I'm BACK!

I have no excuse for not blogging, other than I've been in bed by 8 PM every night these past few days, and this blog always seems to fall by the wayside. So we have a lot of catching up to do!

Since my last post, I've done all kinds of cool things, and this week is only going to get better because my parents are coming to DC and brining Tracey and Caro! So I'm pretty dang excited about that. And I'm going home with them, which means, first and foremost, a home cooked meal!!!! It also means church, seeing my puppies, making a trip to Mamaw's (which also includes seeing Sawyer), and many more exciting things. So let me start from the beginning and detail everything.

I am still in school, which means I'm still researching and writing papers. I have a class on Jews in the Middle Ages, and I'm writing a paper on the reasons for medieval anti-Semitism (I KNOW this excites you!!), so I had to find a library full of books for me to use. That library happened to be about 12 metro stops away, which was no fun, but I got all my research done, and I'm ready to write. My entire campus could fit in the first floor of this library. It was HUGE! And scary. And a fire alarm went off the entire time I was there, but everyone just ignored it. Hello, what if it wasn't a drill?! So anyways, I was there for hours typing out entire paragraphs from books; paragraphs I may or may not even need. That's the not-so fun part about researching, especially when you only have a day to do it. I had to basically find everything I would possibly need. By the end of it, I was just writing words to sum up passages. I'm really quite good at winging it, though, so I will manage.

I also toured the Capitol building since my last post. The museum tries to provide a lot of enrichment activities for interns to make up for the fact that the internships are unpaid. They usually do two a semester, but we are in busy season, so they could only fit in one for this group. However, touring the Capitol building worked for me! Before the tour actually starts, they take you in this huge auditorium for a video that is super patriotic. If you go in hating America, you will come out ready to die for her. Seriously, the video was so amazing. As someone who, you know, kind of holds a grudge against everything America stands for, I was swelling with pride when I left that auditorium. But that's another story.

We got a special tour guide because Jordan, who is in charge of enrichment activities, seriously knows everyone. He can pull strings like no one's business. We saw all kinds of different chambers where meetings were going on. We also got to sit in the balcony of the Senate. John McCain was there talking on aid to Syria. Interestingly, not one other Senator was there to listen. It kind of peeved me off. And people, like assistants or interns or whatever, were walking up and down the aisles handing out papers and stuff. It was kind of disrespectful, but I guess I don't understand the world of politics. The cards to sit in the balconies of the Senate and House are good until the next election, so I am planning to take Dad, Mom, Tracey, and Caro there when they come in a few days.

Work has been nothing but crazy. We are officially in busy season, and most days I leave work feeling like a hundred kids have just punched me all over my body. I can't really describe it. Being an adult is so exhausting. I will say, however, that a TN accent gets visitors to shut up real quick and listen. I've had to bring out my attitude a couple times, though. For example, the other day, this tour guide came up with his group all ready to go. He knew I was new because he comes to the museum all the time. I told him to get his kids in a single file line and he said he knows, he's been here a million times, they're already lined up, blah blah blah. BUT they were clearly not lined up. So I went down the line and told them again. And then again. And finally I just started yelling "I AM NOT GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN. IF THIS LINE IS NOT SINGLE FILE WHEN I COME BACK HERE THE NEXT TIME, WE WILL STAND OUTSIDE IN THIS COLD WEATHER UNTIL YOU GUYS WANT TO COOPERATE WITH ME." And then I proceeded to tell him we weren't going inside until he lined his kids up. And then things were dandy. You would be surprised how hard it is to get any age group in a single file line. Even if they are 30 year old grad students. They just don't understand the concept. BUT I love my job. These bad moments are very rare. Mostly, people are so friendly and so helpful. But a bad egg can ruin the entire day.

Usually, us interns do tourist things on Tuesday since we all have off. This Tuesday, some of us visited the Postal Museum. It was a really, really cool museum. I'm not even really that interested in the history of the post office, and I still enjoyed it. I collected free postcards throughout the exhibits, and I'm going to send them to Adam. However, I apparently missed the highlights of the exhibits. I tend to whiz through museums unless they're super interesting, and I whizzed through this one. They have a stuffed dog, the mascot of the postal system, just hanging out in one of the exhibits, and I missed him! It's the real life dog that was used to years to amp up support for the post office. How crazy! Now he's just chilling in the Postal Museum in DC.

My other two days off are usually spent reading. I think I've read 6 books these past few weeks, and I'm on number 7 at the moment. I know six books doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't read a book for fun in my entire four years of college, so now to have read six in a few weeks- I'm psyched. I'm trying so hard not to buy books at the museum gift shop, but it's so dang hard. It's like I've died and gone to Heaven every time I walk in that place.

