First Days at the Treasury

We got right down to business at the Treasury office. On the first day we were shown our desks and almost immediately put to work. Since then, more has kept coming. It's kept me completely busy. I am in a desk right next to my fellow BYU intern, so that has helped somewhat with the adjustment. It is very exciting to be at the Treasury with so much going on in the world right now. Much of my time is spent reading and learning about everything going on economically in the Western Hemisphere. Some of the things we are doing I haven't studied for a year or two so I've found myself fairly busy in the evenings trying to review and study up. It turns out to be only a 15 minute walk from the Barlow Center to the front door of the Treasury. At the end of the walk we go right past the White House. We have to push our way through all the elementary school kids taking big group pictures. Right now I'm just working hard. My summer vacation was short-lived. Whispers of swine flu are everywhere here, as is probably the case back home. I can't help but feel that there is a lot of misinformation and hysteria driving everyone's actions. Still, it is unsettling to be in such a large city (so close to New York) at the same time the World Health Organization calls a flu pandemic imminent. I guess only time will tell how serious this actually is.

First Sunday

Well, the jet lag finally caught up with me. I slept in until 12:15 PM this morning, when I was supposed to meet everyone at 12:00 PM sharp to go to church. Luckily I got a wake-up call. Two members of the ward came to show us how to get to church, so one left with the group while the other waited for me. The ward was awesome. It was so refreshing to be back out in the mission field. The first speaker got up to the pulpit and said the customary "Good afternoon" to start her talk. I was caught off guard when the entire congregation enthusiastically answered with a "Good afternoon!" of their own. Apparently the ward has been having some very good success with missionary work. It is an inner city ward, so it is a very good cross-section off the population of the city. There is a large population of Africans who have immigrated on account of political turmoil. Many speak French, and it seems that the ward tries to accommodate the French speakers as much as possible. I hear that in June they will switch things up by doing all the meetings in French and translating into English rather than vice-versa. The Bishop was anxious to get us all callings. I'm very excited to be a part of the ward.

After church I decided to take a trip straight to Arlington National Cemetery. The land that the cemetery is on is historically significant in its own right. It was formerly owned by Robert E. Lee, but was appropriated by the US government during the Civil War as a burial place for Union soldiers. I spent some time just walking through the different graves. I was sure to catch the changing of the guard (pictured below), which was an extremely elaborate ceremony. The changing of the guard takes place in front of the "Tomb of the Unknowns" (formerly known as the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"). It is guarded 24 hrs a day, 365 days a week.

Tomorrow we have to start class and Tuesday my internship will begin. I'm going to have to put my explorations of the city on hold. I hear that the bar next door does 50 cent tacos on Monday nights. I think you all know where I'm eating dinner tomorrow. All of the married couples were invited over to the couple missionary's condo this evening to have dessert and watch "The Amazing Race." I'd never watched the show but I know all of my family are fanatical followers. It was pretty good. Apparently we're invited back for next week's episode so I may just become hooked myself. While eating dessert we played a game where we answered hard questions. My question was, "If you were about to crash in a plane, who would you want sitting next to you?" That was easy. With the sting of the Jazz loss still fresh on my mind, I quickly replied, "Phil Jackson." Phil Jackson is the coach of the LA Lakers and was formerly the coach of Chicago Bulls. It's sad to see the Jazz on the verge of coming up empty handed yet another season. I'm going to try and catch a baseball game sometime when I'm out here. Of course it won't be to watch the Nationals. I'll wait until some high profile team comes to town.

I took some time to tour around town today. I really enjoyed being by myself for awhile. I went to the Library of Congress first. It was an incredible place. I found out that to use the reading rooms I need a library card, but a worker said I can get one if I have a research project. I'll try and think of a good research project next week and get myself a card. This first picture is me in front of the Supreme Court. No one showed up for the protest I was organizing, but the weather was great so it turned out to be okay.

This is a Southern Magnolia tree. When I saw it, I was reminded of all the magnolia trees near Camille's home and I was sad for a little while.

This is the previously mentioned Library of Congress. The Library of Congress actually spans three buildings. This is the more popular one. I was able to go through Thomas Jefferson's personal library and tour a Mesoamerican exhibit.
I picked out a bench here on Capitol Hill and spent some time reading Kurt Vonnegut. After that I met up with my good pal David Trichler. We went to a giant fountain/pool and spent some time catching up. I walked around Chinatown for some time looking for a good noodle place, but I ended up eating Mexican instead. At least the street sign in front of the restaurant was in Chinese. I listened to ESPN's Pardon the Interruption podcast while I ate which was sort of cool since I was right across the street the home of the Washington Post. I'm pretty sure that's where the podcast is recorded. My Washington dream would be to meet the hosts Michael Wilbon or Tony Kornheiser while I'm out here.

Arrival in Washington

Well, my blog posts were short lived, but I've decided to try and revive the blog. I'm going to try and give at least weekly updates on my life here in DC so that family and friends will know what I'm up to. It's almost 1:30 AM here which means it's 11:30 back home. I haven't even begun to adjust to the new time zone so I'm not tired, but I'll try to keep this short.

On Tuesday I will start an internship with the Treasury Department. I will be working in the Western Hemisphere office under International Affairs. I'm really quite excited to begin. I decided to get to DC a few days early to get all settled in. Upon arriving at Ronald Reagan International Airport, I quickly met a few people who are interns from BYU. Many of us are staying at BYU's Barlow Center. It is a dormitory/church office right off Pennsylvania Ave about one or two miles northwest of the White House. We all rode the subway from the airport to a place about three or four blocks from the Barlow Center and we did the rest on foot. It is very exciting to be outside of Utah again.

It's been refreshing to see people of all walks of life intermingling throughout the city. I spent some of the evening unpacking, but since I packed so light this took much less time than I expected. Another BYU student and I rode the subway to Costco, and bought a little more than we could comfortably carry on our own. We had to take several breaks as we carried giant stacks of wholesale burritos, sodas, breads, etc. through the crowded streets. The looks on the faces of those we passed kept me entertained as I struggled to not drop what must have been at least a fifty-pound load.

The rest of the evening was spent getting to know the other interns staying here. We spent some time walking out on the street. After we decided we'd had enough we went back to watch basketball. I miss Camille, but I'm excited to explore the town and make plans for all the fun things we'll do together when she flys out. Since I finished all my errands so early, I don't have much to do tomorrow. I think I'll sleep in and then head to the National Art Gallery or Library of Congress. I'm going to look for a nice place to read. I'm working on "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut. I also started Cormac McCarthy's "Cities of the Plane" and "There Are No Children Here" by Alex Kotlowitz. I normally don't take on more than two books at once, but I have some extra time. So far the Vonnegut has been the most entertaining. I love his irreverant and satirical humor. I'll try and spice up this blog with some pictures from my travels around town tomorrow. I may spend some time with the other interns, but the thought of exploring some of the more out of the way sights is appealing. I think I'll do what I want to do--at least for tomorrow.