10.24.2007

Today

This morning, I was unknowingly thrown into a quiet, yet alarming battle, which rages on the streets of urban settlements during the besiegement of any amount of precipitation, but it is most fierce during a downpour.

The actual skirmishing usually takes place on sidewalks, or, most dangerously, in crowded crosswalks. It usually begins with any number of participants briskly walking in one direction brandishing their weapons, while others, also armed, come at them from the other side. All sorts of jostling about is produced, usually with each participant using their weapons to push aside those of the opposing force.

The weapon of choice is the umbrella, although there are some who opt, instead, for a waterproof jacket. You will soon understand how terribly these poor mere jacketed folk will fare, and may soon regret their decisions to leave their umbrellas at home. You see, the rain jacket is merely a defensive article, much like a shield, whilst the umbrella may be used in both defensive and offensive measures, which is rather important during such a brawl. Even though the rain jacket provides protection for the body, it leaves the head and face completely exposed. And when participating in such a conflict, it is quite necessary to protect one’s face from the sharp protuberances surrounding the edges of said weapons.

During my walk to the train station this morning I unknowingly entered into a fierce duel with a man carrying a large black umbrella, studded with hefty metal tips around its edges. We walked towards each other on a narrow sidewalk, each carrying our chosen umbrellas, mine being just an average umbrella. At the last second, I was forced to yank my umbrella to one side, narrowly avoiding a clash between our umbrellas. The man who had challenged me did not even flinch. His umbrella maintained the same path it had before he had even seen me on the walk. I was amazed at his audacity and incivility. I soon realized that such clashes were quite common, and usually, the larger umbrella won.

To wield a winning umbrella requires much from its brandisher. Firstly, he/she must have unshakeable confidence in their weapon. Without such confidence, they are much more likely to dart away from their enemies for fear of a snagged canopy. Secondly, they must be able to plaster on their faces a stern and unapproachable look, which signifies to the other weapon wielding commuters that they and their umbrella are not to be trifled with. Thirdly, they must walk at quite a clip to maintain domination over the slower traffic, shoving smaller, less important umbrellas out of the way.

The design of one’s umbrella is important to note. Many, I assume the ones newer to the brawl, carry simple canopies no wider than two feet, plenty to keep one dry from precipitation, but not large enough to intimidate the crazed rainbow umbrella wielders. Yes, the crazed rainbow umbrella wielders. The best weapon is one that is large enough to be menacing, yet small and compact enough to be swiftly maneuvered through the fray and easily portable. Most choose to go with black, which is reasonably frightening, yet for some that is not enough.

This morning there were several participants who entered the scene carrying enormous rainbow umbrellas. These are most definitely horrific, not just because of the garish colors of the umbrella plastered against the cool grey sky, but because it takes a certain kind of intrepid individual to wield such an attention grabbing object, the kind of person one does not want to come head to head with (or umbrella to umbrella, for that matter), for they are fearless and bold.

After much deliberation about the size and quality of my own umbrella, I have come to the conclusion that I shan’t acquire an upgrade. I have come to terms with the fact that I shall never be a courageous umbrella dueler like the man on the walk this morning. I will continue to duck out of the way of larger, more important umbrellas. But I shall no longer deliver mumbled apologies if my umbrella clashes with another, for this is war, and any apologies are merely crushed beneath the squelching feet of the passers by. Good luck fellow urbanites!

10.20.2007

It's Like Christmas!

I'll get to the Christmas part in a minute, but for now I'll just tell you a little bit about what's been going on lately.

This week at work has been fun. I've been doing more research for exhibit labels. I got to go on a tour in the Archives of the museum. At a meeting for all of the Smithsonian staff working on the maritime exhibit that I'm working on. In front of all of the upper-level staff members, one of my supervisors told everyone that I was doing a lot of very helpful research, and that I was very efficient. Then later, she even suggested that I extend my internship! Oh my goodness! That's so awesome! It's a big deal! I won't say that I'm not sorely tempted. But I definitely felt honored to have received such an awesome compliment.

