Thursday we woke up bright and early to go to another orientation session with all 400 of the Washington Center interns. We had to dress up in "business" clothes. I tried my best, and I already have blisters on my feet to prove it. I think I'm going to have to be one of those people who brings shoes to wear at work and wears sneakers for the commute... tragic in the fashion department I'm sure. So at orientation we heard a lot of great motivational speakers. One interesting quote from the TWC president that I liked was something along the lines of, "if you are given a lot, you have a lot to give back." Like, if you are given the priviledge to get a college education, and specifically to be interning at TWC this semester, you have the ability to do a lot of good and give a lot back. One thing that became clear was that we are going to gain an extensive amount of knowledge this semester and it is our responsibility to make good use of the information we learn. I hope I can do that with my portfolio, or my independent study, which are the two major academic pieces that are required for this program. We also have to do a civic engagement project which is basically a community service component, and I want to make sure I do something really meaningful. I guess a semester of studying white privilege has gone to my head a little, but I sometimes feel a little guilty that the process of going to college was such an easy and expected process for me. It made me feel a little better to realize that with good fortune comes responsibility to share what I learn and to try to make a difference from the opportunities and resources I have.
"Don't feel guilty, feel responsible" -Colman McCarthy
For the superbowl we went to one of the other apartments upstairs, it was really nice to meet some other interns! I did my typical asking everyone their phone numbers, so hopefully they will all remember me. I didn't watch much of the game, obvi. Except wasn't it so AMERICAN to honor the plane crew as heroes at the beginning? I thought so. Since Obama I feel like we are living in a completely different country where people are actually proud of fellow Americans and our country in general. Although, all of you skeptics who didn't get caught up in that Obama hope juice should be interested in the media already being over praising him. People in Washington read 5 newspapers a day to try and see all angles of every situation. It is so intense, too bad I'm a slow reader.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I'm here! AND SO IS OBAMA!
Hello friends! I have arrived, and so far it has been fabulous! My trip here was of course eventful, because let's be honest, with me there is always a story to tell! First of all, when I woke up there was so much snow that Bart (my little brother)'s school had a delayed opening. Then, my cab didn't show up and 10 minutes before my train to NYC left I had to call my neighbor to drive me. I thought in the end it was meant for her to drive me because she kept referring to my time in DC as an adventure and talking about how exciting it was. And I realized that she was right and there was no reason for me to be nervous! But then I was a little overwhelmed with positive energy to the point I almost started to talk to strangers (Grandma Shirley style for those of you who know the stories!) and tell them that I was on an adventure to DC! Ok so Amtrak was relatively uneventful, so I get to DC and I'm in a cab finally at Union Station and I give the driver the address of my apartment and he doesn't know where it is. So I proceed to get into an argument with him (the new yorker in me of course!) which results in me ditching the cab and roughing the metro with my huge bag (the blue one that I actually fit into), my backpack, and my laptop! It took me like ten minutes to figure out how to buy a metro ticket (but I had directions so besides that it was okay)! And this is the best part: in DC when you leave the metro you have to re-enter your ticket (it charges you when you leave the metro), and NO ONE TOLD ME THIS. So I'm like trying to buy ANOTHER ticket to exit the metro and I really stood there forever just watching other people and trying to figure it out. I'm sure if you don't know the DC metro this means nothing to you, but I'm trying to amuse my good friend Alyssa who is abroad in Denmark and goes to GW. So Alyssa, how pathetic? Please tell me. But I think we all know my city smarts anyway.
Alright, so one last thing about the commute: I get off the metro and it is POURING and I have to walk with all my stuff in the rain to my apartment building which was not as close to the metro stop as they made it sound! But once I did the walk sans my suitcase and the rain it was actually quite pleasant and through a nice little park, which should be nice when it gets warmer. So I'm living in Bethesda, right outside of the actual city. It takes about 30 mins to get places in the city, but I think I'll get used to it. Besides that the apartment is AMAZING. I am seriously living in a hotel, you all need to come and visit there is plenty of room! My room is a good size and my roommate and I have our own bathroom and our own walk-in closet! It is crazy! And the whole apartment came with dishes and furniture, etc. We even have a huge window in our living room that gives beautiful natural light and a very nice view. I am really very lucky! Andrea, my roommate, and I arrived at the apartment at exactly the same time and we decided on a room and hit it off right away. She is really nice and down to earth, I'm excited to get to know her. She and her boyfriend are really big rock climbers! She is from Massachusetts and goes to UMass Amherst. There are two other roommates, one is also from Mass and one is from Dickinson! Tonight we went grocery shopping, set up the wireless in our apartment, and bonded over a macaroni&cheese and wine dinner (I cooked... hah!). It was a great way to relax after a tiring day, and tomorrow is also another early start.
