The First Week

This is me photographing the Library of Congress (media credit goes to Courtney Nolan). The building reminds me of an illuminated medieval text! It happens to be the most gilded building in North America, so anything that looks like gold actually is. It also has American-designed, Italian-made colored stone mosaics on the walls and ceilings. Incredible.

I can't give you the inner workings of my internship, because we like to change the world here and you can't do that if you tell how it works. :) Just kidding, sort of. I really can't give details because there are a lot of other interns who probably don't want to show up on the internet unexpectedly in my blog. But I can give some word-pictures of my first week here.

Auntie Karrie is a wonderful aunt who not only met me at the airport and drove me the hour and a half from Baltimore to Arlington, but stopped at American Eagle on the way. Just because I wanted a cardigan there and had a coupon. The cardigan is perfect for evenings here and I love it. :) I also got a little notebook at Carbiou which had the honor of being perfect for taking my first notes in here. We had a speech to attend and write about, and I filled five pages front and back with notes. Homework.

The architecture in D.C. is beautiful. I didn't remember that from my visits with family, because I had no appreciation for architecture and very little for art! But it reminds me a little of Amsterdam, with colorful buildings grown up close together but somehow managing to look ancient and elegant. The District looks like history. It makes me love American history even more just to walk in through the "temple of justice," for instance, where the Supreme Court sits; to see Thomas Jefferson's library, with its faded leatherbound copies of things I myself have read. On his shelves I saw Plutarch (Sabine women!), among others.

Not so pretty, however, is the escalator down to the trains at the Rosslyn Metro Station. I counted today: almost 100 steps to walk. The thing's too slow to ride up and down, especially with a metro train to catch. So after every long day, every workout, Rachel and I walk up 100 steps.

The Washington Times building has a ballroom. A ballroom with crown molding along the ceiling and crystal chandeliers. That's not where the newsroom is, but somehow working in such a building- which, unlike some newspapers these days, is still all for the Times- is better for it. Also, I have my own desk. Obviously. But it's my own desk at the Washington Times. Today I sat at my own desk and read a book about a bicyclist. Life is sweet.

Back home, our studio looks less like the bachelor pad Rachel and I inherited and more like a mini home. We took down the American flag (respectfully) and put up the London skyline. Not patriotic, but more feminine. I got my magazine cutouts and Jane Austen mens' pictures in the mail and put the collage on my wall. My books are on the shelf, along with my stationary box and letters. Rachel got her duvet in the mail. The fish cease to annoy us. It is, in short, home away from home.

This is a long collection of snapshots, so if you made it to the end, thank you! :-) I'll update more than once every three months so there isn't so much catching up to do. The District is a busy place and hopefully I can eventually blog about a little International Justice Mission volunteer work (it'll be office stuff) and a direction God is leading my heart for the city. Until then, I can pray for it. The Metro commute is a great time to pray.