Blog update!

Why, helloooo readers!  Agent024 here writing from sunny California (but not really so sunny right now, actually)!  In case you haven't already realized from the lack of posts, Upshire Girl and I have returned to California since September.  We were chatting the other day, and both agreed that we really miss being in the nation's capital!

Anyway, we want to thank everyone that has come across this blog, and we hope you find our blog useful.  If you have any questions about intern life in DC or the UCDC program (applying, being accepted, finding internships), please feel to shoot us an email and we'll try to help you out.  Thanks :)

Blogging catch-up!

Ah, hello, DC Diaries blog readers!  I apologize for my absence for the past... well, month.  I've always been terrible at keeping up with diaries and what not, but I will try to update you as best as I can on all the things that have been going on.

So what has been going on with Agent 24, you ask?  Many things!  Here are a handful of the  highlights from the past couple of weeks:

• New York weekend excursion
• Midterms (no, I'm kidding.  I'm not going to tell you about my midterms)
• The 19th International AIDS Conference
• FBI Tour--say WHAT?!
• Mount Vernon
• D.C. Restaurant Week

If you're only interested in a particular part, I've bolded the key terms for you to search for each topic, since I know I tend to ramble on and on... ;)

Part of the reason why I started becoming MIA was due to the week-long International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C.  This event attracts organizations, companies, scientists, and activists from all over the world to raise awareness to the HIV/AIDS disease to decrease the stigmatization of the disease and discrimination of HIV+ people, as well as inform the world about the new developments that bring us one step closer to ending this epidemic.  Because one of our focuses is access to the antiretroviral (ARV) medicines used to treat AIDS, the Global Access to Medicines team was always on the scene at the IAC 2012.  The week before, during, and after the IAC was filled with preparation for press releases, conferences, teach-ins, and a concert.  That's right--a concert :)

One of our big events at the IAC was our "Rock the TPP" concert, where activists from all over the world gathered to learn more about why the TPP will have negative effects on their countries.  Public Citizen and APN+ put on a great show, filling the Global Village with sounds of our musical resistance against the tyranny of the TPP. In addition to this fun event, we had a couple more serious events, like the International Med Students teach-in at PC with AMSA.  I was working on website building + video editing + graphic designing so I only popped down a bit for a sandwich (I was hungry!) before going back upstairs to the Penthouse.  However, the med students gave us positive feedback on the event, so I'm sure it was excellent :)  We also participated in the "We Can End AIDS" march with the AIDS Mobilization team and many other groups.

My wonderful team <3 (Mikyeong was there in spirit)

Super busy, busy 2-3 weeks!  To add into this mix, the weekend right before the IAC 2012, I had a weekend excursion with Yami and our friend Caylen.  Upshire Girl had some other commitments so she couldn't go with us :(

Prior to this trip, I had never seen NYC except in the movies and on Gossip Girl.  NYC was just as glorious as Hollywood makes it seem in movies and television.  Just as my coworker jokingly warned me not to do, I stared up in awe at the towering skyscrapers and smiled at the scowls of busy New Yorkers.  Okay, they didn't scowl at me--I decided to add that for dramatic effect.  Anyway, we arrived in NYC around 12PM after a 4-hour bus ride on the Megabus.  Unfortunately, check-in wasn't till 3PM, and the hotel was under Yami, who wouldn't arrive until later in the afternoon.  Wanting to drop off some luggage, we trekked over to Penn Station to see if we could put our stuff on hold at the Amtrak Station.  Note to those that plan on doing this--don't.  Unlike Union Station in Washington DC, Penn Station requires you to have an Amtrak ticket in order to have your baggage put on hold.  SAD FACE. So we decided (and by that, I mean me because I was the one with the ridiculously heavy bag) to just lug around the baggage and explore until Yami got here.  Caylen and I stopped by a cute little diner for a bite to eat and walked around.  

I know I look gross.  Sorry.  It rained AND I hadn't slept all night because I was working on work projects + midterms.  However, I'm sure my meal looks lovely :)

We visited Century 21, the lovely discount department store, so Caylen could buy some cute shoes.  Alas, I did not find any cute shoes myself, and even if I did, I'm not sure I'd be willing to add another item to the load on my back.  The straps were kinda cutting into my shoulders at this point...

