Adventure 4: Welcome to Reality and Back Pack Straps

Insert enormous freak out moment here. I guess I survived the first day of my internship at the Humanities Council. I must admit though, I had a rough morning, mainly due to my poor sense of direction and again inexperience with DC weather. Last night, I stayed up a little late trying to iron all of my office clothes for the rest of the week, anticipating I would be too tired to do it every morning thereafter. My alarm went off at 7:45am, but I was tossing and turning in bed for a little while before that. I was so anxious, I couldn’t stay asleep.

Once I got up, I started my morning routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face. Afterwards, I wandered into the kitchen/living room area, where I saw my apartment-mate ironing her clothes while watching the morning news. It felt very surreal, as I half-listened to the newscasters, trying to figure out my first plan of action. (It takes me a long time to fully wake up in the morning, so my cognitive and comprehension skills are usually very low). I decided to make breakfast and chat with her about being nervous on our first day. She casually told me, “I’ve been up since 3am. I spent a few hours at the computer lab, then came back here around 6 to get ready.” Oh my gosh, 3am? And I thought 7:45 was early.

Luckily, I had already picked out my “first-day-of-work” outfit the night before, which oddly enough resembled my old Justicecorps uniform (something I had to wear two or three times a week this past year). I’m really sick of that particular shade of blue, but I thought it looked the most professional.

Once I was dressed, I started packing my lunch—a sandwich and a banana. I glanced at the clock and realized it was already 8:30. I wanted to leave by 8:45, which would give me an extra half hour in case I would get lost on the way to work. I later discovered that 8:45 wasn’t early enough. I grabbed my lunch, my water bottle, and office shoes and I was just about out the door when Agent 024, who was ironing as I was rushing to leave, quickly stopped me for a “first-day-of-work” photo.

(Sneakers + Backpack) - Extra Shirt = Back pack strap sweat marks but okay feet

Unfortunately, as soon as I left the center, a wave of heat and humidity washed all over me. I was hoping that mornings would still be relatively cool, but I guess I was wrong. It didn’t help that it would hit 97 degrees by the afternoon. Sweat was already beading down my face as I began walking and I had only been outside for five minutes. I couldn’t remember how to get to work, so I wandered around the traffic circle by the UC Center a few times before I resorted to pulling out my phone and using Google Maps. I wouldn’t recommend using the “walking directions” feature on Google Maps because all I can remember was trying to follow a blue path, though my blue dot location was way off track. The more I wandered, the more I was melting in my office attire and I could feel the sweat accumulating on my shirt—it was gross.

I made it to the office about ten minutes late and my shirt was obviously stained with sweat where my backpack straps had been. My hair was probably really limp and clung to my forehead. Talk about looking professional and being punctual on the first day. Despite my embarrassment, my supervisor was really friendly and she kept checking to see if the AC was running properly (for my sake, I guess). When I arrived at the Council, I noticed another intern already seated at the meeting room table. As it so happens, she is also a UCDC student (hailing from Irvine). We work in separate areas, but we managed to talk to each other during our lunch break and we agreed to walk together to and from work every day so that we wouldn’t get lost.

Cover of my "Welcome to the Job" folder

Some program brochures and packets

In addition to my own desk space, I have a computer to work with, phone extension, and work e-mail address. I had my account set up so that I could have access to a shared drive on the network. As for my tasks for the day, I have to admit that it was a little anti-climactic. I sent out 1 e-mail then conducted research for most of the day, which honestly made it difficult for me to focus. Not to mention, I have to get used to working on a computer that runs Windows. It’s been awhile since I’ve regularly used a PC, so hopefully I can relearn things quickly.

This was included in my folder. The Humanities Council recently finished a city-wide program called "Live To Read." They had extra copies, so lucky me! :]

Until next time: The world could use more Atticus Finch-es.

<3 Upshire Girl (Jess) 

Public Citizen

I've been quite the busy bee for the past couple of days, so my apologies for the lack of blog posts!  Upshire Girl and I were talking about it, and we've come to the conclusion that we're getting old.  Why?  I went to bed yesterday at 11PM.  Willingly.  And I'm only 22, dammit!  What will it come to when I'm 25?  30?!


