Week 5

This week has been less eventful than others, but there are some really exciting things on the horizon.

My roommates and I put on our best suits and got on the Metro this weekend to take a tour of The White House that one of my roommates graciously set up for us. Unfortunately, about two stops from our destination we got a call informing us that our tour would have to be canceled because our security badges did not go through. I think we are all upstanding citizens, but I suppose I have only known these guys for a little over a month now...haha. Everything worked out fine because we were promised that it would be made up to us in the future; perhaps a meeting with the president or one of his advisors. I certainty won’t hold my breath on that prospect, but if it does happen, I'll bring my resume just in case!

Instead of heading to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we just got of the Metro and had some coffee. Because it was a Sunday, suits did not blend in the way they do during the work week; we were even accused of being senators by someone on the streets. I don’t think they were particularly politically-informed. According to some in my family, I look like a twelve-year-old who had an overnight growth spurt, so I am not sure why there would be any confusion that I could be a senator.

Everyday it seems I see the city in a new way or find a new part of town. After attending a meeting for a group that helps refugee to adapt to life here in the U.S., some of my friends and I got a ride home from another woman at the meeting who lived close by our apartment. I finally got to travel on top of the ground instead down under it. The views of the skyline and even the views of the other cars was a welcomed change of pace. Plus I got to ride on the Beltway that I have heard so much about (more exciting in concept than practice, but I am glade to have done it). It made me realize how disoriented my sense of direction is here in DC from being in a tunnel everywhere I go. The woman that drove us home was French and eager to point out the irony in the fact that she was teaching us about navigating our own nation’s capital.

Thursday is when a lot of the excitement will take place. I will be attending (more like intruding on) a meeting with some of the nation's top scientists, The Science Advisory Board. Then in the afternoon I have the opportunity to crash a House Hearing on asbestos. I am really excited to get to see the process of lawmaking first hand and maybe even to rub shoulders with some members of Congress. This is exactly the type of thing that I came to Washington for--to see policy being made, and to see how science and government interacts. I can't wait.