I work within a group of buildings that includes a cafeteria, gym, museum, gift shop, med center, and even a post office - it's pretty much its own little world! Along with all of that, there's a lot of great sculptures and fountains around the area. When it's not too hot out and I've got time, I like to sit outside at lunch near the fountain and admire all the artwork.
Some of these are with my cell phone camera as I was popping in and out of work, so sorry about the hazyness.
My building!
Fountain shaped like a mountain ridge, the water runs over the left side.
And where there's water... there's a shark!
Dragonfly in the courtyard between the buildings.
And there's grasshoppers in the courtyard too! There's a neat giant golden beetle as well.
But I think my favorite thing is the fountain in the courtyard. It's supposed to represent the canyon walls of a river in a piece of literature (I can't remember at the moment, I'll update when I do). I really like the way it looks like a part of nature, yet honed into sculpture. Kinda neat.
I know that's a lot of blog posts for today -- I had an action filled weekend! And I'll be fairly busy this week, so I probably won't do a lot for awhile.
Hope you're all doing well! I know some people were asking about my address, so if you want it (or if you want something from me!) email me at Edwards06(at)gmail.com.
On Saturday, I had one thing I wanted to accomplish - to go swimming! I've wanted to since I got here, and spending a week in 90 degree weather certainly helped that. My friend Eric's from the area, so he knew of some local swimming holes to show me.
We went swimming in the Potomac, which is a brackish (or partially salty) river that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. It was kind of interesting - it looked like a river, but between the sandy beach, salt water, and even a few waves made by quick-moving powerboats, it definitely felt like a beach on the ocean.
So we made a sand castle!
EDIT: Eric posted a few photos over on his blog (check it out) so here's one of me!
It was really fun and silly - from adding cannons made of sticks to fighting off the waves, I felt like a little kid on vacation. All in all the day was really relaxing and a nice change of pace from the busy movement of the city.
I had a wonderful first weekend in DC - I think I did a little bit of everything the city has to offer. Friday night I went out with a few of my fellow interns (and some former interns) to a bar called Big Hunt. It's as cheesy as the name sounds, but they've got Great Lakes on tap, and despite the crowds we got our food quickly. It was great to get to meet some of the other interns.
After that I headed out to Silver Springs for Silverdocs, a documentary film festival. My friend Eric was a volunteer this year, and was able to get me in for free!
Thanks Eric!
We went to a film called Barbershop Punk - a really interesting mix of the feeling of punk and questioning authority and Net Neutrality. Here's a little trailer, if you're wondering how those two things might come together.
The documentary focuses on Robb Topolski, the guy who uncovered how communication companies were restricting their users' service. After the viewing, questions were answered by him and the directors, which was really interesting.
After the movie we were able to go to the sort of VIP room upstairs, hosted by the A/V club.
The party had very animated karaoke, a game room, and an open bar, so naturally everyone was having a lot of fun and was really friendly - I even chatted with a director from Norway about his movie and what he thought of DC.
We then headed back down to the theater to the after party - they had light sabers for people to play with.
All in all, it was a really great night hanging out with friends and people interested in film.
I've got my room mostly set up. It's actually larger than I expected, and the A/C gets nice and cold.
I didn't bring much with me, so I've been getting creative with what I've got. I'm using my computer box as a night stand, and I made my paper cranes out of an extra copy of a travel brochure. When I wanted to pamper myself tonight with a little bubble bath for my feet but realized I didn't have any buckets or big bowls, I spotted my plastic drawers - and presto!
I've had a lot of this stuff - my bedding, curtains, polaroid collection, and my big lamp - since I was in the dorms at college, so no matter what room I'm in, it always feels more friendly and familiar once it's set up. I'm getting good at cooking everything with the microwave, too!
Today was my first day at work, and I took a cheesy first-day-outfit photo!
Everyone was very friendly and helpful, and that really put me at ease after my initial first day jitters. I'm really excited to get a chance to work on some really amazing projects.
My only problems? Getting home! I got turned around a block or two before I found my dorm, got some gnarly blisters from my new shoes, and promptly got kicked out of my room for a fire drill just as I got settled.
I'm slowly getting used to the hubbub of the city - I can't wait to explore this weekend!
The remainder of my week at home was spent wrapping up odds and ends - seeing old friends, setting up new bank accounts, buying this and that. All of a sudden it was Thursday night, and I was packing up everything in sight to leave. After some shuffling of my bags to make space, we were off to DC early Friday morning. We made quite a few stops which put us a little behind schedule, but found ourselves at last at the River Inn in Foggy Bottom.
We had a great room - really big, with a kitchen and a living room separate from the bedroom.
That night we walked from the hotel to the dorm I'll be staying in for the summer and then to my internship's building to get our bearings on the area. We peeked into the lobby and museum as they were closing, and my mom said I looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm not sure exactly what I felt - I've been feeling really nervous and overwhelmed about starting a new job in a new place, but I finally think I really got that I would be working there and it felt really great.
Afterwards, we hopped on the metro and took a bus to Georgetown, where we did some shopping and ate dinner at a restaurant housed in an old fire station. The food was really good, and I think I'm lucky that Georgetown is so difficult to get to, or I'd want to go every few days.
The next morning, we headed to the Smithsonian and Mall area. I interviewed my mom about what we did, so you can watch her recaps:
In a nutshell, we did a lot of touring/sightseeing!
My mom (she's a CPA) outside the IRS building!
Ben at the Archives.
The family at the American History Museum!
Ben doing his best Abraham Lincoln impression, complete with stovepipe hat.
We went back to the hotel in hopes of cleaning up before we did dinner and a night tour (it's been in the mid 90's and very humid in DC), but after we sat down in our air - conditioned hotel we all decided roomservice and a movie were the way to go.
This morning we woke up and headed to the Eastern Market to buy some groceries and to scope it out, in case I wanted to go back. Despite the heat, we enjoyed the bread and pastry vendors, sorbet samples, and the weekend flea market made it a great time - I'll definitely go again.
We had lunch, went and stocked up on some other groceries, and then headed to campus to get me all checked in. Eric met us at my building to help move me in (thanks Eric!) and before I knew it, my room was mostly unpacked.
It was kind of hard to say goodbye to my family, since our mini-vacation has been a lot of fun, and it's been nice to have other people to help navigate and figure out what to do next. I'm sure once I get totally settled, start working, and hang out with my friends, it'll be like I've always been here. I start work tomorrow - wish me luck!
Also, if you're interested in getting a postcard from me, just email me your address at Edwards06@gmail.com - I'd love to send you something!
Hello, everybody! I'm starting this blog to keep family, friends, and interested parties up to date on what I'm doing this summer. I recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Informational Graphics and Publication Design.
Last Saturday, I walked and got to move my tassel:
(The design kids! Photo thanks to Danielle Kees - don't we all look excited?)
And then packed up my house in Athens:
It's been tough to say goodbye and certainly a fast paced transition - because I'll be moving to DC this Friday to begin my internship. Right now I'm in the midst of packing, unpacking, repacking... you get the drill. I've also been doing some researching on fun things to do around the city - so if anybody has suggestions, leave me a comment!