So what exactly has been taking up most of my days, you ask?  Why, my internship, of course :)  Let's recap on what has happened in the past couple of days...


Wednesday
Oh my gaaaahd, first day of the internship!  I woke up to the house in full motion, bright and early at 8AM.  While my housemates hustled and bustled around getting ready for the big day, I lounged around the apartment and decided to make some toast.  No, I was not being a slacker (I know some of you were thinking that :P).  Instead of starting the workday at the usual 9AM like most places, my internship started 10AM.  In fact, my boss specifically told me I shouldn't come in at 9AM because he wouldn't be there and that some time between 10AM-11AM would be best.  Talk about super chill :)


So after watching about half an hour of watching Food Network, I made my turkey sandwich lunch and ironed all of my professional gear, deciding on a black dress shirt and a pair of grey slacks (not that I had much of a choice, considering the rest of my life is stuffed in a box that's on it's way across the country).  Good neutral gear for my first day of work.  Now, in California, I could walk around with that outfit on for hella days and be perfectly comfortable.  That's actually my favorite business attire outfit--I almost always wear it to the VN CARES clinic.  My 10-minute walk to Public Citizen though reminded me that "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."  And by Kansas, I mean California.  By the time I got to the office, I was sweating profusely.  Luckily, it wasn't as bad as the Jeans post, but only because I had only walked for about 10 minutes.  Surely, if it had been any longer, I would've been a goner >_<  


Of course, being directionally challenged, I got a little lost walking to work.  I swear, this time, I couldn't help it.  All the brick buildings look exactly the same after a while!  Luckily, I had typed out the directions on my phone (not sure why I didn't want to follow them in the first place...) and made my way into the Public Citizen building.  The receptionist cheerily greeted me and had me wait for someone to come down and get me since I was the new intern.  Keanan (who's about 6'2" but 3 years younger than me -_-;), the other undergrad intern, came down to grab me and gave me a quick tour of the building.  Our home was on the 4th floor, affectionately nicknamed "The Penthouse" because the interns thought it would be more fun than calling it "the fourth floor."  There was even a slip of paper decorated with a fancily drawn P to label our door from the stairway leading into the building.  Burcu, the legal counsel, gave me a quick welcome speech, sat me down at a desk, and gave me a bunch of readings to do so I could catch up on what's currently going on with the Global Access to Medicines program.  Once she gave me a Public Citizen mug, it somehow felt more like a proper welcome.  Perhaps it was that inclusion of a gift...

It may be a plain looking desk, but it's MY desk :)

Just in case I haven't spoken to you yet about my internship, let me go over exactly what I'm doing here for the next two months in Washington D.C.  I will be working with Public Citizen, a non-profit NGO, that advocates for citizens' rights.  PC has various branches, and the program I'm interning for is the Global Access to Medicines program.  We work to bring down the cost of pharmaceutical drugs by introducing generic competition in order make live-saving medications more affordable globally.  Our current project is focused on negotiations that will bring down the prices of 2nd-line HIV medications in the Global Kaletra campaign.  My specific duties include providing support to the program director through translations for discussions with Vietnam.  VN CARES, you have trained me well :)


As I was sitting in my new chair at my new desk reading new things, Keanan and two legal interns, James and Mi-Kyeong, told me to grab a notebook and my wallet because we were all heading over to Capitol Hill to sit in on a briefing.  Say what?  First day and we're already going to Capitol Hill?!  Do they really just... let people into these buildings?  Just like that?  Apparently yes, since I was going.  A little nerve-wracking to be going to something seemingly so important and exclusive, but talk about incredibly awesome!  Just the other day, Upshire Girl and I walked past the Dirksen Senate Building and now I was actually going to go inside of it.  Because I have work to do.  Say whaaaat.


