One day, I took an epic trip north….

Well once again another week has flown by. I’m starting to get the feeling that time really doesn’t care about my feelings, how rude. But I guess this is what happens when you become an… “adult” (quite a scary thought). I’m learning that being an “adult” means losing track of time on a fairly regular basis and working a crazy amount (but I do love my work at Share Our Strength). As quickly as the weeks seem to fly by down here, I can’t complain because they are constantly filled with fun things.

This week, for example, I got to listen to Gillian Sorensen from the United Nations speak. She was part of TWC’s President's Lecture Series. Now I’m not going to lie, sometimes I find these lectures less than fascinating. They point of them is great, but after running around all weekend and getting up super early to go to work, I’m not always super enthusiastic about them and I don’t always want to go.

However, this one was pretty great. I took a human rights course while I studied in London and found it incredibly fascinating. We focused on the UN and the human rights covenants set forth by the Human Rights Council. Listening to Sorensen speak was great because it reminded me of everything I had studied in that course and it raised a lot of questions for me. One, for example, is why has the U.S. not signed or ratified any of the human rights covenants? It seems incredibly strange to me that our country has refused to officially accept these documents, which protect people from torture, discrimination and so forth. This was definitely one lecture I really enjoyed.

I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed hearing that George Stephanopoulos...will be at Conference of Leaders!!! SWEET! I’m very excited if not a bit tense considering the event is only two weeks away. Seriously grandfather time you couldn’t give us just a few more days? Jeez. But in all seriousness the office has really entered crunch time. We’re trying to get Service Day squared away and I have just been given the task of creating a truly kick ass poster of the reception complete with facts, photos, and information about this past year. I’ve started compiling my materials and I think its going to turn out pretty well, but I’m still freaking out a bit, I mean this is going to be on display for everyone to see. I don’t want to be the intern who glue sticks a photo upside down…. it could happen.

Now about my epic trip, my trip to the land of fall foliage, D- hop (Durham House of Pizza) pizza, wildcats, ice hockey, falafel, and academia. That’s right I went to one of the greatest places a person can go, the University of New Hampshire. There a swarm of Regent’s College spring 2009 students were waiting. That’s right this weekend a mass of truly great people I studied in London with converged on my home campus of UNH for a weekend of awesomeness. I have to say, I really did miss these people and seeing them again was truly amazing.

It all began with a 10 pm train Thursday night from Union Station. Yes, that’s right I said a 10 pm train. I know how ridiculous that sounds; honestly who wants to spend their night on a train!? But I wanted to maximize the amount of time I’d have at UNH and not take off too many days from work (we’re still incredibly busy and I don’t foresee that changing any time soon). So I hopped on the underground (sorry, the Metro) at 8:30 pm and took the hour long trip into the city. From there I spent my night attempting to find sleep on an Amtrak. I awoke to find myself at Boston’s South Station. Groggy, tired, and desperately wanting to brush my teeth, I hurried off the train and onto the T and made my way to North Station where another train was waiting… At 9 am I made the final leg of my journey to Durham NH. At this point, if I never ride another train again, I’ll be a very happy person. Well… that’s not true, I love trains, we just need to take a break for while.

The weekend was AMAZING! It was great to see all my friends again. People came who I never expected to show up and it was two days of nonstop fun. Being back on the UNH campus was wonderful. Its beautiful this time of year, and after being away for nearly a year, I’m definitely getting ready to go back. I’m ready for breakfast at The Bagelry, walking on T-Hall Lawn, taking history classes in Horton and especially hanging out with some of the coolest people ever. I’m not saying I’m done with D.C.--this city is full of so many wonderful and exciting things.

Top 2 Places to Visit:

1. The Capitol Building: This one I feel, is a given. I mean if you’re going to spend time in our nation’s capital, you should probably go see where the House and the Senate meet to decide what goes on in our country. I’m just saying, coming to D.C. and not seeing the Capitol Building is like going to London and not seeing Big Ben… its weird. This place is actually a really cool place to visit. You can see the entire mall from the back side of the building and walk up to the balcony. The visitor’s center is fully of really fascinating information about the history of our government and there is always the chance you might see someone cool, whether it’s a congressman, senator, or even a congressional aid running through the plaza out front on their way to a meeting. Plus there are tons of great photo ops!

