Spring has Sprung!!

This week was evidence that good things come to those who wait. Pretty much every single intern has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of nice weather to basically do ANYTHING with. Granted, we can go sightseeing and do things when the weather is shoddy, but it just isn’t as enjoyable. This week we had a LCJ lecture about foreign policy in the Middle East, and specifically Afghanistan and Iraq. I do hope that next week, after this upcoming PLS, we go to a more Criminal Justice-oriented program. I just have different expectations of the programming and I can’t wait until we see some more “national” lectures. :)

I received a project involving college CO-OP applicants to the US Marshals throughout the country from my manager at my internship. It is a pretty awesome to be responsible for a (relatively) large group of people, and I’m glad my superiors have enough faith and trust in me in to take care of the job! I am challenging myself to finish it within a month, just to see if I can work within a real deadline. It’s pretty exciting.

This weekend my roommates and I took advantage of this GORGEOUS weather! Friday night we ate out near Dupont Circle, which was nice. Saturday we were able to get out again and head out to the National Mall. We were able to check out the health care bill protest that was going on. Regardless of my views, it was amazing to see the power of the American people. I am extremely proud that I live in this country where if I don’t like something, I can march right to the capital of my nation and protest or celebrate it. It was really intense, and while it was cool to check out, wasn’t exactly my scene. 

Afterwards, we went to Eastern Market for lunch. Saturday night my one roommate Melissa and I just hung out at our apartment because...

We went back to Eastern Market on Sunday! For those of you who probably don’t know, Eastern Market is a stop off the Orange/Blue line that is also an open-air farmers and flea market. The market part may sound skeptical, but I can assure you it was fantastic! Before we went shopping we stopped at a french cafe for breakfast which was absolutely mouthwatering. My roommates Natalie, Melissa, and I were able to pick up a ton of fresh produce and goods! I was able to buy delicious fuji apples, navel oranges, watermelon and more. My roommates made out like bandits. We had all fresh food to make an amazing dinner with, and it was just really nice to buy something fresh and cook it right away. I even carved the watermelon to make a bowl to serve our fruit in! :) Farmer’s markets are definitely great ways to stimulate the local economy without breaking the bank! I also purchased a piece of art from a vendor and bought a bar of natural soap that was vanilla and sandalwood scented. My roommates and I also got sets of GORGEOUS wrap around necklaces and earrings. It was just a really neat experience. I didn’t get pictures of the market, but I did get pictures of the “fruits” of our labor. We definitely plan on going back as soon as possible.

Until next time..

HALFWAY THERE?!

EW! I refuse to believe that my semester here in the GLORIOUS nation’s capital is halfway finished! Where has the time gone? The weeks by this point have blurred together into one large blob. I have definitely been enjoying the experience of living, working, taking class, and exploring down here in the DC area..

This week, our President’s Lecture Series, or PLS as I commonly refer to it, was referred to as a Career Boot Camp. We were able to choose from a plethora of workshops to attend and participate in that were created with the mission of assisting us interns with life once we graduate college. Even though I don’t graduate until next year, I am still glad that I could get a piece of the “real world” before it is so rudely thrust upon me! The first of my workshops was “Getting a Job in the Federal Government,” which provided lots of insight into programs such as STEP, SCEP, & FCIP. It also gave lots of tips and pointers into using the website USAJOBS, which is where basically all federal jobs are posted. It was pretty interesting. My second workshop was “From Questions to Clarity: Deciding Whether Graduate, Law or Business School is in your Future.” I didn’t find it as informative as the first but it was still insightful. I am glad that TWC put together an event like this for us, so props to them!

On Thursday, I got to visit the District of Maryland with the other US Marshals interns. It was pretty similar to headquarters. They have lots of offices, lots of people working IN the offices, etc. Everyone who worked there was extremely nice and happy to answer questions and tell us about themselves, which we appreciated. It was a hike from the city to Baltimore, but it was a GORGEOUS day so we were definitely glad to be out. We even got to have lunch at the Inner Harbor on the water. It was nice to get a change of scenery for just a day..

The White House... Finally!

We finally had the chance to attend a President’s Lecture Series presentation. I’d like to think that we got off to a strong start. Selected to present was Dr. Lawrence Korb who has served in the Naval Reserve, published books and over a hundred articles, and made over one thousand television appearances. He is a Senior Fellow at American Progress and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information. Dr. Korb spoke about foreign policy and the current situation in the middle east. He even answered questions at the end. I really enjoyed hearing his views, and I was really pleased that TWC chose him to kick off the President’s Lecture Series.

