Exciting Times, Visitors, and Growing Up

There are now four interns (including myself) at the office and two high school students that come help out on certain days.  That's a lot!  That has been a bit crazy as there aren't even enough desks for us all to sit at sometimes, and there was some confusion with a lot of things going on.  I'm glad I was the second one to start, as I got to claim a desk and don't ever end up sitting without a phone or a computer.  It is also nice just because I know how to do everything and the whole office knows me fairly well so they ask me to do things for them usually before they ask the newer girls.  It definitely puts the pressure on to stand out when there are so many of us though.

I got to sit in the gallery in the house chambers on Thursday morning, which I've been wanting to do since I've been here.  It was a great time to be there watching.  When we got there, they were debating on the Stock Act which would outlaw insider trading among congressmen.  It was pretty unanimous that insider trading should be illegal, but the democrats were struggling with some of the other stuff that was stuck in the bill they didn't like.  Nancy Pelosi then got up and gave a speech urging the dems to pass it and send it to conference, as these negative parts of it could be changed then.  Watching votes is pretty exciting.  Most of the time there aren't many congressmen in the chambers, but when they vote, they all have to be there so an alarm sounds and they all come from their offices to put in their vote.  The room is really bustling when there are 400+ congressmen in there.  The vote lasts 15 minutes, and when it gets to the end of the time it is pretty nuts as the last few come rushing in and everyone basically shouts at the speaker of the house to wait for one or two more!  These panels above the press box light up with all the congressman's last names and either a green Y or a red N to show how they voted.  Then afterwards they had a 5 minute vote on whether to send it to conference.  Both votes were pretty uncontested at 400 something to less than 10.  Then, there was discussion on next week's schedule.  Eric Cantor (House Majority Leader) and Steny Hoyer (Minority Whip) were going back and forth about different timings for at least 30 minutes.  It was AWESOME!  I could sit in there all day, and it was great that I got to see a lot of the leaders speak.  Unfortunately, you can't take pictures in the chambers so I can't show you all what it was like.

I also finally got to meet with our office's communications director and talk about PR for a while and some ideas I had come up with.  I've been hoping to do that for a while, and it is a great reminder of what I want to do and how much I love it.  I also got a recommendation for a pretty interesting sounding book about PR so I ordered that right away and am excited to read it when it comes in the mail.

Another exciting piece of news from this week is that Jake is coming to see me!  I am thrilled!  I left to come here thinking I wouldn't get to see him for four months, as we didn't know if either of us could get off any time from work.  It was a great surprise that things worked out, and I will have to start planning some exciting things for us to do while he is here.

I guess I never wrote about it on here, but my aunt, my cousin, and my cousin's partner are also coming to see me!  They have never been to DC and thought it would be a great time to come while I am here.  I have been getting ready for them to visit, too.  I haven't seen my cousin since I was really young, and I've never met her partner since they live in California so that will be a lot of fun.

Thursday we went to see our second play for theater class.  It was called Time Stands Still.  The story is about a couple who are a photojournalist and writer, and they just got back from a war zone.  The woman was severely injured and almost died from a roadside bombing so they have to reevaluate putting their lives on the line for their jobs.  It really made you question why people would put themselves in danger to take a picture, film something, or write about it.  It is amazing the dedication people have to a profession like that.

Yesterday, I went to the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum.  They are in the same building, which is basically divided down the middle.  There is an entire section of portraits of the presidents and many other portraits, including some of pretty recently famous people.  The American art was neat too with some older parts and some more modern art.  It was actually snowing when I left the museum, and it was very very cold today.

Front of the Museum

Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts

Different portrait of Bill!

Cool piece of American modern art

On a separate note, I've realized this experience has already helped me in some ways.  Before this, I was so scared to graduate and have a real job.  I was scared of the real world and wished I could stay at Clemson forever.  Being here is a step closer to being on my own and having a full time job.  I think I'm ready, and I am actually excited about graduating and looking for job possibilities.  I'm ready to be done being a student and an intern.  I want to be able to produce results on my own that I'm proud of and help an organization be successful.  I want that responsibility and the fulfillment of having a real job.