After a little shopping, we took the subway (because the cute policeman told us walking would take quite some time) down to the World Trade Center.  Initially, we meant to just go to Soho to check that out, but while on the subway, we saw the last stop was the World Trade Center so we figured we could just go all the way down and then head back up later.  Once off the subway, we got a little lost trying to find the place to get tickets to go see the 9/11 memorial.  The tickets were in the memorial store, which, of course, prompted me to buy a souvenir.  I do not understand what my fascination is with gift shops, but they somehow always end up being so interesting and fun.  After combing through all the pretty things and clever souvenirs, I chose to go with the I <3 NY magnet.  

It looks like this, except magnet-form.  Picture courtesy of the 9/11 Memorial website.

Before I go on, I must tell you, I'm not much of a crier.  Well.  I tear up during Pixar movies and when I cut onions, but that's only because Pixar knows how to tug at my heart strings (Damn you, Toy Story 3!) and I can't really help that onions have propanethiol S-oxide.  The point is, I don't cry very often at the mere sight of things (unlike my sister).  However, seeing the World Trade Center memorial and reading the pieces written about the event really affects you.  I feel that living on West Coast has shielded me from really feeling anything about 9/11.  Yes, I felt it was a travesty to my country, but I didn't really FEEL anything personally.  I didn't lose any family members or friends to the event, and I was only 12 at the time it happened.  I feel like I didn't fully understand the repercussions of what those attacks on the Twin Towers meant.  But when I stood there at that memorial site and at St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero, I suddenly felt like the event became more personal and more... real.  No, I didn't know these people then and that didn't change when I visited the site.  However, seeing firsthand the site where it all happened and listening to the stories of people that were there that day had a really strong impact on me.  If there is one thing you must see in NYC, I would suggest here.  There's just something about this place that's very moving, especially St. Paul's Chapel nearby.

See the duffel?  The straps that hold it = straps of doom

Curious about what happened during the evening in New York?  Day 2?  Day 3?  Chat with me about it!  Lots of adventures that is much more fun to listen (and tell) to than for me to type out lol.

The NY trip was my last crazy trip.  Why, you ask?  Because I blew over $350 there.  I'll post a NY guide/travel tips later so you can make sure your NY trip is affordable XD  However, just because I didn't take any more crazy trips didn't mean I didn't have any fun! One sunny Wednesday afternoon, I joined my Spies! class (the class is really called Spies! The Politics of Intelligence, it's not something I made up to sound cool LOL) for a field trip the Edgar J. Hoover FBI Headquarters building.  I don't have pictures for you, for obvious reasons.  I could've risked it but I didn't want to be taken down by agents... Of course, as any government building, we had to go through some extensive security to make sure we weren't crazy.  Once cleared, we received our badges (which we got to keep!) and were escorted by an agent inside the building.  We didn't get to see much other than the education section, which used to be open to the public before 9/11.  

On our first stop, we watched agents qualifying for their firearm exam.  All agents have the privilege of carrying a firearm with them at all times, but in order to do so, they have to pass qualifying exams on a regular basis to make sure they meet the standards set by the Bureau.  The glass we sat behind was not only bulletproof but had the ability to turn opaque at the flip of a switch.  I know, this is not new technology at all but I still think it's pretty nifty.  Some agents were incredibly accurate (must be Jack Bauer's protégés) and pass their exam in one try, but some had to retest after the first test.  Agents are allowed to retest as many times as they want, given that it falls within the time that the Bureau gives the test.  While we watched the agents take the test, we were introduced to several agents from all over the country that were either working short-term assignments or staying there for a longer period of time.  From their descriptions, you can tell each agent was clearly part of the best and the brightest.

Next on our tour was the educational center where display cases held history about the FBI, references in popular culture and the media, a large section devoted to 9/11, and various tidbits about each division of the FBI.  During our walkthrough, we got the opportunity to chat with each agent and learn more about any specific division we had an interest in - foreign affairs, counterintelligence, etc.  I wish I could've spent more time in there to read all the interesting historical facts about everything, but alas, our tour could only last an hour.  Unfortunately for me, we didn't even have time to go to the gift shop.  After that tour, everyone headed back home, and I headed back to the office--it was time to Rock the TPP :)  Check out the official webpage for that here.

The following weekend, our group headed out to Mount Vernon.  Warning to UCDC folk - if you plan on going on a trip where a bus is not taking you directly to the location (i.e. you're taking the Metro rail + bus), you might want to have someone in your group have a smartphone or plan ahead of time.  Our CA was new to the program and didn't plan ahead so she almost got the whole group lost.  Luckily, because of my obsessive planning and Chen's iPhone (to double check directions), we got to the port at Old Alexandria on time and ready to head off to the home of the great George Washington.