2. UNH: Now I realize this is not in Washington D.C., however, you should still come check it out anyway. (Basically this blog has become a shameless plug for my home university… sorry!). Seriously though UNH is AWESOME! We have Gnarls the wildcat mascot, the greatest hockey team ever with fans who chant things that no decent person would ever think to say, Diamond Library (the mecca of libraries in my opinion), boulder field, rock climbing, and who could forget wonderful College Woods, one of the most beautiful places in New England. We are also home to Polly’s Pocket’s falafel, Durham House of Pizza, The Knot and Libby’s (all cool places to check out in our rather small “downtown” area). There’s always something going on and as the last four three and a half years have gone by I’ve truly come to love this place. So if you ever find yourself up in the Live Free or Die state, head to Durham for some friendly people, good times, and fun.

This Week's Top 5 Songs:

1. Kings of Leon: “Use Somebody”
2. Old Crow Medicine Show: “Wagon Wheel”
3. Wyclef Jean: “Sweetest Girl”
4. The Verve: “Bittersweet Symphony”
5. The Avett Brothers: “January Wedding”

So it definitely feels like I’m back in New Hampshire, which is good considering I’ll be there next weekend! It’s been in the mid to lower 40s here in D.C. this week and it’s been gray and rainy. So basically it’s been great! I know, once again you’re probably reading this thinking “this girl is crazy”, but fall is my favorite season. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s nothing better than a slightly gray, cold, fall day where the air is fresh and the leaves are falling. And since I’m missing it in New Hampshire I’m going to enjoy it here as best I can! I sat outside in the park the other day and had my hot cup of tomato soup from Corner Bakery for lunch while I watched people rush by and the leaves fall to the ground and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The brilliant colors of NH can’t really be seen in the city, but the crisp fresh air, and the smell of rain make it abundantly clear that it is in fact fall!

In celebration of this wonderful fact, my lovely roommates and I carved several pumpkins Thursday night while eating homemade enchiladas.

We made an awesome mess in our apartment as we cooked enchiladas and threw pumpkin guts into bowls. Carving pumpkins is definitely one of my favorite things about Halloween and I was pretty positive that I wasn’t going to get to partake in this awesome pass time this year. That was until my roommate Christiana informed that my assistance was needed to carve pumpkins for a volunteer even she had back home. So as the night progressed with the rain pouring down outside us, we carved black cats, spiders, bats, and scary faces. The apartment ended up smelling pretty strongly of pumpkin (gross I know) but they looked great and it was an awesome time! (The enchiladas were also pretty wonderful)

Carving pumpkins definitely got me in the mood for Halloween, which is right around the corner. YES!! Halloween has to be my favorite holiday, I mean honestly, what’s not to love about a night where you get to dress up as whatever you want and eat all the free candy you can get your hands on?? And let us not forget the endless marathons of zombie and horror movies without which Halloween simply would not be the same! They’re the best! Back home my wonderful parents have left me in charge of decorating our house because of my bizarre love of ghost stories, zombies, jack-o-lanterns, and all things Halloween. Sadly, this year I will not be home to create a terrifying scene on my quaint little street, so hopefully my brother will step up and do it for me… hopefully ;) My current mission for this month is to find some kind of wonderfully amazing Halloween festivity in this city so I can get my fix for the year.

I was able to further enjoy this fine fall weather this past Friday when my supervisor and I went to the new farmer’s market on Capitol Hill. It was a wonderful 5 hours standing under a tent in the perpetual fall drizzle handing out samples of Operation Frontline’s Ratatouille recipe. It was FREEZING!!! It was raining and I drank more hot coffee and hot apple cider in an attempt at staying warm than any human being ever should. We took turns running to and from the grill where they were doing cooking demos trying to get some of the heat and stood bundled up in hats and scarves fighting back the urge to shiver. As miserable as this might sound, it really wasn’t all that bad. I love going to these farmer’s market events and even though the weather at this one wasn’t ideal, I still enjoyed it. The people around us were incredibly friendly and one guy even stopped by and sang us a song while playing his banjo! This made up for all the hours spent in the cold that day… almost :)

