This morning saw me awake before the sun, nervously donning my "business casual" shirt, tie, and slacks, grabbing my rolling carry-on and briefcase, and heading to the Knoxville airport for the first flight of my life. Mom drove me to the airport where Dad had just gotten off the mid, and they saw me through security, and watched from the window as my plane took off. And now here I am, thousands of feet in the air, listening to Pink Martini tango music, and watching God's beautiful creation sail lazily by below me. This sight certainly goes on the top the top ten most beautiful things I've seen.
I think it's safe to say that I'm already hooked on flying. I feel as if I grew up all at once this morning. I have scheduled interviews with Russian Foreign Specialists and Congressmen, I have planned my metro routes, and I have reservations at hotels. Life moves quickly sometimes, and today I feel as if it's moving faster than ever before.
Conveniently, I am required to wrote journal entries about this weekend for school, so my little habit of blogging my travels is going to come in handy. I don't have my hilarious siblings along for the ride this time, but I have a feeling that this Creasy's capers are still going to be interesting. It isn't every day you sit across the aisle from a man who drinks iced tomato juice.
Being back in DC in my business casual, I am no longer viewed as a young tourist. The tie and the brief case give me a rite of passage almost; a several tourists even stopped and asked me for directions. I love traveling metro, and ready feel right at home. Next stop: Capitol South, and Congressman Duncan!
Finding the Congressman's office from the metro station wasn't difficult, and upon approaching his door and seeing my state's flag outside, I felt a huge sense of pride that I'm from Tennessee.
The interview with Congressman Duncan went spectacular (I may add some notes from the meeting later), and I found my way to the Holiday Inn in which I am staying two nights (before going to another hotel Saturday night). The lady at the front desk spoke with a heavy Jamaican accent, and hearing myself referred to as "Mista Creesy" was slightly odd.
Wouldn't you know it, my phone has picked this weekend to completely freak out. The battery is dying within an hour, the screen freezes up and won't let me use it, and Google maps is practically nonexistent. First world pains, right? But when you've stored most of your necessary info on your phone (addresses, phone numbers, schedules), it's kinda annoying. Thank the good Lord for paper.
After a quick interview with the research assistant of a Russian Specialist (I got a crash course on how to get any job in the Russian field, and felt like I was flowing a debate round again, she spoke so quickly), I moseyed down the road to find a place to eat (not having eaten anything all day...and it's getting on 2pm). I settled on a little mom & pop place called the Sunrise Cafe - owned by a super-friendly little Mexican woman who spoke 900 mph, and had my food out in 6.3 minutes. The steak and cheese sandwich was fantastic. I even got it with grilled onions just for my Dad. I'm sure he'd be proud.
Just across the road is a small coffee shop named Peet's Coffee and Tea. Apparently established in Berkeley, CA in 1966 (so it says on my cup), the mochas are good, and the environment crowded enough to be private. My phone is plugged up next to me, and I'm working on researching the "Boren Scholarship" that I found out about in my interview. The lady I spoke with sounded fairly confident that I was looking for internships/jobs at the right time, as the market is aching for Russian specialists.
I'm really enjoying myself thus far. I'm sure I could work here and love it, but I'd have to have a quieter home not right smack-dab in the middle of the city. The noise is the only things that gets to me after a while. Noise is everywhere.
Today I had 3 Cokes, a mocha, and one black coffee. Talk about caffeine overload. But you know what I did with my 1.5 hr break between interviews and registration? I came back to the hotel and slept. I don't even know how that's possible.
The conference itself has been amazing thus far. Our keynote speaker was Robert Doar, who I at first thought was a liberal speaking at a conservative conferences (AEI is a Christian, conservative think-tank, for those of you who don't know) as he was in favor or work-supported welfare, but he confused me when he was extremely conservative on minimum wage issues. I plan to discuss this more in a paper I have to write for the Federal Seminar class this conference is counting as, so I won't bore you with details.
