I'm changing, but I'm still not Irish...

Wow.. so I haven't updated this in a while, which is a big deal for me, I seem quite attached to this blogger thing. I'm writing to you from the office (finally a lul in the work load), reading my "Education Week" newspaper, eating my bagel with cream cheese, and downing my coffee.. "professionally" dressed in my pencil skirt and pointy shoes that go "click click" when I walk on hard surfaces. Usually I eat oatmeal at the apartment before I get to work, but we have this problem with running out of plates and bowls because we only have so many and then the next challenge is to see who will step up and actually turn on the dish washer. Having that machine in the kitchen in the first place spoils us in general, I can't imagine what it would be like without it, the kitchen would be a much bigger disaster. Speaking of cleanliness, I think some of you will be happy to know I seem to have dropped some of my germaphobe qualities. For example, I am the last person to remember to wash my hands after going on the metro, and even if someone brings it up it doesn't even bother me. Weird? Definitely. Gross? Probably.

Also speaking of my "click click" shoes (as I will now call them).. there really seems to be a time and a place for them. I like wearing them to work because it makes me feel like I am actually dressed up and able to fit in with these working adults, but pretty much everywhere else I feel very silly wearing them.. giving me an excuse to debate whether or not this "professional office lifestyle" is something that suits me. For example, yesterday after work I tagged along with my roommate, Andrea, to a service she has been doing lately. We read letters from prisoners with book requests, sort through donated books to find a few they might like, and then write them a letter back and make a package for them. I know your first response is, "writing letters to PRISONERS?" but my hero, Coleman McCarthy, would be proud I believe because as I'm learning, our justice system is pretty flawed, and often prisoners are left in total isolation constantly. I don't really care who you are, that is rough. I can't imagine being alone for that long! And that isolation doesn't help you resolve whatever caused you to commit the crime, I feel like isolation in that sense makes you feel worthless to the point of dispair. I agree that some people definitely need to be in jail for committing crimes, but at the same time I think forgiveness and giving people a second chance is also something that is valuable to keep in mind. Or at least trying to understand the motives behind whatever happened and helping those imprisoned to help themselves. Disregard people with mental illness in this argument though, that is a whole different story. Anyway, the point of this prior to my rant, is that I felt so silly with my "click click" shoes when we were writing the letters. I just felt out of place and not myself because of how dressed up I was. I know it definitely was not a big deal, but it made me think that maybe something more down to earth is more my style... but either way it was really nice to FINALLY do some service and be able to take a step outside of what has become my regular office day grind.

To leave you, a life lesson learned on St. Patrick's Day. As some of you know, I was very close to going to Ireland this semester after India didn't work out. But I am here, in America, and therefore observing our own mysterious country from my little corner in Washington, DC. So for some reason, in America, we love any excuse to drink ourselves silly. Maybe I am being closed minded about this, but I just didn't see the need to go out and "celebrate". If you are in Europe, fine. If you are Irish, fine. Maybe it was because the night before I had a mini-break down because I can't figure out for the life of me what I want to do this summer... BUT I just had no interest in this holiday. Overrated. I told myself I wasn't going to plan anything, if someone called me then maybe I could be swayed. So no one calls, until 5:01 pm, as I am about to leave work, of course. It's my friend Nick and he won't take no for an answer. Long story short, after seeking out a few over-priced and over-crowded bars, and seeing a drunk man fall down the escalator, I was out. I felt bad leaving my friends, but at the same time I was proud of myself for figuring out what I wanted to do, and not just doing what I was apparently "supposed to be doing on St. Patrick's Day." I realized something that I love about living in a big city is that there are constantly people around living their own different (and sometimes similar) lives. Feeling liberated, I headed to Whole Foods for an emergency grocery store run. And guess what... there were other people there, just food shopping, going about their daily lives.. no crazy Irish party in the grocery store (but I did get to sample GREEN mashed potatoes.. kinda cool? hah). I left the grocery store feeling good about making my own decision and even if small, a victory towards being on my "own path." Apparently, going to Whole Foods was what I needed to do, and I quite frankly didn't care what anyone else was doing. I've just been debating the whole drinking scene in DC in general. Before I got here everyone raved about the "night life" and how it was something that would make my experience here. But I'm finding that the people I enjoy hanging out with, aren't the people who want or are able to go out to the bars on the weekends. I feel like the people I meet when I am out are probably not coherent enough to remember me, and aren't interested in getting to know me back. I am dumbfounded when I ask someone 5 questions about themselves and why they are in DC and if they are liking it and where they work, trying to get a sense of who they are, only for them to ask NO questions back. I think we all know I don't have a problem just talking about myself when I want to, but sometimes it is nice to have people be actually interested in asking. So as for this whole "DC night life/happy hour scene" I guess I am still figuring it out.

Interestingly enough, my hero "challenged" us on the first day of class to try not drinking for the semester. I considered it, but blew it off thinking it would be detrimental to my social life, and not to mention I thought had already "learned that lesson." But clearly there is a lot of value to seeing the role drinking plays in our lives. It is interesting to think about whether your drinking buddies your "real friends" or your "fun friends," and maybe it doesn't matter to you, but I realized that the strong drink and the hoppin' bar doesn't matter to me if I'm not with people I truly like. Truth and truth. Happy Thursday everyone!