General insanity, joviality, and a bit of productivity…

Those of you who may actually glance at this blog from time to time have probably gathered by the recent lack of posts that it’s been a rather busy week or so… indeed, you are correct. Spot on. If I had a prize, consider yourself winner of it. Things have been crazy!
       
The positive busyness: 

a. finished the feature article mentioned in the previous article, and the other was approached by the senior reporter who assigned it to me, informing me that I am (forgive the language) “a f***ing awesome writer” and she’s “really excited for me”… highlight of the internship this week, I’d say. Exaggeration on her part, but still appreciated. 
b. weather has been awesome! The place to be on a sunny day after work, as it turns out, is Dupont Circle, no question;  
c. in the process of researching for a paper for my course on U.S. foreign policy (and an indep. study project) and thanks to the wonder of twitter, I ran into a recent alum from Dickinson now working at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, resulting in some awesome link and info. possibilities and an equally excellent lunch at Pasara Thai…should’ve been writing the paper instead of meeting someone for lunch, but I can’t say I regret my decision!
       
There is one thing I am torn about thus far, however. Can’t decide if I enjoy having a direct view of the weather from my desk or not- on one hand, the natural light is, of course, excellent; on the other, it’s ridiculously taunting on nice days. Last Friday (as in, quite a while ago… yes, I know, I’m behind. Remedy in the process.), quite honestly, I left the apartment at 9 am, not to return until nearly 1 on Saturday afternoon. Wait wait wait… jumping to conclusions, are you? Come on now, get your mind out of the gutter.
       
After work, Medha (fellow intern) and I met in Dupont for dinner and instead wandered about, stopping at a bookstore, Larry’s for ice cream, and then to the circle to enjoy said ice cream while people watching. It is a shame I couldn’t have taken a panoramic photo; the scene was just amazing. The weather was perfect and the entire area was teeming with people enjoying the amazing start to the weekend – sitting around the fountain, listening to street performers, playing Frisbee, walking dogs, little old men engaging in or observing chess battles. Stereotype to the max, but in a wonderfully breathtaking sort of way…the beauty of the weekend and the first signs of spring. From there, it was The Burger Joint to meet some friends, back with them to generally hang around, foosball battling, and a Mexican birthday party, where I found myself needing to translate… you never know when those language skills are going to come in handy, do you?

Note a. groupie on the bench, b. IAMS for his dog observing from the sidelines, c. chess players in the background, and d.general awesomeness of this guy, from “Sympathy for the Devil” (Rolling Stones, for those of you unaware) to “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers, if I’m not mistaken). 

        
After Friday’s bout of fun winning over productivity, Saturday was a pretense at being productive, and Sunday was back to fun for a baby shower, believe it or not. Yes, I’ve only been in this city for a short time, and yes, most of my friends here are interns, not expectant mothers… and no, I’d never been to a baby shower before. However- thanks to my involvement with AID, I’ve had the chance to get to know some excellent folks, not the least of which including Sonika and Dushyant (previously featured), hostess and host of the baby shower as they prepare for a new family member later this month. Excellent conversation, excellent food (ever had laddu? Indian sweets- check it out), excellent day….excellent form of procrastination.
       
To continue the general joviality of the weekend and further put off the paper looming over my head, Medha and I headed out for a late dinner at a Malaysian restaurant near Dupont Circle, Penang, thanks very much to a wonderful little thing called Groupon. What you do: go to the website, sign up for daily emails. Result: save money but still enjoy a night on the town, compliments of “groupon” coupons to local restaurants or pretty much anything else, different deal every day. We paid $15 for $35 worth of food, reveled in 3 appetizers and 2 desserts (because who needs entrees), and caught the last Metro to our respective homes. Metro stops running at midnight on Sundays; if you ignore everything else of my babbling (which you might as well), recall this much: stand on the right side of the escalators, walk on the left, and pay attention to when they stop running!

Sooo proud of our meal choices- even the fried squid, which was a first for me. Here you see one of our two shared desserts… I’d almost feel guilty for eating it, if it weren’t so delicious.
 

One of my various talents: looking unbelievably awkward in photos (a forced invasion of my personal space bubble). Also entertaining was the result of flash emphasizing contrasting skin tones… my farmer’s tan has not yet made its appearance this year, so I seem to reflect at times. It’s a problem. 

    
Monday saw morning programming with a President's Lecture speech from the Deputy Secretary of State… which, frankly, was not nearly as interesting as I’d hoped it be. In fact, I learned nothing – though, to be fair, it was a decent reiteration of information you’re likely to already know if you’ve been following basic foreign affairs in any way. Rain, hunger, and unwillingness to return to our respective duties pushed a few other interns and me into a Corner Bakery, where we happily discussed our upcoming weekend plans for Virginia Beach (end of April). Then vague productivity in researching a paper through Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and break on Tuesday for lunch. Thank you, twitter, for enabling the extended conversation over massaman curry and fried rice – though we had mutual friends (and interests, thus the meeting), he’d graduated at the end of my freshman year and we’d never actually met. The 21st century is quite something, isn’t it?
       
