Friday
So I know you are all wondering about the subway… when I arrived at my stop on Friday morning, the power was indeed out… so there were hundreds of people roaming in the dark trying to find their way out of the subway. All in all, not the best week to be a commuter, BUT it gives you something to talk about work, so that is beyond exciting for me.
Work- so happy to be done with data collected. Excited about working on the project. I spent Friday making my maps pretty. It’s fun if you’re a dork.
After work on Friday I went with Melissa to meet her husband for his law firm’s party. Single lawyers are the most shameless people of all time- gross. I left, came home, showered, and still felt oogie. There are just times in your life when you don’t want boys to talk to you. This is one. Did I mention they were icky lawyers??? Haha. Sometimes stereo-types are created because they are true.
This Week in Food
On Saturday I went to China Town, mmmm good food from Burma (yeah I know what you’re thinking they also had Indian food, Korean food, etc.) I don’t know the name of what I ate… lots of consenants… but it was delightful =) First there were these puff pastries with meat and spices inside. I’m from Louisiana so my family will get this… it’s like a meat pie. Then, for the main course I had skinny asian noodles with chicken and tariyaki and really FRESH herbs and seasoning… it was awesome. I remember the dish being a three word name and one being “ew” but it was good anyway 
Last night was intern/advisor happy hour so I had the same delightful pizza as last week. Puffy crust, not to doughy, just the right amount of crispy deliciousness… ham, mushrooms, fresh basil. Yummy. Even fresh tomatoes despite the fact that they appear to be banned everywhere else in the city.
Sometimes on my lunch break I can’t handle being inside the office anymore (it’s probably more that I can’t handle the lack of sun and the overwhelming presence of people) so I walk. The White House is only a few blocks away (6 to be exact) so I pick up food on the way, stroll over, plop down on a park bench and eat. I like to people watch there… tourists are interesting. It’s like they don’t know they look like tourists… but here’s a clue… an entire family, hanging out together in the middle of the work week, wearing matching shirts, and the Dad has on jorts (jean shorts) with white socks and sneakers. Definitely tourists. The Mom ALWAYS has the biggest metro map you can find and unfolds it on the metro (even though there is one hanging on the wall of the metro car). The kids are sending text messages on their cell phones and generally looking miserable. Yeah, they’re easy to spot. Oh well, the point is… I walked by a sandwich place and got a Bourbon Chicken Sandwish the other day… it was awesome.
The Happenings…
I got my hair cut yesterday- it’s awesome. All bouncy and nice. It won’t look like that again until the next haircut… why is that?
I found a cook book devoted solely to bacon- that’s just for you Riley. Also, congrats to Riley and Carmen- they just got married! Yay! =)
There was a data collection portion of my internship that had to be completed before I could start to do my work. I finished it today! This is very exciting because that means I no longer have to spend hours a day on the phone with county officials from various states. Get excited! So tomorrow starts my first real day of my project… and miraculously this will become a paper in a few weeks. I’m still skeptical.
I have big plans for the weekend… tomorrow is a big day (for fun, not work, except that it’s my 8 hour day instead of my regular 9 hours). I think I’ve mentioned that the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center has free performances at 6pm everyday. Tomorrow is Zydeco music, which would be fun in and of itself (because the man is actually from Louisiana, thus he is not a “zydeco poser”) but the Kennedy Center decided that entertaining you and expanding your mind for free just wasn’t enough… so at 5:30 they are teaching Zydeco dancing. I do not know what this entails, but it sounds awesome, and I’m sure I’ll write about it and let you know. The second round of awesomeness involves my friend Melissa. She and her husband both went to Cornell, so we share that… also they are the funniest people ever. She is very blunt and it’s hilarious! Anyway, her hubby works at a swank political law firm in DC (where I get the best political gossip ever!!) and they are having some sort of social event. I’m going as Melissa’s date. VERY exciting.
Saturday there is a special flying things event at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum… I think it’s because of Father’s Day… anyway should be interesting. Other than that… church on Sunday, lots of sleep (fighting off sick AGAIN). Awesomeness.
Your Daily Disaster Brought You By… Washington, DC
Monday a train derailed… Tuesday train problems (the “conductor” noticed before the train derailed)… Wednesday, police barricade into my neighborhood (massive electric lines litter the ground- and it seems much safer for you to abandon your car a mile away and WALK past these)… Thursday… what happened today you ask? Oh my building caught fire. Melissa and I were on the 2nd floor doing some intern tasks when the alarms went off… it is all clear here now, but it was interesting to watch the building empty… good times. So for Friday I predict… hmmm, nothing hopefully. A fire? Seriously?