Once we signed in and entered the hearing room, a table full of food greeted us.  Fancy black boxes held delicate sandwiches with chips and plates of fresh cookies lined the long black table.  I definitely hit the intern jackpot that day.  Feeling particularly fancy, I picked up a box with the brie, tomato, and watercress sandwich.  Gordon Ramsay would've been proud of my impeccable taste ;)  I would've had a pic of the box for you but I got hungry, so here's half of my sandwich...

Nom nom, delicious!  

Anywho, the briefing was held by amfAR on new advances on HIV cure research and technology.  As much HATE to admit it, taking cell biology during spring quarter was invaluable to understanding all the new technology they spoke about.  How else would I know what the CCR5 receptor did?  LOL.  Despite the fact that the briefing was 4 hours long (yes, 4.), all the information was enthralling.  The science nerd within was happy :)

After the amfAR briefing, I went back to reading and ended my day at 5PM because I thought I had class at 6PM.  I came back only to find out classes don't start until next week.  Joy.  On the plus side, I had extra time to myself to read and do whatever.  Talk about a good first day :)


Thursday


Today was an off-day.  I came into the office, read a lot, typed up a bunch of things, but really, I did not do much.  However!  I did go to a catered intern lunch.


Every week, Public Citizen hosts an intern lunch where all the interns in the building get to meet one program director from a different project.  This week, we met someone from Litigation.  I apologize, but I cannot remember the woman's name for the life of me.  I should, I really should, but I blame the memory loss (or dozing off, whatever you want to call it) on the 5 hours of sleep I got the night before because I was reading The Hunger Games.  (It was worth it.)  I do remember though that the tasty veggie (it had eggplant! :D) sandwich I had was from Cosi.  Great toasty bread and lovely filling.  Go figure, I remember the food, but not the important things like the people I'm meeting.  -_-;  Anywho, after the lunch, I struggled to stay awake (only possible because I kept nibbling on random food) until 5PM when Peter, our program director, came upstairs and told the interns we could go home.  Sigh, what an uneventful day.


Friday


Came in this morning and did more reading, more typing.  Except!  I was more awake today.  I went to bed at 11PM last night, so I was pretty well-rested.  Well, kinda.  I still yawned on and off during the first couple of hours.  I read a bunch and took notes on articles about drug patents and the TPP so I could absorb more info.  Also occasionally checked my email, which consisted of various emails from the listserv and invitations to seminars and fundraisers.  I registered for a couple that I'll be attending in the next couple of weeks with the other interns.  Speaking of emails!  I have an official email account with PC: jha@citizen.org.  Don't spam mail me.  I just wanted to share the official-ness of it all XD


At 1PM we went out to a team lunch to get to know each other and discuss upcoming projects.  Burcu selected the restaurant for us, a nice swanky Turkish restaurant called Levante's.  

Flat bread and olive oil.  This would've been prettier but I got hungry...

Classic fried calamari

Some kind of Turkish pizza--delicious!  Also more flat bread with a lingering of baba ganoush (I LOVE EGGPLANT).

My falafel sandwich in pita bread with a side of fries.  Doesn't look that pretty because it's wrapped in paper, but I assure you, it was delicious.

We ate, discussed, laughed... all that jazz.  T'was a fun 2 hour lunch.  By the end though, I was getting sleepy due to all the blood rushing down to my digestive system to process all the delicious food so I was struggling a bit to keep my eyes open as Peter finished up our meeting.  On the way back, we discussed the small project he wanted Keanan and me to finish for Monday's quarterly meeting.  Once we got back though, People of the Penthouse decided to move around the office furniture because an old employee was coming back so Keanan needed a new desk.  After spending some time doing that, we got back to work (but only kind of, since it was Friday, after all!).  Keanan and I created a nifty high-tech-esque PowerPoint thing using a program called Prezi.  If you haven't already heard of it, check it out--it's pretty cool.  Anywho, we finished the presentation slides in no time, and then it was time to go home.


