Official Work!

So I have now officially worked two days at IIE, the Institute of International Education. I am working in the Grants and Contracts Division, which basically takes agreements between IIE and sponsors, and works to keep them straight in the database they use. That's just the basics and beginning, but it's a little of what I've done. The first day was a little crazy, trying to remember all the things that they were telling and showing me. Today was a little more fun though, as I had the chance to work on my own and actually accomplish something productive!

A nice perk at work is that I have an office to myself (for now) and have a nice desk and everything! I feel pretty official. This year is the 90th anniversary of IIE, and they are creating some kind of 'yearbook' thing for IIE, so they are taking pictures of each division. My supervisor asked if I wanted to be in their picture, and I was like "Why not?!" So below is a picture of everyone on my team! From left to right they are: Kristy (my supervisor), me, Stella, Andrew, and Steven (the boss).

So it's pretty cool to work as part of a small team. Today Andrew invited me to join him in a "green team" meeting, where about 7 employees talked about how to make the IIE workplace more environment friendly. That was kind of interesting! Also, today I sent out some distribution emails, and the CFO of IIE emailed me and talked about meeting next week. So that was pretty cool! I like my job so far.

After work today we walked down to the National Mall and visited some of the monuments: Lincoln, Vietnam, and WWII memorials. They were really neat, and as always thought provoking. As we walked home by the White House and saw all the amazing buildings in DC, I just thought how amazing it is that I get to live here for a summer! It has definately been amazing so far, and it hasn't even been a week!!

An Ending and a Beginning

So due to popular (maybe not popular, but multiple) demand, I have decided to do a blog for my summer adventures in DC. If nothing else, at least this will serve as a record of the things that I do and see in DC.

As with most beginnings, it is also the mark of the end of a previous era. It is amazing how fast the last three years have flown by in Provo, and it has taken until now to realize how much I took for granted living there. I tried to pack in as much I could the last couple days, but really just had to take care of stuff like packing, getting shots, etc. that I had put off. I did manage to squeeze in a hike up the Y (leave it to a mountain to show you how out-of-shape you are!) and a barbeque using the little gas grill I bought last summer. BBQs are when you truly know it is summertime!

But before long it was Friday morning (at 5:40 am) and time to get up and go to the airport. After a quick layover at David's place (where I used his wii-fit to measure my luggage) I was on my way. I got into DC without any problems, though I could barely get to my shuttle with two large suitcases and two carry-on bags! I'm sure I was quite a sight.

By Friday there were about 8 of us here, and we ate dinner and went for a stroll around Georgetown. The next day we decided that we needed to get food, so we all took the metro to get to Costco. Having excellent foresight, we made the guys bring two large suitcases to bring the food back in. After a couple out-of-the-way diversions we finally made our way to Costco. As we were checking out with two large carts full of frozen food, we realized that our genius foresight had not been quite adequate! Needless to say, costco food for 8 people does not fit in two suitcases. But, we filled the suitcases as best we could and then filled boxes to carry home. We made it home with all our stuff, but it was quite the adventure!

Saturday night we walked over to the White House. While we were there, we experienced our first DC rain! The lightning was amazing- probably the clearest and brightest streaks I've ever seen. I love it when it's so warm that you don't care if you're wet. Did I mention that DC is having record heat at over 90 degrees?

On Sunday night we thought that we would take a peaceful walk over to the harbour and enjoy looking at the Potomac. However, we did not know that Sunday night is apparantly the party night by the harbour. So we get there, and of course all the restaurants are full and crazy busy. On the water there were tons of boats with people drinking in big groups on them. Not quite the peaceful sunday stroll we were looking for! One guy (young and drunk) came over to the five of us girls and wanted a group hug. It was...interesting. We went back on Monday and it was much calmer, so now we know to avoid it on Sunday nights!

Today a couple of us went to a forum at the CATO Institute; it was a forum that was pro-trade. It was really interesting and definately something you can only experience in DC. Unfortunately I didn't have paper to take notes, so I can't provide details of what they discussed. But, I definately need to get more informed on all the topics of debate here! I love hearing so much about what is going on, and how the city is always so alive.

So that's a snapshot of what I've been doing in DC so far. It's already been crazy busy and never ending, but I'm really excited to start work tomorrow. Thanks for reading! I'll try to keep this updated and get pictures on it. Just remember that life is fast and take advantage of every moment!