Yesterday I ran out of projects to work on at around 2:30 in the afternoon... Which meant that I spent the rest of the day poking around my office, which is in one of the rooms in which they store a lot of the maritime objects, as well as all of the books and periodicals that they use to do research. So, needless to say, my office has some pretty awesome stuff in it. Since I've been working there I have learned all of the terminology for sailing ship rigging, as well as numerous random facts about brigs, barquentines, packets, steamboats, tows, etc. So yesterday when I had nothing in particular to work on, I pranced over to one of the bookshelves and pulled a book off entitled, simply, "Rope". So, now, I can tell you all sorts of ways to use rope and why people make rope one way and not another way, and how you make rope, and what to do with each kind of rope, etc. etc... I know, I'm a nerd.

Last night one of my roommates, Biz, and I went to a short-film festival in Chinatown. It was pretty interesting, lots of strange, yet sometimes moving short movies. One was about the life of a pencil. It was hilarious. Apparently pencils are very enthusiastic about their lives when they're born... I had no idea!

We didn't get there in time to see the 9:30 showing, so we went to an Irish pub to waste a few hours until they showed them again. I had two pints. One Guinness, and one Harp. (In my humble opinion, which has no hint of beer snobbery at all, I think the Harp was fantastic! Light yet flavorful. Yum. Chris, you would like it.)

This morning I finally cleaned our kitchen. It only took an hour or two.

(Here's the Christmas part). So while I'm cleaning I hear the doorbell ring. I answered the door and to my great surprise, there in the arms of the DHL man was a giant box. And it was for me! I ran inside clutching my package racking my mind trying to figure out what it was. I hadn't ordered anything. No one had told me anything was coming. So I really had no idea what it could be!

My roommate, Jason, opened it for me. We sat at the kitchen table and excitedly cut open the box. I had no earthly idea what would be inside. As I waited for the unveiling, I suddenly had the same feeling I had when I was a little kid waiting for someone to give me a Christmas present. Once we opened it, my glee was only surmounted by the sheer quantity of items inside! Inside were 6 packages (6 packages!!!!) of 8 boxes (8 boxes!!!!) of single serving breakfast cereal!! The good kinds, like Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Honey Smacks, and (drumroll please) Cocoa Krispies!!! Oh how great my joy! It was from my Aunt! I was so excited! So, thank you, very very very much for my wonderful amazing stupendously exciting present. All of my roommates thank you too!

Well I'm off to go see the sights in DC! I love y'all!

10.17.2007

I just realized that I have forgotten to tell you all about the everyday goings-on of my life in D.C.

I'll start with work. Last week both of the maritime curators were out of town for conferences, so I was left alone. To fill the void of their absence, they each gave me plenty of things to do. Plenty.

I have a relatively long desk beside my computer station, and as of last week, it is completely covered in (relatively) orderly stacks based on subject material. Every day I had a new research project. Things like: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Mississippi River Pilots (navigators) in the 1820s-1860s, Towboats on the Mississippi 1960s to present, The maritime side of the Underground Railroad. Each of these subjects had its own stack of file folders, print outs, and books.

I finished those up Monday morning, and was then off to a computer training class on how to use the museum's collections database. It's crazy! The database program they use was made when I was in junior high! Think Windows '95. Yeah... Exactly.

It's really tedious and stuff, but it has some pretty cool information in it. It has all of the objects owned by the museum. All of them! Tons of stuff. The next morning I had to go back and learn more about the program, because it was a two day deal, and in the afternoon, neither of the maritime curators had given me any special project to do, and the one thing I could have worked on required that I use a different computer. All of the volunteers were in, and they were using the other computer. So instead of sit and be bored I went down to the creepy basement and helped the women in the conservation lab identify the different names used for the ropes which support the sails and masts of a sailing ship. It was awesome! They are conserving several ship models for On The Water, the new maritime exhibit that I'm working on. So much fun!

Today I was given several more research projects, one being showboats! I'm pretty excited about it. It should prove very interesting. Then I walked across downtown to go pick up a package for my supervisor. Downtown D.C. is a pretty desolate place. It definitely has the sterile urbanized look going on. It's interesting to watch the transition from the beautiful classical architecture of the older buildings to the stark plainness of the more modern ones.