Our boat!

Now, I usually would tell you about how the boat ride was and how awesome the tour guide on the boat was, but I can't.  Mainly because I fell asleep after the first 10 minutes on the boat ride XD Once we reached the estate, we hopped aboard the free shuttle that took up directly to the mansion.  Tip for UCDC students that are as lazy as we were--take the free shuttle bus that comes once every 15(? I think.) minutes up to the mansion if you don't want to walk the long distance.  Before I came to Mount Vernon, my friend Wendy told me how magnificent the mansion was.  Perhaps because I came with such high expectations, I left rather disappointed.  According to the introduction video we watched before heading through the place, the mansion was HUGE.  It could house up to 200 guests at a time.  The place we walked through didn't look very massive at all--it looked like a modern-day fancy house found in Palo Alto.  I do assume though that what we see today isn't all of the mansion, despite their efforts to restore and keep everything the way it was before.  I refuse to believe 200 guests could fit in the mansion that stands there now.

200 in THERE?  No way. 

After an hour or so of the scorching sun and ridiculous East Coast humidity, we decided to head back into the education center like sensible people.  Definitely check the education center out if you're there at Mount Vernon.  One of the best and most entertaining educational tools at the center is the interactive movies.  One movie (I cannot recall the name) that depicted the story of George Washington's early life and military career not only included amusing historical narration but also special effects like moving seats (which is really nice after a long day because it shakes like a massage chair lol) and "snow" that falls down from the ceiling. Honestly though, Mount Vernon was a bit of a disappointment.  I expected a larger more magnificent place (i.e. Library of Congress status) but we only got to see a couple of rooms that didn't seem as glamorous as I imagined.  However, I did enjoy the trip...especially when my two naps on the boat LOL.

And we now come to the last and most important part of this blog--D.C. Restaurant Week.  As you know, food is an incredibly important part of my life.  Thus, it is only fitting that this is the most important part of this blog post.  In case you're unfamiliar with the event, let's fill you in.  Restaurant Week is an event that is hosted in various cities at different times.  During this week, participating restaurants will offer a prix fixe lunch and/or dinner menu at a set cost--this year was $20.12 for lunch and $35.12 for dinner.  Restaurant Week usually comes twice a year, once during the winter and once during the summer.  We had the good fortune of being here in D.C. when they hosted it because my, oh my, did we eat like fancy folk that week! For our goodbye lunch with our lovely AMSA Fellow Reshma, PC Access to Meds team dined  at La Taberna del Alabadero, a Spanish fine-dining establishment.  For $20.12, we enjoyed a delicious 3-course meal that included a light appetizer, an entreé, and a decadent dessert.

Mussels steamed in a herb tomato sauce

Strip steak with garlic potatoes and dressed salad

Suckling pig with smashed garlic potatoes

Roasted sea bream on a bed of... Spanish rice?

Flan with sweetened strawberries

Cappuccino to end our delicious meal

I apologize for the quality of the pictures!  I didn't bring my regular camera with me to the restaurant and thus was stuck taking photos with my phone.  Anyway, quick restaurant review!  Overall rating: 3.5 stars.  My steak was cooked to the wrong temp (too cooked!), but everything else was quite delicious.  Great flavors, though I did expect a little more of a punch in the flavors--it wasn't bland, but it wasn't mind-blowing.  Also, my salad was over... salted?  It was incredibly salty for some strange reason.  Service here is impeccable though.  Despite being over 40 minutes late for our reservation, they still happily seated us and served us well until the very last minute.  We all left incredibly full and very happy indeed.

But Restaurant Week did not stop there for me!  The girls made a reservation at the Brazilian restaurant Fogo de Chao for our fancy group dinner we planned to have before we left D.C.  So prior to this moment, I had never heard of Fogo de Chao, nor had I ever learned anything about Brazilian food (despite having 3 Brazilian housemates lol).  Well, Fogo de Chao was a lovely place to get introduced to this cuisine.  So this is how the restaurant works: when you sit down at the table, you are given a card: one side is red (for stop) and one side is green (for go).  When you want more meat served to you, you flip the card over to green.

Go go go!  Feed me more food!

Stop, please!

For $35.12, you get as much meat + salad + side dishes as you want!  You can imagine how happy this made me :)  Servers walk around with platters of meat, waiting for you to just flip over that card.  They're incredibly fast!  The girls and I started playing a game to see who could get the longest time before a waiter rushed over to offer us more food.  I won with 45 seconds :D

Nom nom!  Sirloin steak and bacon-wrapped chicken!  Picture courtesy of Gigi :)

Delicious cheese breads!

