it's our whole life, down to one box

I'm writing this in the kitchen surrounded by cardboard boxes and luggage. I can't believe I'm actually packing to leave D.C. It really seems like just yesterday I got here. This has been an incredible four months.

I finished up a few projects at work this week and took my finals on Tuesday. The past few days I've just been trying to take everything in, wrap up some loose ends, and visit as many cupcake stores as possible. My supervisors took me to lunch yesterday before I left. It was really weird to think I've spent the past several months with them and suddenly - I'm gone.

I took as many jogs around the Mall as possible with my roommates this week. I just don't see how Denny Chimes and Gorgas are going to compare to Washington, Lincoln, and the Capitol. We also tried to hit up as many of our favorite restaurants as possible.

I had a graduation ceremony this morning and a goodbye dinner a few nights ago. Our coordinator put together a nice slideshow (there is one picture with yours truly making a typically adorable face) and gave out superlatives. They were mostly things like "Who will be in political office first." Needless to say, Hillary did not take home that award, haha.

My parents are in town to help me pack all of my things up. It's so strange to think of everything that has changed since my mom and I drove up here in January. I'll be going home and working with students getting ready for end-of-grade tests for a few weeks, then getting ready to head off to Ghana! I'll try to update from Africa, but it might be a little difficult :) This has been a really wonderful experience, and I'm so excited for the next few months.

like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun

Things are getting pretty crazy around here! I spent most of the weekend doing homework, writing papers, and working on study guides for my upcoming exams. I'm also getting down to crunch time with my movie. I've been working on outlining what I want to say, going through my interview notes, trying to pick film clips, etc. It's harder than I thought because I know what I want the final project to look like, but it's getting there that's a lot of work.

Last Monday, we went to the State Department. Our speakers were from the Afghanistan and Pakistan desks. I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, which is about school building efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The speaker from the Pakistan desk has actually met Greg Mortenson, so of course I asked him about education initiatives in the region. Learning about the cultural differences in the area is fascinating and it's understandable why it's hard to install a democratic government. It was my favorite visit by far.

I've had a several research projects to do at work. It's funny how I'm taking on more and more responsibility the closer I get to leaving! I really have learned a tremendous amount at work though and I've enjoyed it. I've been able to dabble in so many different areas.

This weekend Robert and I went to a D.C. United game. It was so much fun, but the team is pretty awful! I think they've scored one goal all season. I really wanted to go play soccer afterwards and I actually had a dream about playing soccer in Ghana that night :)

On Sunday, we went to the White House to see the gardens. Every year, the First Lady opens up the back lawn to the public for a few days, and you can walk all over the grounds (well, not all over. I saw several people get yelled at for walking on the grass...). I mean, it's the White House, so of course it's beautiful, but I really enjoyed the tour. You could look in the Oval Office and see the American flag, the table where Obama had the beer summit, his daughter's playground, the new kitchen garden, Jackie Kennedy's garden, everything!

I'm about to scramble off to Georgetown for class, but I wanted to give everyone a quick update about how things are going! The next 11 days are going to be insane, but I am loving it.

these streets will make you feel brand new

Well, I'm at the three week mark of my semester! I can't believe that I've been in D.C. for almost three months, and I'll be leaving in just a few weeks. This semester has flown by.

I'm making some more progress on my film - I practiced editing with the film from the wedding I mentioned in my first post. It just seems like such a monumental task that I don't really know where to start! I've worked on a script and have started working out which clips I want to use, but it's still pretty daunting.

I had a fantastic meeting at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on Monday. The institute focuses on education reform and policy, and I learned a lot. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on the topic because so much of what we do at work is about education, but I definitely didn't know as much as a thought! I spoke with one of their policy experts, and she actually recommended some really interesting studies and ideas for to me look at. I love talking to people who are so passionate about what they do.

I was pretty busy helping our event planner this week. I had to look through agenda for about a decade's worth of meetings and put together a spreadsheet of speakers - it ended up being nearly one thousand people long. I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but it was actually neat to see these really recognizable names and organizations that our group has a relationship with. My next project is writing a piece on public-private philanthropy projects.

Classes are going well too - I'm going to have finals starting up in less than two weeks. The weather has been ridiculously spastic - high 80s yesterday, 50s today. I sat out and watched a storm roll in last night. I felt like I was back in the South :)

On a side note, I ate Ethiopian food on Wednesday! We went to a place up in Georgetown after class. It was definitely unlike anything I've had before. They brought out this huge pan covered in flat, spongy bread, and then just dumped everyone's entrees onto the bread! You don't get any utensils - the waiters brought us rolls of the bread that you scoop the food up in. I have a feeling my food experiences in Ghana this summer are going to be pretty interesting...