Week 8: The dance is a poem of which each movement is the world

It has been a busy week, as the time goes by it only seems to get busier. I can’t believe that there are only two more weeks left! I am working hard to get all my assignments completed. In fact, this week I had some down time at my internship and spent a lot of it writing. At the NESA Center the days when we were out of the office we went to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for a counterterrorism law seminar. It was as usual another simulating seminar.

This week my dad, step-mom, step-brother and his wife came to visit. They stayed at a hotel in D.C. called the Beacon. I had the chance to play the tour guide for the weekend. We went to the US Botanic Garden, National Museum of the American Indian, The International Spy Museum, as well as the Capitol & Washington Monument. They were here for only three days and we were limited on what we could do, so I let my family choose. The Spy Museum was, well for lack of better word, badass. Initially I did not want to go because I thought it was going to be very childish. It was not; it has some kid parts like most of the museums here, but it definitely wasn’t an museum exclusively for children. There was a lot of reading, but if you don’t like that there are also several informative films. Overall I would give it a high rating. The National Museum of the American Indian is unlike anything I have seen thus far in Washington D.C.; even the outside is completely different. I could appreciate that one of the exhibits stated that the creators of history write from their own point of view and it may not be the truth. Then it goes on to explain that this is the history of their tribes told from their point of view. However at the end it also says to question and be objective about their story as well. There is a quote that I saw and wanted to share- I guess it goes with the Al Gore theme of last week.

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children." -Ancient Indian Proverb

These are two exhibits in the American Indian museum that I really liked.

I thought these were pretty cool--they are dolls for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

I found the US Botanic Garden to be a refreshing relief from D.C. life. I will try my best to explain myself. I always grew up with an immense amount of land behind my house and my mother always kept a flower garden. Even the place I live now has a beautiful garden and a koi fish pond with a waterfall. I am obsessed with nature and its grandeur. Walking into the Botanic Garden gave me an instant relaxed and at home feeling. It is gorgeous. It is a great place to escape, in fact I will return soon to do some writing.

The US Botanic Garden

This is my dad and me in front of the Capitol Building.

I cannot wait to start working for the NESA Center. I am so appreciative of having this wonderful opportunity straight after graduating college. It is rare that someone finds a job within their major and to have it be something he or she would absolutely enjoy doing, well that is nearly unheard of. I find what NESA is doing to be incredibly beneficial for foreign policy and it's a place that I can fully get behind. I was a waitress for five years--and unless you’ve done the job, you would not believe how mind-numbing and unrewarding it is. I feel like I am actually working towards a goal at the NESA Center. I guess I have the fairytale story of internship experiences through The Washington Center. You never know, you may end up working at the place you intern. So make sure you choose the place wisely and give your advisor as much information on your goals and aspirations as you can so that he or she can find the right internship for you. I couldn’t imagine if I ended up at a place that I wasn’t pleased with. It would have made this whole experience very difficult.