Briefly, because I realize this is getting long... today we had orientation in the morning for my program Advocacy, Service, and Arts. I took the metro with a bunch of people but it still wound up being an ordeal getting metro tickets... I really need to get used to that! In the afternoon we were given a "scavenger hunt" to roam the city. My roommate is in my program so we went around with three other girls and roamed around Dupont Circle and somewhere close to the National Mall... ending with viewing the white house and swooning over the possibilty of running into Obama during our semester here. It was so awesome, all day we talked about politics and Obama! Obama's face is EVERYWHERE. It is so funny, and the city has a great vibe of positive energy after the inauguration. Highlight of the day: We attempted to go to Ben's Chilli Bowl (a historic fast food restaurant?) and we got interviewed by ABC7 news about the bill Obama signed today granting women the right to sue their employers if they aren't recieving pay that is equal to their male co-workers. It was very exciting, and I talked in my interview about how it is unfair that women are behind men in the workforce today, and how a lot of it has to do with the fact that women take off more time than men to raise children, etc. I mean, did you know that women only make 77 cents to the male dollar? How and why is that fair? It isn't! Unfortunately, our interviews didn't wind up airing (we were so dissappointed!) but how exciting to be stopped in the city and asked about Obama and his policies! Well friends, needless to say it is all very exciting so far, and I hope it doesn't die down any time soon... please comment, I miss you all so much!
Alright, so one last thing about the commute: I get off the metro and it is POURING and I have to walk with all my stuff in the rain to my apartment building which was not as close to the metro stop as they made it sound! But once I did the walk sans my suitcase and the rain it was actually quite pleasant and through a nice little park, which should be nice when it gets warmer. So I'm living in Bethesda, right outside of the actual city. It takes about 30 mins to get places in the city, but I think I'll get used to it. Besides that the apartment is AMAZING. I am seriously living in a hotel, you all need to come and visit there is plenty of room! My room is a good size and my roommate and I have our own bathroom and our own walk-in closet! It is crazy! And the whole apartment came with dishes and furniture, etc. We even have a huge window in our living room that gives beautiful natural light and a very nice view. I am really very lucky! Andrea, my roommate, and I arrived at the apartment at exactly the same time and we decided on a room and hit it off right away. She is really nice and down to earth, I'm excited to get to know her. She and her boyfriend are really big rock climbers! She is from Massachusetts and goes to UMass Amherst. There are two other roommates, one is also from Mass and one is from Dickinson! Tonight we went grocery shopping, set up the wireless in our apartment, and bonded over a macaroni&cheese and wine dinner (I cooked... hah!). It was a great way to relax after a tiring day, and tomorrow is also another early start.
Briefly, because I realize this is getting long... today we had orientation in the morning for my program Advocacy, Service, and Arts. I took the metro with a bunch of people but it still wound up being an ordeal getting metro tickets... I really need to get used to that! In the afternoon we were given a "scavenger hunt" to roam the city. My roommate is in my program so we went around with three other girls and roamed around Dupont Circle and somewhere close to the National Mall... ending with viewing the white house and swooning over the possibilty of running into Obama during our semester here. It was so awesome, all day we talked about politics and Obama! Obama's face is EVERYWHERE. It is so funny, and the city has a great vibe of positive energy after the inauguration. Highlight of the day: We attempted to go to Ben's Chilli Bowl (a historic fast food restaurant?) and we got interviewed by ABC7 news about the bill Obama signed today granting women the right to sue their employers if they aren't recieving pay that is equal to their male co-workers. It was very exciting, and I talked in my interview about how it is unfair that women are behind men in the workforce today, and how a lot of it has to do with the fact that women take off more time than men to raise children, etc. I mean, did you know that women only make 77 cents to the male dollar? How and why is that fair? It isn't! Unfortunately, our interviews didn't wind up airing (we were so dissappointed!) but how exciting to be stopped in the city and asked about Obama and his policies! Well friends, needless to say it is all very exciting so far, and I hope it doesn't die down any time soon... please comment, I miss you all so much!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Home, but not for long...
