bright lights, big city

Being is D.C. is pretty surreal. That's about the only word I can find for it. Today I rode the Metro around in business clothes and went to an office building and I felt like I was living someone else's life. I guess I haven't been here very long, but I don't know when this is going to feel real.

I moved in at 10 Wednesday morning and I've been at different orientations, tours, and meetings since then. My apartment is in a townhouse right of Pennsylvania Avenue. There are seven of us in a three bedroom, and guess who got the top bunk?? Robert couldn't believe what a great location we have; we can see the Capitol Building from our back porch and we're just a few blocks from the Mall and the Metro.

I managed to be the first student locked out of my apartment today (surprise, surprise) while I was on my way to meet with my internship supervisor. Evidently they told us that some of the keys to our front door didn't work, but I hadn't tried mine yet and, of course, it did not occur to me that it might not work. Oops...

I'm starting my internship with the Philanthropy Roundtable/Alliance for Charitable Reform next Wednesday. I'll work on everything from event support to media relations. It's going to give me a great chance to learn about public policy for my independent study and I'm going to get a lot of hands-on experience.

Tomorrow we have more tours, which promises to make me even more exhausted than I already am! This weekend we're going to try to get know the city a little more and I might ride over to Robert's to watch some of the playoff games - Go Colts!