretty far back but it was really cool! Brad Paisley and Lionel Richie sang! And a whole bunch of famous actors also did some monologues of widows from having their husbands die in combat, and then also two best friends where one of them died! It was really moving and an amazing concert! Colin Powell also spoke, and it was my first famous political person that I saw speak in DC!

Orientation Day 2

So today we went on a "hunt" to different places in DC for orientation! We were split up into 4 groups and then given a list of addresses and then had to get ourselves there by either walking or taking the metro! We went to some cool places but the coolest was Ben's Chili Bowl which is a famous restaurant in DC where Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and even Barack Obama have eaten there!

After our "hunt" we went to the National Archives where we saw some really cool exhibits for FREE since everything is free which is beautiful when you are a poor college student! The best part though was seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! It was so cool to see the original documents that our country was founded on, and be able to read them and see the signatures! Also they had amazing handwriting back then, their cursive was beautiful! After the National Archives we came back to our apartment on the metro because we were all exhausted...it has definitely been a LONG few days!! I feel like I've already been here a month!

IT IS SO SO SO HOT

So today it was 91 degrees and about 85% humidity! Today was also the first day we had to dress up in business clothes! So not only was it that hot but we had to walk to orientation in nice clothes in the heat! I guess it prepares us for our internships and how we have to dress everyday though!

We had orientation today from 9:30am-1pm, and it was a bit overwhelming! They gave us some really helpful information on how to figure out addresses in DC since the streets are lettered so when you have an address with 1015 NW 18th St it can be confusing to figure out the cross street. So all you have to do is find the 10th letter of the alphabet and then you have the cross street - but you have to skip J which is kind of weird! Apparently it is a DC myth that Pierre L'Enfant who designed the city of DC was arguing with John J (who i think was a congressman) about the layout of the city and L'Enfant was annoyed and organized the city so there was no J Street!

They also talked to us about our internship experience which was the overwhelming part! They basically said that our first week or first two weeks will be like boot camp, and we have to be learning machines! We are supposed to be reading 150 pages a week about our institution or on subjects that relate to our institution, which is CRAZY!! We can also get tested on what we read - and the president of the Washington Internship Institute said that in DC they reward for people who learn and know things! So basically we are supposed to know A LOT and know it really really fast! And then they told us about networking and how we needed to have business cards and talk to people and go to events and meet important people! At this point it seems like A LOT and really overwhelming, but hopefully everything settles down into a normal routine after the first two weeks!

We also visited our internship sites and talked on the phone with our supervisors - and my supervisor seems really nice, so that eleveated some of my worries about the scariness of doing this internship.

We also saw the Vice President's House (picture at top) through the trees when we visited the Embassy of Iraq, which is where my suitemate is interning, which was pretty cool!

Yesterday my suitemates moved in and we went on a HUGE target run because we basically came into an empty apartment so we had to buy soap, toilet paper, paper towels, etc... Also we had to buy food to make lunches and dinners and some stuff for breakfast!!! It was a bit overwhelming buying all the stuff, but we kept on telling ourselves that some of this stuff we would only need to buy once and not every week! But checking out was interesting since we had just thrown everything into two carts, and had to equally divide up everything for four people so we could all split it!

After Target we had a meet and greet with all the interns - it was fun and everyone was so open to meeting people so I feel like I already know a lot of people in the program even though I've only been here for basically 2 days!

After the meet and greet around 8pm some of my suitemates and I went into the city on the metro and saw the capital and the washington monument at night which was beautiful!! Although it was also a bit scary walking around DC at night, but there were 3 of us, so we were safe enough and we made it back in one piece so I consider it a success!! And the mall is pretty safe at night, we saw lots of people walking alone at night, it's more when you get away from the mall that it is a little scary! Also one crazy thing about Washington DC is that it NEVER cools down - it is hot pretty much all evening, or at least humid!

The Apartment

So here is our apartment which is located in Arlington!! It's really nice and spacious, and it also has AC - which I pretty much turned on as soon as I arrived!!! The weather here is not too hot yet but even though it was only 80 today, it was still 86% humidity, so basically if you walk anywhere you have your clothes sticking to you! Not so much fun, but I'm sure I'll get used to it!

Tonight I am alone in the apartment and the other 3 come tomorrow afternoon! It's kind of lonely, but it's also really nice getting here a day early so I can unpack and explore the neighborhood! I went out right when I got here because I was hungry and I also found out that we didn't have any toilet paper which was a bit ridiculous - so I had to find a store to get that, and also find some dinner! It was really hard to find things because we are basically in an area with mostly hotels and apartments but after wandering around for awhile and getting a little bit lost, I finally found a restaurant to get something to eat! I also found Rite Aid, so now I have toilet paper for our apartment and granola bars for the morning! On my walk I also found a post office and the metro which I will be taking to work in the city next week! So I pretty much now know where all the essential places are except for a grocery store, but I'll wait until the other girls get here to find that!

Now I'm off to unpacking and getting some much needed sleep!

I'M FINALLY HERE!!!

My morning started way too early, but I think maybe that was a good thing because it got me onto east coast time very from the start! Since I woke up at 5:30am Seattle time, it was as if I was waking up 8:30am DC time which would be a normal time to wake up! Luckily I am also really tired, so I should be able to go to sleep at a normal time tonight too!

My flight was 5 hours, and it actually went by pretty fast! I read 2 magazines and watched a DVD on my laptop and then the flight was over!! We didn't have a movie on the flight which I thought was ridiculous but maybe it's another way of cutting costs!

But we did get snacks on the airplane - we actually got 2 snacks at different times during the flight (a cookie, and a pretzel snack mix) which is a miracle on flights these days, they usually give you no food! Another miracle also happenned at the airport; I was really nervous checking my huge suitcase because I thought it might be over 50 pounds and I really didn't want to have to pay for that, but luckily it was 49.4 pounds, so I made it just under the limit by 0.6 pounds!!!

Also the decent into DC was BEAUTIFUL and I took some pictures (that it was the picture is of) - and luckily it was a pretty clear day so they came out really well! The river in the picture is the Potomac River!

Day before flight to DC

So I am getting ready to leave seattle, I am almost all packed and just have a few things to add!
I have to leave my house at 6:30am tomorrow which means getting up at 5:30am - WAY TOO early! I am a little nervous but also really excited! Tomorrow I have a 5 hour flight but I have plenty to keep me occupied; I have 2 magazines, a book, and lots of grey's anatomy episodes to watch on my laptop!

I can't wait to just get there and get settled into the apartment! Then on wednesday I get to meet my suitemates for the first time and on thursday and friday we have orientation! Then all weekend we will have time to explore the city before having our first day of work next tuesday!