I see that I've picked up a few more "followers" .. exciting! I also added an "inspirational quote" to the side... so far I've liked them and I hope you do too! hehe :)
So tomorrow is my last day at home before I leave for Washington. I've got to say the break went a lot faster than I expected, and I'm looking forward to trying something new... but I'm getting extremely nervous. It's one of those situations where I've had too much time to be home and get comfortable. This is also so different from what I originally wanted to do with my semester abroad. I have to dress up everyday and basically have a JOB. 9am-5pm baby. I wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone and learn about a new culture. Instead I'm pretty much going to learn about how things get done in America. Now that I'm comfortable at home I can't even imagine trying to prepare to go somewhere like India! Well, maybe... either way, this is what is on my plate and I've got to deal. The internship should be a good learning experience and I'm sure I'll be challenged in some way or another. However, I've been getting like 5 emails a day from my future co-workers and it is getting a little bit overwhelming already! Not only will I really have to pay attention to education issues for work, but the real world will be so much more REAL... aka our failing economy and the depressing state of other parts of the world. Think about it, at Dickinson you can get by with your meal plan and you go to your classes which might not be relevant to current events. It's really easy to become isolated in the Dickinson bubble from what's really going on. But lately I'm in that whole "I want to save the world" phase (and I know it's a phase haha), so paying attention to these issues can be pretty disheartening. I suppose that having a better understanding leads to making better and bigger change, but we shall see. I'll leave my "save the world" rant for another time, I guess.
This weekend I visited Dickinson and it was SO GREAT to see everyone. However, I think a semester away will be best. My car managed to die on the way up to campus and I had to call AAA for the first time! I cried and called like all of my girlfriends... pretty typical. But the ending of this story is fabulous because I managed to make friends with the guys in the auto shop my car got towed to (shout out to Superior Towing in Whitehouse Station, NJ!), and let's just say that it's good to know people, because despite my car being useless, I STILL got to campus. I called up a friend who was going to campus on the same route a few hours behind me and managed to get picked up right by the highway my car died on. Sooo after interrogating the Superior Towing night shift workers on whether or not I should take my car dying as a sign that I'm not supposed to go to school at all (their response was something along the lines of "go to college and get drunk" and none of them were superstitious, can you tell?), I sat in Clinton Station Diner for 2 hours, told the waitress my life story of course, and then squeezed in as the 5th person in a 4-passenger car. It was pretty crazy that it all worked out. We are only young and reckless once people!! I was just thinking the other day that I need to be more spontaneous anyway, hehe. Oh, but on the way to school we got a call that someone had been murdered in Carlisle 2 blocks from campus. Awesome. eeeek. Despite the daunting signs, the weekend was very nice and made me feel very loved because I got to see so many friends who are so dear to me!! I'm really going to miss everyone! But I've heard that as soon as you are comfortable somewhere you've got to move on... and senior year is still waiting :)
Check out this article about talking about race: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/fashion/15race.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=race&st=cse
This is a topic I find really interesting and strangely enough had JUST emailed a professor about. How do YOU feel talking about race, do you think Obama will make it easier to talk about? Hmm... and oh! and I just finished the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns," it is a beautiful story, but I don't know how I feel about the end. Go read it though, it really makes you understand how different gender roles are in other countries.
Hope you are enjoying my spastic blog!
