20 Reasons I love DC (and why you should too)

"Washington is a city of Northern Charm and Southern Efficiency."- John F. Kennedy

(I have to say I'd reverse that comment (southern charm, northern efficiency)

 

1.       There is a festival or event for absolutely any occasion… I kind of expected this to only be true in the summer, but I was wrong! From a Turkish festival to random concerts on the capitol lawn, if you can’t find something to do you’re not trying.

2.       There is actually a season called fall, where the weather changes.  I had heard of it but one morning a couple of weeks ago, I woke up and it was about 45 degrees. I thought, what? This is winter. Nope, there is actually a place where the leaves change color.

3.       Where else can you see monuments with oversized humans daily?

4.       There is something called a mall, and it’s not for shopping.

5.       You’re likely to hear just as many people speaking languages you’ve never heard of as you are people speaking English.

6.       There are about twenty different neighborhoods with individual personalities. Some of them you never want to go to, but most of them you do.

7.       The metro and bus system. Although it can be highly unreliable, most of the time it works decently and it’s nice not to have to look for a parking spot.

8.       Congress. This is a controversial one. But, today I was on the elevator with this super friendly old man who was a representative and I had to include it. Ultimately, it’s why I’m here anyways.

9.       The endless amounts of running trails and roads. Although the mall never gets old, it’s neat to get to go so many different places and have trails.

10.   Diversity. Once again, there are so many interesting people from around the world.

11.   Lots of random kinds of good food. Except Mexican, that one has yet to be discovered here.

12.   People. No, everyone does not have an inflated ego. In my experience most people don’t and want to be your friend.

13.   Free Everything. DC might be one of the most expensive places to live but at least most of the site-seeing is free and there are endless events.

14.    Stories and Jobs. Many people have interesting stories and jobs doing things you’ve never heard of, which is always interesting.

15.   Progressive-ness. DC is in a constant state of change with neighborhoods evolving.

16.   Bike paths and friendly-ness towards pedestrians. Although I’ve had a few close encounters with cars, it’s pretty nice to be able to walk to work and the grocery store… except when you have to carry heavy grocery bags home.

17.   Embassies. Embassy Row is so cool and I love walking past embassies of countries I’ve never heard of.

18.   Young People. I’m pretty sure the average age is in the twenties. I guess that wouldn’t be cool if you were older but it’s good for people my age.

19.   Proximity to other cool places, like Alexandria, Mount Vernon, and Shenandoah Park.

20.   It’s the capitol of America. I feel like that should be enough right there.

Actual update on my life coming soon...

It’s the Small Things: Stuck, Alopecia, and Another Week in the Senate

“With every challenge, comes an opportunity to find promise and possibility in the face of adversity.”- Hilary Clinton, Speech to the Senate after her nomination for Secretary of State

While I know, not everyone agrees with Former Secretary Clinton, nor do I on some issues, her speech to the Senate in 2009 was exceptional. She continues on to say While we see the “ills that plague us more clearly than the possibilities in front of us...” We don’t often pay attention to the “innovations that can be fostered, or the people that can be empowered.”

Often, during my time in DC, I’ve experienced small things that have made a big impact on me. I get excited about events that some people take part in every day. But the small things have yet to become old, and I never want to lose sight of the fact that I get many opportunities that others would love, even if they are sometimes mundane to me. On Tuesday, I went to dinner with the other NAAF (National Alopecia Areata Foundation) legislative liaisons. About 15 people affected by Alopecia came to DC to lobby for increased NIH funding and other issues. Did you know that cancer patients have their wigs covered by Medicaid but those affected by Alopecia do not? Issues such as that one are brought to life. I came full circle after having started lobbying for NAAF when I was 8. So, it was a special day.

On Thursday, (today) I was able to attend an event with the senator that is a congressional suit drive for underprivileged women. When the senator arrived, we greeted her and she proceeded to tell people, (including the VP of Fedex) how I was a great intern who has lobbied her for the past 12 years…. It was pretty cool. If only she could tell all of my future potential employers.

