Come visit me!!

I live in Washington D.C. Which means that you should come visit me. Why?

1) Because you'll be able to stay with me for FREE
2) Everything in D.C. is free. All the Smithsonian museums. The Capitol. The Zoo. The Archives. It will seriously be one of the cheapest vacations you'll have.
3) I'll be your tour guide and take you EVERYWHERE
4) You get to see me!!

Brad came to visit me last weekend and he had a great time. Check out some of our pictures; hopefully you'll be convinced to come visit!



We'll be complete tourists and take pictures like this!



And maybe if you're lucky, you'll get to see someone protesting circumcision in front of the Capitol!



So basically, visiting me in D.C. will be the craziest, weirdest, cheapest trip you could possibly have. Do ittttttt :)

Why am I here?

You can come to Washington D.C. to do a myriad of things. I have a friend who are working for non-profits that help the homeless in D.C., another who is working for a public relations and communications firm. People come to D.C. with interests in every field, be it engineering (the Department of Defense needs someone to design weapons) or Journalism (every news outlet has offices in D.C.). Lots of people want to come to D.C. and they do come to D.C. and they do awesome stuff. But what am I here for? Well I guess we're going to have to go way back to figure that out.

If you had known me when I was 6 years old, you would have known that I not only knew who Bill Clinton was, but also who he ran against in the 1996 election (Bob Dole and Ross Perot). While most of my friends were spending their TV time watching Full House and Step By Step, I stayed up and watched the 1996 election with my Dad. And that's when I decided that I wanted to be President of the US. So I asked my Dad what I had to do. Probably really having no clue myself, he told me that I would have to go to law school and then probably become a governor and then run for president. After hearing that, I decided that that's what I wanted to do. And as they years have gone by, my ultimate goal may have changed, but that foundational path remains.

I've been pre-law since I was 6. I've never changed my mind and there's nothing that will push me into another career path. While I've always had a path and goals, it's a little scary to be here in Washington D.C., actually accomplishing the things I always told myself I would do. I am working for a freaking U.S. Senator. I remember when Stabenow first ran for Senate against Spence Abraham and I can't believe that I actually work for her now. And as proud of myself as I am, it's even scarier to think that there's still a lot more that I have to do before I can be proud of what I've accomplished.

Last week, I got to see Hillary Clinton. While a lot of you might think that she's a scary "monster" or a crazy, power-hungry woman riding on her husband's coattails, I believe the complete opposite. I've loved Hillary since she was first lady. Her crusade for health care and her active use of the Office of the First Lady really made me admire her. And I can honestly say that she was one of my biggest influences in what I want to do with my life. And last week, I was less than a foot away from her. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to her or take a picture with her, but I was close to her. And it was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.

Another one of my biggest influences is Madeleine Albright, who I also got to see in person. Albright is pretty bad ass. She was the first female to hold the Secretary of State position (which is now held by Hillary!) and was also the US Ambassador to the UN. Her family escaped from the Nazis and came to America and she really epitomized the American Dream. While I may not agree with everything she did during her term (i.e. Rwanda), I love her. She is a great role model and her work in foreign policy has really pushed my interest in foreign affairs and international law.

So now, here I am. 2o years old and living and working in Washington D.C. I've always wanted to be here, and here I am. But I'm realizing that I've only accomplished about a fifteenth of what I want to do in my life. But that's okay because I'm making progress. And I'm proud of myself for taking full advantage of everything that D.C. has to offer and making the best of my time here. Who knows, maybe my time as an intern will be something I look back on when I'm a Hillary or a Madeleine in my own right :)

The DC Fam

Coming to D.C. wasn't easy for me for two reasons:

1) I've never lived by myself before and I hate being away from people

2) Making new friends.

