Final Post

Well, I guess it’s that time of the semester. It’s sad, it’s happy, it’s a sense of accomplishment, and it’s a well-earned vacation. Time to pack up the cubicle, say more than a few goodbyes to my amazing roommates and coworkers, and move over for the next crop of interns to descend on Washington DC. And load up the Netflix queue in preparation for three solid weeks of brain rest. The last couple of weeks have gone by so fast that I can hardly remember what I did (besides write a lot of papers!) It seems like I just got here, and even though I’m SO ready to get home and then back to Nashville, something tells me it won’t be too long before I make my way back here.

It’s really exciting to think that some of you are getting ready to pack up and head to D.C. for the Spring! Be excited. Start looking around now for the amazing things you’ll get to see and experience in just a few weeks. Be a dork and get some tourist books. Look forward to your internships, to the people you’ll get to meet. Take every chance you can to get out and explore every part of this amazing city, and don’t just stick to the museums and monuments (although they are pretty cool!)

There are some things I’ve found since I’ve been here that have made my life way easier, and I’ll leave them with you as a parting gift.
Hopstop and WMATA Trip Planner: Until you know the Metro map by heart (and don’t worry—you eventually will), these sites will be lifesavers. The trip planner is great because it gives exact times, but you can actually text Hopstop for directions if you get into a real jam. Also, you can load these Metro maps onto your ipod or PDA to have them with you on the fly.
DCist: Great local blog for keeping up with all the latest happenings and events around the city, for locals and by locals. Arts, music, local news, transportation info, politics… it’s got it all.
Washingon DC Flickr group: Like taking pictures? Like looking at them? Head over there to see some of the best sights in DC, from beautiful to just plain weird.
Walkscore: Type in your address and pull up a map of everything within walking distance—grocery stores, libraries, restaurants, parks… pretty much everything.
Schnozbot: Search D.C. happy hours by neighborhood. When you’re working for free, these are where you’ll find great food for dirt cheap.

So to those of you coming in, best of luck to you! Take in all you can, and make sure you leave some room for a little fun. ;)

Until we meet again,
Christy

Week 14

After all that heat and drought business, I sure didn’t think I’d be seeing any wintry weather while I was here. Lucky for us, though, Snowpocolypse 2007 is upon us! There’s this crazy D.C. weather guy that I like to watch every morning before I venture outside, and I didn’t really believe him when he’s was jumping up and down and screaming something about a snowstorm. But I walked out of my building and it was flurrying a little, leaving a layer of white dust on everything in sight. It was so pretty! A few hours and four inches of snow later, the city had slowed down considerably. There were snowball fights, mini snowmen, and snow angles going on outside during the lunch hour at Arlington Refugee Services, and it was an all-around great day. I didn’t even have to mess with the ice on the roads because I don’t have a car.

There has been so much to do this week that I hadn’t had hardly any time to get out and do anything interesting. Last Friday night was a candlelight vigil in Dupont Circle for World AIDS Day, so I Metro’d over there after work to check that out. Gina over at District of Col-fun-bia was apparently there, too, and has a great account over in her Week 14 blog. In true form, I just stood to the side and took some pictures. It was really cold, but it was really neat seeing that many people turn out to remember that AIDS is a pretty huge issue.

To be completely honest, I’m scraping for material this week. I did mounds of homework, studied hard, and pulled my first legitimate all-nighter. Everyone is in the middle of finals and it’s tough to find time to enjoy the last couple of weeks here. We’re trying, though! The national Christmas tree and menorah both went up this week, reminding everyone that holidays and relaxation are just around the corner. Since I’m thinking no one wants to read about me sitting around and doing homework, I’ll close this out with some photo-blogging from the week instead.