Upshire Girl and I WERE going to go to Target again for another adventure, but on my walk home, I started feeling sprinkles, so we decided against it.  If you don't DC weather, you should know that it can change pretty quickly.  One moment it's sunny, the next it's rainy.  It was pretty sunny this morning but 5PM, a storm was a brewin'!  A thunderstorm, to be exact.  Intending to avoid the rain, Upshire Girl and I decided to forgo Target and stay home to make a fancy dinner.  To use our beloved half-and-half (if you don't know why it's beloved, do check out Upshire Girl's blog post on it lol), we decided to make roasted garlic mashed potatoes.  To complement the potatoes (usually you build a meal the other way, but whatever), we roasted herbed chicken thighs and topped it all off with some caramelized onions and mushrooms.  Since we had some leftover basil from spaghetti night, we chopped it up and threw it the dish as a garnish.  And the final product:

Sooo good!

After dinner, we wound down for the day, with me watching TV and Upshire Girl typing away at her next blog post.


Man, if you're still here reading this, you, sir/madam, are a trooper.  Thank you, haha.  Well, I must bid thee farewell.  Tomorrow's adventure, including visits to the Smithsonian museums, more Target, and possibly the LOC (again), awaits!  Hopefully I'll be able to get my camera by tomorrow or Sunday, so I'll have more (and better quality!) pictures for you guys.


Over and out,
Agent024

Adventure 3: Half and Half

Good morning day 3! We kicked off the day with a brief orientation in the morning. Technically it was the “academic orientation” of the program, but our coordinator gave us a lot of additional information about DC as a city, fun places to visit, and basic tips on how to get by. Apparently, New York is just 4 hour bus ride away! Not to mention, super affordable (she said she was able to purchase a round trip ticket for $37). We’ll have to take an apartment trip to NY one of these weekends.

After our brief orientation, we tried to take care of logistical matters, like checking out Ethernet cables. A few months ago, the UC Center experienced a terrible fire that caused a lot of damage, which has made our wi-fi connection rather sporadic and unreliable. Unfortunately, the IT guy didn’t seem too keen about helping us out, as his door was closed and locked while we waited and knocked for quite some time.

Although that proved to be rather unsuccessful, we were able to take some left-overs from a “continental breakfast,” held earlier this morning. Agent 024 and I (as well as another apartment-mate) brought back a ton of pastries, stacks of butter, jam, and a brand new carton of half and half. We couldn’t help but giggle as we took our loot back to the apartment, feeling a little devious and proud of our scavenging. Technically, the continental breakfast was for us and if no one else wanted the goods, it shouldn’t go to waste, right? Of course, right (as Yenta would say).

Our treasure! *Note the half and half in the back.

Even though bringing home the half and half felt victorious, the highlight of our day was definitely visiting the Library of Congress (for the second time). Agent 024 did some excellent research and told us about a free public tour in the afternoon. The four of us and a new friend decided, “Why not? Sounds fun!”

On the way to the LOC, we saw the American Bar Association! :D I was star-struck yet again.

Entering the Library was both refreshing and awe-inspiring. As Agent 024 wrote, all of us thought it would be a bright idea to wear jeans. Well, I guess that was very Californian, because we quickly discovered it wasn’t such a great idea. Given the DC humidity, we were all sweating immensely and sticking to our clothes as if they were band-aids. It was not a pleasant feeling and also a little embarrassing. So when we walked into the Library, I could hear angels sing as the air conditioning cooled down our drenched faces. It was as though we finally made it to Mecca, though I refrained from collapsing onto the cold, marble floor.

Inside, the Library of Congress really was magnificent. The walls, floors, and stairs were all made of shining marble. Special light bulbs, which were created by Edison for the building, adorned the walls, though there was also plenty of natural lighting from the windows. The Library had many beautiful paintings and sculptures celebrating knowledge, wisdom, and learning. Our tour guide explained the significance of each painting, describing how each depicted an important facet of civic society throughout history. In the Great Hall, we were able to see a first edition printed Gutenberg Bible on display, one of three remaining copies in the world. Of course, I was trying to read the text and I could recognize a few words in medieval German (I guess that Medieval German Lit class I took helped).

Entering the Great Hall

Stained glass windows on the ceiling

Paintings on the ceiling as well. 

