First Week

The first week has been awesome. After a prep class on Monday we set out to find our offices so we would know where to go on Tuesday morning. After running around the city for a few hours we came back to the Barlow Center for FHE where we met a few of the local students from GWU.

I started my internship on Tuesday. After a lot of paperwork I was taken to the my office and assigned to work with the part of the committee that focuses on trade. I spent most of my time this week studying current trade agreements and other pending legislation so I'll be up to speed (or at least closer to up to speed) when congress goes back into session this Tuesday. Since we have class on Fridays I only worked three days last week and still feel quite green. I'm excited to go back this week and continue to figure things out.

There is an awesome senior missionary couple that lives across the street and helps us with everything. They do a great job of teaching the institute class on Tuesday nights. This is their third mission in only a few years, pretty amazing examples of selfless service.

This week we found an awesome deal on bike rentals. There are little bike stations all over the city and you can pick them up and drop them off all over the place. It ends up being a great deal compared to the metro and now I am a lot more familiar with how to get around the city.

Bikes!

Our first bike adventure was around the mall on Thursday night. We ate dinner in Georgetown and rode from there to the Lincoln Memorial, past the Washington Memorial, around the Capitol, past the White House and back home. It was a lot of fun to zip from one to the next and see them lit up at night.

Lincoln at night

Our next bike adventure was to a neighborhood called Adams Morgan, named after some local elementary schools that somehow played a role when schools were changed from segregation (I heard). We went to a Falafel place for lunch, wandered around a bit, and then headed back home. The Falafel shop had a cool no smoking sign so I took a picture. It is kind of fuzzy.

On Saturday we went to the DC Zoo. It is pretty big and especially great because it is free. I think the most exotic animals I saw were the pandas. I don't think they have them at Hogle Zoo... so it was probably the first time I had ever seen pandas! Wow. I also  enjoyed the other animals that reminded me of Madagascar like the zebras, monkeys, leemers, etc.

Panda

 

 

Baby Pandas

Scott and I in BYU football shirts,  ready for the game.

We finished the afternoon by sitting on the edge of our seats and biting our nails off for a few hours while we watched BYU play Ole Miss. I was happy to see them pull it off just in time. Next week Texas may require us to play offense in all four quarters of the game.

Tonight (Sunday) we went to the Capitol to listen to the National Symphony play John Phillips Sousa and Duke Ellington in their annual Labor Day concert. It was pretty amazing to sit on the grass and listen as we looked out over the mall.

The Stage