I'm not in Vienna, not even close - there is a metro stop called Vienna and I've had the song stuck in my head for days. Since I have a single room here I've been able to perfect my Billy Joel singing abilities. It is a lovely song, indeed. I just hope my hallmates think so too - or that these walls are thick!
Week two down, and I'm not getting lost so much anymore. I'm more comfortable now with the city overall and am starting to feel like an actual resident of the District, as the cool kids call it. I've mastered the metro - minus an incident last night that involved me having no idea how to refill my metro card and that ended with me singing "I've got the golden ticket" as we just made our train. We've even managed to find a few places that allow younger clientele, and it's been nice to go out a little, but I'm honestly OK taking a break after all my pubbing in Scotland.
I haven't decided yet if I think this city is for me long-term, but I really enjoyed this past week. Work is continuing to go well, and it's gonna heat up after Wednesday when my supervisor bids AEI adieu. It's been a really great experience to be surrounded by so many intelligent people with a spectrum of opinions, but sometimes I feel as though my brain is in overdrive. Friday, for instance, my scholar hosted a conference on changing election demographics in the 2008 election that I found really interesting (even though I was the hated person holding up the time cards for the speakers). That was followed by intense intellectual discussion among the interns at lunch and then by a staff forum on changing demographics in the Muslim world. Whew!
Week two also brought some crazy weather. On Tuesday I was awoken at 6 am by extremely loud thunder and I lay awake watching the lighting and rain outside my window. Louisiana has some pretty great storms, but I haven't experienced one in years - I enjoyed it. Round two happened that evening: I took the metro to the Capitol stop to attend a meeting and was met by pounding rain and HAIL at the exit. I couldn't find where I needed to go and got completely soaked. That said, I hope it happens again.
Yesterday I visited the Newseum and enjoyed it immensely - it's the only museum I think I've managed to spend three hours in ever (I was the person that dashed through the Louvre in 45 minutes). It has been a long time coming for me and that building: I attended a journalism conference in DC my senior year of high school that was sponsored by the Newseum's founders. They took us to what was the building site at the time and I told myself then that I would be back to see the finished product. Worth the wait - they have some pretty great exhibits. I especially liked the gallery of Pulitzer-winning photographs and the interactive exhibit where you can watch clips from big news moments in history; I could have sat there for hours. I also attended a lecture by a journalist who has written stories from Pakistan and Iran. Very cool place for a journalism enthusiast such as myself. One interesting tidbit: the museum sits on Pennsylvania Avenue right by the Capitol and has a huge stone slab on its front with the First Amendment to remind the Congressmen and women who drive by on their way to work everyday.
Today I did two things that I really enjoyed - I met some people at the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival at the National Mall (nothing is better than a jazz version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" while soaking up the sun) and then went to a slam poetry performance. The Kennedy Center has free performances every night at 6 pm, and tonight it was a group of high school students from Chicago presenting their original works. They were awesome.
Something I'm confused about: JFK said that Washington is a city of southern efficiency and northern charm. Shouldn't it be the other way around? But I've got more time here in this fabulous city to figure that out.
Stay cool cause I won't be able to - it's getting freaking hot!
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