Now I know I’ve discussed rain in D.C. before, but this week/weekend was ridiculous! It rained nonstop for four days, including all day Saturday! I spent pretty much the whole day feeling cold and damp but it was worth braving the elements to go to Ben’s Chili Bowl on U St. with two of the coolest guys ever! Two of my friends from Regent’s College were in the city this weekend and seeing them was amazing! (One of them, Devin Kittrell, was a TWC participant this past summer and was a TWC Blogger too! Check out his posts!). We started at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a place everyone should visit while in this city, then wandered up to Adams Morgan to enjoy some Hookah and then back down to Dupont Circle where we caught of a glimpse of the old Real World house (it still baffles me that in January I will be able to watch Real World take over this city…)

Top Two Places to Visit This Week:

1. Ben's Chili Bowl: This place is a historic institution here in the city and anyone who meet who is from here, or ever been here will tell you that you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY have to go to Ben’s Chili Bowl. Not only is the food great (I’m a vegetarian and I can vouch for the veggie burgers) but the atmosphere is incredible! To actually get to the counter and order your food you have to squeeze through a crowd of people and find your way to the end of the line, which is more like a mob than anything else. Once in line you have to pay close attention to the people in front of you. Orders are taken so quickly that when you give yours, you may not even be at the counter yet, you may be standing on the back wall yelling over several people in front of you. Once you get your food, you have to move fast to find a table, otherwise you’ll be stuck standing awkwardly between the two seating areas. One thing to make sure you pay special attention to while there is the insanely wonderful mix of hip hop they have playing. The music comes out of an old jukebox and covers every type of hip hop you could possibly imagine, giving the place a very lively, friendly, and welcoming vibe.

2. Georgetown: This part of the city reminds of combination of Boston, Salem, and Newburyport Massachusetts. It’s a much older part of the city as is evident by the architecture in the area. The area has a lot of shopping and several interesting bars including Rhino Bar, home to the area's Red Sox Fans (Woo!) and The Guards, an imitation British pub. The area also has some of the most beautiful areas to go running. One route that I recommend and personally want to try is along the canals. It takes you down by the waterfront and through some of the most historical parts of the area. Georgetown also is also home to, yup you guessed it, Georgetown University. Its definitely worth wandering over to the campus to explore. The architecture is absolutely georgeous and walking there really does give you the “academic” feeling. When I last popped up there, I felt a sudden urge to study (it didn’t last long). If nothing else, heading up to Georgetown gives you chance to walk up “The Exorcist” steps.

(If you have never seen this movie you MUST do so before Halloween is over!)

Top 5 Songs of the Week:

1. Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah: "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away"

2. Nada Surf: "I Like What You Say"

3. Jesus and Mary Chain: "Just Like Honey"

4. Stellastarr: "My Coco"

5. The Films: "Good Day"

Glee Kid, Solar Decathlon, Hash House Harriers, and more….

Let me just start by saying that having a long three day weekend has been GREAT! After the craziness of this past work week an extra day off was very much needed as was the new Avett Brothers album I’ve recently acquired ;). Conference of Leaders is only a few weeks away and quickly approaching. On top of trying to finalize everything for the conference and the service day my department is trying to put out is annual report and we are organizing several DC School Lunch visits with chefs for this week. There’s a lot going on and everyone is trying to get things done. As an intern though, while I still have a ton of work to do, I get to work on all the projects. My role in them isn’t incredibly large in these projects, but I get to be part of everything which is really cool. I’m getting SO excited for Conference of Leaders but at the same time I just can’t believe its right around the corner!! Time is flying by so fast!

Class this week was once again phenomenal and I really can’t say enough about how wonderful this class really is. If you intern with TWC (which you obviously should!) take the Power, Poetry, and Politics class!

You will not regret it. This week we met at the steps of the Lincoln memorial where we talked about Lincoln and the Civil War and how it changed the landscape of our country. We talked about why President Lincoln worked so hard to keep the Union united and how the U.S. would look today had he not succeeded. Then we stood in the very same spot Martin Luther King Jr. stood and read out loud to our professor and passersby excerpts from his “I Have a Dream Speech”. This was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done in a class. Standing in that spot looking out at the Washington Monument glowing the distance,

reciting the words that meant so much to so many people was really amazing. People stopped to listen and applauded us as we finished reading. Even today this speech means so much to so many people from so many different walks of life and I felt really… honored to be able to read those words.

