Are we really already halfway done?

Whew! What a hectic few weeks: broken governments, broken garbage disposals, and broken hearts when we saw our midterm grades. I guess I’ll start where I left off last!

A few weeks ago, we went bowling with some students from Boston University who are doing the same kind of program we are – internships with classes. Their program didn’t seem as structured – many were working at random places instead of places focused on their major. I’m grateful we have such a great support team in the DC office which made sure we found relevant internships. Bowling was fun! We went to Lucky Strike in Chinatown, and Javier totally beat everyone. The whole venue had a really neat vibe.

We were blessed with another “Slice of Advice” from Adam Anthony. This one talked about writing professionally and communicating effectively. These skills can seriously set you apart from other interns. It’s surprising how many brilliant people in the workforce can sometimes forget the simple rules of communication. It’s important to get a friend or co-worker to look over stuff – they see the mistakes that you don’t.

A highlight of the past few weeks was getting our well deserved dinner on the DC office as a reward for winning the scavenger hunt. After much deliberation, my group decided on the Daily Grill in Dupont Circle because it had something everyone liked. We got fantastic appetizers of onion rings in blue cheese, popcorn shrimp, and spinach artichoke dip. For the main meal, everyone got fish, and I got a burger. We splurged on chocolate cake and banana cream pie for dessert. All the hard work of meandering around DC for hours paid off!

A few weekends ago we went apple picking at Stribling Orchard in Markham. They gave us a long stick with a basket on the end to grab the out-of-reach apples. There were rows and rows of them, and many different kinds. I think we cheated a little by nibbling as we picked, fresh off the branch. It was very refreshing to be out of the city. The orchard had a bake shop where you could buy apple cider, all kinds of jams, and lots of apple pastries. I got some raisin bread stuffed with apples. The smell was irresistible!

October 1^st marked the beginning of the government shutdown, in which about half of the DC program was furloughed. At first it was enjoyable – finally they had time to study for our upcoming midterms. But as the days dragged on, I think many of them started to go a little crazy. As for the rest of us, our lives remained largely unchanged. I didn’t go to meetings on the Hill, and the Metro was less crowded. There was a general haze of dismay over the city. But life went on.

We got the honor of being invited to the alumni event at the Italian Embassy. It was fun getting dressed up, and the venue was beautiful. The highlight was being able to talk to the alumni – they’ve all done so many cool things with their lives, and they are so ready to be a mentor and a guide. I left thinking about all the possibilities ahead. It’s a little terrifying all the paths you can take. And there’s no special formula to get where you want to go. I’ve learned that it’s not a straight shot – you have to take little steps in uncertain directions until you finally have fine-tuned where you want to end up. But as The Beatles said, “there’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be”.

We have crossed the half-way point for this semester. We met with Javier and Roxane for mid-semester check-ins, and they will meet with our bosses to make sure everything is still running smoothly in the office. We had our midterm exams, which were… well we just won’t talk about that. Then we had Fall Break, which is kind of just another weekend since we work and can’t really take off. The furloughed kids were off anyways, and a few people who were supposed to work took off.

Two good friends of mine came in from Williamsburg for the weekend. We got empanadas from Julie’s (recommended by the DC office). On Saturday morning we made apple pie from the apples from the orchard, then went shopping and walking in Georgetown. On Sunday, we ventured out to the Taste of DC festival, where a bunch of DC restaurants came together to showcase their dishes. My favorite was an ice cream sandwich out of a trailer called Cookie Monster – you got to pick the cookies and the ice cream in between. I took off of work on Monday, but convinced my friends to go to an event for libertarian youth that my office was holding.

This Sunday, Roma got a group of us to go to a pumpkin festival in Maryland. They had a hayride where the tractor took you out to the field to pick your own pumpkins. There was also a petting zoo, a corn maze, a big slide, and lots of yummy fall-ish food. It was great to be outside, especially on such a beautiful day with the leaves changing colors. We looked a little old to be there, but let our inner child shine. Sunday night we held a potluck to eat (as my boyfriend would say) “all the yums”. Our chef on hand, Chris, made fantastic homemade mac and cheese – the perfect snack to take on a new week!