Exciting things that have happened lately:

1. David and Kara came to visit me last week!!!!! It was sooooo awesome! I was so excited. I think having them here made this place feel like home. They came late in the evening and we walked through Capitol Hill and got icecream then walked back and watched an entire disc of third season of The Office. It was an evening extremely well spent. It was so good to get to spend time with them! It was like a little piece of home was here with me. I am so blessed that they came. Thanks y'all!!!

2. I went to an awesome small group tonight!!! I loved it. Whereas two weeks ago I was welcomed to a small group by a cold shoulder and some unenthusiastic exclamations about 'new people', this one was completely different! I was greeted by wonderfully kind people who were actually interested in me. Who I was, what I do, where I'm from, etc. It was so awesome. I got along with them splendidly. We studied chapter 8 of Zechariah, which is one of the more upbeat of Zech's chapters. It was mostly discussion based, and it was so interesting because everyone was very knowledgeable about the Old Testament. We all were able to put in our thoughts on what the Lord had revealed to each of us about the scriptures. It was a lot of fun! There were only seven of us, so I was able to get to know some of the other people, and they're all really nice. I will definitely be going back next week! Whoop!

3. I got my first care package!!! My mom sent me an amazing assortment of goodies from Texas including green chile enchilada sauce, flour tortillas, microwavable mac and cheese things, candy corn, and (drum roll please) my Granny Nancy's world famous (at least it should be!) jam! Yummy! All of my roommates were very impressed. I was actually so excited that I took pictures of every step of the opening up of the box. I would have included them in this post, but I don't have a cord that connects my camera to the computer. I left if in College Station. If anyone wants to mail me one, it would be greatly appreciated (hehe).

4. With the green chile enchilada sauce my mom sent me I made Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas for my roommates! They were really good, and all of my roommates loved them, especially my Italian roommate, Guido, who had never had enchiladas before! I had some extra flour tortillas left over so I cut them up and made my own chips, and then suddenly, the rarely seen creative chef inside of me decided to try my hand at sopapilla making. For those of you who are unfamiliar with a sopapilla, think biegnet. I fried the little pieces of tortillas until they were just crispy enough so that it was crunchy but still flaky in the middle, and then took them straight out of the oil and dipped them in cinnamon and sugar. They were delicious!!! Don't worry people in College Station, I will make them for you all when I get home! The Italians love them! I'm so proud.

5. One of my roommates might bring up her guitar next weekend from home!!!! Oh my goodness! That would be absolutely amazing. I am so desperate to play the guitar, that I have actually considered calling every pawn shop in town to find the cheapest playable guitar in the city. I'm completely desperate, so being able to play Liz's guitar would be just about the most amazing thing ever!

I think that's all on the list of super-exciting things that have happened lately. Although I'm sure I've forgotten something and that there are a lot more exciting things that I have left off. I'll just have to save those for another post.

Oh, for those of you who would also like to send a care package. (Don't worry, you don't have to! This is just in case you would like to, of course :) Here's my address:

504 C Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002

Here are some things that would be wonderful in a care package:

Cans of green chiles or green chile enchilada sauce (I'm a green chile junkie. I can't help it!)
Cereal or bagels for breakfasts
Postage stamps so that I can send letters back to you!
Really any food item would be amazing!
Boxes of Mac and Cheese
A list of items that could be found at a Smithsonian Museum gift shop that you would like to receive for Christmas presents (I get a discount!)
Anything you can think of!

Use your imagination!

Anyway, I absolutely love you guys, and I really love knowing that people read my blog. I cherish each and every comment that I get. So, with that said, leave a comment, or give me a call! I hope you had an absolutely wonderful day today, and I hope that tomorrow is even better! Goodnight!!!