So tomorrow is my last day at home before I leave for Washington. I've got to say the break went a lot faster than I expected, and I'm looking forward to trying something new... but I'm getting extremely nervous. It's one of those situations where I've had too much time to be home and get comfortable. This is also so different from what I originally wanted to do with my semester abroad. I have to dress up everyday and basically have a JOB. 9am-5pm baby. I wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone and learn about a new culture. Instead I'm pretty much going to learn about how things get done in America. Now that I'm comfortable at home I can't even imagine trying to prepare to go somewhere like India! Well, maybe... either way, this is what is on my plate and I've got to deal. The internship should be a good learning experience and I'm sure I'll be challenged in some way or another. However, I've been getting like 5 emails a day from my future co-workers and it is getting a little bit overwhelming already! Not only will I really have to pay attention to education issues for work, but the real world will be so much more REAL... aka our failing economy and the depressing state of other parts of the world. Think about it, at Dickinson you can get by with your meal plan and you go to your classes which might not be relevant to current events. It's really easy to become isolated in the Dickinson bubble from what's really going on. But lately I'm in that whole "I want to save the world" phase (and I know it's a phase haha), so paying attention to these issues can be pretty disheartening. I suppose that having a better understanding leads to making better and bigger change, but we shall see. I'll leave my "save the world" rant for another time, I guess.
This weekend I visited Dickinson and it was SO GREAT to see everyone. However, I think a semester away will be best. My car managed to die on the way up to campus and I had to call AAA for the first time! I cried and called like all of my girlfriends... pretty typical. But the ending of this story is fabulous because I managed to make friends with the guys in the auto shop my car got towed to (shout out to Superior Towing in Whitehouse Station, NJ!), and let's just say that it's good to know people, because despite my car being useless, I STILL got to campus. I called up a friend who was going to campus on the same route a few hours behind me and managed to get picked up right by the highway my car died on. Sooo after interrogating the Superior Towing night shift workers on whether or not I should take my car dying as a sign that I'm not supposed to go to school at all (their response was something along the lines of "go to college and get drunk" and none of them were superstitious, can you tell?), I sat in Clinton Station Diner for 2 hours, told the waitress my life story of course, and then squeezed in as the 5th person in a 4-passenger car. It was pretty crazy that it all worked out. We are only young and reckless once people!! I was just thinking the other day that I need to be more spontaneous anyway, hehe. Oh, but on the way to school we got a call that someone had been murdered in Carlisle 2 blocks from campus. Awesome. eeeek. Despite the daunting signs, the weekend was very nice and made me feel very loved because I got to see so many friends who are so dear to me!! I'm really going to miss everyone! But I've heard that as soon as you are comfortable somewhere you've got to move on... and senior year is still waiting :)
Check out this article about talking about race: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/fashion/15race.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=race&st=cse
This is a topic I find really interesting and strangely enough had JUST emailed a professor about. How do YOU feel talking about race, do you think Obama will make it easier to talk about? Hmm... and oh! and I just finished the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns," it is a beautiful story, but I don't know how I feel about the end. Go read it though, it really makes you understand how different gender roles are in other countries.
Hope you are enjoying my spastic blog!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
An Ode to Alyssa and MY FOLLOWER
Hello friends! So, after A LOT of contemplation, I'm doing the blog thing. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to be honest, I'm a little intimidated with the whole responsibility of "impressing my audience"! I had enough trouble even thinking of a name for the blog! Anyway... my dear friend Alyssa has convinced me that my life in Washington, DC this semester is going to be half interesting and hopefully I can keep anyone who cares (and Alyssa) updated with this blog. And Alyssa, you'd better read this and comment on it woman! So much for an ode.
Alright so onto an explanation of the title, those of you that know me (very well), you'll know that my major, American Studies, has pretty much taken over my life and completely changed how I look at the world around me. For example, I pretty much can't watch TV anymore without commenting on race, gender, or class issues that are present or the "misrepresentation" of something or someone based on one of those characteristics (My roommate LOVES this, let me tell you haha). So for example, calling Alyssa "woman" in the last paragraph... in a specific context this can be seen as condescending. Like when a man is talking to a woman and asks or orders her to do something and calls her "woman" instead of referring to her by name. This happens ALL the time on those family sit-coms. Why do we think this is funny? I know I think twice when that happens. By now, you all think I'm crazy, but it is a good way to explain my concept of "American Studies word vomit" ... I am not positive how to define it exactly, but I suppose you'll figure it out at some point.
