A Taste (or two or three…) of DC

A purple cow. According to my last interviewee, I am a purple cow - complimentarily analogous for “better than the everyday, annoyingly unoriginal black and white cow.” Need I say that it was an interesting and in-depth conversation? A “purple cow” of profile interviews, if I may.

That interview was both a ‘high’ in my internship thus far and a reminder of why I’m not built for desk jobs. Last Thursday also boasted a bright point in my experience with WBJ to this point, as the reporters and editors gathered for a weekly meeting. To witness the challenges facing print journalism and the interaction between writers and editors – this is why I am here. Though the regular reporters seemed to dread what was coming as they wended their way to the conference room, it turned out to be one of the most enlightening experiences thus far.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that internship and work are only part of the experience. Thus, if you don’t mind, we’ll skip along to more diverse and… colorful… experiences. The weekend was nothing if not colorful. Let’s say we structure it as we structure days: around meals…

Saturday, eight hours of which I spent as virtually the only non-Indian in sight, featured a South Indian vegetarian restaurant, with appearances by iddly, samosas, and masala dosai. I can’t take credit for the menu, as it was wisely decided upon by the young Indian couple virtually hosting me for the day; I had no idea when I left the apartment at 1:30 that attending a meeting for the Association for India’s Development (AID), scheduled for 3, would keep me occupied until 9:30 that evening.

Photo: http://www.indianfoodforever.com/

The wonderfully massive South Indian version of a crêpe: dosai, flanked by lentil soup and chutney.

Knowing a “civic engagement” project was a TWC requirement and hoping to combine my interests, I managed to stumble across information for AID, contacted a local branch member, and ultimately found myself hitching a ride to the first Saturday meeting post-blizzard. After spending much of the afternoon discussing some of the organization’s causes and most recent projects, the Sethi’s and I hopped back in the car, by this point more than ready for dinner. The result? My first trip to an Indian grocery store, followed by the aforementioned dosai at Woodlands. Did I get a few goofy/intrigued look as a non-Indian hanging around such places and accompanied by a pair of natives? Sure, a few. Did I enjoy every second of the company and the experience? You bet.

Sunday continued the culture fun, this time including a somewhat random mixture of Chinatown, Burmese, and French crêpes. In celebration of the Lunar New Year, Chinatown hosted a massive parade and fireworks displays, and massive crowds to accompany the hoopla.

A fellow Media & Comm. intern and I met at the Chinatown Metro stop and, upon reaching the street, found ourselves facing walls upon walls of people, bustling amongst the oddly mixed but pervading smell of Chinese food and smoke wafting from the firecrackers.

As the streets began to clear of fireworks, we decided it was high time to fully enjoy the atmosphere by partaking in the most common sign of Chinese culture in the US: food! Of course, being that everyone in the region even remotely interested in Chinese culture was already packing both sidewalks and restaurants, we instead – semi-logically – wandered into the one Burmese restaurant in Chinatown.

En route to the creatively named “Burma Restaurant,” we dropped into the nearby Temple of Cun Yum… just because we could, and it looked like an intriguing educational opportunity. We were correct.

Dessert: quality time with a few more fellow Media & Comm. interns, along with our program adviser, at the monthly debriefing dinner, this Sunday perfectly situated at Crêpes-A-Go-Go. Anyone who would turn down a trip to a crêperie is not to be trusted. After discussing recent events over a few platefuls of fluffy deliciousness, we broke for the evening, to meet bright and early the following morning for the usual Monday programming.

Monday boasted a full schedule, beginning at the Capitol Building, pausing for lunch, and meeting back up for a tour of XM Satellite. Tuesday moved to food for thought over simply food as we discussed developing countries and democracies in my weekly course; as it turns out, we Dickinsonians know the democratic peace theory like nothing else. Try pulling a fast one on us and covering only one side of the argument, and we’ll call you on it. Can’t decide if I’m more proud of that moment or of the instance of referencing Thucydides in an earlier class…. a nerdy toss-up.

Much of the aforementioned class met once again on Wednesday to visit the traveling Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the National Geographic museum, certainly worth the extracurricular time for those of us who opted in – history staring you in the face. Somewhat unfortunately, I must admit that, once again, socializing centered on food, as I found myself at yet another crêperie (Crepeaway), this time with fellow classmates.

On the whole, the DC experience thus far has been a colorful and wonderfully multi-cultural one. Though I’d have to admit to missing Dickinson a bit - and nearly had a visitor one evening, thanks to potential stranding… the visit and conversation would have been more than welcome, without a doubt, though probably for the best that the stranding remained “potential,” not actual - I’m certainly enjoying the break from campus while it lasts…. visit pending for the near future