Unfortunately, we could not enter the Main Reading Room, except for a small viewing area from above. Apparently, “special permission” is necessary for acquiring clearance to the room. Also, none of the books from the LOC may be checked out, so any researchers using LOC materials must stay inside. Nevertheless, the Room was gorgeous and it reminded me of the library in Beauty and the Beast. I could just imagine Belle singing with her arms wide open, celebrating books and knowledge. I would definitely love to conduct research in the Main Reading Room, though. Maybe someday.

No photography of the Main Reading Room was allowed, but this was the entrance to the viewing area. The painting is of Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom. Below in Latin, "The pen is mightier than the sword."

So we finally headed back to the Center, as the tour ended around closing time for the LOC. Agent 024 and I made our first meal together! She's a great cook, by the way. It was delicious and very satisfying, especially considering we had pretty much eaten pizza and McDonald’s up until that point.

Spaghetti and salad. Yay real food!

All of us were fairly tired by the end of the day, so we just relaxed, ate dinner, and watched tv. Oh, I did stay up rather late trying to iron my clothes. I was getting nervous about my first day! With that, I’ll leave you until next time: “I cannot live without books.” ~Thomas Jefferson

<3 Upshire Girl (Jess)

Adventure #3: Jeans :(

So I've decided to write yesterday's stuff today because I was too pooped to write stuff yesterday.  I'll try to write daily to keep you updated, but if I happen to pass out that day, I might just combine entries.  I assure you, the entries will still remain epic (I hope XD).  Secondly, I realize I do not have my SD card adapter so I can't upload pics I have on my phone to the computer.  For now, this entry will remain picture-less.  Sad face, I know.  Do not fret!  I'm planning to purchase a camera this weekend, so we shall not remain picture-less for long!  And once I find myself a SD card adapter, I will update this blog with maaaarvelous photos :)


6/19/12


Jeans.  Jeans are a staple of my wardrobe.  I wear them everywhere, and as the UCDC program coordinator for UC Davis has said, it's a California thing.  They're comfortable, casual, and a very versatile item in one's wardrobe.  However, jeans are not that smartest thing to wear in Washington DC.  At least, not when you've just arrived in DC and haven't acclimated to the heat yet.  Deceived by the gorgeous weather from our first two days in DC, Upshire Girl and I donned jeans for our UCD group picture in front of the White House.  After all, we figure we should be dressed somewhat "professionally," right?  Shorts aren't quite professional and they're too... Californian.  We were trying to blend more, I suppose.  


BAD IDEA.  The first couple steps were fine.  A little warm, but otherwise not too bad.  One block later, I was sweating like a pig.  I was sweating to so much, even my legs were sweating.  My beloved jeans were now an annoyance as they clung uncomfortable to my legs.  I don't even recall sweating this much when I work out!  There was just SO MUCH SWEAT.  In fact, Yami (one of our other housemates) commented that she could see the giant sweat stain on the back of my t-shirt.  Attractive.  Bet you're happy I didn't have a camera for that, aren't you?


After taking dozens of shots in front of the White House, our house + our new friend Christina took the Metro towards my new favorite place, The Library of Congress.  This time, we joined one of the public tours so we could have a more comprehensive visit of this national treasure.  Of course, my history nerd self skipped along giddily as we stopped by the Room of Families (or whatever the name was lol) where we saw artists' depictions of the influences of family on learning and society.  Then we ventured into the Great Hall where I was amazed to find that all the carvings and sculptures were carefully chosen to tell a specific story.  Honestly, when I see all these white statues and sculptures, I usually think "Oh cool.  Greek thing." and carry on.  But going through the tour actually teaches you a lot of the thought put behind building The Library, and it really is remarkable the amount of detail behind every single piece.  For example, the young man and the old man that are carved into the gorgeous white marble above the archway etched in gold leaf with "The Library of Congress" represent the notion that one never stops learning.  The pursuance of knowledge should be a continuous journey throughout your life, not just when you're enrolled in school.  Intricate details like that fill every corner of The Library of Congress, and you can't help but stand there and stare in awe at the magnificence of the building.  