Raccoons are our friends…
Well, it has been a while since I last wrote… it’s gotten hot here. It’s 104 today with a heat index of 110. I went for a run last night and it felt like I was swimming through the air. There is a nature preserve that backs up to my house (which I thought was a park, but it’s not). Anyway, I like to run there… I was running yesterday evening and I got to this wooden boardwalk (where running is prohibited) so I always walk through there. It is built over a marsh and you can watch the sun start to set over the trees, look at the birds diving to pick up fish in the water… it’s really beautiful. So I was running last night and got the edge of the boardwalk so I started to slow down. I heard something (which scares me because I ALWAYS assume it’s a snake- just like earlier when I stepped on a little branch that made a leaf tickle my ankle and I just KNEW it was a snake) so I’m looking (FRANTICALLY) for the snake in question… and I saw a little raccoon! First, I ewwed and awwwed over him… after making sure that he would not be able to jump up onto the walkway of course… he was cute… he looked just like a brown version of a red panda… or just like a raccoon… which is essentially the same. So anyway, then it occurs to me that he’s out in the day time so I assume he has rabies and carefully tip tow away, just in case he can hop on the walkway and bite me. That was a fun evening.
I saw Indiana Jones at this really cool historic theatre (yes like a playhouse theatre that is now a movie theater). It was coooooollllllllll. If you’re even in DC go to the Canadian Embassy, they built an acoustic masterpiece on the front of their building. It makes cool echos.
Friday after work I sat on a park bench in front of the White House to read, and enjoy the protests of course. This particular day it was only one man… living in the gravel area facing the front gates… in a tent… with his guitar… playing songs I assume he wrote strictly for protesting… he regaled us spectators with such greats as “…and he lies and he lies and he lies and he lies…” yes, those were pretty much the only words. HOWEVER, he did make “…fascist Nazi dictator…” fit into a song. the best part was that when the segway tours would go by… the same number of people who zoomed to the White House to take pictures of it, zoomed to this mans tent to get pictures of a “real American protest”. I question the protester’s effectiveness. Just follow me on this for a minute… let’s say you’re the president of the United States of America, essentially one of the leaders of the free world. Let’s say you made some decisions that people question, now whether you think what you have done is right or wrong… does a man living in a tent on the lawn of your mansion really make you feel like you’re the one who has made poor life choices? Probably not. I’m just saying. A new approach should be looked into maybe.
I learned to cook palento last week… it sounds gross when you say it’s some corn meal and junk… it’s really good. It’s a base to other dishes, like rice or pasta would be. For me it was a part of my culinary masterpiece known as “Chicken Palento with Spicy Red Sauce”. It was fantabulous. Now that I’m feeling better I’m enjoying food again- yay taste buds!
I basically just did a lot of sleeping this weekend because I was sick- so no big news.
A Little Intern Venting…
There’s this thing that happens when you graduate college, it’s called adulthood. It’s filled with expectations and situations you don’t always want to deal with. In the internship world there are two kinds of interns… undergrads and the rest of us. We eat in different places, talk about different things, attend separate meetings, and have completely different objectives. Don’t get me wrong, we all get along- sometimes we hang out, but not like we do within our groups.
So there are three of us “other interns” who hold at minimum a masters degree or some PhD work. While everyone else enjoys the luxury and freedom of the 40 hour work week and “you’re just here to learn” attitude. We are shoved right to the top of the pressure cooker… we have 50 hours work weeks (despite what they promise), less weeks in the summer to complete greater tasks and more “freedom”. Don’t take that freedom as a good thing… it’s more like a freedom to chose your own wrong data set, manipulate it improperly, and generally make yourself look like an idiot. Around here we call it access to the N:/ drive.
“Expectations and Implementations” meetings were held today. While the undergrads are all very excited about learning what they can, field trips to various USDA sanctioned facilities (organic farms in Maryland, a dairy operation in Virginia) the three of us were told this “you have to produce a journal quality article like this ::prestigious econ journal tossed in front of you:: after you find a data set (assuming we know the software- which none of us do). Upon writing the paper your branch will review and critique (a LENGTHY process) and then you will have a conference presentation worthy item”
Whoa Tiger… wait a minute… the three of us have 4-6 weeks left here… and you want us to do what??? We are the catfish in the USDA tank… in the internship food chain, we’re the bottom, everything eats us… actually everything and everyone just makes us do their work… some people call it “the suck”… you work insane hours for less pay and no glory… you’re best hope for the future is 6 pages in a journal no one you are related to or hang out with has ever heard of or will pick up. It’s almost laughable, only you don’t laugh for fear of the weeping that would soon follow (this really is kind of a joke). Do you know what you’re expected to do in your ‘free time’? Read. Read. and more reading. Sometimes they give you journals… sometimes books… sometimes the transcription from a conference… and the kicker is, they want you to also attend all the social events to give the undergrads a warm fuzzy feeling.