I'm lucky to have an amazing group of friends back home in Ann Arbor. Spending so much time with people day after day really makes it seem like your friends become your family. So leaving them behind, with no one from my core group of friends in D.C., was really tough for me. My first couple of weeks in D.C. were actually pretty awful because I didn't know anyone here, and I hate being lonely. Luckily, I had Dustin and Charlie, who are two of my co-workers. They happen to live together in a house about a block away from our office, and they have 9 other roommates. And thankfully, I've become an honorary roommate and I actually have friends now. And I'm dedicating this blog to them :)

So I guess the D.C. Fam is comprised of the following people: me, Dustin, Charlie, Shveta, Mitchell and Matthew. Dustin, Charlie and I are all from Michigan, but from very different parts...and they got to State (BOO! :P) Shway (that's what we call her) and Mitchell are both from North Carolina and Matthew is from Alabama. Shway goes to UNC and Mitchell and Matthew both go to Alabama. So basically we're the most random group of people, all with different political affiliations, backgrounds, majors, etc, and somehow we've found ourselves a bit obsessed with each other.

Ever since we've "found" each other, we've pretty much spent every weekend together, roaming around the city and seeing every cool thing that's here. And thank god for that. I don't know what I would do without them. Interestingly enough, I'm the person who everyone makes fun of in this group too...crazy right? People making fun of me, I guess I just have "go ahead and make fun of me" written all over my face. But whatever, I kind of like it :P

I wish I could do a full blown explanation of everyone but that would take forever, so I'm just going to do one sentence descriptions of them:

Dustin- the most ADD person I've ever met, he seriously can't pay attention for more than like 90 minutes or something, and he is OBSESSED with MSU. like legit. he knows EVERYTHING about that school and its campus.

Charlie- I think Charles might be the male version of me. We both love politics and hate Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin (with dire passions)...and we're pros at annoying the hell out of each other. basically, we're made for each other.

Shway- She might be my long-lost twin. Of course the only two girls in our group are both Indian, but by some weird coincidence, we're like the same person. We both want to get MPH-JDs at Emory of all places and the guys get really weirded out when we connect over our love for Taco Bell hot sauce.

Mitchell- The nicest, most polite boy I have ever met. Period. He works for a Democrat (he's a Republican), and when I asked him how he's able to work with a Dem., he responded with, "Well, they have good intentions.." Now come on, how many politically active people are THAT polite???

Matthew- "I'm Matthew. You can't hate me because I have an accent." He is basically my favorite person. We're writing a book together, "In Spite of Charlie," look for it in bookstores next year.

This is the crew with whom I've done everything this Summer. The Newseum, baseball games, random trips to the playground, and the random Wednesday night drunkfest/kings game. Kind of reminds me of home :)

DC v. NYC

The beauty of living in a city like D.C. is how easy it is to leave this city, and visit other awesome places on the East Coast. I know I already talked about how awesome transportation is here, so I won't bore you with those details. I decided, on a whim, to go to New York last week, and $40 and one Megabus ride later, I was in the Big Apple. Little did I realize that I hadn't been to NYC since I was like 13, and while I may be all independent and confident in D.C., I was not like that in NYC.

Luckily, my friend Tina goes to NYU and she graciously offered her place near Chinatown for me to stay at for the weekend. And not only did she let me stay with her, she showed me an awesome time. Going to NYU, she's met some pretty cool people, including someone who lives in the Trump Tower. Which is where she took me on Friday night. Needless to say, it was pretty cool.

I love New York, and I've always envisioned myself living there permanently. I love the idea of living with 12 million other people and the diversity in the city. But while I was walking in the Upper West Side (one of the most expensive areas in the world), I couldn't help but notice the smells and trash on the streets. On my left I had these amazing walk-ups that are probably worth millions, and right in front of them, were piles and piles of garbage from neighboring restaurants and stores. It's completely different from Washington D.C., where streets are pristine. Even the Metro is spotless, which I can't say for the NYC transit system. While I was waiting for the subway, I saw a rat in the tracks. I almost screamed. That about did it for me.

Spending time in D.C. by myself has taught me a lot about what I want in life and what my ultimate goals are. NYC is expensive as hell and I saw a much lower quality of life in the Big Apple. While it would be cool to live in the most famous city in the world, do I really want to start my day off with the lovely view of rat running through sewage?