10.14.2007

Today was a Great Day

To premise this post, Let me describe to you last Sunday:

I was really excited about getting to go to this church that some friends of mine had reccommended that meets only a few blocks from where I live. I had gotten on the website and it looked awesome, and I really couldn't wait to go and meet people who love Jesus, because up here they're few and far between. I had gone to one of their small groups that Tuesday, and I hate to say it, but it was really really disappointing. Let's just say that there was absolutely NO community within this group. So I was really hoping that the church would be better.

I got there and sat down and waited for worship to start. When it did, I didn't know a single song. I desperately wanted to worship the Lord, and I hadn't been able to just stand and belt out a worship song for over two weeks, so I was crushed when I didn't know the music. And it didn't help that the band's music style wasn't really conducive to newbies to really get into it. Then the message was delivered by a visiting pastor, and it just wasn't cohesive and didn't really seem like it made a good point. It was all over the place.

I went home that day crushed. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting with all of my roommates in our living room watching TV. I never watch TV. I hate TV. I feel completely unproductive if all I have done in an afternoon is watch TV.

So that was Last Sunday. Now we'll talk about This Sunday:

I woke up this morning and got ready for church. I had originally planned on going to visit another one, but at the last minute, I decided to try NCC one more time. I got there just as the band was starting to play. I found a seat, and stood waiting for the words of the worship song to pop up on the screen. When they did, I immediatley started to cry, because I knew the song! And I knew every song they played for the entire set! I was overjoyed!

Up until now, I have never fully appreciated how much I NEED to worship God. I don't simply like to sing, and therefore enjoy singing worship songs. It is something that I must do. The reason that I cried this morning, was because for over 2 weeks I have been desperate to worship God through music, but I haven't been able to. I don't have my guitar, so I can't sing every day like I do at home. This morning, I was able to sing out with everything that I am that Jesus is Lord! It is a privelege that I have under-appreciated up until now.

I realize that for many of you, worship is not nearly as important to you as it is to me. Each of us have different ways that we hear from/spend time with/enjoy/praise/be with the Lord. Stuff like prayer, journaling, reading the Bible, or worship. Each of these things is good, and everyone should do them. But the way that I connect to the Lord the most is through worship. That is the best way for me to experience His presence. God is simply amazing! Amazing!!!!

Anyway, I love you all!

~Courtney

10.11.2007

A Sudden Realization

So, I had a sudden realization. Not one of those "smack you in the face" sudden realizations. It was more like I suddenly realized something that I already knew. It happened a few hours ago as I was walking home from the pharmacy. It's cold out tonight, so I was wearing a coat and scarf. I left the store, and began my walk home down 7th street. As I walked, I passed cafes with names like Montmartre, Bread & Chocolate, and Murky Coffee. Each, despite the cold, was full of people wrapped tight in peacoats and jackets, enjoying croissants and hot chocolate. Their store fronts were decorated with pumpkins and fall leaves. It was then, as I walked down the sidewalk made of ancient red bricks, that I realized it.

I love this city.

It has taken me almost two weeks to discover how much I've come to enjoy life in the city. Sure, it comes with its drawbacks (a lack of grocery stores), but it's unlike any life I've ever known. This place is crowded with so many people, who have so many different stories. But it's not necessarily the people that made me fall in love with D.C. In fact, none of the people I've met here are as interesting to me as the city. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I haven't met any nice people, or even that I haven't made any friends. I have! I love all of my roommates, and co-workers. But the draw of the city is something completely new and different for me.

If you want to catch a glimpse of how I feel, go watch the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie You've Got Mail. Watch the scene where Meg Ryan walks from her cute little row house to her adorable children's bookshop. The air is chilly and everything is decorated for the fall. She walks in and says that the fall always reminds her of sharpened pencils. Watch it, you'll understand. That's where I live. I walk that street every day!

That's kind of what I felt. Kinda. I'm not sure, but I do know that so far, I love it here. I'm still homesick, but it's ok.

Anyway, I'm going to sit and write a longer post tomorrow hopefully, because so much happened this week! For one thing, David & Kara came and visited me!!! It was awesome! But I'll save that for a later post, when I have time to sit and write for a while.

Well, I'm off to watch the Office with my roommates. Have a beautiful day!!!

