Welcome to Washington, feel free to get lost....

For future reference, the steps up the Art Gallery are not "the Rocky Steps," and the Washington Monument is not really called "that pointy thing." However, they are descriptive enough that locals know which way to point when you ask where it is!

Move in day for me was really hectic. I got lost, of course, trying to find my way driving from the New York area all the way down into Virginia where I am in an apartment with three other women. There were freeway delays, construction, numerous wrong turns, and a late start, but that wasn’t my biggest stomach twister. No, see, I had to meet with my Intern Supervisor where I am working, because guess what- I’m special!

Ah. I am one of the three interns with The Washington Center that is actually credentialed Working Press. My internship is with Talk Radio News Service, and the only main difference between myself and the reporters that work there, is that I’m an unpaid intern. Not much difference! So, I had to take off in a dead run to make my appointment so that I could get my credentials.

This was uber important because Monday is rather special. Anyone familiar with the State of the Union Address? Yeah! The one where the President comes out and talks to all the Congressmen? That would be the one! Working with TRNS gives me the unique opportunity as an intern to be up in the press box with all the rest of the sweaty smelly press people. On my very first official day of WORK, I’ll be covering one of the biggest events in the nation. Awesome.

My roommates are Cassie, Vicki, and Natalie. Vicki and I both go to Stockton in New Jersey, and all four of us are seniors. Cassie is my actual "bunkie"- the one I am sharing a room with. I’m in a two bedroom apartment, and it’s completely gorgeous in here. I am now happy as a clam, because it’s got a gym and everything. Of course, running on a treadmill isn’t quite the best place to be when you are so shocked at the news you stop in mid-stride....

I nearly fell off and mangled myself because I was watching CNN on Saturday night while halfway through a three mile jog on said treadmill. Being in the middle of Washington, D.C. makes me more aware of politics than I was before, especially because everyone and their momma is talking about it. To be able to walk down the street and just have a random conversation with someone about American Policy completely blows my mind. And so, because of the heightened awareness around here, when Senator Obama took South Carolina, the whole gym exploded into a frenzy of conversation. Me? I just listened to everyone else :) It’s what I do because I’m a reporter, LOL!!

My roommates and I decided that Monday is going to be crazy for us. My roomies work at different places than I do, but, Monday is our first day and so we’re all a bit nervous. My first day is a big fat doozy, no doubt! We figured the best thing for us to do was to dork around for this weekend because we’ll be so busy. Washington never stops!

Cassie and I decided we’d act like tourists and wander around D.C. I personally abhor the thought of someone thinking I was a tourist for some reason; I have no photographs of New York City although I have been there a multitude of times. But I decided I’d get over the "I’m not a tourist!!!" urge and take some pics for you.

For one thing, we were thrilled to leave the apartment because of the "stinky lightbulb disaster." Some dummy at the health food store sold me a bottle of chamomile oil, telling me that putting a drop of it on a lightbulb would make my room smell great and relax me. I guess the theory is that it warms up the oil and the lovely odor wafts through my olfactory glands, relaxing the related nerve centers in my brain. What actually happened was that the stench went up my nostrils and sledgehammered my eyeballs. We ended up throwing out the "tainted by Satan" lightbulb, right after we sprayed Lysol in the air and Febreeze on the carpet to try and get rid of the smell. So, we pretty much took off in a run for the Capitol building.

It’s a really huge impressive looking building, that’s for sure. It’s surreal... nothing looks quite real because I’ve seen it on television so many times. It’s as if nothing on television is actually made of substance, and so when I see it in real life, it’s a bit of a shock. Of course, vision is also sort of tweaked, because I walked right by Jay Leno and realized I had actually walked by Senator John Kerry. He looks just like Jay in profile, and I nearly laughed. I have this feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of double takes around here... I was having a conversation on the Metro with Senator Corker about the weather... sometimes I feel like this isn’t real, but it is, and I’m absolutely thrilled.

The first place I took a photo of, was the Art Gallery West building. I showed my roomie Cassie the infamous "rule of thirds" when taking photos and the one she took of me in front of those columns came out great!




We met up with three other people and proceeded to "that pointy thing." Yeah, it’s an obilisk, whatever that is. It’s a great big pointy thing. A really REALLY big pointy thing. I’ve seen it in pictures a zillion times but when I walked right up to it, I felt a bit dizzy when I turned my face upwards and looked at the point. My photo doesn’t even have the pointy part in it, but I thought that the sun glare looked totally cool and so that’s the one you get to have a look at.


I also walked through the World War II Monument and it’s an amazing circle of pillars that reminded me a whole lot of the Vatican in Rome. I love taking photos of curvy things. There is an "Atlantic" side, and a "Pacific" side. This one is of the Atlantic half.




I’d say that the picture I liked taking the most, was the one of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. It was smaller than I envisioned, but I guess that is sort of a good thing, since it has the names of soldiers that were killed in the conflict, or listed as MIA. It was absolutely riveting to see the reflections of people in that black granite, and although there were tons of people wandering by, you could see the contemplations of people staring at that wall. It is a literal depiction of the futility of war, where everyone seems to die and nobody ever seems to win.



War is a big subject around here, and everywhere I guess. I hear people discussing it, and all the other issues the candidates are bringing up. Health Care Reform, Education, the Budget.... ah.... this election season is going to be incredible to watch. I’m going to be riveted to see what history is going to unfold this year in the United States. The news mediums are exploding with daily happenings, and I’m so excited I think I’m going to pop. I’ll try really hard NOT to pop though, because I need all my gizzards intact! It’s going to take a lot of guts to run through this town, and I’m going for it with all I’ve got.