I am spending the summer in Washington, DC participating in the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) Program. Somebody somewhere decided that it was time (finally) for me to leave Cleveland and mingle with our nation's lawmakers for a little bit. As of right now, I plan to write a policy paper dealing with electronic voting machines.
I promised my mom I would keep a blog. I plan to update semi-weekly.
I apologize in advance for what will be an incredibly long entry.
Now on to the exciting stuff ;)
Sunday, June 3
Mom, Dad, RJ, and Tom dropped me off at Cleveland Hopkins airport right after church. Meine Familie was sad to see me (and my mad basement bathroom cleaning skills) go. Dad helped me get my luggage out of the car, and I proceeded to the Continental curbside check-in station. After the silver car pulled away, I discovered that the larger of my two bags was precisely two pounds overweight. I threw my AS-SEEN-ON-TV foldable colander in my other bag and stuffed a half-dozen pairs of socks in my backpack. 51 pounds, but the check-in man took my bag.
I entered the airport and accidentally went into the first-class line to go through security. (No one noticed or told me to leave. I still am an awkward traveler when I am without my 40 brothers and sisters.) Getting through security was a breeze, although finding a Plain Dealer proved to be more difficult. I finally snagged a copy of the paper and headed off to the D terminal.
My flight was truly unremarkable. No turbulence, no annoying babies or businessmen, nothing to write home about. We touched down in DC roughly an hour after leaving Cleveland.
I think that the real fun begins upon arrival in the destination city. I got off of the plane and followed my fellow travelers to the baggage claim. My frog luggage came out right away, and I managed to navigate my two bags all the way to the Metro station. I bought a $2 Metro farecard and got on the train to Foggy Bottom.
Here I must make two brief asides:
1. I could NOT believe how smoothly things were going at this point, and
2. The Metro is SOOOOOO cool. Did I mention that I like trains?
I got off at Foggy Bottom and didn't know where to go. I asked a cabbie to take me to New Hall; he had no idea where it was. I ventured into the GW Hospital reception area (luggage and all) and asked a security guard how to get to my destination. She wasn't exceptionally helpful, but her directions were good enough.
I arrived at New Hall just as it began to pour. I had to stand in the rain for some time; don't get me started about pushy parents and finite poncho supplies.
I eventually got my key and ventured to my new home, Guthridge Hall:
My roommate Erica had already arrived, along with Ano (another WISE guy). I unpacked a little, and soon our room looked like this:
Well, actually our room looked like that after a trip to Macy's at Pentagon City for pillows. I spent the remainder of Sunday meeting the rest of the WISE guys and gals as they trickled into DC. We had a pizza party with Erica from IEEE later in the evening, and my three roomies and I conversed well into the night. Just random, sometimes girly, getting-to-know-you things ;)
Sunday spending total: $29.82 (Plain Dealer, Metro farecards, CVS run, and a pillow)
Monday, June 4
My three roomies and I began the morning with a run around the Washington Monument, Capitol, and White House. Definitely a monumentous way to start our first day in DC! (Get it?) We came back to the dorm and showered before venturing to the IEEE office. We did orientation-type activities and met representatives from several of the sponsoring societies. I spent a little bit of time at my desk before calling it quits for the day. I went food shopping and set up internetz for myself and fellow WISE guys after work. Six of us hit up the 51st State later in the evening; while this bar wasn't particularly amazing, it did have Yuengling.
Monday spending total: $45.22 (CVS run, Safeway run, and one glass of Yuengling)
Tuesday, June 5
My three roomies and I again began the day with a run (same route). We then went to the IEEE office for more briefings, lectures, and such. Afterward, most of us (there are 11 WISE guys total) went with IEEE Erica to Metro Center to pick up our Metro farecards. We had a lovely walk around the city and stopped at Five Guys for lunch. On the way back to the office, Chris, Saurabh, Dave, and I spied this:
Only in Washington, DC! I spent a few hours at the office and made a brief stop at Trader Joe's before coming home. Oh dorm, sweet dorm.
Almost all of the WISE guys spent Tuesday evening at RFK Stadium watching the Washington Nationals battle the Pittsburgh Pirates. RFK, one of the last big old stadiums, was bland and characterless. Nevertheless, I climbed to the top of our section and took some pretty sweet photos:
Dave, Chris, and Saurabh are in the last photo. I guess I hang out with them a lot.
Oh, and I got to watch the Pirates triumph for the second consecutive Tuesday. (I caught the Bucs at PNC with Jim on May 29.) They topped the Nationals 7 to 6.
Tuesday spending total: $44.80 (lunch, Trader Joe's run, and a Nationals ticket)
Wednesday, June 6
I opted out of running this morning and got some well-deserved extra sleep. IEEE Erica gave us the opportunity of joining her in the morning for a patent hearing at the Dirksen Senate Building; several WISE guys, including myself, tagged along. We made it through the metal detectors and into Dirksen before encountering an absurdly long line to get into the hearing room. (Did you know that you can hire someone to stand in line for you? This was news to me.)
Destined for the overflow room, we decided to leave. We walked past Hart and Russell (the other two Senate buildings) before entering one of the three Library of Congress buildings. Each of us got a reader card, and we spent some time wandering around. We got to see the actual articles that Lincoln had in his pocket when he was assassinated (two pairs of spectacles, a little knife, some coins, and more) as well as a copy of the Gutenberg Bible. (The Mainz Bible was also on display.)