10.07.2007

Soundtrack of the City

So, I have decided that each city has a sound. Not just the sound of the city streets that are so generic. It's more than police sirens, mumbling bums, and the rush of pigeon wings. It is so much more than just the amalgamation of simple noises. It is the feel of the city, the flavor, the vibe you get walking down its streets.

Each place that I have lived, even if only for a short time, has had a sound. Maybe it's just a feeling that I get in each place that speaks to my soul in a way that no city has ever spoken before.

Even within a city, there are different places that have different sounds. For example, each place that I have lived in College Station:

The Traditions (where I lived Freshman year) = (I'm actually ashamed to say this) White Tee by Dem Franchize Boyz
Crossing Place (Sophomore year) = Burn by Alkaline Trio
The Zone (Junior Year) = Anything by Jimmy Needham
Graceland (Senior Year) = Moon River, the instrumental version from the Breakfast at Tiffany's Soundtrack
Coffee Station = Wish For by Delaware

These songs aren't the only sounds from that place, but they represent the overall feel, its vibe. This summer at LT, the sound was Creedence Clearwater Revival or Johnny Cash.

But now for D.C. This is difficult. It's such a versatile place, that it's hard to pin down a single resonating sound for this city. It is so vibrant, yet peaceful, while at the same time constantly on the move. But I think I have figured it out.

The sound of this city is The Shins.

I've loved The Shins for several years now, but I have never been able to fully appreciate them until now. Their sound perfectly matches the streets of Capitol Hill. Listen to One by One All Day. Close your eyes and imagine walking down tree lined streets lined with row houses of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Breathe in the scent of the flowers and the warm trees. Now you know what I experience every day.

That is the sound of my city.

10.06.2007

Finally!! Pictures from D.C.



I know, I've been terrible about not having any pictures for y'all about my adventures. Well I tried to make up for that lately by taking some pictures in the last couple of days.




Here are some pictures I took of the sunset last night. It was absolutely beautiful! I took these from my front stoop. Yes, I have a front stoop. I'm very metropolitan.






This is a picture of the Catholic church across the street from my house. It's beautiful.



This is my front door! So cute, I know!



These are some pictures I took while I was walking to Eastern Market this afternoon. They show how beautiful the neighborhood of Capitol Hill is.




















Here are some photos I took at Eastern Market.




I hope you guys liked these. I'll try to keep taking more pictures and stuff. I love y'all!!!

Capitol Hill

Oh man. So yesterday work was pretty gnarly. Both of the maritime curators (one of whom is my supervisor), will be out of town next week, which means that I'm basically on my own. So, to make sure that I stayed busy while they're gone, they each gave me some stuff to do. That means that I now have 5 research projects to do! All at the same time. Let's just say I was so ready to get out of there that I was walking into the elevator at 4:29. (I work from 8:30 to 4:30).

Last night, all I wanted to do was veg. I waited for my groceries to be delivered, but they never came. Blast those darn grocery people! Instead I ended up watching West Side Story until 1:00 a.m.

Yes, for all of you who are wondering, I was waiting for my groceries to be DELIVERED. The problem with living in metro D.C. is that there aren't any useful stores. There's all of the cute antique shops, book stores, sidewalk Indian cafes, over-priced bakeries, but there isn't a single Target, Walmart, HEB, etc. Miraculously Dad and Tammy were able to find a Bed Bath and Beyond in Chinatown when they were here.

So, anyway, the problem is that there's really no where to buy the everyday useful things that you need. If you do find them anywhere within walking distance, they're going to be marked up. Way up.

For example:
Clif Bars in Austin: $0.99
Clif Bars in College Station: $0.99
Clif Bars in Estes Park, CO: $1.50
Clif Bars in Capitol Hill: $2.00

I had previously thought that Estes was expensive. Boy was I wrong! So, basically to get cheap groceries you have to buy them online and have them delivered. Good times.

This morning I didn't wake up until noon. It was awesome! I went downstairs, ate breakfast and hung out with my roommates for a little bit. Then I decided to spread my proverbial metropolitan wings and traverse the city. Through the assistance of an online map I was directed to the Eastern Market, about a mile from my house.

