Richmond's Own (but unowned) Website

 
 
Finished a week in Washington, D.C. – and what can I say? Well actually, that’s probably a good question to ask.*  I’m an intern this summer with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy – very fascinating policy and events happening!

Is it like “The West Wing?” Well…for one thing, the offices walls aren’t all made of glass. And unfortunately, there’s not always hundreds of people walking around, randomly handing you papers and folders as you walk down the hallway…  Though I’ll say the pace of the work is sure fast like the show! I love it; there’s never a dull moment. The people I’ve met have been great, both the staff members and other interns. And I’m learning fast that everything in DC has an acronym – there’s a lot to catch up on!

So I’ve finished my first week of 9-5 work – yikes, can it be tiring! College schedules seem so relaxed and sparse compared to a regular work week! And having to cook your own meals on top of that afterwards – on the topic of meals, since I have to cook the majority of my meals, and since I would consider my cooking skills amateur as best, I am also going to try to keep a food blog over the summer to cover my culinary escapades.  

I’ve loved it here in D.C. for the first week. The weather’s been nice, and hasn’t been too hot nor too humid (it’s been quite bearable!).  On Monday night, I was invited to dinner at the house of a family friend, which was quite delicious (and I didn’t need to cook!). Tuesday night, I went with a bunch of other interns all staying in the same GWU dorm to go to the Nationals vs. Mets baseball game. I thought it’d be alright, just another baseball game, but it turned out quite fun! Besides the obligatory ballpark pretzel, I got to meet a lot of the other interns in the building, and the game was actually quite interesting too! The Nats and Mets were tied at the end of the 9th inning, and then again at the end of the 10th, each scoring1 run after the other. And at that point, most of us had to leave (we had work the next morning!). In the end, I believe the Nationals won, all the way in the 12th inning! It was quite an experience!  
Picture
So the cheaper seats may be a ways up...still fun!
Wednesday night, my roommate and I made a Target trip, and I took the opportunity to purchase a cooking pot, as well as some food for the week. 

Today I ventured out into this fair city along with my roommate and another friend from the floor. Turns out this week is a huge giant gathering of Girl Scouts – 200,000 extra people! And all that many extra girls flooding the city means close to 200,000 more bags and purses…meaning longer bag check lines to get into museums! (Though it seemed like a great way for them to celebrate the Girl Scouts!) We went into the Museum of Natural History first, and we had to wait a while in line to get in, but it was probably worth it! We went through some of the exhibits I’d seen before, but it was nice to see them again, and I was able to look more closely at things or see things I missed the first time around. We went around through the dinosaurs, mammals, human evolution, insects, human skeletons, and more! Everything was so crowded though; I had no idea that many people could fit in there!
Picture
The photo doesn't really do justice to just how darn crowded the place was! (Museum of Natural History)
We ate lunch at the museum, and probably ended up spending about 4.5 hours in there. After that, we walked across the National Mall to the Smithsonian Castle and sat down for a bit. From there, we moved out into the garden and into the Sackler Gallery – the name of which presents no meaning to what’s inside. But it turned out to be the Smithsonian’s Asian Art museum! It looks very small – we thought it was; but despite its small physical footprint, we found that it went down for few floors and had a decent number of exhibits (think a submerged Johnson Art Museum). I love art museums and galleries! At the bottom, we actually found a tunnel that led to an underground atrium, which is actually part of a Smithsonian center  - there were lots of classrooms for activities and even a children’s theater, as well as offices, and a display commemorating all the patents Steve Jobs has. It also connected to the African Art museum, though we didn’t have time to go there. We came back on the Metro (with all the Girl Scouts, presumably leaving their “Rock the Mall” sing a long), tired after a long day, but I’m quite excited to museum myself out again next week!

 
Picture
Really cool piece of art, representing a story about 21 monkeys; it chains together 21 carvings, each influenced by the word meaning "Monkey" in 21 different languages! (you can sort of read "Mono" at the bottom link in the photo, Spanish for monkey)
Picture
Among the Sackler Gallery highlights was the Windows Surface table (here showing the water homescreen, but also allowed us to look at scrolls and other artwork). Move over Apple iPad, this thing was so much cooler! AND it used a matte screen so much fewer fingerprints!
*Footnote I guess? Yes, I have a pretty good idea of what I’m allowed or not allowed to say, but I thought it’d be a fun title.