I have also been visiting every office in the House and Senate to deliver DVDs. There is a movie called STUCK, produced by the Both Ends Burning, a Non-Profit. It chronicles families as the go through the adoption process and try to adopt children internationally. Unfortunately, it takes an average of three years and over $30,000 to adopt internationally. That’s where our legislation, CHIFF, comes in. It helps to ease prior restrictions and operates on the premise that every child deserves a family. While it has been somewhat frustrating to go to every single office, it has also been rewarding. I pretty much thought that no one would watch the movie since people on the hill barely have time to eat lunch. However, I was surprised and elated when I returned to my office to my boss telling me three offices had already decided to co-sponsor CHIFF after watching the movie. So, it made all of my long hours (that are still ongoing) and blisters worth it. I decided to email the producer of the movie:

Hi Mr. Juntunen,

I am an intern in Senator Landrieu’s office who has been delivering all of the Stuck DVDs to the Senate and the House. While it has been time-consuming and I have many blisters, it has also been very rewarding. So far, I have delivered them to all of the senate offices and about 70 house offices. I have seen Stuck twice and shown it to my whole family. I have no direct connection to adoption, except that one of my friends was adopted from Cambodia. After hearing the foster care interns from CCAI speak this summer I became more passionate about changing the foster care and adoption system for the better, domestically and internationally.

That being said, I returned to the office after finishing the deliveries in the Senate this morning and Whitney told me that at least three offices had already reached out to her after watching Stuck and were talking to their bosses about cosponsoring CHIFF.  So, I just wanted to say thanks for making this movie and for making a difference!

He then called my office and talked to me and told me how he was opening an office in DC, wanted me to work there, and next time he came to DC was buying me lunch. He also said that he rarely gets emails like this and had forwarded it to his whole board and wanted me to be on his website. So, while we can’t immediately change the world we can work towards it.

I'm Back!!

I’m back!

After a brief DC hiatus, which included a trip home, to Texas, then back home I’m back in the district. Per usual, there have been many adventures thus far. I moved into my new apartment, down the street from where I lived this summer, on Wednesday ( a week and a half ago) morning. I was the first one of my roommates to move in and kind of nervous because they didn’t tell us any of their names so we couldn’t even facebook stalk them. Then I went to run some errands but left my number on the table and my roommate called me so we met up and went to Target.  On Wednesday night we had orientation for our housing, then on Thursday we had a main orientation. But we had free time during the afternoons so we did some grocery shopping and site seeing.

My roommates are from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Mexico. They’re really nice and on Friday, I got home and my roommate from New Jersey (Mayar) had cooked dinner for everyone. It was a good surprise after a long week J

So, I finished my second-first week in the Senate on Friday. It’s much quieter because the senate is in recess but will get really busy again tomorrow. On Mondays, I have programming, which consists of speakers and workshops, so I don’t go into work. On Thursdays, I have class downtown, so it makes for a busy day of work and then going straight to class.  During class, we discuss our plans for Model United Nations. We found out the countries we are representing: Pakistan and the Philippines, so it will be a lot of work getting ready for the conference, which is at the end of October.

To sum up the last 2 weeks that I’ve been in DC, I’ve gone to Eastern Market with a bunch of people in my program, shopping with my friend from Brazil, to a concert on the Capitol lawn, to the Zoo, and to a concert in Maryland. Yesterday, I was also able to go to a running group and run 12 miles through Arlington and DC, past some embassies, through Rock Creek Park, Arlington Cemetery and the National Cathedral.

With my friend Mariana at the zoo

Breakfast at Eastern Market

In keeping with my tradition of sharing quotes and thoughts at the end of my blogs, this morning Max Lucado spoke at my church. His message was on his new book, You’ll Get Through This.  I’m not going through hard times right now but I think this quote is applicable and good to remember when we all go through hard times.

“You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless or quick. But God will use this mess for good. Don’t be foolish or naïve. But don’t despair either. With God’s help, you’ll get through this.”