Mashed potatoes!

After about 2 hours of eating, we were absolutely stuffed.  But it didn't stop there!  The waiter informed us that dessert was included in our meal, so we couldn't say no!  We had a choice of key lime pie, chocolate mousse cake, or strawberry cheesecake.  Who would say no?

I could probably eat an entire cake like this.  By myself.

Completely stuffed, we left joyful and sleepy to take a final group picture outside.  Definitely, if you get a chance, visit Fogo de Chao--there are multiple locations throughout the US.

Alas, it is time for me to end this blog post.  As you can tell, I'm starting to ramble and things are starting to sound rather boring.  Well, readers, the end is near.  I'll post my last blog post (already written, but not edited!) by tomorrow morning, so look out for it.  Toodles :)

-Agent 24

Lazy Sunday

Ah, today was quite the lazy Sunday.  I must warn you now that my blog entry today won't be very thrilling, so please, feel free to skim/skip over this entry lol.  It will have a lot of food pics though since I cooked a lot this weekend :)

Upshire Girl and I got up around 10ish this morning and lounged around the apartment for a good portion of our morning.  I made cinnamon rolls for our girls' night the night before (but everyone had to leave before the rolls had a chance to bake T_T), so we heated some up for breakfast.

Our homemade cinnamon rolls!  Delicioooous <3

In case you're curious, check out Paula Deen's recipe for cinnamon rolls.  I used that recipe, and the resulting cinnamon rolls were divine.  Go Paula Deen!

While we were incredibly lazy and the weather report said that outdoors would be incredibly hot, we decided to do something more interesting with our day instead of sitting around the apartment and napping.  After all, we did have a lazy Saturday as well.  After finishing up some laundry, we headed over to Chinatown to shop and watch a movie at the Regal Gallery Place theatre.  Because I loved the book, I wanted to watch the new Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie and I somehow convinced the other girls it would be a good idea haha.  The showing didn't start until 3PM though, so we decided to hang around the area and go shopping.  We did see that giant Forever 21 last time we were in the area, so it'd be fun to actually go inside and check it out.

The Forever 21 there is HUGE!  If you've been the to the Davis F21, I feel as if this F21 in DC is like that one.  Except DC F21 comes with with 2 extra floors added to it.  We spent 2 hours there, but I still didn't get a chance to finish looking at everything.  We were supposed to go to H&M too but no time!  We had to get to Regal by 3PM for the movie.  Random fun fact--if you want to see a movie for free and you're getting tickets from Fandango, there are some deals you can choose from that allow you to receive a free movie ticket (free trial at Netflix, 250 free business cards from Vista Print, etc.).

The Abe Lincoln movie was all right.  A lot was cut from the book and the story was only partially based on the original story.  I understand why they cut and rewrote a lot of the parts, so it didn't irk me too much.  Overall, an enjoyable action film--I give it a 7.5/10.  The other girls said they enjoyed it as well because it was "different" ahaha.  After the film we took a couple of pictures with the giant movie ads.

After the movie, we were planning to head over to the National Portrait Gallery because it was so close by.  Unfortunately, due to DC's erratic weather, the ominous sky foreshadowed an upcoming thunderstorm.  While we did check the weather report in the morning, everyone forgot to bring their umbrella so to avoid getting soaked, we headed home instead of checking out the museum and going out for dinner.

Upshire Girl and I are incredibly easily influenced by food so after seeing a commercial with steak involved, we suddenly wanted steak for dinner.  We had some beef we just bought in the freezer, so why not!  We ended our day out with this scrumptious-looking  finished product:

Soy marinated steak with a red wine reduction and onions, sauteed summer squash, and a baked potato

Close-up of our delicious steak!

