Week 1
My first impression when arriving in DC was the heat, and the waves of moisture in the air that took my breathe away. When my dad and I arrived into DC, it was already late in the evening; the city was quiet. We caught a taxi from Ronald Reagan to the hotel at which we were staying, then immediately headed for the first Irish pub we could find. After being stopped, carded, and watched by beady eyes through the restaurant, my dad and I managed to find a table and order the least healthy grub on the menu. My first meal in the city consisted of a reuben sandwich and fries, and a hearty helping of non-alcoholic drinks.
The next few days seemed to speed by. When it came time to move into my apartment, we walked over from the hotel and spent a good hour waiting for the keys to magically appear in the WISH program's mailbox. Finally we gave up, and headed over to the apartment. The RA of the intern dorms, a man named Isaac Newton, came to meet us at the entrance of the building; his head completely bandaged and the visible side of his face a bit scratched. He had been playing soccer and jumped a fence to get the ball, landing on his head on the pavement instead. He showed me to my apartment, and introduced me to one of my roommates, Alexa. My other roommate wouldn't appear for another two days.
As for my room, one word: TINY. It is very cramped quarters with three girls, two bunk-beds (guess who's on top!) one bathroom, and one itybity refrigerator. I've lived in dorms before, but my previous experience I was spoiled rotten with my own room to myself and a cleaning lady. To top it all off, I later discovered my DC room housed absolutely no cleaning utencils. YUCK! And, both my roommates are early to bed early to rise kinda people. (I'm the late to bed, lucky to rise and not fall out of my bunk type)
Come Monday morning, I managed to meet my other roommate, (whose name I'm sorry to report is Korean, and therefore INCREDIBLY impossible to remember when I have a hard time with names to begin with) as well as get comfortable with my transportation needs (the Metro, a hot steamy deathtrap full of stinky, sweaty work people just trying to get to and from where ever). I met with my dad at 8 o'clock sharp, and we made our way to the "Victor Building", the highrise office building for Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and National Portrait Gallery (NPG) workers.
After being harassed thoroughly by the security officers, and escorted by one fierce looking female officer, my dad and I managed to make it to the the "Research & Scholars" department, where I will spend the next six weeks interning. My bosses, Judith Hollomon, and Christine Hennessee, are both wonderfully nice women, and I instantly felt relieved of the "mean boss" anxiety I'd been holding in the pit of my stomach. As soon as I'd arrived, however, Judith had my dad and I sprinting off elsewhere to finalize my intern needs.
We spent the better half of Monday running all over DC, going to the Castle (the signature Smithsonian building) and then back in the other direction; all for my security badge. By the end of the day, I was totally exhausted and mentally drained.
My dad left on Tuesday, leaving me to fend for myself for the first time in a long time. The rest of the week passed by slowly; I viewed many of the interns, since Judith is the head of the SAAM/NPG interns, but I didn't meet many new people. I had the opportunity all the interns have of getting VIP access into Smithsonian museum before or after hours, which I took advantage of completely. Some of the activities I took part in were the Intern Icecream Social and a tour of the Renwick Gallery, as well as an IMAX film called "Galapagos". It was all very exciting, new, foreign, and mentally taxing.
By the end of the week I was just ready to curl up on my dirty couch in the apartment and get ready for the adventures in front of me. Which was exactly what I did!
The next few days seemed to speed by. When it came time to move into my apartment, we walked over from the hotel and spent a good hour waiting for the keys to magically appear in the WISH program's mailbox. Finally we gave up, and headed over to the apartment. The RA of the intern dorms, a man named Isaac Newton, came to meet us at the entrance of the building; his head completely bandaged and the visible side of his face a bit scratched. He had been playing soccer and jumped a fence to get the ball, landing on his head on the pavement instead. He showed me to my apartment, and introduced me to one of my roommates, Alexa. My other roommate wouldn't appear for another two days.
As for my room, one word: TINY. It is very cramped quarters with three girls, two bunk-beds (guess who's on top!) one bathroom, and one itybity refrigerator. I've lived in dorms before, but my previous experience I was spoiled rotten with my own room to myself and a cleaning lady. To top it all off, I later discovered my DC room housed absolutely no cleaning utencils. YUCK! And, both my roommates are early to bed early to rise kinda people. (I'm the late to bed, lucky to rise and not fall out of my bunk type)
Come Monday morning, I managed to meet my other roommate, (whose name I'm sorry to report is Korean, and therefore INCREDIBLY impossible to remember when I have a hard time with names to begin with) as well as get comfortable with my transportation needs (the Metro, a hot steamy deathtrap full of stinky, sweaty work people just trying to get to and from where ever). I met with my dad at 8 o'clock sharp, and we made our way to the "Victor Building", the highrise office building for Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and National Portrait Gallery (NPG) workers.
After being harassed thoroughly by the security officers, and escorted by one fierce looking female officer, my dad and I managed to make it to the the "Research & Scholars" department, where I will spend the next six weeks interning. My bosses, Judith Hollomon, and Christine Hennessee, are both wonderfully nice women, and I instantly felt relieved of the "mean boss" anxiety I'd been holding in the pit of my stomach. As soon as I'd arrived, however, Judith had my dad and I sprinting off elsewhere to finalize my intern needs.
We spent the better half of Monday running all over DC, going to the Castle (the signature Smithsonian building) and then back in the other direction; all for my security badge. By the end of the day, I was totally exhausted and mentally drained.
My dad left on Tuesday, leaving me to fend for myself for the first time in a long time. The rest of the week passed by slowly; I viewed many of the interns, since Judith is the head of the SAAM/NPG interns, but I didn't meet many new people. I had the opportunity all the interns have of getting VIP access into Smithsonian museum before or after hours, which I took advantage of completely. Some of the activities I took part in were the Intern Icecream Social and a tour of the Renwick Gallery, as well as an IMAX film called "Galapagos". It was all very exciting, new, foreign, and mentally taxing.
By the end of the week I was just ready to curl up on my dirty couch in the apartment and get ready for the adventures in front of me. Which was exactly what I did!
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