The biggest thing I'm learning while in DC is being a grown up is HARD! I don't understand how my mom works 12 hours, and then when she gets off, she goes grocery shopping, picks us up food or cooks for us when she gets home, sometimes goes to church, runs errands. Like, seriously, how does she do it?! It is all I can do to make the commute back home. Once I'm here, forget about cooking. I usually either collapse and go right to sleep without eating dinner, or I eat something super fast. I've become quite fond of jelly sandwiches.

I guess that's all for now. I'm so, so, so excited to be home in a few days, even if it's only for a week. Then I'll be back in DC until May 1, and then it's time to graduate!! FROM COLLEGE. Where did the time go?!

Forgive Me...

Forgive me for lack of updates Mamaw - my faithful reader. Things have been either super hectic or so dead. Either way, I've not had time to update or had nothing to say. But alas, all things come to an end.

Today marked the third day in my four day stretch of working. And MAN were we busy. I was introduced to handing out tickets today, so I got to stand at the front of the line and ask people how many tickets they wanted. My hands were kind of cold so it's hard to rip them, but I managed. We ran out of tickets today at about 3:30, so a fairly good day.

My favorite position to work, by far, is Groups or 15 Alpha. The Groups person is in charge of the orientation for registered groups. These are usually 40+ people. It's not very difficult at the moment, but I'm told it gets much more complicated as busy season kicks in. The Groups person gets to take the group down to the elevator lobby on the lower level and give them an orientation. I like it because my teacher voice gets to come out. Also, I get to say whatever I feel is important, so I can point out things in the museum that I feel are interesting, unique, or important to see. For young kids, it's a good chance to jump on their "I can save the world" mentality. I always tell them to stop at a separate exhibition on the 2nd floor about modern day genocide, where they can write a pledge for how they will help end such injustice. It's a good note to hit because enough is certainly not being done for people around the world who are experiencing some of the same horrors as victims in the Holocaust. It's important for kids to know that they can change the world (at least I think it is).

The other position I really like to work is 15 Alpha. The museum has an entrance on 14th St and 15th St. All registered groups come through the entrance on 15th St, so 15th Alpha is in charge of checking the group in (which consists of confirmation email/reservation, contact number, number of adults, and number of kids). I also like this position because I can use my teacher voice. Single file line means single file, dang it, and I just stand there til they comply. And you always run into kids wanting to pile into the revolving door instead of separating one person per space. I like dealing with kids, so I like 15 Alpha. 14 Alpha is a lot of the same thing talking wise, but it's just regular visitors, and they always think they know what is going on. No fun.

Today, I walked home in the sunshine! I was so excited. Usually, I get off work, and by the time I get to my stop in Silver Spring, it is dark. This makes me dread the walk home, cooking, getting ready for bed, etc. So usually I end up stopping at the McDonalds right beside the station or walking down to one of the restaurants Downtown. But today there was sun (not to mention it was warm all day) so I made it home happy as a coon. And I arrived to find out that my landlord had made dinner, so I don't even have to cook. Bam!

Also, I was walking home today and saw the same homeless guy on the sidewalk that is always, always, always asking for a quarter. So as I passed him, I stopped and asked him what he wanted money for, food? And he said he had just ate at the local church. So I said then why do you want money, and he said he needed socks, deodorant, and other hygiene things. So I took him to CVS where he bought deodorant, mouthwash, and foot powder. Good deed of the day I suppose.

That's all for now! Love.

Catch-Up!

Okay, I have three days to explain, but I don't have much time because I have a paper due tomorrow. So this will be short and sweet.

Saturday, I seriously planned to do homework all day. Instead, I went to a Finnish play with my landlord and one of her friends. My landlord is a crazy pants- in the best way possible. She is always making sure I have enough clothes on, am I cold?, am I eating enough?, am I bored?, am I comfortable? yada yada yada. Like my mom, but annoying at times (No Mom, you're not annoying).

So anyway, we went to a Finnish play in the Kennedy Center that is part of a series called Nordic Cool. The play was in Finnish, so I obviously had no clue what was going on. But it was just neat to experience it. Next week there is a Swedish play, but I think I will have to work when it's on. That's about all I did Saturday.

Sunday, I went to the Natural History Museum with Sam and Krist, two other interns. We stayed there for a few hours, where I saw the evolution of the sloth. Sloths used to seriously be HUGE. Like it's rib bone was bigger than me. I would crap my pants if that's how big they were today. I also saw a bunch of scary sea creatures that live on the bottom of the ocean. There really is a fish that has one of those lightbulb things on its head that it sucks in its mouth. We also went to a place called Tonic, where I ate the best tater tots of my life accompanied by mac n cheese with bbq pulled pork and onions. Food of the gods y'all. Then I had to come home and finish some homework super fast.