The Great Hall isn't even the best part.  My favorite part--the crown jewel of The Library, is without a doubt the Main Reading Room.  I only got to view the room from above in the balcony behind a sheet of glass, but even then, it was amazing.  No words can truly describe how beautiful that room is.  I had a total nerd-gasm.  The sign clearly said no photographs but the beauty of everything in that room compelled me to break the rules.  I got yelled at twice, but it was worth it LOL.  Towering above the room is a stained glass window, and watching over the scholars below are statues representing each of the subjects, such as history, science, religion, and music.  Each subject had an important figure to represent it like Sir Isaac Newton for science, Beethoven for music, and Moses (yes, Moses!) for religion.  There was so much detail and meaning put into everything in that room.  It was just... wow.  That's all I can really say.


After the tour, we explored the Early American Encounters exhibit.  I loved how I could relate topics I've learned from my previous history classes to various sections in the exhibit.  We couldn't stay too long though since they closed at 6PM.  I can assure you, I will be returning though so I can scour the gift shop for some souvenirs.  Speaking of which, if you guys want a postcard, shoot me an email and I'll try my best to send you one :)


To end our day of exploration of the great DC outdoors, we went to the Safeway on 17th Ave. NW.  As a Californian (I feel like I've said this a lot since I've gotten here...), I was shocked at how small the Safeway was.  Compared to the Davis Safeways (or any of the California Safeways, really.  Even Vons!), the aisles in this Safeway are half the size.  No joke.  The lack of variety in fresh produce appalled me.  There were no bundles of juicy green lettuce or bright, fragrant herbs.  Well, Upshire Girl told me there was a lot of mint that no one wanted to buy but that's about it.  I guess mojitos aren't a big thing in DC...?


Note to future UCDC students: do not go to Safeway on an empty stomach.  This holds true for everyone but it's especially troublesome for UCDC students.  0.4 miles isn't a long distance to walk at all, but once you factor in the heat and the fact that you're walking with 3 cartons of milk, a bag of frozen chicken, and various other items, you'll thank me for warning you.


So after trekking home with giant bags of groceries, we managed to make a spaghetti + salad dinner despite the sore arms, scarfed it down, and headed downstairs to the ice cream social.  Needless to say, I was incredibly awkward as usual.  I tried, I really did.  It started off well, actually.  As I held my bowl of vanilla ice cream drenched in caramel syrup (sugar overload, for sure), I chatted with a couple girls from UC Irvine.  One was impressively a triple major in various subjects that I cannot remember (except Chinese!)--definitely reminded me of Trieu, except she wasn't as awesome ;)  We chatted a bit, then we awkwardly stared at our ice cream until their friends came over to rescue them.  Upshire Girl and I wandered the room a bit then went back upstairs with our ice cream.  Oh well.


Despite the minor setbacks like the ridiculous heat and the sore muscles, Tuesday definitely was a great last-free-day-before-work day.  Super nervous about starting the internship tomorrow, but looking forward to what adventures await me.


-Agent 024

Adventure 2: Chamber of Secrets

Today we found the Chamber of Secrets. For a lot of the DC muggles, it could be mistaken for the entrance to a metro stop, but us Harry Potter enthusiasts know better. Oddly enough, the Chamber had a really long escalator that led underground. The entrance was very steep and my hands got a little clammy as I looked down into the dark abyss. I did learn from the DC locals, however, that when taking the escalators, people are expected to stand on the right and walk on the left. I guess all of these important people have places to go in quite a hurry. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the Chamber, but I intend to do so before I leave DC. Thankfully, we didn’t see any basilisks, but we were able to take the metro to a nearby shopping area/train station/metro stop. I really like the DC metro, it’s pretty efficient and clean, but a little pricey. I don’t really like that the metro charges per distance traveled and there aren’t discounted passes available, but oh well. Still though, without a car or bike, it’s the fastest way to get around the city. Anyway, once we arrived at Union Station, Agent 024 and I were instantly amazed by the historical look and feel of the station. We passed by some fruit stands and a sunglass stand that sold Hello Kitty glasses! Kinda hipster, but still pretty fun.

