back to b-town

Home sweet home. Even though I'm just renting and share the place with 2 roommates, this feels like home. Plus, after 2 years in a fairly small town, everywhere worth going has sentimental value. In 2 days, I've already been to a picnic in Bryan Park (near my 1st little apartment) and visited a couple of my old haunts, caught up with old students (and their pets) and profs, met a few new students, tracked down cheap used textbooks, met with the other bio TAs, and partially cleaned up the mess that 3 months neglect creates.

The rest of the summer in DC went by in a whirlwind. I was determined to finish early because I had to be here for meetings and wanted a couple days to move. Plus, I wanted to do some site visits and job shadowing before I left. So I worked hard, got done, and here I am!

3 more days of freedom...

aaaargh!

I haven't written because I don't have too much to say.

Well, I guess since the last post I had nice visits with both sets of parents and siblings. But that's mostly who reads this, so you probably know that already.

I'm pretty much done with my big EPA report, and just have to edit, do my presentation and work on some side projects. That might be more work than I expected, though. So I've still been sitting in a cubicle and typing all week. I think that's what the "aaaargh!" is for.
We went on some site visits- a wastewater treatment plant (the biggest advanced WW treatment plant in the world!), an air force base, a ritzy neighborhood with arsenic in the soil. I don't love looking at waste and contamination, but it's nice to see how they clean it up. Last week we had an intern "photo shoot" with the Administrator of EPA- basically over 100 interns standing behind the Administrator in a big room. It's a really fun picture, though- kind of like a Where's Waldo.

That same day, The Make A Wish Foundation was granting this kid's wish--to be President of the United States for a day. So he did presidential things, like go talk to troops, do meet & greets at various agencies. Apparently, one presidential duty was talking to the EPA interns to tell us what a good job we're doing. So while we were gathered, he came in and we had to pretend he was the president (assuming we liked the president)- we cheered, crowded up to shake his hand, took pictures. It was really sweet. I think his speech was pretty much what the Pres. would actually say.

I've been having fun on weekends, but nothing outrageous. Saw the rest of the east wing of the National Gallery of art- the contemporary section. I was one of the first people in town to see the Henri Rousseau exhibit. I went to a Nationals-Cubs game- their stadium looks exactly like the old Riverfront stadium. Went to a little waterpark last weekend-really little- 3 slides and a wave pool. But it was great because it's HOT here, like almost everywhere else. This weekend we're going to 6 flags. Kind of a last hurrah, since most of us are moving in the next 2 weeks. I guess I've done stuff, but this is a month's worth of fun.

When I get back to school, I'll be going back to my roots, as a biology TA (roots..haha). It will be nice to get out of the SPEA building, nice to shape young minds, hopefully not make them hate biology. Maybe I can get some tips from Raj on what not to do.

wash(bloom)ington

One of the strange things about my DC experience is that I see more IU friends this summer than when I was in Bloomington last summer. For example, one of my environmental science classmates is in the cubicle across from me at work now. My two roomates from last year and one who I'll be living with next year are all here for work or internships. Getting together with them especially adds to the feeling that we haven't moved- someone just dropped DC on top of us. And I get together with other people from my school now and then.

I finally had a non-IU outing today- our department's first intern social. We went to a Caribbean festival, actually a parade. But it was a far cry from the tame, marching band filled hometown parades I'm used to. It mainly featured huge trucks with the biggest sound systems (and biggest generators) I've seen on wheels, blasting Caribbean music. Following the truck, there was a crowd of people, mostly women, in shiny, colorful, skimpy outfits, dancing down the street. The crowd was also dancing and pushing further and further into the road, so it was hard to tell what was parade and what wasn't. It reminded me of a story someone told me about Carnaval in South America- but I'm sure it was a lot tamer than that. It was pretty fun, and an interesting experience to share with people you barely know.

The hot, humid DC summer I've heard such bad things about is starting, and I'm sleepy from being outside in it. So that's my update for now. Work is still fine, though research gets a little monotonous. I'm meeting more full-time people, who give us some potentially helpful career hints.

work and play

Yes, I have finally started work. What can I say...it's like school but better. I get to actually research my topic thoroughly and do a good job, instead of rushing through. Oh yeah, and no homework. Not yet at least. You'd think it would be boring, but there are a lot of different ways to look at acid mine drainage. Actually, it came up in the last novel I read, Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver. (Of course, I didn't count that as work hours).


I've had fun, too. My roommate and I went to New York City for Memorial day weekend. First time I'd been there that I can remember. Ate some good food, took a ferry ride, ate some more food, saw the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ate some more food, and finally saw Stomp! if you've been out of it for the last 10 years like me, and haven't seen Stomp, you really should. I can't imagine anyone not liking it, except maybe very jumpy people who are scared of banging sounds. I have no cord to transfer photos to my computer now, so if you want to see NYC photos, see Raj's blog.