After a long week at work and a phenomenal class, I started my weekend by having brunch in DuPont Circle with a couple of friends. It was gray and slightly rainy but the less than enjoyable weather was made all the better when I saw “Finn” from the Fox TV show “Glee”. I’m sitting outside at Circa DuPont eating a vegetable omelet when all of a sudden I look up and the guy who plays Finn is walking straight towards our table. I’ve seen famous people before (they’re crawling all over London) but it was so random to see this guy in D.C. I mean when one thinks of celebrities, they don’t tend to associate them with our nation’s capital. This celebrity sighting marked the start of a very good weekend.

After recovering from the shock and awe of seeing a celebrity I made my way to the Solar Decathlon. (Remember I mentioned this awesome event last week!?) The Solar Decathlon is amazing! There are several universities that converged on the National Mall to display solar powered homes they had built. I toured houses from Spain, Missouri, and Iowa and I have to say… I want a solar home. It was SO amazing!

***Now I should quickly note as I continue to explain the awesomeness of this event, that I am a bit of a dork and that may be why I found this to be so cool*** Every single home displayed on the mall runs off the grid. This means that they don’t use any electricity from the area and if the house generates more power than it needs, that energy is put back into the grid to be used in other buildings… SO COOL! And these houses aren’t weird look or awkward, they look just like regular homes. This was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve seen since being in this city.

Now as random as it is to see a celebrity in this city, I saw something even more random later that day after visiting the Solar Decathlon. As I made my way across the National Mall I was suddenly surrounded by a group of men wearing red dresses running and yelling “Anon”.

One runner kindly stopped when he noticed me staring and laughing. Turns out there is a club in the U.S. called the Hash House Harriers: A Beer Drinking Club with a Problem”. It’s a group of people who get together to go running and drink beer (I’ve decided I need to join this club). This was their 16th anniversary and in celebration they were having a Red Dress Run, the result was an endless stream of men running in wigs and red dresses.

It was also our last USDA Farmer’s Market event this past Friday. Hold your tears we have two more at Capitol Hill so don’t worry! ;)

This Week’s Top Two Places to Visit:

1. The National Mall: The stretch of land between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument is perhaps one of the best places to go on any given day to see something cool. Since I’ve been here I’ve seen the National Book Fair, Solar Decathlon, Hash House Harriers, and Ultimate Frisbee tournament, AND a ukulele sing-a-long group. Every single Smithsonian museum is located here on the mall and there is always some kind of event going on. Even if there isn’t its still a great place to come hang out. Standing on the mall literally puts you in the center of activities in the city and there are always dozens of different people milling around.

2. The Holocaust Memorial Museum: This museum is one that you HAVE to seen when you come to the district. It is the most moving and poignant museum in this city. I can’t really describe what visiting this museum feels like mainly because I think for every individual it is different. I’ve been to the museum a few times now and each time I visit I know I will cry; I can’t really describe it any more than that because what you feel when you are there is so personal and profound there really aren’t words. The main exhibit spans three floors taking visitors through the chronological events of the Holocaust. There are pictures, movies, artifacts retrieved from concentration camps and the museum houses bunks from Auschwitz and the shoes of hundreds of people who lived in the camps.

Top 5 Songs of the Week:

1. The Clash: “Straight to Hell”
2. Harlem Shakes: “Strictly Game”
3. The Avett Brothers: “I and Love and You”
4. Common: “Be”
5. Page France: “Ribs”

I could write a book on all I’ve done this week…

This week has been insane! You know that saying, “when it rains, it pours”? Well, it’s true. I went from being busy at work with smaller projects to being incredibly busy with big ones. All of a sudden Conference of Leaders, our weekend long conference in D.C., is right around the corner. Oh and I’ve been here for a month... WHAT??! Where has time gone? I always thought people were lying when they said time flies when you get older, but now I agree. I feel like the last month has been whir wind. Between, getting acclimated to my internship, settling in Rockville, and exploring the city time has flown by with little regard to my personal feelings.