Once inside, we were greeted with wonderful air conditioning and tons of restaurants and shops. We headed straight for Express, which advertised an excellent sale, though we later left the store empty-handed. I think the highlight of that store was listening to the workers singing and dancing behind the register: “Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here’s my number. So call me, maybe.”  Thank you, Carly Rae Jepson.

After some more rounds of window shopping and browsing, as you probably read, Agent 024 made a big girl purchase at Swatch! I must say, her watch looks quite swanky and professional—very appropriate for DC. In spite of all the fanciness around us, we continued that trend by eating a delicious lunch at McDonald’s, if you could even call it lunch. We just ordered fries and ice cream ahaha. We passed on Godiva and chose McDonald’s, go figure. It turned out to be strangely filling and very satisfying, but I think we were pretty famished after wandering around with just a bagel in our stomachs.

Someone left this toy on the table

Lol shroom cloud. Too soon?

Feeling replenished, we decided to take a gander outside the station and lo and behold! Just beyond the trees was Capitol Hill! We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit, even if it seemed deceivingly close.

We wandered past the Dirkson and Russell Senate buildings, the Federal Judiciary Building, finally stopping at the Library of Congress. Agent024 and I were so star-struck! The Library of Congress really is beautiful on the inside and perhaps best of all, it’s free to the public! The college student in me still appreciates that. So of course, we had to go inside. I will save a description of the place for day 3, since we visited the LOC twice ahaha. One time just wasn’t enough. So yes, until next time: “Y’er a wizard, Harry!”

P.S. I apologize for the HP overload.

Adventure #2: Trustfully Mine

Disclaimer: I currently do not have a camera, so my stories are going to be a lot less interesting until I get one! Do not fret--I'm in the process of researching and buying a nice one :) But until then, I'll be borrowing some of Upshire Girl's pics ^^; 


During college, I had the hardest time waking up in the morning for 8AM classes. Little did I know, renovation construction outside your window is the key to rising early in the morning. I woke up this morning to drilling and whatever they were doing out there around 7AM. Still incredibly groggy, I actually thought that something was wrong with the fridge. Our fridge is pretty loud, so in my sleepy stupor, I assure you that was the most logical explanation for the ruckus outside my bedroom window. Upshire Girl was completely unaffected, that lucky duck! After failing to fall back asleep for the next half an hour, I ended up watching more Ugly Betty for a bit then dozing off until 11ish. Then the real adventures began! After a lovely breakfast of a toasted Thomas' Everything bagel (with extra cream cheese because I'm a fatty), Upshire Girl and I went downstairs to take our UCDC ID pictures and head out for the day. I must say, they had a pretty ghetto setup for the photo "booth". A random electric pink towel hung on a rod behind a regular cushioned chair to serve as our photo "booth." Yes. A pink towel. Poor Upshire Girl--they made her take the picture 5 times because the camera kept taking blurry shots. 


Once pictures were done, we head out to CVS to grab a SmarTrip Metro card so we could navigate more easily through public transit. Surprisingly, the walk was nice and short AND we got to see the gorgeous East Coast-style homes and apartments. There was a lot of oo-ing and ah-ing, as well as random outbursts about how much certain places look like landmarks from Harry Potter. We caught the Metro Red Line toward Glenmont after asking a dude from Greenpeace about where the station actually was. Side note: We were both really shocked that the Greenpeace guy didn't flip out and stalk us like California Greenpeace folk. 


Anywho, we took the Red Line down to Union Station. Let me tell you, that place is pretty gorgeous for a train station. Filled with shops and vendors, this train station was no ordinary train station. The Amtrak ticket vendors looked more swanky than any that I've ever seen. Heck, even TACO BELL looked FANCY. We strolled around looking at random shops, stopping at Express (disappointing) and the usual girly stores. Then, a strange feeling came over me and I suddenly felt like going into Swatch. I've always walked by it before, but wasn't very interested. Perhaps it was air composition today.  Maybe it was the sleep deprivation.  Or... it might have been the lighting in the mall! Whatever it was, it compelled me to buy a watch. There were actually a couple of pretty spiffy ones, but I ended up going for this one:

It seems like this watch was always meant to be mine.  When the sales associate rang up the sale, the register displayed the item's name "Trustfully Mine."  Clearly, it was the work of fate.