For those of you who have never been to or heard of the Eastern Market let me just give you a visual: After walking through the most charming little neighborhood, you suddenly come upon a roped off street completely covered in tents and tarps. If you weren't expecting it, you'd think it was some sort of strange shanty town. But soon, you begin to realize that instead of shanties, they're produce stalls, flower markets, pumpkin patches, salsa sellers, cheese purveyors. Everything! All of which are completley packed with people. Across the street from that in another area is the Flea Market, full of all sorts of interesting folk art, jewelry, furniture, and even flower child clothing. Beside it is a long white building. As soon as you open the doors and walk in, you glance into a deli meat cooler beside you and it is full of all sorts of strange things, but the first one you can identify is an entire pig's foot. Yes, you can buy pigs' feet. The smell is really interesting. It's all bright and cheery, but the weird smell in the air, kinda puts a damper on the charming aesthetic of the place. It's some kind of combination of old produce, smelly fish, and meat. Lots and lots of meat.

Anyway, while I was there, I got some apples and pears from the Farmer's Market, and some fresh Basil Pesto from one of the vendors in the meat market. Hopefully it'll be good on the pasta I'm eventually going to get from the grocery deliverers. Hopefully.

Tonight me and some of my roommates are possibly going to go get Mexican food. Don't worry I'll give you a full report. And I'm going to go to a worship service that meets in a coffee shop down the street from my house. You'll get a full report on that too. Anyway. That's about all for now. Y'all have a wonderful day!

10.04.2007

Just another day in the office...

So today was super exciting. I wore my jeans and Chaco's to work. Yes, you read that correctly. It was fantastic. Especially considering that after only a few days of wearing my "cute" work shoes, I have blisters! Hallelujah for Bandaids!

Today was cool because I got to go down with my supervisor to the conservation labs they have in the museum. Way awesome! I also relearned all of the parts of a sailing ships rigging, so that I won't look like an idiot while I'm working with the ship models. The conservation lab was pretty cool. They were cleaning all sorts of cool things, most of which are maritime objects and are for the new maritime exhibit that I will be helping to work on. Pretty nifty.

We also examined a newly acquired painting under black light to see how much of it was original, and how much of it wasn't. What a day! And I got to have lunch with two retired Navy guys. One was a submarine admiral during the cold war, and the other was a sub captain for a long time. It was fun. Me and the old dudes. Surprise surprise.

My walk home was much better today, and I hopefully will have a good evening too. One of my roommates has all of the seasons of The Office, and I consequently am very excited about it! Whoop!

~Court

10.02.2007

The Roommate Song

So one night last week, I got home super late, and everyone else was asleep. I wasn't tired enough to go to sleep, so instead, I wrote a song. I wrote the first four verses that night, and the rest I came up with during my midnight drive from Longview to Austin. I wanted to write them down before I forgot them. I basically took the chords and melody from a Decemberists song and changed all the words. Here goes:

Here in this little cow town,
Live four girls who are awesome.
It's their yarn I'm spinning.
Hold tight, it's just beginning.

The first is tall and fair,
With curly golden hair.
She loves the tales of old.
She's a wonder to behold.

And oh, my loves, my loves
And oh, my loves, my loves
We all live together.

The second is our entertainer,
And also our great painter.
She has amazing style,
And can always make me smile.

(chorus)

The next one is splendid,
And keeps our wounds well tended.
She has a gorgeous smile,
And daily runs a while.

(chorus)

And then, I guess there's me.
Well I'm going to D.C.
I'll miss these lovely girls.
They are as fine as pearls.

(chorus)

Let's not forget the boys.
They bring us so much joy.
They're over constantly.
It sucks to see them leave.

(chorus)

And, of course the parties we throw.
They do delight us so.
We don't charge entrance fees.
If we did we'd be rich as queens.

(chorus)

And there is this one thing,
This guitar on which I sing,
It always gets passed around,
and makes a gorgeous sound. (sometimes)

(chorus)

Oh, yes we're all single.
Just in case you want to mingle.
But there is one catch.
All the roommates must approve the match.

