In my defense, these first
But enough with the excuses.
Tackling the city is an everyday adventure, but I’ve got some knowledge under my belt now. The Metro is no longer an obstacle, nor is the city grid.
I took a day to be a tourist and walk the Mall, which is the area between the Capitol and the Lincoln Monument. I saw most of the Smithsonian museums, the Botanical Gardens, the war memorials and monuments and the White House. In a word: “spectacular.” Hopefully I’ll have a photo gallery of that soon.
RFK Stadium is almost out of commission, but I got to see the Nationals play the Phillies there a few days ago. And, in a couple of weeks we’re taking a trip down to the International Spy Museum.
On the home front, I’ve finally settled into my little apartment on the Hill. My roommate is awesome and, despite living in close quarters with so many girls, no fights have broken out (knock on wood). There’s been drama, but no bloodshed—yet.
Classes are kicking into gear. While I’m not a fan of economics, I’m really diggin’ the Econ class I’m in now. I mean, when your professor walks in and says “Governments are slave institutions. They are evil, and the only reason public policy exists is to try to lessen that evil,” you either love the class or hate it. Of course, with a speech like that, I love it.
Street Sense is working out well, too. The vendors are awesome. Everybody has a story that puts my privileged and sheltered past to shame. Plus, they’re all very decent people doing what they can to earn their way. I’m learning a lot, A LOT, from these individuals. I’ve also got a partner in crime there—another intern named Matt. If nothing else, I love working with these people.
Unfortunately, most of my days are spent in the office updating the website www.streetsense.org. Battling code gets pretty tiresome, but seeing the finished web pages makes for a nice sense of accomplishment.
It’s not such a bad gig. And I am getting pretty handy with InDesign. Still, I’ve yet to have any of my submitted stories published, which is disappointing.
On the other hand, I’ve had so many exciting days here that it makes up for writing html all day.
On Sept. 15, I covered the march on Washington to end the Iraq war. Walking up and down Pennsylvania Avenue (Penn Ave), I met and had some good conversations with some pretty intense people on both sides of the issue.
I got to see anti-war protesters run out of the area with threats like “Get the hell out Commies!” hurtled after them. I rode the press truck that drove down the middle of Penn Ave, just in front of the swarm of yellow-clad protesters. Once at the Capitol, several people were forcibly arrested feet away from me by cops in full riot gear.
It was enlightening to say the least. It was also exciting. I mean, I’m a reporter for RCC; I don’t get to cover events like this everyday, because it’s just not normal for hundreds of thousands of people to take to the streets of Riverside in protest. In D.C. it’s a little more common than that.
People have been protesting issues that range from the racially charged Jena 6 case to the need for universal health care.
In fact, today I went to the first SICKO candlelight vigil. Members of the organization, as well as people that appeared in the film showed up to speak about health care reform and to remember their loved ones. Their stories were incredible; some were downright disgusting.
After the vigil, I hitched a ride with the Iraq Veterans Against the War. There were about 30 of us on the bus, but everyone was friendly. Young radicals were discussing politics with aged reporters and weathered veterans—a perfect end to the night, if I do say so myself.
So there you have it: over three weeks of not-so-action-packed life in DC crammed into one fairly long blog.
Until next time…
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