A busy weekend!

Since my last post, I have been very busy! Last week my life consisted of working and homework. I have been hanging out with a lot of people here in the program and have become friends with most of them - there are some pretty cool people.

Friday evening (September 20), our program director and everyone in the house/program went to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to see Cirque de la Symphonie - a National Symphony Orchestra pops concert paired with acrobatic and circus acts in the vein of Cirque du Soleil. The talent of these people is amazing, and the music was phenomenal. Watching the one of the best orchestras in the world perform at one of the most well-known venues was a very cool experience. Below are some pictures from that evening.

Saturday I went to see Insidious 2 at one of the theaters in town with a few of my friends in the house. After that, I went to the H Street festival which was essentially a massive street dance 15 blocks long with food tents and music. I met my friend from the office there along with some of her friends from her dormitory she's staying in. Yesterday was a pretty lazy day filled with naps and snacking. Today I was able to get some reading done after work for my Middle Eastern politics class.

The discussion this week here in Washington is whether or not Congress will be able to compromise on funding the federal government and averting a government shutdown. If Congress does not come up with a deal, the government will shit down next Tuesday, October 1st. The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) bill Friday the 20th that would continue previous levels of federal funding while defunding Obamacare. The Senate and Harry Reid have made clear that this funding option is dead on arrival. So, most likely the Senate will strip the provision defunding Obamacare and send the clean CR bill back to the House to be voted on again. We will see what happens in the next few days.... It's a very interesting time to be in Washington, that's for sure!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates! :)

The view from the Kennedy Center Terrace. 

Washington Monument on the Left Lincoln Memorial on the right

The inside of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Morgan, Meg, Me, Hannah, Bri, and Cassandra before the show.

Moved in!

All moved into my apartment in Capitol Hill. Met my roommates and hung out with everyone else in the program. We all went to Chinatown for dinner via Metro (my first time riding the subway in Washington) - it was delicious!  There's some pretty cool people from all over the country here. Pictures to come! I can tell that I'm going to have a great time!! Grocery shopping for our apartment in the morning. Thank God one of my roommates can cook!

Arrival!

My dad, stepmom, and I arrived in Washington DC this afternoon. We made it through two big storms over the two-day journey (the first in Dekalb, IL, the second around Bedford, PA), and saw some pretty cool scenery. At one of the rest stops in Ohio, a $190,000 Astin Martin parked next to us. So that was pretty cool. Once we got here, we drove around to check some things out. We saw the building I will be working in as an intern (the Longworth House Office Building),where I will be living during my stay here - starting tomorrow! Here are a few pictures of the trip and some sights we saw this evening:

Foothills in Pennsylvania 

The storm brews over the mountains

The torrential downpour we drove through in PA. 

Nearing Washington! On a scale of 1-10, my excitement was a 10. 

The view from our hotel balcony in Arlington, VA.  That's the Potomac River. 

At this point, my excitement level on a scale of 1-10 was 173827192737137282

My stepmom triple-dog-dared me to jump the fence into the lawn. I declined; I value my life.