The focus of my class this week was on Mission, Vision, and Values for a fictional organization. It was pretty neat, as we got to formulate our own in groups and present them to each other. It’s nice to see a progression in the lessons as my time in the classroom goes on. I haven’t quite thought about what I want my final project to be on, but I am certain that with the way the class is going that I will be more than adequately prepared.

This weekend, I got to see my parents!! We went all around the Metro area: Crystal City, Pentagon City, Federal Triangle, and Chinatown. We made it to the White House which was exciting, because I haven’t had a chance to do any sightseeing yet. The White House is definitely a LOT smaller than I thought it would be. I can’t say that I didn’t feel inspired when I was standing in front of that particular house, because it was just amazing! It was cool to check out the area and pass by some of the monuments. We even waved to the guys on the roof, AND they waved back! Afterwards we went out to lunch in Chinatown and parted ways. It was nice to see my parents and even nicer to finally see the White House.

Me at the White House!!

The White House

Intersection of the White House

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is GORGEOUS!!

Civic Engagement and You

The weeks have definitely become a blur! I have become well adjusted to my working life here in the nation’s capital. This past weekend I saw Shutter Island in Chinatown with a couple of my roommates and some friends. It was my first time to Chinatown and hopefully not my last!! The movie theatre is almost connected to the Verizon Center and the complex is MASSIVE. The movie was amazing and it was seriously the highlight of my life. Martin Scorsese is a genius, and I swear with each movie he puts out the quality of each dramatically improves over the last. Leonardo DiCaprio (or as I call him, Leo) was near the top of his game in this film. I can’t say he has ever put out a role that I didn’t enjoy.

This week followed the same pattern as previous weeks. Wake up, work, sleep, repeat. My class continues to be interesting. I love all the different theories and concepts of leadership, and I never realized how diverse the topic was until I started this class. It is a little nerve wracking to still be pushed behind because of all of the snow, and now that there may be MORE coming this upcoming week, it is just horrifying. It makes me wonder why I didn’t come for the summer term...

However, this week I got to devote a large chunk of my time to my civic engagement project. I had decided that I wanted to volunteer at the DC Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, or the DCVAMC. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, as I haven’t really done much volunteering before. I rose rather early on Monday to head out to my interview with Voluntary Services at the DCVAMC. I had to take the yellow to green lines, and then the Metro Bus to reach the facility. That was in and of itself an adventure, as I really don’t recall taking the green line yet so it was pretty unfamiliar territory. When I arrived I had an interview and that was it! I had a couple of options of where I wanted to volunteer, but I ultimately went with Caring Spoons. To follow up, this past Thursday I had my orientation at DCVAMC to learn all about volunteering. After that, I was able to meet with one of the coordinators of the Caring Spoons program to get a better idea of what it is all about. Caring Spoons is a program that allows volunteers to spend time with veterans during meals and assist them if necessary. It seems like something that really is for me so I am super excited to get started.

My only regret is that I didn’t get on the ball with the civic engagement planning sooner, as I could have potentially had an entire month more to volunteer as opposed to the roughly two I am going to have now.

This week we have President’s Lecture Series lecture at the Department of Agriculture which should be pretty cool, as it is our first big PLS event that involves ALL of the TWC interns and not just the Law and Criminal Justice program. I am definitely looking forward to it.

Ciao!

DISCLAIMER: This week was rough. No fun pictures, just banter of a frustrated girl.

Conveniently this week my laptop’s wireless decided to die. I will keep the name of the maker of said laptop anonymous, for their protection, but I was VERY upset. So, on President’s Day, I had the pleasure of going to the Apple store in Pentagon City. Now I’ve gone MAC and probably... will never go back. MacBooks are pretty nifty so I am glad to own one. They come with a slew of programs for all kinds of different things, which is pretty convenient.

The aftermath of PANDASNOWDIUM (Ha...ha) 2010 is seemingly finally settled. Metro Rail and Bus seems to be running back to normal. I went back to work for a whole full week, except for President’s Day. This week has been all about catching up at work: because the government was closed and we couldn’t do any work, we were subsequently pushed back an entire week with the projects we are working on. The scope of my responsibilities at USMS has grown larger, which is fine with me! I really am enjoying administrative work, but at the same time, I know that it’s something that I could not possibly do for the rest of my life. My campus liaison from my college came on Friday and we just went over what’s been going on, how I’ve been doing, and the usual line of questioning concerning my internship and time down here in general.

This week, we also went back to classes for the second time. My class, Essentials for Aspiring Leaders, is great! Professor Keaton is extremely knowledgeable, and pleasant, and is one of the few professors who I have encountered in my college experience that really loves and is passionate about what he teaches. Our class has two main components: a midterm and a final project about a prospective leadership project. The two don’t seem too bad. I would rather complete projects or papers than take any sort of test, so I was relieved we don’t have a “final.”