DC tip of the day:
**Always bring an umbrella in your bag, no matter what the skies may look like in the morning.  Thunderstorms in DC are rather common and unexpected, so it's best to be prepared!**

-Agent 024

Adventure 6: Insidiously Good Chicken and Waffles

Here’s part 2 of my highlight recap:

1. Insidious

2. UCD on the East Coast

3. Chicken and Waffles

One thing I’ve definitely taken for granted in California is the beautiful year-round weather. I used to complain when the temperature fell below 65 or rose above 80. I can only laugh and shake my head at how foolish I was growing up in California. In DC, I’m trying to get used to actually checking the weather report every day because you never know when a thunderstorm will occur. And these aren’t the mild, (southern?) Californian thunderstorms where you hide under the covers if you see a few sprinkles of water. East Coast thunderstorms have a lot of lightening, thunder, heavy winds, and of course rain. One night, we experienced a pretty terrible storm and all of us were looking out the window to see trees bending back and forth, rain splattering against the glass as though we were in a car wash. We (I tentatively say “we") agreed that it was the perfect night for a scary movie. Using Agent024’s excellent resources, a.k.a. Netflix, we tried streaming Insidious. I was surprised that we even had internet, but the UC Center seems to have a nice safety bubble against the storm. I later found out that the director of the Humanities Council had a tree fall over onto the roof of her house and her car, so I think we’re pretty fortunate to come out of that storm unscathed. Anyway, watching Insidious definitely made me scream, cover my eyes, hold onto Agent024’s stuffed animals, and hide under the blanket. The thunder and lightening only added to the eeriness of the film. I couldn’t sleep for a few days after that and I had to turn on all of the lights in the hall just to use the bathroom.

Not that this was taken during the storm, but have a look at our home away from home. Maybe we brought good vibes from California.

On a happier note, Agent024 and I volunteered at the Folk Life Festival, where UC Davis had a booth! Go Ags! We got free American Apparel, organic shirts. The festival was showcasing universities that receive land-grants and I guess I learned something new—namely that UC Davis is a land-grant receiving university. Anyway, we had a really cool booth about sustainability, but us lucky volunteers were stationed at the Alumni tent across the path. Basically, Agent024 and I just sat at a small table, waiting for UCD Alums to stop by and leave a message on our bulletin board. We received a few visitors, but the place wasn’t exactly overflowing with people. I was surprised by how many Davis Alums still live in DC though and I couldn’t help but well up with a little pride in our school. Not only that, a few non-UCD visitors stopped by our table, asking questions about Davis in general and complimenting our olive oil. I was surprised that people even knew about Davis outside of California. But yeah, all you Aggies out there, be proud of your school! UCD was the only UC represented at the entire festival.

I hope I don't blend into my shirt. Yay free shirt!

Still can't believe it!

"I want to ride my bicycle!"

Last weekend, the girls and I decided to visit Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot. The inside of the theater was refurbished, as it went through some changes throughout history. They recreated Lincoln’s viewing booth the night of his assassination, but the theater was rather small. I learned that attending theater during Lincoln’s time was still taboo, as it wasn’t morally acceptable to “be yourself” and enjoy entertainment in public. As a result, President Lincoln was moved to the house across the street, where he could have a more honorable death. Apparently, it took President Lincoln 6 or 7 hours to die after the shot, which must have been so agonizing for his family and those around him.

Waiting in line

Being mature

The gun that killed President Lincoln

President Obama and the First Lady sat in these chairs at Ford's Theater

Behind us is the booth where President Lincoln sat the night he was shot. Also, please ignore the photo bomb.

The bed he died on

The rope from the noose of the 4 conspirators. Creepy, right?

A tower of books about Lincoln

At the mini-museum about Lincoln, there was an exhibit that asked the public, "What are some qualities a good leader should have?"

Here's what the public said

After we were done learning about Abe, we decided to eat at Lincoln’s Waffle Shop just down the street. I decided to order chicken and waffles, with a side of fries to share. It was delicious, oily goodness and I definitely started falling asleep at the counter, induced by food coma.

Lunch time!

Fueled by fat and more fat, we headed off to the most famous Smithsonian, the Air and Space Museum. The Air and Space museum definitely attracted the most diverse visitors, as we saw many international families and field trip groups at the museum. I guess the rest of the world doesn’t care about American history as much, go figure. Unfortunately, the Air and Space museum was the least interesting museum for me out of the three we’ve visited. True, I was probably tired and dehydrated by the time we got there. And it probably didn’t help that I have minimal interest in “air and space” in the first place. Anyway, the museum showcased a lot of aviation history, how airplanes have evolved, various engines and propellers, and so on. I was a little disappointed because to me, being at the museum felt like being at an airport. I guess we were so tired, we barely saw the “space” part of the museum, which was probably more interesting than the “air” portion. Don’t worry though, we gave the Air and Space museum another chance on the 4^th of July.

On the way to the Air and Space museum, we passed by the AIDS memorial quilt

Space

Aero Gel? Sorry, I forgot the significant about this, but it looks cool

German corner!

Until next time: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other” ~Abraham Lincoln

<3 Upshire Girl