Of course, it’s also enabling this lovely form of communication… with that, however, it is time for me to temporarily leave the virtual world. Will be back shortly to report on the latest weekend and the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival – happy spring!

“Helloooo, beautiful people!”

As promised, we’ll start out with an internship update. The backdrop: I’ve recently been assigned a feature story for an upcoming issue of the Washington Business Journal, to be the highlight of the technology section, thereby requiring me to get in contact with the decided company (innovators and manufacturers in northern VA… sadly, I can’t technically give away who it was!) to set up an interview. Though this sounds relatively easy, it turned out to be a heck of a challenge; really, it’s tricky to talk someone into meeting with you when they aren’t particularly outgoing. After some assistance from an insider and numerous phone calls, however, I managed to schedule an interview… and reschedule it when I came down with a bout of apparent food poisoning the night before the interview.
       
Because it was to be an on-site interview- tour of the “innovation factory” included, which was a fun little bonus – I required the use of a car to get myself there, being that I have not yet mastered the art of teleporting and, in the US, anything not a major metropolitan area is totally lacking in public transportation. Borrowing a senior reporter’s car, FYI, is a bit of a nerve-wracking situation – especially when you don’t know quite where you’re headed and are more accustomed to two-lane traffic than four and five. Still, I survived to tell the tale and had an interesting and informative visit with my interviewee, the company’s cofounder. This week: turning it into a worthy article (and working on some other nonsense, of course).
     
For the rest of the evening, I joined Jenny, a fellow Media & Comm. intern and ‘nextfloor’ neighbor (Mr. Heckles style, that is, for the Friends fans out there), for a night on the town, PG and culture/food focused. After dropping in at TWC’s International Festival (on time to catch the last two performances but, unfortunately, too late to catch the food), we opted for a double-dessert dinner, first with a trip to the great Crepes-A-Go-Go, followed up by a trip to Larry’s Ice Cream on the other side of Dupont Circle. Larry’s is apparently well-known (and deservedly so) for having amazing ice cream, as the large, personable man behind the counter will proudly inform you after a semi-creepy “Helloooo, beautiful ladies!” (old man Greek accent included) – but really, what a fantastic way to be greeted.

The building was packed by the time we got there- a great sign of success for the event, but unfortunate for our empty stomachs, which had been looking forward to an international dinner buffet.
 

I was proud to be the cause for and witness of Jenny trying her first crêpe; a very successful endeavor as a whole. It seems that I’m determined to make everyone aware of the greatness of crêpes. 

The next morning, Jenny and I met once again for a quick trip to the Old Post Office Pavilion and, the main event, to the American History Museum. As thorough museum-goers (Jenny more so than I, which is really saying something), we made it through only two full wings and a bit of a third, so a return visit will be required. The most popular exhibit there, interestingly enough: the First Ladies exhibit, featuring the inaugural ball gowns (or some other such impressive vestment) of First Ladies throughout history. What caught my attention the most, to be honest, was a sign at the end of the exhibit. “What did you think about this exhibit? Tweet your answer to @amhistorymuseum.” Hello, 21st century tourism.

The latest addition to the First Ladies exhibit, Michelle Obama’s inaugural ball gown. Must admit, I was somewhat taken aback by the level of sheer fawning over the dresses. 

     
The rest of the weekend was a relatively routine one, aside from the inebriated crowds wandering about the streets and Metro decked out in green. Saturday afternoon featured a happy return to AID meetings, with the added bonus that, as it was my third meeting, I can now officially vote as a member of the chapter! As Dushyant pointed out after picking me up, I am officially a “member of the tribe”… and, I believe, the only non-Indian member, which makes me all the more proud, quite frankly! That night and the following Sunday, when not grumbling over the loss of an hour, I spent helping Dushyant with some editing and being productive in my own right.
       
Monday: programming. In short (because really, I should get to more immediate things than blogging and I’m sure you’re all ready for me to cut the babbling), we met at TWC, formed groups, and wandered off into the city with flip cameras and instructions to interview one another about our most memorable moments thus far. Caribou Coffee for the video shooting and picker-upper, Potbelly’s for lunch, back to TWC for a bit of a fiasco in attempts to convert and edit the footage. May have to post the link later for sheer entertainment value.
       
With that, I leave you with a lovely shot of fellow interns and interviewees Medha and Jenny, clearly enjoying our lunch break. What friendly and unique people we have here, no?