(chorus)
(chorus)

Whew....

So, I might've temporarily forgotten how to breathe. I'm not sure if it's permanent or not, but I think I might recover eventually. We'll see. Why this sudden development? Well, let's just say I have had the most intense last couple of days ever.

It all started with Kara and David's wedding, which could not have been more beautiful/fun/wonderful/awesome/amazing/etc. Anyway, it was so much fun! I think I danced for at least three hours solid. It was so good to see everybody and dance and be together. (sappy moment, sorry 'bout that). Anyway, after the wedding I left Longview at 11:30 p.m. and started driving to Austin.

The reason that I left in the middle of the night, is because my plane for D.C. left at 7:00 a.m. from the Austin airport. It was crazy! I drove all through the night and finally got to Austin at 4:45. I walked in the front door, just as my parents' alarm was going off so that they would wake up so that we could go to the airport. I had just enough time to take a shower and then 'sleep' on the couch for 10 minutes before we left to get on the plane.

After two plane rides and my first visit to the great city of Chicago, we reached D.C. I'm not sure what I expected. In fact, I think I may have heard so many varying accounts of D.C. that I couldn't have known what to expect if I had wanted to. As soon as our plane got in, we went to the hotel, and dropped off our bags.

We grabbed a taxi and drove over to my new little house. I walked in the front door, and was a little sad to see that it looked basically like a dorm, complete with modular furniture and couches that could've come out of the basement of the MSC. Anyway, it's in a nice side of town and my roommates are nice. We'll see how it goes. I'm trying to stay positive.

So, after we visited my little house, we walked to Union Station and searched for the Metro station in vain. Being completely unversed in Washingtonian-ness, I was unaware of the fact that Metro stations are outside of the buildings that they stop at. So, we definitely walked all around Union Station looking for the Metro, and instead we found restaurants, shops, cafes, a huge food court, and an actual train station. Real trains. Not Metro trains...

I was thoroughly perplexed and of course, didn't want to look like a dumb tourist, so I shooed Dad and Tammy along until we found someone to ask, and she pointed us outside to the station. And by station, I really mean escalators descending into a giant rectangular hole in the earth. The three of us walked up to the machines that give you farecards, and all three of us had on the same ridiculous expression, I'm sure. The thing might as well have been written in Chinese, considering how undecipherable the "directions" were. So, luckily, Dad figured it out, and we were able to get into the station.

We boarded the metro and traveled to The Mall. For people like me, who up until a few days ago, didn't know what The Mall was, I'll give a little explanation. The Mall is a grassy area about as wide as a city block that runs all the way between the Capital and the Washington Monument. It is bordered on either side by museums, art galleries, and sculpture gardens. It's absolutely beautiful. Although I have to say that the grass on the mall is the most pitiful ugly grass I have ever seen. It makes me appreciate the beautiful greenness of campus grass sooo much more.

Anyway, my museum is on The Mall. The Smithsonian Museum of American History. It's currently being renovated, and so is not open to the public. We walked by and looked at it for a little bit and then went next door to the Museum of Natural History. Which, by the way, is the museum that houses the Hope Diamond. After that we went to dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant in Georgetown called Filomena. It was so freaking good! I highly recommend it.

I was asleep by 9:30 (8:30 Central Time).

The next morning was my orientation, so I was really really nervous. I had to be there by ten, and Dad and Tammy went with me, and dropped me off just like I was a five year old going to my first day of kindergarten. It was good to have them there though. I walked into the staff entrance and got a visitor's badge and sat and waited with another intern for someone to come meet us.

Another intern walked in and introduced herself as Rachel, the intern of the Intern Coordinator. She's from Dallas and is really sweet. She led us down to a meeting room where we went over the Intern Handbook, which was somewhat informative. Then she took us up to a computer station where we went through a good half hour of computer security training. Good times.

She then showed me and the other girl the offices of both of our supervisors. It's pretty cool walking around the top two floors of the museum because all of the offices are covered in all sorts of wierd stuff. You can tell that their occupants are all rather quirky museum-ish folk. They're all really different and fun to peek into. My office is in a room used for storage of maritime and transportation artifacts. Yes, my office. I have my own desk, computer, and phone, with its own voice mail service. Wow.