In the meantime, I've seen more of DC. It feels like home now, at least for now. I don't feel like I have to live here forever, but I think I could do it and be happy.

Hangin' out

I'm still just hanging around DC, relaxing before I start work. I've had a chance to get out and do a little sightseeing around the city.

I went to the National Museum of the American Indian (I guess that's PC now), a new addition to the Smithsonian. It's pretty big and impressive, I didn't get to cover it all. One floor is dedicated to exhibits on life in different tribes today. It's sad to see so many cultures almost gone, but also inspiring to see those who carry them on through native language schools, combining old and new technology to make a living, gathering from different parts of the world, etc. It reminds me of the challenge immigrant communities face, keeping some of the old world, while the new one presses in from all sides. But it would be a little harder if the old world didn't exist anymore.

The next day we took a mega walking tour of all the monuments. It left me feeling very patriotic. Hmmm...I wonder if I would've felt the same if I'd gone right after the American Indian museum. Still, I'm interested in the people who made such an impact on history, like Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson, even if I don't agree with everything they did. Then we rode out to Georgetown, shopped around, and had dinner at Amma's, a great vegetarian South Indian restaurant. We spent the evening out on the waterfront, and met up with one Rachel's friends from college. Hooray for being a tourist!

Besides that, I've been reading lots of novels, remembering why I don't let myself do this during the semester (I stay up really late). After reading about slavery in the interesting but strange The Known World (Edward P. Jones), I decided to go for lighter teenage fare. I started The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, which reminds me of the books I read as a pre-teen. Then I explored the darker side of teen angst in The Pact, by Jodi Picoult, about love, suicide/murder, friendship, and truth. I just bought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so I think I'll go back to light stuff for the day or 2 it takes to read it.

I actually have started to do some work, since my internship is a research project. Nice to have a little purpose, especially in the comfort of my own home.

The Evaluation

The 2 people who still read my blog may have noticed I stopped blogging lately. I had to re-evaluate whether it was worthwhile to post my thoughts and updates when 1) they're not that fascinating, and 2) even with my squeaky clean life, it's unwise to make everything public. After a few randomized double blind studies, surveys, and focus groups, I concluded that blogging is still an efficient and effective way to share some information with people who happen to be interested.

So here I am in our nation's capital. If you've been here, you know what it's like. My specific location is a basement apartment I can only describe as "cute". It seems to be newly remodeled, so it's like a mini version of a real house or apartment. Since my roommate and I brought a Corolla full of stuff for the 2 of us, we're glad it came with some furniture. True, we're sleeping on air mattresses, but we have free direct tv and new (quiet!) kitchen appliances. Life is good. Our landlords, who live upstairs are a nice couple with toddler, a dog and a cat. It's nice to be around a family for a change...I mean living around a family. I'm not discounting my own family, who I just visited.

Yesterday was a nice day, so we (my roommate and I) explored Old Town, Alexandria. I think this is why I get the feeling of being in a foreign country every once in awhile. Places like this are very non-Midwestern. Compact brick buildings with a hodgepodge of family owned businesses. Public transportation, foot transportation, bike transportation. Buildings that are actually old...almost 300 years is pretty good for the US. We walked down to the Potomac. I admit it, I'm a sucker for water and a little atmosphere. Some good Thai food (which we had) doesn't hurt, either. And I bought fun books! All in all, a good day.

The rest has been settling in mostly, with small victories like figuring out how direct tv works, and discovering a wireless network I can connect to at home. Which reminds me, this blog is brought to you by...unsecured wireless networks.

Missing month

When people talk about "lost time" they're usually talking about an alien abduction or something. I don't think I was abducted by aliens in February but I was a captive of group projects, databases, internship applications, student organizations, and yes, some social obligations. So let's do highlight, lowlight, AmeriCorps-style:

Highlight: Stream Ecology. Though it's a ridiculous amount of work, and forces me to get up early every Friday, I feel a real camaraderie with the other "water people" in the class that I hope I have in my career someday. Plus, we get to go outside, sample streams in different ways, then come back and figure out what it all means. When I'm not exhausted, I really appreciate it.

Lowlight: SPEA's "date auction". I guess morbid curiosity drove me there. Though it was a fundraiser, and most people just bid on friends who they'd hang out with anyway, there was a certain wrongness about putting people up for sale. The main activity for those not participating in the auction was talking about how wrong it was. Not the most fun night of my life.

March is even busier than February, but I'll look back on it with satisfaction if I survive. Environmental Management Association is having some potentially great alumni events and speakers, and we're helping prepare for great speaking events by Bill Ruckelshaus (1st EPA administrator) and Paul Portney (former head of Resources for the Future, a major think tank for environmental policy issues), sponsored by SPEA.

I'm trying to make spring break a real break by going away and not working. It helps that I've got a backpacking trip in Tennessee and a wedding to go to!