To my loyal follower(s)...

Ok ok, so I’ve decided to start a blog to chronicle my travels in the district. I thought it would be a good way for my mom and my Witt loves to keep up on my life. Additionally, I love nothing more than to talk about myself, and let’s face it, I don’t have a JOB holding me back from blogging 24/7. So, here goes. (These first few entries will be a re-cap of my first days in D.C.)

May 20, 2009

After an emotional, tearful goodbye with my mom, I finally got through security at the Cincinnati airport and proceeded to gate B14. Although small, it was filled with ample “people watching” spots. I settled in with my iPod and judged others from afar. SHOCKING, I know. During my flight, I sat next to a girl that graduated from Wellesley College and was living with her parents in Georgetown this summer while taking paralegal classes. We chatted a bit about D.C. before she took a nap and I read my US Weekly magazine (Jon and Kate Plus 8 edition). It was refreshing to sit next to someone who was not 1.) a dirty old man intent on staring at your breasts the entire flight while breathing heavily or 2.) a stuck-up business man who wants you to believe that his life revolves around that god damn blackberry and that turning it off is creating a HUGE inconvenience in his life. Yes, yes, I’m sure you are very busy Mr. Three-piece Suit but cut the shit, you aren’t that important.

In all, I enjoyed my flight, and before I knew it, we had landed in D.C. I waved a $5 bill in the air at the luggage carousel and waited for a skycap to take my bags. Come now, you didn’t really think I would lug all of that around myself did you? I just consider it job security for the lovely man who helped me. :) I took a cab from Reagan to River Place and stopped by the Lutheran College Washington Semester (hereafter referred to as LCWS) office to pick up the two big boxes my mom had shipped out earlier in the week. This, my friends, is when I knew I was back in the district. You see, in the Midwest, when a girl with two 50 lb.-plus suitcases, a Vera Bradley overnight bag, computer, and two ridiculously large boxes needs a hand moving in to her new apartment, good ole’ boys are falling all over the place to open the door, hold the elevator, or volunteer to personally take it up to the door. However, Washingtonians have what I like to call a “Fuck you!” attitude. I nearly killed myself trying to bring everything up to the tenth floor of the River Place North apartment building. People were passing me left and right giving me looks that screamed, “That sucks, but I’d rather not help you. It’s actually more amusing to watch you struggle.” I shit you not. Younger, more physically fit men just stared at me, looking more than annoyed that my belongings and dolly cart were in the way of their afternoon run or trip to Starbucks. Finally, a young twenty-something woman and an elderly Chinese man offered to help me bring my bags in. The ONLY thing the man at the concierge desk had to say to me? “Excuse me, why aren’t you using the loading dock? You cannot come through the lobby!!” Oh really, asshole? Why don’t you go take YOUR afternoon trip to Starbucks and lay the eff off.

The rest of my afternoon was spent unpacking. Around 5:30 p.m., Erin and I walked to Café Asia for dinner. My chicken fried rice and sushi roll were delicious, and Erin’s shrimp fried rice looked equally good. Sitting outside the restaurant, we both admitted we missed Wittenberg more than we thought we would. It seems like graduation came and went and everyone left so soon. Very few formal goodbyes were said, and the next time I will see most of the people who have consumed my life for the past four years will be at homecoming, and that’s if I decide to come back. It’s weird. You spend years wondering when college will end, and as soon as it does, you are itching to get back. Maybe that’s just me. I don’t do so well with change, but I know that life in D.C. will pick up as soon as I get a job and start receiving a paycheck.

After dinner, I finished unpacking and went to bed relatively early. Exhausted from the flight and my attempts to bring all of my bags up to my apartment, my pink and brown zebra-striped bedding looked more than inviting. Day 1 in the district was, more or less, a success!

May 21, 2009

I’ll be honest. I woke up at 12:30 p.m., and I could have slept longer. Later in the afternoon, Andrea Lauer came over to pick up some things from our apartment. (Erin had packed some of Andrea’s belongings in her U-Haul when she drove out to D.C.). While she was here, we all went to lunch in Rosslyn. A new place called the Brown Bag opened up next to Chipotle, and we decided to check it out. Note to self: AMAZING. It’s a create-your-own salad, sandwich, and pasta/noodle joint with plenty of fresh ingredients. If you don’t know what you want or are not prepared to come up with your own salad/sandwich/pasta dish, they have suggested combinations for you to choose from. I chose the Buffalo Chicken sandwich (shredded chicken, bleu cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and buffalo sauce on sourdough and placed under a grill/Panini press). It was both delicious and affordable! The sandwich was huge, and with a side of chips and water to drink, it was only about $9…not bad for D.C. I think Erin and I will definitely be returning.

After lunch, the three of us did what any single girls in the city with a ballin’ balcony would do: tan. Later, Erin and I went down to talk to Doug (LCWS operations manager) and Alyssa (LCWS internship coordinator). A “quick trip” turned into about an hour chat with the two of them, and we decided we needed to go to the grocery store. Not wanting to carry all of our groceries back down the hill from Safeway or steal a Safeway cart (which you can apparently get a ticket for doing), we decided to take Erin’s car and park in Safeway’s lot. Again, note to self: DO NOT DO THIS. After shopping for the essentials, we gave our ticket to the parking attendant and forked over $8 for parking. Seriously, $8 for less than an hour of grocery shopping?! Cheese and rice, that is expensive!

I spent the rest of the night glued to the television watching mindless trashy reality shows. I got nothing accomplished, but I’ve decided to take my mom’s advice and give myself a break. No one on the Hill wants to talk to me until after Memorial Day anyway, so I’m going to chill out for a few days and enjoy the city. Like last night, I went to bed pretty early. I think my body is still trying to catch up on sleep!