A Dickinsonian Weekend

Where were we? Thursday, I believe. Well, shortly after the panel discussion, I returned to my internship to finish out a relatively normal day there, then all turned crazy. Why? Dickinson College, in a little town called Carlisle, PA…. Crazy in the best of ways, of course.

While my roommates here in DC have been bussing it back home pretty much whenever possible, my first weekend out of town was instead to visit my friends at school (presence requested for the all-college formal), just 2.5 hours north of the city. I took the Metro out to Shady Grove after whirl-wind packing, where a car-owning friend was nice enough to retrieve me… and so began the hugging.

Full disclosure: as many know, I have an issue with personal space. A big one…. as in, even more than your typical American (does that make me more British? From my understanding, they’re known for being averse to hugging, correct? haha). It actually goes so far that one friend likes to quote The Emperor’s New Groove and tease me with “There’s a wall there”… and not just in terms of literal personal space. Regardless, Thursday through late Sunday saw me the receiver of so many hugs it was nearing ridiculous, especially considering the fact that some people bestowed more than one. Don’t get me wrong, I missed them, but... arm’s length, please, as a general rule – and I have long arms.

Pause at Buffalo Wild Wings en route to campus. Left: Scott, car-owning Dickinsonian, ROTC, too proud to admit defeat by Blazin’ wings. Right: Phil, friend of Scott, not too proud to cry due to said wings…. literally. Photo taken by Danielle, entertained girlfriend of Scott.

The agenda? Very, very little. My only pre-determined plans for the trip included conversation over coffee with a prof. on Friday morning and instructions to call a friend when I got back on campus. The latter I failed to do immediately enough for his liking, apparently, as I learned later that he’d asked another friend about me, who’d asked my former roommate about me. I love being missed. This, of course, resulted in my calling at 2:30 in the morning, knowing that we were both up anyways, and, honestly, teasing on his part when he heard my only plans for the next day.

“Kate, you’re only here for the weekend, you’re not supposed to be meeting to chat with professors. You should be chatting with students!” To all who agree- very silly, you are. Interesting people are interesting people; good conversation is good conversation (even better, enlightening and entertaining). The important part is that all of the above apply, correct? Sure. And - in my own opinion, at least - it did. Matter settled, excellent beginning to the weekend.

After stopping in on two more professors (though both much more business-oriented, no-nonsense sorts of meetings, truth be told), the rest of the weekend was pretty much devoted to the “chatting with students” aspect. Continue to criticize, if you will, but much of that was actually spent in the school library, my previous (and future) place of employment and hang out, as it remains a place of employment for several friends… don’t judge, we’re surprisingly entertaining people. Bring in food, music, and conversation, and the circulation desk is a happening place.

…And in case you were judging anyways, plenty of time was spent outside of the library as well, of course. An extended battle of pool, movie watching, dance-going, poker playing, etc. Your typical weekend of very little productivity and even less sleep, quite honestly. Too many people to see, too much to catch up on - productivity was pretty much put on hold until the return trip via Greyhound.

Corinne, Morgan, and I – a roommate reunion – in our Formal garb…. Post-Formal, admittedly, as I was neither organized nor inclined enough to attend as early as they did. Instead, I arrived fashionably late after watching House and discussing the state of democracy in West Africa…. bahaha.

Kofi Agyare, perpetrator of the aforementioned lateness, fittingly displaying his Ghanaian pride. Hands down one of my closest friends on campus, and crucial link for my summer plans: internship in Ghana, during which two months I’ll be staying with his family.

Thus the weekend flew by much too quickly, and I’ve already been interrogated as to when I’ll be back on campus (relatively soon, hopefully… if not for the people, than for the scones and apple fritters). A three hour bus ride back to DC landed me around Union Station shortly after midnight, at which point a lovely car-owning TWC student retrieved me (metro stops at midnight on Sundays- be aware.), and after a bit of confusion we made our way back to Arlington without map or GPS. Needless to say, we were quite proud of ourselves.

(Former) Girl Scout’s promise, I will actually refer to my internship in some relevant capacity in my next post! Attention is rather divided, so you have to bear with me if you were hoping to hear about the latest in real estate in the greater DC area. So next time: TWC programming and event, interview (rescheduled following a slight bout of food poisoning), Association for India’s Development (woot!), and whatever other misadventures I come across. I get myself into those anywhere (yes, this is a good thing), but DC seems to welcome them whole-heartedly at times.

With that- goodbye for now, chale.*

*Multi-cultural lesson for the day: chale- roughly defined, a familiar term of endearment used between friends and such in Ghana… compliments of Kofi Agyare.

A World of Color… Holi Hai!!

Just for your reference, when you pass out in the Metro en route to work, it’s time for a break. Thankfully, this is not something I know from personal experience; rather, it is something I, unfortunately, witnessed one morning when I heard a sharp intake of breath, a dull ‘thunk,’ and realized that there was one less head in my line of sight in the Metro car.