The three of us went to lunch in the staff section of the Museum of Natural History and then walked a mile or two to the Smithsonian Human Resources department which is sadly not located on The Mall. There I was photographed and such for my very professional looking name badge which I wear on an official looking lanyard around my neck all the time. (Except for today, because I forgot it...Oops).

I walked back to the museum and met with my supervisor, who is really nice. He gave me a mini-tour of the maritime collections and stuff. At one point we opened up a giant filing cabinet looking thing that was full, completely full!, of scrimshaw. (carved whale bone or ivory). It is an absolutely amazing collection. Hundreds of pieces of the most exquisite carving! Gorgeous! On one of the top shelves there were two old puffy life preservers. Off-handly my supervisor points to them and says "Oh, those are from the Titanic." No, I did not wet myself. I was able to practice self-control. Barely.

I was set to work almost immediately to scan slides of artifacts from a shipwreck into the computer to burn them onto a cd. It was ridiculously time consuming and mind numbing. But the slides were cool, and I took a book off the shelf all about the different kinds of sailing vessels of the 19th century and read it while the thing was scanning.

The next day I continued scanning, and didn't finish scanning until this morning. Lots of scanning...

So anyway, today: I rode the metro to work and listened to a good teaching on the way about the power of the tongue for building people up and for tearing them down. It's amazing the power that words have on people. I got to work and as I was walking in realized that I had forgotten my nametag, and I didn't have nearly enough time to go back and get it, so I had a minor panic attack. Luckily Officer Scott, the security gaurd at the front desk, gave me a visitor's badge and let me in with no problems. My name badge is now securely in my purse, and will not come out again. Ever.

Like I said, I finished my scanning, and then went to lunch in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art. It is absolutely beautiful!!!! I love it! After lunch we had a meeting for all the staff of the Division of Work and Industry. It was a little bit like a scene out of the Office. Only just a little less painful. I kid you not, the Department head could be Michael Scott...

After that came the cool part. I went through two books which contain a catalog of all of the ship's logs that we have in the Smithsonian collection. There are over a hundred. My job was to go through them and find the ones that were whaling ships so that we could do more research with them. After writing up my list of the logs of whaling ships I was sent on the hunt to find them. Most of them are in the Archives which are located in another building across The Mall, but some are in my office in the giant filing cabinets.

So with my hands covered in cotton gloves to protect the manuscripts from the oils in my fingers, I scrounged around in the filing cabinets until I found the logs from 5 different ships. I then set them all out on a desk and with a look of pure glee opened my first one.

It was beautiful! The handwriting of the logger was absolutely beautiful. The entries are fascinating, if not hard to read. They talk about all kinds of stuff like, injuries amongst the sailors, ships they came across on the sea, punishments, etc. Really cool stuff. Anyway, what I was looking for were these things called "Whale Stamps." Basically they are small stamps carved out of ivory in the shape of a whale. Every time the whaler would catch and kill a whale, the logger would stamp the log book and in the stamp write the number of barrels of oil they got from the whale. Some entries would have two or three whale stamps and then the log might go for weeks or months without a single whale. One page had 11 stamps!

One of the logs was gorgeous! It was in pristine condition and had beautiful drawings in it. Every time they would come into contact with another ship, the logger would sketch a drawing of it into the log. The were so beautiful and detailed! I loved it!

Anyway, I worked on that till it was time to leave, then headed back home on the Metro.

I've had a couple of down moments since I've been here. Yesterday as I was walking home and kind of almost dreading my new living situation (it's really not that bad at all), I heard the kindest words I have heard from anyone in the city since I've been here. They came from a bum on the side of the road. He was sitting next to his shopping cart piled with junk at a gas station a couple blocks from my house. He said "Happy Tuesday ma'am! Only three more days left until the weekend. You can make it!" I thanked him, and nearly cried I was so touched.

I love and miss you all. Thanks for reading this.