Class Time and Art Appreciation

I guess I'm getting into the habit of blogging on Saturday or Sunday nights.  It just works out that way, as that's when I have the most down time.  So last Sunday, I went to Eastern Market again with some of my roomies, and we had some delicious crepes for brunch!  I got one with bananas, cinnamon sugar, and pecans.  It was so tasty.

The main news from this week is that we started our classes.  On Tuesday nights, we have a debating contemporary washington issues class.  That one will definitely be interesting as there will probably be a lot of intense political discussions, and our house is so diverse in our beliefs.  Hopefully they will be fun discussions, and it won't get too personal.  It is always interesting to hear different perspectives though, and we are all intelligent so we have good explanations for our opinions.  I already feel as though I've had some smart talks about political issues with my roommates and come out of it with a better understanding of the other side.  For our first assignment, we had to watch the State of the Union and write a paper on one of the issues.  It was very exciting to be in DC that day.  When I walked home from work, Capitol Hill was just buzzing with excitement and lots of people were around.  I would have given anything to be there, but only a select few get to go.  I thought the speech was really pretty riveting for a SOTU.  As always, I admire Obama for his skills in oration, since that is my passion.

Night of the SOTU!

On Thursday nights, we have our theatre class.  I think that will be a really interesting time.  We are going to see Hairspray, Time Stands Still, The Interrogation of Espinoza, Red, 1776, and Taming of the Shrew.  Hairspray is our first one, which is this Thursday.  I'm sure it is going to be so fun.  I've heard 1776 is a neat historical musical, and we are seeing that one in Ford's Theater, which is such a historic place.  Taming of the Shrew is a classic.  I don't know much about the others, but I'm sure they will be enjoyable.  Then, on five different Wednesday's over the course of the semester, we have a leadership class.  We won't see what that's all about until next week.

Yesterday, I decided to spend the day at the National Gallery of Art.  I think I'm going to dedicate every Saturday (and hopefully some Sunday's, too) to a different museum I want to go to.  When it gets warmer in the springtime, I will probably do more outdoorsy things and there will be a lot of other things to do.  So now is a good time to dedicate to museums when it is still fairly cold out on weekends.  I think I had only been to two of the Smithsonian's before I moved here, so I have a lot I want to see.  The National Gallery of Art was really great, and I picked a wonderful day to go.

National Gallery of Art

They just reopened the 19th century French galleries and were having concerts there this weekend in honor of that.  When I first heard the organ music playing as I walked around that gallery, I thought it was maybe just being played off of a speaker to set the tone, but I realized as I walked closer to it there was actually a concert going on.  It was so nice to have that background music while looking at the art.  I like that better than how silent and stuffy art museums typically are.  I eventually found my way into the beautiful concert room, and I sat down for a while to listen.  It was so beautiful.  It really moved me, and I actually got a little emotional.  I closed my eyes for a while and just took it in.  I felt it, and I haven't felt that way in a while.  It made me want to find the nearest piano and just start practicing away.  I love that music has the power to really get to you like that, and that is what makes me want to play more.  I really slack on my piano playing, and moments like this make me regret every time I put watching TV, browsing the internet, or anything else higher on my priority list than practicing.  There were some gorgeous Monet paintings there, which were a favorite of mine.

gorgeous fountain in the concert room

Organ player

Me and my favorite Monet there

This museum is actually two buildings.  So then I went over to the East building, which has more modern art. I love modern art in a totally different way than the older paintings.  It's so interesting and unexpected at times.  I really enjoyed that part of the experience as well.

Inside the East building

Andy Warhol of Marilyn Monroe

Today has been pretty chill as usual for a Sunday.  I just went grocery shopping with some of my roommates and have been catching up on my favorite TV shows.  So that's all I've got for now.  Talk to you all next week with hopefully some exciting stories and pictures from another Saturday museum adventure!