This summer I will be in Washington, D.C. doing an internship at the National Air and Space Museum. Come with me on my big adventure!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Who loves the sun? Not my pale arms.




I've had an interesting couple of days to say the least. Leaving was really difficult because I've never been away from home for this long, or this far away. Plus, we just home-diagnosed Sir Walter Scout with doggie depression that was cured when I moved back home, just in time for me to leave again. Poor little chunky! I left Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. with my 49 pound suitcase, a scared tummy and sad brain. After landing, choking on wet air, and feeling like an infant forced to babysit itself, I HAILED MY OWN TAXI. This was a big step for this little baby. My taxi ride that I dreaded was not so terrible and I made it safely to my apartment, which I wasn't so sure was going to happen at the time due to the fact that my Islamic taxi driver was watching video footage of Osama Bin Laden on his Ipod while driving.

That first day was pretty much a shit storm. (Wait, my family is probably reading this!) I arrived at the empty apartment, not knowing where to even put my stuff because of all the random bras and laundry scattered on the empty beds. I was also severely disappointed in the apartment itself. My bed is squeaky, the furniture is depressing, the pool is scummy, and it looks nothing like the deceivingly beautiful pictures of the apartment online. Also, my roommates support the Tea Party, hang up inspirational quotes like "If you can dream it, you can do it," watch Finding Faith in Christ together, and eat nothing but jam and deli slices. WASN'T I SUPPOSED TO BE SURROUNDED BY AWESOMENESS? Needless to say, I was a very grumpy person that first day. I think I called my dad and David a million times, and also talked to my older sisters. Everyone back home has been very supportive!

Yesterday was slightly better, except I found out the water here is disgusting and my skin hates being outside (I usually figure this out every summer around this time of year.) I rode the metro by myself and landed in the middle of the National Mall. I got to see where I'll be working, which is by far one of the most impressive museums of all time, and then I ventured to the National Gallery of Art, the Native American Museum (who didn't give me an internship even though I'm 1/64th Cherokee! Bitches!), the Capital Building, the National Monument (so phallic!), and the Lincoln Memorial. It felt so weird and unreal. It was hard to be around families, tour groups, and couples because it reminded me of how alone I feel. After taking the metro back to my apartment, which I will now refer to as either I'm Paying $650 a Month for This? or Dumpy Plaza, I was shown the grocery store which didn't accept my debit card, and a place to buy bedding. Those scratchy sheets I slept on previously that were left by former inhabitants gave me nightmares!

Today was a major improvement. I slept in a little, almost passed out in the kitchen, felt like giving up, found the Tea Party book on the table, almost felt like hulk-punching that book and/or burning it, and decided to get out of the apartment before I did something questionable to the inspirational phrases on the wall. I went to see the Smithsonian's American art gallery and portrait museum and ended up spending hours there! I wish I could go through and describe to you all of the things I saw and learned. I then ventured to the archives and waited in a huge line, got sprayed by some sprinklers, looked at some old faded papers, and generally got my mind blown. Again, I would describe to you everything I saw, but that would take forever.

I'm still a little shell shocked and scared of what I'm doing here, but hopefully next week will be better once I start working and getting used to the humidity, the boring nature of my roommates, my squeaky bed, and not knowing anyone. Most people would love this type of freedom. I could literally do anything I wanted right now, and nobody would know! However, I'm realizing how disciplined I can be. Maybe I am going to learn a lot about myself this summer. We'll see how things progress.

1 comment:

  1. i'm picturing ham roll-ups but with jam instead of cheese. like, slice of ham, spread with jam, roll it up.

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