The intellectualism in the conference room itself is palpable. I feel as if I'm in a room with world-shakers, and I love it. I never thought I would seriously consider trying to work for a time in a think-tank, but AEI is tempting me.
I'm looking forward to one thing right now: sleep. It's only 9:34, but I am *wiped out,* and devotionals start at 8am in the morning. Nonetheless, I can't wait to hear more speakers. Free market economics, capitalism, and entrepreneurship, here we come!
P.S. As my time to write this blog is rather limited, I won't be putting up a lot of pictures here. If your'e interested, my Instagram is @Scarlet_Snow.
Also, for any of you who are familiar with my other blog (scarlequain.blogspot.com), I wrote this poem in the plane somewhere above Virginia, as well as I can figure.
Until tomorrow!
Wouldn't you know it, my phone has picked this weekend to completely freak out. The battery is dying within an hour, the screen freezes up and won't let me use it, and Google maps is practically nonexistent. First world pains, right? But when you've stored most of your necessary info on your phone (addresses, phone numbers, schedules), it's kinda annoying. Thank the good Lord for paper.
After a quick interview with the research assistant of a Russian Specialist (I got a crash course on how to get any job in the Russian field, and felt like I was flowing a debate round again, she spoke so quickly), I moseyed down the road to find a place to eat (not having eaten anything all day...and it's getting on 2pm). I settled on a little mom & pop place called the Sunrise Cafe - owned by a super-friendly little Mexican woman who spoke 900 mph, and had my food out in 6.3 minutes. The steak and cheese sandwich was fantastic. I even got it with grilled onions just for my Dad. I'm sure he'd be proud.
Just across the road is a small coffee shop named Peet's Coffee and Tea. Apparently established in Berkeley, CA in 1966 (so it says on my cup), the mochas are good, and the environment crowded enough to be private. My phone is plugged up next to me, and I'm working on researching the "Boren Scholarship" that I found out about in my interview. The lady I spoke with sounded fairly confident that I was looking for internships/jobs at the right time, as the market is aching for Russian specialists.
I'm really enjoying myself thus far. I'm sure I could work here and love it, but I'd have to have a quieter home not right smack-dab in the middle of the city. The noise is the only things that gets to me after a while. Noise is everywhere.
Today I had 3 Cokes, a mocha, and one black coffee. Talk about caffeine overload. But you know what I did with my 1.5 hr break between interviews and registration? I came back to the hotel and slept. I don't even know how that's possible.
The conference itself has been amazing thus far. Our keynote speaker was Robert Doar, who I at first thought was a liberal speaking at a conservative conferences (AEI is a Christian, conservative think-tank, for those of you who don't know) as he was in favor or work-supported welfare, but he confused me when he was extremely conservative on minimum wage issues. I plan to discuss this more in a paper I have to write for the Federal Seminar class this conference is counting as, so I won't bore you with details.
The intellectualism in the conference room itself is palpable. I feel as if I'm in a room with world-shakers, and I love it. I never thought I would seriously consider trying to work for a time in a think-tank, but AEI is tempting me.
I'm looking forward to one thing right now: sleep. It's only 9:34, but I am *wiped out,* and devotionals start at 8am in the morning. Nonetheless, I can't wait to hear more speakers. Free market economics, capitalism, and entrepreneurship, here we come!
P.S. As my time to write this blog is rather limited, I won't be putting up a lot of pictures here. If your'e interested, my Instagram is @Scarlet_Snow.
Also, for any of you who are familiar with my other blog (scarlequain.blogspot.com), I wrote this poem in the plane somewhere above Virginia, as well as I can figure.
Until tomorrow!
Sea of faces,
Cliffs of spaces,
A kingdom of air,
God's personal stair:
Above the Clouds.
A kingdom of air,
God's personal stair:
Above the Clouds.
Hurray for D.C., my sort of birthplace! It all sounds super wonderful and adventurous. I hope it rains while you're there. D.C. is beautiful in the rain. :)
ReplyDelete