Anyway, I leave for Washington, DC in exactly a week. This wasn't originally supposed to be my plan for the semester... I was supposed to be going to India. Long story short, after the Mumbai attacks my mom really wasn't comfortable with me going since everything seemed so "unstable" over there. I mean, I know I would have been fine, but it is what it is. Not going to lie, it's been difficult seeing all of my friends ship off to fun and different places, and "accidentally" finding pictures of the Dickinson students who are in India right now is also not very enjoyable. If you want the full saga, you can talk to me personally, but for blogging purposes I will spare you. This is one of the first times in my life something that I really wanted was "taken away", and I want to prove to myself that I can deal with change with a positive attitude. At least for me, it is going to be a challenge to take my own path of going to DC when I was anticipating to be able to have the same "abroad" experience as most of my classmates and friends. This may really sound silly, but if you are on my campus for a day and talk to people you'll realize that the vast majority of the students go abroad and very often for the entire year. In the bigger picture, I want to prove that I can successfully and proudly go on my own path and seriously get a grip on that thing called "independence." I might have said that last semester, but this time I have a public blog to haunt me. My inspiring quote to go along with this is one said by Buddha, 'find your own light,' because that is what I'm thinking is at the heart of what I'm looking for. So enjoy my life ephiphanies!
I'll leave on that note because I have to run to my beautification appointment... this is debatable. For the most part only women go to get their eyebrows waxed and take extra time to make sure that they look 'presentable'. This is common knowledge of course, but think about it. I can see some people rolling their eyes... but really, sometimes it really pisses me off that society holds us to specific standards in terms of our gender. Like why do only women have to shave their legs? Because people think it's gross if they don't!
Feel free to comment :)
PS. My current one and only follower is Aly! Congrats! Are you happy? comment on my blog now!
Alright so onto an explanation of the title, those of you that know me (very well), you'll know that my major, American Studies, has pretty much taken over my life and completely changed how I look at the world around me. For example, I pretty much can't watch TV anymore without commenting on race, gender, or class issues that are present or the "misrepresentation" of something or someone based on one of those characteristics (My roommate LOVES this, let me tell you haha). So for example, calling Alyssa "woman" in the last paragraph... in a specific context this can be seen as condescending. Like when a man is talking to a woman and asks or orders her to do something and calls her "woman" instead of referring to her by name. This happens ALL the time on those family sit-coms. Why do we think this is funny? I know I think twice when that happens. By now, you all think I'm crazy, but it is a good way to explain my concept of "American Studies word vomit" ... I am not positive how to define it exactly, but I suppose you'll figure it out at some point.
Anyway, I leave for Washington, DC in exactly a week. This wasn't originally supposed to be my plan for the semester... I was supposed to be going to India. Long story short, after the Mumbai attacks my mom really wasn't comfortable with me going since everything seemed so "unstable" over there. I mean, I know I would have been fine, but it is what it is. Not going to lie, it's been difficult seeing all of my friends ship off to fun and different places, and "accidentally" finding pictures of the Dickinson students who are in India right now is also not very enjoyable. If you want the full saga, you can talk to me personally, but for blogging purposes I will spare you. This is one of the first times in my life something that I really wanted was "taken away", and I want to prove to myself that I can deal with change with a positive attitude. At least for me, it is going to be a challenge to take my own path of going to DC when I was anticipating to be able to have the same "abroad" experience as most of my classmates and friends. This may really sound silly, but if you are on my campus for a day and talk to people you'll realize that the vast majority of the students go abroad and very often for the entire year. In the bigger picture, I want to prove that I can successfully and proudly go on my own path and seriously get a grip on that thing called "independence." I might have said that last semester, but this time I have a public blog to haunt me. My inspiring quote to go along with this is one said by Buddha, 'find your own light,' because that is what I'm thinking is at the heart of what I'm looking for. So enjoy my life ephiphanies!
I'll leave on that note because I have to run to my beautification appointment... this is debatable. For the most part only women go to get their eyebrows waxed and take extra time to make sure that they look 'presentable'. This is common knowledge of course, but think about it. I can see some people rolling their eyes... but really, sometimes it really pisses me off that society holds us to specific standards in terms of our gender. Like why do only women have to shave their legs? Because people think it's gross if they don't!
Feel free to comment :)
PS. My current one and only follower is Aly! Congrats! Are you happy? comment on my blog now!
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