One Month In the District: Becoming a DC Native

Considering that I often spend the majority of 9-10 hour days at a computer, typing a blog is often not the first thing I want to do at home.  However, from here on out I’ll definitely try to update my blog more than once a week. I can’t believe I’ve already been in DC a month! I’ve only lived in two other places (Fort Worth and Baton Rouge) for a whole month.  I definitely feel like I know my area pretty well, could recommend a few sites, restaurants, and shops and know where a handful of metro stations will get you instead of just popping up out of the ground and wondering where I am.

I can’t believe it’s already been another week and that my first internship is already halfway over! On Monday, I finished up some research I was working on. Then, I went to a small group with my church and my friend Claire. It was really great and our leader, Hannah was so welcoming! Tuesday was just another day at work, but I went to a briefing on women’s health and that was neat. Wednesday, I was able to go to a briefing on human trafficking. It was amazing and taught me a lot of new angles to the issue, I hadn’t previously thought about. It was sponsored by Google and 12 Congresswomen in the house. That weekend, I went to my running group where I ran through Navy Yard by Nationals stadium and across the Anacostia River, which incidentally while writing this I just realized was in Maryland, because I thought I’d never been to Maryland, but apparently I have (even if only for 20 min…)

Congresswomen at the human trafficking briefing

However, the highlight of my weekend was definitely my friend Rachel and her family coming to visit.  I loved being a tourist guide and showing them around and sort of knowing how to get to different places. We saw all of the mall memorials (World War 2, Washington, Lincoln, Korean War, and Vietnam Veterans) and the white house.

Rachel and I at the Lincoln Memorial

This past week I went to a briefing on humanitarian policy, where I met the heads of Oxfam, Worldvision, and Save the Children. It focused a lot on using aid responsibly to best meet the needs of the people being served, and how they decide who to partner with in foreign countries. One thing they all stressed was staying neutral during foreign conflicts and not taking sides but just helping and empowering those in need. I also went to a briefing on the state of the conflict in Congo, which was sponsored by Care International and also very informational. On Friday, I went to a briefing on military base redevelopment, certainly not my area of expertise, however it paired nicely with my research and it was interesting to hear all of the challenges and laws when a base closes. I also went to a hoity-toity social club where politicians and lobbyists make deals.

Theta friends at the baseball game

On Thursday, I went to the congressional baseball game, which has been going on since 1909. I feel like everyone I’d met here has talked about it since I got here and the democrats had been victorious the past 5 years. Well, they were again, winning 22-0 and Cedric Richmond, who is from Louisiana was the star. But, it was still neat and sitting two rows behind the republican dugout, which included Rand Paul and Eric Cantor was pretty cool.

9/11 Pentagon Memorial

This weekend my friend Whitney and I went to Alexandria, Virginia and the Pentagon Memorial. Alexandria was a super cute city with lots of shops and history and has a pretty view of the Potomac waterfront. The Pentagon Memorial was also interesting and I’d never been to the Pentagon before. I feel like the 9/11 attacks on the pentagon are somewhat forgotten, since we often think about the World Trade Center attacks which killed many more people. However, 184 people died on the plane and in the pentagon. The memorial had 184 little benches that represented the deaths and faced towards the pentagon if the deceased had been in the building or away if they were on the plane. I thought this memorial was particularly interesting because in contrast to many other memorials it’s not commemorating one person, and it’s difficult to capture that many personalities. But, I thought they did a good job. So, with that solemn thought and some images, I’m onto my fifth(!) week in the city, can’t wait to see what adventures come next!