Week 2
The adventures of Evan continue with week numero dos. By week 2, I was used to the subway, the dark, cramped quarters with the overwhelming heat and bored looking faces of the people on board. I was used to the city's downfalls, the homeless people on the sidewalks, the occasional litter, the horrible heat. I was even a bit used to being solo in a room full of people. I was already used to the bad aspects of moving from the rural parts to the Capital of the United States. Things could only go up from this point.
Judith and Christine started giving me random jobs at work: compiling information on past, previous, and future interns for the museum, filing, and scanning into the computers. I started working on a project for the Research and Scholars department, with the Taos school artists, a job I didn't fully understand, but it seemed intriguing.
This week I spent a majority of the time out and about the city. I found my one true love, a gigantic Borders bookstore, as well as my favorite restaurant for lunch, a Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown (which incidently is a block away from the Victory Building). I visited some of the places my dad and I found, such as the grocery store and the mini mall in Union Station.
As for intern activities, Judith had me take a tour of the SAAM/NPG Library. That was an adventure in itself. Those librarians are singly the most intimidating and crazy women I have ever met. They are all excessively nice to me, which I am very thankful for, but if someone messes with those books/archives/or copier, watch out, a hydra appears. The woman giving the tour of the Library is named Stephanie. She has flaming red hair, and is also revered as a woman coworkers should NOT mess with. Once again, she is very nice to me, but all the other Library people, as well as Judith and Christine, are very cautious around her. She is very no-nonsense-like.
Overall, however, the tour was very interesting. The Library has SO much information that is priceless, and amazing. Many times, I've made a trip down there and gone into the vertical files, only to resurface with an "omg I can't believe I'm actually holding this ______ " book or article or photo. I love that part.
Another activity I had the opportunity to partake in was a tour of the Library of Congress (!!). Besides being able to sleep in, as I (me boasting) live TWO blocks away from: The Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. (!!!!!!!) In case you're wondering, I love my apartment's location, it's on the Hill and in the middle of EVERYTHING. Back to the tour...I had the wonderful chance to take a tour of the Prints and Photographs collection in the Library of Congress; I went with interns from the SAAM Library, and we were all enjoying ourselves immensely. Later on we went over to the main L of C building to sneak onto a regular tour of the building. It was really amazing.
Friday, the 4th, all the Smithsonian workers and volunteers had the day off. I was invited to go to the White House for a party and lawn viewing of the Fireworks by my aunt Julie, who is the head of the Office of Public Liason for the President. The whole thing in itself was pretty cool to think about, reveling in being so close to a major power in the world. The food at the party was delicious, and the fireworks watching was a bit on the wet/security irritation side, but it was worth it to celebrate Independence day at the White House, in the capital of the USA.
As far as experiences go, this one is top notch, and I'm really looking forward to living here for the next little bit. Life's good.
Judith and Christine started giving me random jobs at work: compiling information on past, previous, and future interns for the museum, filing, and scanning into the computers. I started working on a project for the Research and Scholars department, with the Taos school artists, a job I didn't fully understand, but it seemed intriguing.
This week I spent a majority of the time out and about the city. I found my one true love, a gigantic Borders bookstore, as well as my favorite restaurant for lunch, a Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown (which incidently is a block away from the Victory Building). I visited some of the places my dad and I found, such as the grocery store and the mini mall in Union Station.
As for intern activities, Judith had me take a tour of the SAAM/NPG Library. That was an adventure in itself. Those librarians are singly the most intimidating and crazy women I have ever met. They are all excessively nice to me, which I am very thankful for, but if someone messes with those books/archives/or copier, watch out, a hydra appears. The woman giving the tour of the Library is named Stephanie. She has flaming red hair, and is also revered as a woman coworkers should NOT mess with. Once again, she is very nice to me, but all the other Library people, as well as Judith and Christine, are very cautious around her. She is very no-nonsense-like.
Overall, however, the tour was very interesting. The Library has SO much information that is priceless, and amazing. Many times, I've made a trip down there and gone into the vertical files, only to resurface with an "omg I can't believe I'm actually holding this ______ " book or article or photo. I love that part.
Another activity I had the opportunity to partake in was a tour of the Library of Congress (!!). Besides being able to sleep in, as I (me boasting) live TWO blocks away from: The Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. (!!!!!!!) In case you're wondering, I love my apartment's location, it's on the Hill and in the middle of EVERYTHING. Back to the tour...I had the wonderful chance to take a tour of the Prints and Photographs collection in the Library of Congress; I went with interns from the SAAM Library, and we were all enjoying ourselves immensely. Later on we went over to the main L of C building to sneak onto a regular tour of the building. It was really amazing.
Friday, the 4th, all the Smithsonian workers and volunteers had the day off. I was invited to go to the White House for a party and lawn viewing of the Fireworks by my aunt Julie, who is the head of the Office of Public Liason for the President. The whole thing in itself was pretty cool to think about, reveling in being so close to a major power in the world. The food at the party was delicious, and the fireworks watching was a bit on the wet/security irritation side, but it was worth it to celebrate Independence day at the White House, in the capital of the USA.
As far as experiences go, this one is top notch, and I'm really looking forward to living here for the next little bit. Life's good.
Comments are closed for this blog post
About
© 2009 Created by WonderDog on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
