Well, it was a weird day in Washington. Today marked six years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and just about every high-rise I can see has a huge flag draped across at least one side of it. It was almost surreal to see them all displayed at once on my way to the Metro this morning.
On a much brighter note, though, my first full week of work did not disappoint. I’m getting to know my coworkers a little better and even got to go to a business seminar with them on Thursday and see General Colin Powell speak! Sugar Ray (the boxer, not the band) was there, too, and it was really neat to be able to hear him. Unfortunately, 15,000 people pouring out of the conference center downtown at rush hour doesn’t do much in the way of helping Metro traffic, but we all managed to get home in one piece!Already, I’ve had some amazing experiences working with the refugees at my agency. And you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve gotten the commuting thing down ;-). It’s been a really eye-opening week for me, though. I mean, I’ve worked with refugees back home in Nashville, too, but something changes when you’re on the job almost full-time. You start learning about people’s stories, and your own perspective starts to change. For example, I spent a good part of 9/11 sitting in a room observing a coworker who was helping some refugees from Iraq. The world looks a little different from there.
Also, I haven’t talked much about my class and program events yet (yes, we do actually go to school here sometimes!) Every Monday afternoon, we have speakers or events to attend with other interns from our program. I’m in the program called Advocacy, Service, and the Arts, and yesterday we had the opportunity to see some returned Peace Corps volunteers talk about life in the Peace Corps. As far as class goes, I’m in one called “Press, Politics, and Power,” and tonight was our second meeting. Apparently, we’re going to go see a live interview of Katie Couric this month! Call me a nerd, but this is pretty exciting.
So basically, I’m meeting people from all over the world, getting to see people and do things that I never thought I’d get to experience in my lifetime, and having a whole lot of fun doing it. I should add that I’m pretty much exhausted, but I almost think I’d be missing out if I wasn’t!
Also, I haven’t talked much about my class and program events yet (yes, we do actually go to school here sometimes!) Every Monday afternoon, we have speakers or events to attend with other interns from our program. I’m in the program called Advocacy, Service, and the Arts, and yesterday we had the opportunity to see some returned Peace Corps volunteers talk about life in the Peace Corps. As far as class goes, I’m in one called “Press, Politics, and Power,” and tonight was our second meeting. Apparently, we’re going to go see a live interview of Katie Couric this month! Call me a nerd, but this is pretty exciting.
So basically, I’m meeting people from all over the world, getting to see people and do things that I never thought I’d get to experience in my lifetime, and having a whole lot of fun doing it. I should add that I’m pretty much exhausted, but I almost think I’d be missing out if I wasn’t!
No comments:
Post a Comment