After browsing some more and we ran into Obama and chatted for a bit.  He even let us have a photo op!

We soon grew tired of the mall and ended up exploring outside Union Station, where we found a replica of the Liberty Bell.  I knew it was a replica because: 1) I knew it belonged in Philly, 2) It didn't have its characteristic crack, and 3) I've stared at pictures of the Liberty Bell for hours when working on graphics for the Legacies of Liberty program for The History Project ;)

Now, I'm not sure if this is true of everyone on the East Coast or if I just ran into some unfriendly people, but I've noticed that if you say "excuse me" to get someone's attention, they will ignore you.  Upshire Girl and I tried to get several people to take a picture for us, but using "excuse me" doesn't work.  Perhaps they thought I wanted to mug them.  Hm...


Wanting to kill more time before the residential orientation at 6:30PM at UCDC, we wandered about the area and found this important-looking building:

And as we ventured further, we found Capitol Hill!  In the same bout, we found the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress.

 

My favorite part: The Library of Congress.  My inner history nerd became giddy with delight once we stepped through those doors.  But let's save that story for another day!  Upshire Girl and I have so much more to explore at the Library of Congress, so a full report on how that goes will be up soon.  Look forward to it! :)


-Agent024


P.S. I am aware that the pictures are EVERYWHERE right now in the blog.  Rest assured, I'm refreshing the HTML knowledge to rectify this problem.  Hopefully I'll figure it out soon! :)

Adventure 1: Irving

Our first full day in Washington DC! How exciting, right? My first impressions of the city were definitely positive. At this point, I still haven’t seen anything that doesn’t look beautifully historic, towering, and well maintained. Not to mention, all of the buildings look very Harry Potter-esque and we (Agent024 and I) couldn’t help but giggle at countless Harry Potter references. Seriously, who wouldn’t enjoy pointing at adorable brick houses and saying, “Look, it’s the Weasley’s house”?

Oh hey, Australian Embassy (Also the view outside our window)

So today we journeyed to the ever-elusive Target, which according to Google maps was only 20 minutes away via Metrobus. Lucky for us, we missed the stop by a few blocks and ended up walking quite a ways to get there. After several minutes of wandering around and searching for a gigantic Target sign, Agent024 pointed up and of course, it was right in front of us. I was so accustomed to the Californian Targets, which are often take up an entire shopping center, surrounded by plentiful parking for large SUVs and shopping carts. Not so in DC, apparently. The Target right off of Irving was on the top floor of a skinny shopping mall, with no parking lot available beyond the cramped street, and a couple escalators away from the front doors. The shopping area was also rather cramped and crowded. Everyone was bustling about, trying to find everything and shopping cart accidents were just waiting to occur.

What really irritated me about this Target, besides the feeling of claustrophobia, were these corner protectors on the bottom of many shelving structures. Were they really necessary? Did the corners of these shelving units really need to be protected? What’s the point, if I keep ramming into them with my shopping cart (albeit by accident)? With so many shoppers and me trying to avoid getting run over, a phenomenon only acceptable on Black Friday, those pesky corner protectors really cramped my style. I definitely missed the spacious aisles in Californian Targets, but I guess living in a city that can only build vertically means that it’s just something I’ll have to get used to.

Despite my complaint though, I must say that Agent024 and I had a blast. We were equally amused by the differences and we also made many fun purchases. The highlight of our shopping trip was definitely our throw blankets, which will keep us warm in the air-conditioned room and bring smiles to our faces every time we walk into our room. Once you see the pictures, you’ll understand our simple joys. Anyway, I think our first adventure was a success and we came back with some much needed supplies and fun laughs. Until next time: “Adventure is out there!”

Before

After