So, while it sounds like I don’t like this, I do- I actually love it- it’s just a little overwhelming. I did witness someone get so overwhelmed that she cried today… we bought her coffee (because we are essentially caffeine with legs), fed her, complained, and went back to work… it’s essential that the three of us refuel because it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Smarty Pantses
The theme of this week has been work… or more precisely… all things economics. I read econ books on the subway, I study and work with econ all day, I attend econ lectures, seminars, and hearings… I’m all econ all the time. All econ makes for a very dull Haley. In the spirit of breaking away from all things eco our branch had an interns happy hour last night with the intern coordinator… who also happens to be my supervisor. Let’s just awkwardness was the theme of that night. Enough said, because I don’t who redas this anymore… haha
So, the people here are smart. I bet if you made a little map of the US with colors denoting different IQs or perhaps even levels of education and spread it out… DC would be a hot spot for ‘smart’ people. Everyone I know has a PhD, JD, or is in the process of obtaining one. I have never been the least educated person I know… it’s kind of nice. One of my housemates, Jenny, is so smart (and fun!). She’s Korean-American and we were talking about dating and levels of education, etc. She told me that she and another girl graduated with their Masters at the same time… then the girl told her that she had done some research and if you are a woman of color you only have a 17% chance of ever marrying if you obtain a PhD. Jenny took it as a sign not to date while working on her doctorate, the other girl quit the program! To each his own. ((In case you were wondering Jenny met a great man, who also has a PhD, and works in the govt just like her- they are very happy together)).
On the food front– I ate the best pizza in the world last night. All fresh ingredients, hand made dough, not expensive… there are all Haley happy making things. Other than that nothing exciting. Oh, but that’s because I’m sick and all I want to eat is soup. So that’s what I’m having for breakfast… Italian Style Wedding- it’s delicious.
Montana!
Well, it’s that day… the day they tell me what all my research will be for. And the winner is… the state of Montana, aka The Treasure State, Big Sky Country, or if you prefer The Last Best Place. I have massive amounts of data and I add and subtract layers of it until I get something “interesting”. There are water issues, forest fires, ridiculous land cost increases… so something “fun” will pop out soon. The idea of the summer internship is to familiarize yourself with data collection (that’s all I’ve done so far), new software (done and done, thank you GIS mapping), and to run models with said data (starting soon), and finally produce a paper that is publication worthy and something you can present at a conference (the idea is for you to be able to put these things on a CV).
For those of you who are wondering if I picked Montana because of my Mom, no I did not. It was an assigment, based on data availability. A lot of planning and assessor’s offices require payment for this data, but the great state of Montana saw it fit to make it all public access. So it’s free and the government doesn’t want to pay for some intern’s research, basically.
Oh and for lunch I had an empanada, but not just a regular one… the best one ever… it had this flaky wonderful crust and inside was a smorgasbord of flavors… chicken, little green peas, potatoes, herbs, various other flavorful accoutrements (yes I had to google the spelling). The food here is nothing short of heaven.
Funny Stuff
One thing I should mention is that I received this email from my supervisor (from the TX job not here at the USDA). I think it was meant to remind me how much I should be missing that job:
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They are good.
Did you have any muffins this morning?
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this is why I miss that job… not the muffins, the people.
The Food Update
Hmmm… I haven’t eaten much that was awesome this week. Sorry to disappoint. I know that is becoming a highlight of my blog. I did have this really amazing pasta at the sculpture gardens… shells in a red/creamy sauce with scallops and shrimp… lots of basil. Mmmm, I’ll be doing that again.
Also, I did watch two additional movies this weekend… PS, I Love You- it’s a chick flick completely and I cried roughly 4 times. It was good. Lisa Kudrow (Pheobe on FRIENDS) is in it… she’s older and unmarried so when she meets a guy, any guy, she introducers herself and within the first few minutes she asks “so ___ are you single?” if he says yes, she stays and if he says no, she leaves. Then she asks “well, are you gay?” and if he says no, she stays if yes, she leaves. Next she asks (and this one makes me laugh so hard) “Do you have a job?” and you can guess how that goes. Anyway, I thought it was hilarious to see her walk away every time someone was either married, gay, or broke. Haha. It’s a sweet romantic comedy- I recommend it for the ladies.
Also, I watched No Country for Old Men last night… scared me! It is worth noting that I scare easily with movies. Nevertheless the main character, an actor I don’t know, is terrifying to me. Actually what’s most terrifying is that murder exists in the world… how is that possible??? If these things are true stories then that’s terrifying, if they’re not then it’s equally terrifying to know someone managed to think it up. That being said, if you don’t mind some blood and a truck load of crazy, it’s a good movie. There is some great acting (which doesn’t happen a lot anymore) and an interesting plot.
I’ll try to cut back on the TV and eat more so I have more exciting stuff to write… I read a book you don’t care about called Eat, Pray, Love and I’m reading His Needs Her Needs and Eat the Rich (nerdy econ book). Like I said, you all don’t care about those…