That brings us to Monday. Today was my first day being at the museum alone. I'm the only intern who works on Monday. I was nervous- so, so, so, sooo nervous. But things went very well. Everyone is so super helpful. There was a group from Lexington there today. It's so cool when things like that happen. I directed nine million people to the bathroom, but hey, I don't care. I love it. I also got to close Daniel's Story, which just reopened, so I got to see the exhibit pretty brand spanking new since it just got refurbished. It was a great day! Plus I got my burgundy blazer today, so I'm pretty dang happy about that.

That's all I have for today. I must go and do more homework.

Last Day of "Training"

Officially, today was the last day of intern training. We are now officially on the schedule, manning position, closing things down, etc. It is quite exciting. My body is also officially used to the constant moving, walking on concrete, up and down stairs, etc. My feet aren't hurting, and I'm not utterly exhausted. I'm tired, don't get me wrong, but I'm definitely managing. 

From 8:45-11:30 we were trained on handing out passes and everything that goes along with that. After lunch we met with Manny Mandel, a Holocaust survivor, for just a short presentation on his experience, and then we were up on the floor closing. The day was hectic but amazing, but I'm sure you all expect that by now. 

Busy season started today, so now visitors have to have a ticket to get into the PE. They can still come in the museum and visit the smaller exhibits, but the PE is not open to visitors without a ticket. Although today was the kick off, we didn't run out of tickets, so things went smoothly. When it starts actually getting busier, we will get rid of tickets by 11:00 AM for the entire day, so we will have to deal with visitors who are mad about not being able to get into the PE. 

The pass system is complicated when it is explained. The museum is super busy from March-May, and this year is the 20th anniversary, so it is even busier. The PE is obviously are biggest exhibit and the one everyone wants to see. Unfortunately, it is not wide enough or lit up enough to accommodate everyone. There are about 900 tickets online that people can reserved (those are already all reserved through May). We hand out 1850 passes outside. People start lining up as early as like 7:30, and sometimes the line is miles long. They once handed out all 1850 passes within seventeen minutes. WOW! Once tickets are gone, they're gone. A person can get up to 20 tickets. Tickets have a one hour window of time when they can be used. If you have a 10-11 ticket, you have to be in the PE by 11 or your ticket is void. This is to keep people from getting tickets then leaving and everyone returning all at once. We have tickets for federal employees, veterans, survivors, liberators, cops, military, fire fighters, etc. that are not timed. Those visitors can go in the exhibit anytime they want. However, they still have to wait in the security line no matter how long it is. Museum staff can also get these VIP tickets, so if anyone is wanting to visit the museum while I'm up here I can get you in! Important note: the time slot you are given does not mean you have to be in and out within that hour. It just means you have to be in the PE within that time. Once youre in, you can stay until we close. Up to you. It is still good to come in the museum even if you can't get into the PE because we have all kinds of things going on everywhere else. But enough about logistics. 

I froze my ass off standing in the cold telling people to form a line, get ready for security, take cameras/phones/electronic devices out of their pockets, please form a single file line, repeat, repeat, repeat. It was torture simply because it was FREEZING today. And the wind was blowing which made it even worse. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Good news: we got an early lunch today. YAY! 

Lunch is pretty much the best hour of the day. All of us interns have lunch together so we talk about utter nonsense for an hour, eat candy, talk about how confused we are, eat more candy, plan out trips, make fun of my 12 year old self, eat candy. It's mostly me eating candy, but if it's there it's fair game so I just help myself. We are all visiting the Smithsonian Sunday since we are off the next two days! I get to sleep in tomorrow. I am so beyond excited. No alarm will be set for this girl. I also made a super cool intern page for the six of us. Also, the 6th intern joined the group today. I would die if I was him because everything is being thrown at him at once. He also lives in Silver Spring, so now I have someone to ride the metro with and talk to on the ride home. 

The most important thing that happened today was meeting Manny. Manny was born in 1936, so he was fairly young when the Holocaust was taking place. Also, Manny is Hungarian, and the Nazis did not invade Hungary until 1944. Manny was one of the few Jews who was able to get out of Hungary and avoid deportation to Auschwitz. He and his mother lived in Palestine then eventually moved to the US in 1949 along with his father. His father was a slave laborer during the Holocaust, and he located them after the war. Manny was so unbelievably funny. I could have talked to him for hours, but unfortunately we did not have the time. We had extra time later in the afternoon, so we all headed up to the info desk and hung out with him for about an hour. He talked to entire time, and I could have kept talking to him the rest of the night. Museum staff have said that most of the survivors are that way; they will talk your head off. I am of course perfectly fine with that because I am in awe of them all! 

I think that is all I have for today. I actually am not completely exhausted today, so I am going to watch Netflix for a few hours before I head to bed. I do plan to sleep most of the day tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be super boring on my end, so don't look for an update. I will try to write again on Sunday about my sight seeing adventures.