The Library of Congress is GORGEOUS. Check out these photos:
We saw Charles Rangel on our way out of the Library of Congress. (Our first politician sighting!!!) We then ate lunch at a cafe near the Capitol before taking the Metro back to the office.
I really was planning to do work. Then I found out about Club 44.
Geraldine Ferraro. Madeleine Albright. Hillary Clinton.
How could I not go???
A bunch of us snagged free tickets and ventured to 11th and H. The event was jam-packed, and we could barely see the stage:
Still, we had fun and got to hear some fabulous females speak. We hit up the Capitol City Brewing Company afterward. Interestingly enough, the six of us at the restaurant decided that we were too cheap to try the custom-brewed beer. Not to be deprived, however, Chris, Ano, Jason, and I hit up McFadden's later in the night:
Wednesday spending total: $23.00 (lunch, dinner, and one glass of Blue Moon)
Thursday, June 7
My acutely sore left knee kept me from running with my roomies. But I still got up bright and early to go see SHERROD!!! I took the Metro to Union Station all by myself and made it to the Capitol for 8:30 am Constituent Coffee. I had a blast saying hello to Senator Brown and meeting all sorts of interesting people from the Great State of Ohio. I also ran into two Case nursing professors visiting the Hill for a conference. What a small world!
I took some pretty snapshots:
I ventured back to the IEEE office later in the morning to hear a speaker from the National Cancer Institute. She was alright, although greatly irrelevant (at least to me and my research).
I didn't feel like sitting at my desk all afternoon, so I decided to go back to the Hill for a hearing on Election Fraud Legislation in Dirksen. The line was much shorter than on Wednesday, although I was the last person they let in the room. Little did I know that I would nearly brush elbows with Barack Obama as he entered through the door!
Senators Cardin, Schumer, and Hatch were also at the hearing. How cool!
After the hearing was over, I went back to the Library of Congress to hit up the gift shop. (I missed it the first time around.) I then took some more photographs:
FYI, the top photo is of the Supreme Court.
I then checked out Union Station for a few minutes. I GOT TO SEE WHERE THE AMTRAK TRAINS LIVE AND WHERE PEOPLE GO TO GO ON THE AMTRAK. This was very exciting to me.
I also went to the Union Station Ann Taylor. People in Washington are perfectly coiffed and dress to the nines. To the point where I have felt underdressed all week. I scanned the sale racks and picked up a black cardigan and checkered dress pants. (I found the matching shell to the cardigan online and bought that, too.) Cousin Susie would have been proud of me!
To reinforce the above point, I struck up a conversation with my cashier. She told me that it is not uncommon at this time of the year for Congressional interns to come into the store crying and tell the clerk in between sobs that "Senator so and so sent them to get a more appropriate wardrobe." How wild.
I also have noticed what the women of Washington put their feet through: pure torture. While many are smart and interchange their heels with walking shoes whenever possible, band-aid sales in the District of Columbia must be at unprecedented levels. At what price fashion?
Anyway, I made it back to the dorm in time to cook dinner and go for a swim. The snotty issue desk attendant would not tell me where the pool was, so I got lost in GW's rec center. I stumbled into the main gym at one point, where I noticed/remembered that GW is in the same conference as Duquesne.
That got me to thinking, and I reached the conclusion that GW's rec center (and sports in general) are very similar to that at my bro's school. For instance, Duquesne has a puny 6-lane pool (no diving well) with little seating space in the basement of a dorm. GW has an unimpressive 8-lane pool (no diving well) with no seating whatsoever in the basement of the rec center. I guess the pool would be alright for DIII, but for DI it is rather pathetic.
I swam for the first time in a month (gahhhh) and lasted about 50 minutes. I'll take that.
I then put on RJ's LeBron jersey (thanks bro) and went out with Ano, Chris, and Saurabh. We went back to the 51st State for the first half of the game before walking to Georgetown. We stumbled into Mr. Smith's and stayed for the remainder of the game. This bar has the most beautiful patio in the back as well as a pianist next to the indoor bar. At first, people just gave the pianist requests, which he obligingly played. As the night went on, more and more [tipsy] people entered the bar, and group sing-a-long commenced. I seem to remember singing/screaming "Lean on Me" with Chris toward the end of the Cavs game...
King James only had 14 points. The Cavs lost :(
Next time, we need to mess more with Texas.
Thursday spending total: $116.00 (Library of Congress gift shop, Ann Taylor splurge, glass of Yuengling, and a bottle of Sam Adams)
Friday, June 8
Left knee = Achilles' heel = no running. I walked to the IEEE office early with my roomie Emily. I read the Washington Post equivalent of the Plain Dealer's FRIDAY! section before boring lectures...nothing super fun to do in this city over the weekend. (I do have tons of monuments to hit and am quite competent at occupying myself, however.)
A bunch of us went to a lunch sponsored by Student Pugwash. We concluded that the event, which focused on the public understanding of science, wasn't worth the free pizza. I spent the rest of the afternoon surfing the web at the office.
After work, I did some more laps at the GW rec center and stopped at Safeway. Safeway disappoints me. I did pick up a lot of sale items and save some serious dough, though.
Friday spending total: $40.32 (CVS run, Safeway run, and 6 postcards at Borders)
***
I made chicken tacos for dinner and have been enjoying the quiet. I have one roomie in Baltimore, one roomie in NYC, and one roomie out on a hot date. I have no idea what the guys are doing, which leaves me to blog.
Speaking of, I think I am caught up :)
I really am enjoying my time in DC so far. I can't believe I've spied so many politicians and seen so much in one week. I think there are greater things to come, too, so stay tuned!