I feel like the mailman from the Hey Arnold episode who says “I hate the snow, I hate the snow, man I sure do hate the snow.” Day 6 is in full swing of being snowed in. I actually miss working! Leaving early Friday was cool and all, but my roommates and I are definitely falling victim to cabin fever. You can only watch so many movies before your brain turns into soup. This is probably the most uneventful blog entry I have posted yet.

On Wednesday, one of my roommates, Melissa, and I decided to take a taxi across the bridge to the shopping center is that houses Target, Best Buy, and more. We went relatively early and managed to do all we needed to do in about an hour. We bought and rented some movies, and stocked up on some delicious junk food. The shelves were bare in Target, with only a small amount of groceries, milk, and bread remaining. In Best Buy, there was fortunately a bunch of movies that were still there. We managed to pick up a few, and caught our taxi back here. The rest of my day consisted of sitting around, watching movies, and twiddling my thumbs. Last night we watched The Stepfather, which just came out on DVD, courtesy of RedBox. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, and it was only PG-13.

During the movie the miraculous men of Peapod, our grocery delivery finally arrived! I had been waiting for them since Thursday so I was EXTREMELY pleased to receive all of my food! I almost forgot what real chicken tastes like. They were super nice and brought all of my groceries up to my room. They do this service in a few states, so if you ever have a chance, check it out! It’s really convenient (when there isn’t a blizzard ruining your delivery time).

Also, during our cabin fever induced week/weekend/week, my roommate Natalie baked us all a Valentine’s cake. It was delicious and super cute!

Today (Thursday) the four of us went to see Dear John. While I liked it, it was of course different than the book, which was written by Nicholas Sparks. Afterwards, we did a Target run and ended up back at our apartment. Tomorrow we actually get to go to work! I never thought I would be so excited to do such a thing.

…My apologies for such a dry entry. I wanted to do some sightseeing but Mother Nature planned otherwise. Hopefully this weekend the Metro will be in full swing, just in time for Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day!

Week 2...

At times, I find myself forgetting to breathe. That would be the best way to describe my second week here in the nation’s capital. The sights, the sounds, the smells (good and bad) and the like have been like an overload on my senses and my head. This week in particular has been pretty hectic. At my internship I have started working on a project which really involves people all over the US. It’s interesting to contact people and places all over, most that I haven’t even heard of. I really enjoy my department, Human Resources, and all of the people I work with and my fellow interns on the floor. It really feels like we have some sort of weird family formation going on.

This past weekend it snowed down here in Alexandria and all over the Metro area. It was extremely pretty to see, as the whole area seems to practically hush and become silent instantly. It made our night out a little bit slushier (and messier), but it was definitely nice!

A group of us managed to make it out to Hawk N Dove on Pennsylvania Ave in the city. It’s an 18+ place that caters to everyone. They have a bar, restaurant, and even a dance floor upstairs. On the particular night that we went, the upstairs was rented out by a local school’s fraternity party... So needless to say, we came back downstairs pretty quickly. No offense to any who may have been there, but we all just kind of felt a little “old” for the scene.

Sunday, our RA’s here decided to sponsor a trip to the Melting Pot. Of course, me being the dummy I am, I forgot my camera!!! We just did the appetizer fondue and dessert fondue, but that was enough food to fill me for three days. For appetizer, we chose spinach and artichoke fondue, cheddar with bacon, and a fiesta fondue. We received bread, vegetables, apples, and tortilla chips to dip in the pots. It was so good, and I guess if I had to choose a favorite I would go with the fiesta. It was almost like a hot queso dip, mmm! For dessert, we chose the plain milk chocolate, a chocolate with caramel and pecans, and a bananas foster fondue. The bananas foster was easily the best. For dipping, we got cheesecake, fruit, marshmallows, cake, etc. All in all it was really awesome to see our food “cooked” before us and was good to go out and see some of the city.

This week we had a special speaker from the Secret Service as part of our Law and Criminal Justice programming. He was really a nice guy, and from what he talked to us about it seems like he has really seen a lot of the world. I had never considered Secret Service as a possible career, but from what he said it really seems like a possibility. He even took questions from us, and I had a chance to ask him one. All in all, it was pretty informative and awesome to hear from someone who has actually lived some of the history we have read about. Kudos to TWC for selecting him!

We also had classes cancelled for TWC on Tuesday because of the potential snow. We did get more snow, and it was even more gorgeous the second time around. Now we are all anticipating anywhere from 5-36 inches this weekend, YIKES! It seems pretty convenient that all of this snow just happens to come every weekend. Hopefully it doesn’t interfere too much this weekend...