Beginnings

So I don’t have internet in my room because the modem is missing and we don’t have a wireless router, so I just found out I have to go to the 14^th floor to use internet but the room closes at 10:00 p.m. So I am in my room, typing this and then I will go upstairs to post it.

I arrived safely obviously. Thank you all who wished me luck.

I really love the feel of D.C. I can feel the movement of the people. It is strange because it is unlike any other city I have visited but I can’t pinpoint it. It seems like it has the “old-school” feeling but at the same time I can feel the “modernization” and I can feel the “power and importance” coming from it. It’s beautiful.

I live in Arlington, north of the cemetery and only a couple of metro stops from the district and the center of town. My address is the following if you want to send me anything but I really don’t see why you would do that but I know my family will most likely send me something. And I’m not gonna lie, it will probably make me really happy. J But that in no way means to send me something. So my address is:

Meridian Courthouse Commons I

Apartment 309 (Jamie)

1401 North Taft Street

Arlington, VA 22201

I live in a really nice area that is just outside the district but is not a boring place. There are several restaurants (subway, my fav “i know it’s not really a restaurant”), bars (can’t complain), a Wachovia (equivalent to my wells fargo bank), a grocery store (4 blocks away and hard to carry groceries from), a metro stop, and other useless things that I will probably not be using.

I have yet to go see anything in D.C. No sightseeing because I have been so busy.

I got in yesterday and two of my roommates were here already. One is really cool and is from Pittsburgh and the other is not so cool from Orlando. I switched rooms from Orlando Guy to Pittsburgh Guy after talking to them for 10 minutes. Lol. But Orlando Guy is not so bad…..just a douche sometime but he is really nice. His brain just has no idea what his mouth is saying. (If that makes any sense)

After I settled in more or less (because I have yet to unpack anything) we went to Georgetown (apparently a really classy expensive place) to eat and found a cheap bar with $2.25 Coronas!!! And $2 wings and nachos…. And a piano player…… It was a very nice place and cheap.

TODAY

Was terrible.

I got up at 5:15 cuz my whole room was illuminated with white light. Why does it get light out here so early???? So I couldn’t sleep and tried to get ready for my orientation. Showed up to the State Department (where the orientation was at) 1 ½ hours early! Listen to some speaker and ambassadors talk about careers at the State Dept, which always sounded fun to me but now seems like a rip (not really) because you pretty much get directed to anyplace they want to send you and it takes a long time to do “fun thing”. Or at least that was my take.

And then we had a 3 hour break for lunch (wth, I can eat a footlong in 20 min). Didn’t really do much during the 3 hours. Ate, went to Dupont Circle, walked around, and met my group at 14:00. This part was boring.

Not only was I tired by then, but we got handed a lot work. You see, my internship is a 3 part process. I have to do the actual internship, I have to take a course, and I have to do all this “extra supplemental” stuff for the program (The Washington Center ‘TWC’) that found me the internship. And we had to do a porfolio for them that is like 25 pages long, and we have to interview somebody, and we have to volunteer, and we have to speak to our Congressman, and we have to attend weekly “lectures and events”, and then write about everything we do!!! Ridiculous.

So after I was suppose to go to the mall with my roommate but when I got back it was raining, I was tired, and very hungry. So we went shopping for food that was way too far and was way too hard to bring back to the apartment but we managed. And then we went to eat, which was nice…….and then I found out that I could use the internet but on the 14^th floor and guess what?

I find out that my internship is only like 1 ½ hours away from my apt. commuting and that it will cost me about $5.50 each way ($11 roundtrip) to get there. And my supervisor asks if I can move closer????? Are you kidding?? Move further away from the district??? So I can be closer to work???

So now I need your opinion. I can:

A.

Stay here with roommate who are cool (even the annoying one), in a place that is really nice, that is also very close to the center, in an apartment that is pretty great, and

Pay $40 a week to get unlimited travel which is about $400 total for the 10 weeks. In comparison I would probably spend $25 a week for work (if I lived closer) but then I would still have to pay for any additional travel I do into the city like if I were to go out, see a symphony, see a museum, or any tourist attraction. So about $30 a week. This would mean I would spend $100 dollars more TOTAL. And

Spend close to 3 ½ hours on a train everyday compared to 1 hour. This amounts to a total of 10-12 hours EXTRA each WEEK I would spend on a train. And

I could always read some books while I am there.

OR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

B.

I could move to a new place, take all my stuff with (which would be a pain), take my groceries, get to know my new roommates and possibly find out they are worse than the ones I have now, live really FAR from the district, and probably miss out on a lot of things happening because I will always be so far away. (at least in option A, I can be home by 18:30 and be ready to go anywhere by 19:00)

I would pay less on transport to and from work but more if I wanted to go into the city. And

I would save myself at least 10 hours each week and do either of, sleep, studying, going out (later), and other useful stuff.

So what do you think cuz I need to know??? And also feel free to comment on anything else.