Even though work has gotten very busy lately it continues to get better and better. There is so much to do and I’m getting really excited for Conference of Leaders. I’ll be staying in the city, meeting tons of new people and participating in our day of service. I think its going to be a great event and I can’t wait to meet people from across the country working with Share Our Strength to help end child hunger in the U.S. Having an internship where you are given the freedom to work on a variety of projects and encouraged to take roles with more leadership is pretty phenomenal. A lot of people I know working down here don’t have that opportunity so I’m pretty pumped to be a Share Our Strength Operation Frontline intern. TWC is really proving to be a great program and my time here in the city has been pretty wonderful.

My class this week was also pretty phenomenal. We met at the FDR Memorial and read his speeches out loud. We talked about FDR’s presidency and his influence during World War II and the way history has portrayed his presidency. It was really interesting to listen to his different speeches and it was fun standing on the rocks at the memorial reciting them out loud to the class and to visitors passing by. This class is seriously one of my favorite parts about being down here. We get to see so many cool sites and we have real discussions in class. No one is afraid to share their opinion and our professor encourages us to say what we really think and feel. It’s really amazing to have a class where it’s no holds barred and everyone just says exactly what they think.

On top of having a lot more to do at work and having a pretty rad class, I’ve seen some pretty cool things again this week including the start of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon on the National Mall.

(check next week’s post for more info on this awesome event), the movie “Whip It” which was phenomenal and has one of the greatest soundtracks…ever, and to top it off a new frozen yogurt shop opened up in Rockville!

I also visited the Eastern Market and wandered through vendors selling jewelry, clothes, food, and crafts. As you all know I have a love of markets and this one was great! It reminded a lot of Camden Market in London. Camden Market is full of vendors selling, literally, anything you could imagine, dresses, bags, scarves, Doc Martin boots, sunglasses, tattoos, body jewelry, it’s never ending and it’s wonderful. Camden is my all time favorite part of London and going to a market that was similar to the one in Camden was pretty great.

I also made the National Museum of American History this weekend and let me tell you that it was AMAZING! There were two exhibits in this museum that really moved me. The first was seeing the Greensboro Lunch Counter

where the first sit in took place during the Civil Rights Movement. It was unbelievably powerful and it blew my mind to think that something as insignificant as a lunch counter was such a powerful tool. The people who sat there started a movement and that movement helped thousands of people across the country.

After seeing this exhibit I made my way to the “Americans in War” exhibit. Go see this; it’s so well done. My favorite part of this exhibit was the section spanning from World War II to the Vietnam War. The way the exhibit is designed is incredible. There are History Channel clips playing on TVs footage from old USO shows and photographic timelines everywhere. The Vietnam section opens up with two 70s style couches with plastic covers in front of a dozen TVs stacked on top of one another.

On these TVs war footage and facts scroll across the screens. It was so moving that I nearly cried. I could go on and on about how wonderfully done this exhibit was but I don’t think there are words to really describe it. For me it was powerful and moving. As a history major I have to say this is one of my favorite places in the city and it’s an absolute must if you come to D.C.

This Week’s Top 2 Places to Visit:

1. Cavalia: Now I’m not particularly fond of horses but this show is pretty awesome. It’s like Cirque du Soleil, but with horses. There are women flying over the crowd on trapeze wires while men do acrobatic tricks while riding horses. There is a live band, a group of men that jump so high into the air you don’t think they’ll come back down and it snows. This show is visually stunning and you will leave wanting to be a horse riding acrobat, I promise.

2. National Museum of American History: I know I’ve already raved about this place but its a history major’s dream. Four floors are filled with artifacts and information about everything you could ever want to know about American history. The “Americans in war” exhibit is must see on any visit. It’s incredibly well done and incredibly moving. While at the museum you can also see the inaugural balls of all the first ladies, Kermit the Frog, Dorothy’s red slippers, and Julia Child’s kitchen.

This Week’s Top 5 Songs:

1. The Ramones: “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
2. The Clash: “London Calling”
3. Lupe Fiasco: “Daydreamin’”
4. Josh Ritter: “Girl in the War”
5. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: “Gwyneth”