Update

     Last Friday I went to the Senate Health Fair and got my bone density tested- which is good by the way! At the fair you could get blood pressure checked, hearing tested, and all sorts of other things. They also had free gym bags. 

     Today I went to a Judiciary Committee hearing regarding nominations for District Court Judges in Arizona. It was really interesting hearing everyone's successes and and how qualified they were for the potential judge position. Six candidates were nominated. I also received a tour of the Senate Library today. I officially have a library card and can check out books. The tour was really cool seeing all of the collections and books they have. 

     Tonight is the State of the Union address!! I will be watching it and following along with the transcript online. The news channels have been covering it for the last two days and its been so exciting. 

Em

     

Snow

     Well my nice 55 degree weather has disappeared. It started snowing on Tuesday around 11am. Although apparently DC is not as tough with the snow because at 7am on Tuesday all federal offices were shut down due to potential snow. Wednesday all federal offices started two hours late so I didn't have to go to work until 11am. Waiting to see if I had work or not was like waiting for snow days in high school!

     The office has been pretty slow this week because the Senate is in recess so there have not been any committee hearings but this will change next week when they are back in session. Although it is March for Life week in DC so there have been tons of students going into other Senate offices getting tours of the Capitol so the visitor traffic in the buildings has been pretty heavy.

Em

The Weekend

     So the last couple days have been pretty chill. Friday I walked around the Capitol in the afternoon to get acquainted so I can start giving tours sometime soon. Saturday I just worked on some of my homework.

     On Sunday my roommates and I went to Eastern Market. It is an 18th Century Farmer's Market. There are tons of different vendors and there are some flea market vendors too. This time of year most of the flea market stuff was old furniture and handmade scarves or other winter items such as hats. I bought some homemade mini donuts there. There is a bookstore that has 3 floors and just has so many books! It is a maze inside the store trying to find your way around and they have books on every single subject.

     I swear that everyone in DC exercises 24/7. Everyone is either running or walking their dogs. Well today I joined the club! I went on a run around the Capitol and surrounding buildings. It was 50 degrees but it is supposed to be 25 on Wednesday.

Em

Out for a run

Brumidi Corridors of the Capitol

Capitol Rotunda

Bookstore at Eastern Market

Excitement!!

     So today was pretty exciting!! I have been assigned to work on archiving some of the Senator's material, (cassettes, vcr, papers) since his office will be closing at the end of the year because he is retiring. I am so excited to help archive the material because I just love archiving and being in archives!!

     Also today I was in the Capitol working on getting used to things so I can start giving Capitol tours and the Speaker of the House-John Boehner walked through the room and looked at me and gave me the head nod!!! Obviously I gave him a head nod back because that's how I say hi to people. It was so exciting!!! I was within touching distance but he had security and staff with him. It was a pretty eventful day!!

Em

Loving that DC Weather

     Well so far since the last time I posted it hasn't been as eventful as my first day at work. This past weekend it downpoured all day Saturday and we were in a flood watch but it was nice out on Sunday. My roommates and I went grocery shopping walked around our neighborhood. So far its been about 45-55 degrees everyday which is way better than Iowa. I even saw a car with Iowa license plates from Blackhawk county!!

     Yesterday at work I learned how to answer the phones in the front office since I have to sit there everyday and cover for one of the reception people while they are at lunch. I also learned how to sort the mail and who it gets delivered to so that's just super exciting. The ag people assigned me to work on a piece of legislation dealing with horse racing and respond to constituents.

     Today I learned some more of the office tasks I will be doing and this afternoon I sat in on a Judiciary Committee hearing. I felt pretty cool sitting in a room with Chuck Grassley, Ted Cruz, Patrick Leahy, and Diane Feinstein! Tomorrow I start my Capitol tour training.

Em

The First Day

     Well today I started as an intern and it was so much fun! I never expected our offices to be so cool. It is a two story office inside the Hart Senate building but from the outside you would never know.The intern cubicle is on the second floor and we all have our own computer and email and such. I also got a tour of all three Senate buildings and the Capitol. I never realized how much was in the buildings. There are eating places, dry cleaners, post offices, hair cutting place, chaplain, gift stores, and so much more. I also got to see inside a committee hearing room. On the tour of the Capitol I saw some of the same things that I had seen on previous trips to DC but I also was able to see so much more. As an intern our tours for constituents go so much more in depth than the Capitol visitor center provides. One other intern started today with me she graduated from SDSU in May. There is another intern there but he leaves in 3 weeks he has already been there for 6 weeks and is from Massachusetts. A part time intern starts on Tuesday. I can go to briefings or committee hearings whenever I want as long as at least one intern stays in the office. My ID gets me into so many places it's so awesome!!!

     It was freezing rain this morning when I left for work and had warmed up to rain when I left tonight. Surprisingly, brick sidewalks are way slipperier than cement ones. I almost fell like 4 times until I hit cement sidewalks right before the Senate building.

Em

Intern ID badge

Let the Adventure Begin.

     Well I arrived safely to DC yesterday after flying from Des Moines to Minneapolis. My three wheely bags and I made it to a taxi driven by a Jamaican man- he was quite interesting.  I successfully moved into my one bedroom apartment with two others. I was the last to move in so I got the top bunk which is fine by me because I still get excited about sleeping on the top bunk. Our room is small, having a twin bed and a bunk bed, but the kitchen and living space seem to be just right for us. We are all using a coat closet or the closet in the bedroom so we can have our own closet for clothes. We each have four dresser drawers. On of my roommates in interning in the American History Smithsonian Museum-she interned there last semester too just in a different part, so she knows the ropes of DC by now. My other roommate in interning for the other South Dakota senator-Senator John Thune.

     Today I decided to take the metro to Target to get some items that I hadn't packed with me. The metro was soooo not as hard as I thought it would be, the smell while waiting for the metro is kind of gross (it's like a mix of gas, grease, and heat) but it was an interesting experience for sure. The Target was in a large building on the second floor and the target itself has two floors! They had escalators for you to put your cart in to get to the upper floor! So far the taxi driver and sales people at Target really just like to talk to me and tell me about their lives or complain.

     Our neighborhood and what I saw today walking to the metro station is really pretty with old historic townhouses right next to each other. Everyone seems to walk or ride a bike to a lot of things and I saw a lot of people running today as it was 40 degrees. Cars are everywhere and I hear them honking or sirens going occasionally but it is all part of the experience.

     Tomorrow I start work but I am guessing it will just be paperwork and getting tours and the feel of things. I hope to explore more this weekend.

Em

My three bags

Living room

bedroom

bedroom

Waiting for metro

Kitchen and hallway to bathroom

One of the views outside my apt