Don't get me wrong - there's a lot of nice stuff in NYC, but you have to have the money for it. I guess you get a little spoiled when you grow up in a nice suburb and then go to school in Ann Arbor. Everything is always clean and nice. I don't really want to give that up just to say that I live in NYC. While I had a great time on my trip, I came to an important conclusion. New York is not the place for me. I could probably do law school there, but not much more. DC, on the other hand, feels like home. I'm in constant awe of the power and influence in this city. And a little part of me dies when I walk to work in the morning and I see the dome of the Capitol.

Shopping may be more fun in New York (check out www.uniqlo.com, it's H&M on crack and cheaper than Forever), but DC's the city for me. I never thought I'd say this, but I'll take a creepy, unemployed man hitting on me over a rat any day :P

I've been bad about updating the blog...sorry! I'll make sure to post more often! Thanks for reading!

"Hola Senorita. Looking Mucho Beautiful. Welcome to America"

I have to admit, upon my arrival in D.C., I was pretty shocked by the difference between guys in this city, and those back home in Michigan. Maybe its the slightly Southern touch, or possibly the fact that most people here are working professionals, but most of the guys I have met have been incredibly nice and forthcoming. But alas, there is always a downside to every good thing. And believe me, I have found the downside to this.

My first week in D.C., I started noticing random people complimenting my outfit or my smile or something at random points. Sometimes it was the guy who hands me my paper every morning at Union Station, or the guy ringing me up at CVS. And I have to admit, it was quite flattering (these kinds of things really don't happen to me often, you see). But as it continued day after day, I started getting a little annoyed. I mean come on, when I don't have any make up or my hair is a hot mess, I know you do not think I am the least bit attractive. So I started paying more attention and as a result of this, I learned that men have absolutely no shame.

I don't mean to generalize, but this is what I have experienced. And please don't think I'm trying to show off here, believe me, no girl wants to deal with the advances of these types of men. Generally, the men who are commenting on my outfit or how pretty I am, are men of Hispanic or African-American descent. They're usually wearing casual shorts with a wife beater, and are also usually sitting on the side of the street. And they love making all women feel uncomfortable. And they do it without any shame at all.

I was walking my friend's dog this weekend (she lives in a very ethnic neighborhood), and I asked my co-interns Dusty and Charlie to come with me on Friday evening after work. So we're walking down the street, mind you, we're all in our work attire, and I see some lovely men sitting on the side of the street. As we walk past, they just stared at me. As we're waiting on the corner, a car drove past, and the driver, while driving through the intersection, decided that was the proper time to look out his window and look at me from head to toe. I was flanked by two guys for god's sake. For all the driver knew, either Dusty or Charlie could have been my boyfriend, but apparently that didn't phase him. Shocked, Charlie just looked at me and finally understood what I had been explaining to him at work for several days.

The next day, I was walking the dog again, this time by my self, and was greeted by two lovely men, easily in their 50s and driving a nice, beat up Cadillac that needed a wash really badly. As usual, I stared ahead and ignored them as they stared at me. And then, the creepy man with dreadlocks said the following: "Hola, Senorita. Looking mucho beautiful. Welcome to America."

EXCUSE ME??? ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? You honestly think, that of all things, THAT will get me to fall into your perverted arms??? I can deal with the fact that you clearly think I'm Mexican. Hell, I can deal with the fact that you think that I am a brand new Mexican immigrant. But I will not stand for you objectifying me like I am a piece of meat. Women do not walk around this City for the pleasure of men with no jobs to stare at us. We have better things to do with our lives, and certainly better men to meet.

I realize that this blog has been targetted at a certain group of men in this city, but I will say that these situations are not exclusive to them. Instances of being stared at like a piece of meat have happened at the Capitol, but at least those men are discreet about it. I admit, I'm used to situations like this...it happens every time I walk into Campus Corner. But at least I get a benefit that far outweighs the cost there. That is not the case when I am doing a favor for a friend and walking her dog. I'd like to see how half of these men would react if someone repeated their actions upon their sisters or mothers. Would they still think it's ok? Probably not.

Apologies for the blog post that turned into a rant.