It was one of those impressive moments in which strangers necessarily ban together to face something greater than their own differences or discomfort. Is there a doctor nearby (no), do we pull an alert to stop the train (no, we’re almost to the next stop), help him up, give him a seat (several of which were immediately vacated), how far is he going (Metro Center), has this happened before (no), has he eaten anything today (no), does he feel dizzy (resounding yes), will he go to the hospital (no)? The previously silent train car had erupted in a bustle of concerned outpourings and questions, but the young man was determined to walk it off. Sometimes you’ve just got to recognize that health and mental sanity require taking a breather.

As I was reminded last Saturday, some people already have that down pat. Experience of the week: holi, the Hindu festival of colors! I can’t say it enough- the rest of the world has been seriously missing out on an awesome celebration. While there are various legends between the festival (the one I’ve heard most being in honor of Krishna), what it comes down to is a massive and carefree celebration of life, color, and friendship… and all that good stuff. Color is everywhere- in the air, on the ground, covering your clothes and face, in your hair and ears. You name it, it’s there. What’s more, everything is fair game; step on to the streets of Kolkata on the day of holi, and you will quickly find yourself accosted by strangers with water balloons, hoses, handfuls of powder, and pretty much anything else they can get their hands on.



The video is set to the song “Mujhe Rang De” from Thakshak. The film composer for this one, A.R. Rahman, is deservingly well-known (known best to Westerns for Slumdog Millionaire, but impressive throughout Bollywood).

Proof of my partaking, though still somewhat low-key as it is halfway through my first holi experience. Shout out to Sonika and her camera phone, with a bit of screwing around to turn blur into vintage. :)

How did I find myself with green hair, a bespeckled black pea coat, and red splattered jeans and shoes? That, wonderfully enough, is compliments of the Association for India’s Development and its members, who were more than happy to reel me in for my first holi celebration. As I’ve mentioned previously, I am gradually becoming involved as an AID volunteer, inspired as a civic engagement project for TWC but continued out of sheer enjoyment and interest. Honestly, what little time I’ve spent with the AID and the experiences resulting from that have been some of my favorites thus far.

Dushyant and Sonika Sethi, AID members and fellow Arlington-residers kind enough to offer me rides to AID meetings, entertain, educate, and feed me on Saturdays, and all around awesome people. Quality conversation and multi-cultural stories and experiences - doesn’t get much better than that.

This Saturday featured a stop at Patel Brothers for “colors” (the powder used for holi celebrations… and me unaware that I’d get to see them up close and personal), the meeting at Dr. Bhagat's house in College Park, followed by “playing holi” in the yard, then joining the Sethi’s for a trip to Starbucks to meet with a potential doula and dinner at a Malaysian restaurant in DC. Yes, in that order- meaning we were still slightly color-spattered for both the meeting in Starbucks and going out to dinner. As it turns out, Washingtonians aren’t accustomed to seeing people decked out in their post-holi garb, and it results in some staring and vaguely repressed smiles. In any case, we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, from discussion of upcoming events and progress reports at the meeting to conversation over a late dinner of roti, curry, shrimp, etc.

To continue the food extravaganza, I joined Medha, a fellow Media & Comm. intern, later on in the week to take advantage of a prime deal at Zorba’s Café, a Greek restaurant near Dupont Circle. Thanks to a website called Groupon, we pulled in $40 worth of food for just $20 of our already limited funds… and I’d say we did fairly well making our way through $40 worth of tabouli salad, pita and hummus, falafel, souvlaki, and baklava. After all, one must pay due attention to various cultures, correct? Sure thing.

Medha, predisposed to documentation via photograph (especially when she realized how little I enjoy having my picture taken--thus the fruity expression), was quick to make note of our loaded table.

The next morning featured a temporary shirking of WBJ duties, cause being a panel discussion hosted by the Voice of America, “Rebuilding Haiti’s Media: The Lifeline of Development.” The program was announced through our program adviser, and I was quick to take them up on the invite. Not only was I interested for sheer interest’s sake (and not surprisingly so, as one hoping to go into journalism via international affairs and politics), but the panel discussion meshes amazingly well with my current independent study project, a required factor for my school credits while at TWC. …An excellent event, and well worth the time missed at WBJ.

The panel featured a last minute stand-in for the Ambassador of Haiti (as you can imagine, a busy fellow), the Creole Service Chief of VOA, and representatives from Internews, the US AID/Office of Transition Initiatives, and the CommGAP at the World Bank. The heads featured here are just bonus, so you feel like you’re there…. ahem.

More on that later, though, I’m sure… if you’re interested in hearing more about any of the above (planning your own holi celebration, perhaps?), let me know- I’m always up for good conversation. For now, though, it’s time to hold off on further verbosity. Next up: a weekend in Carlisle, PA. :)