On the Capitol steps

Too much to update on

I have been doing so many things; it's getting hard to find the time to update this thing. Well, last Saturday I went to the cherry blossom festival and it was pretty cool. I mean, these things only bloom for like a week, so you gotta appreciate em.

On Sunday, I went to Arlington Cemetery and saw JFK's grave. The cemetery is huge. Supposedly there are 300k people buried there.

Yesterday, I went to a Brewery Congressional Convention. Basically, a party put on by beer producers in order to entice congressmen and their staff to support legislation that benefits them. Well entice me and give me as much beer as I want. My roommate Justin and I managed to make it to the convention after work and trust me, we weren’t disappointed. DC rocks!

Today, I got to see an armed services committee hearing. It was pretty interesting. I also gave a tour to a family that was alumni of my elementary school. They loved the fact that one of their own was giving them the tour. It only helped when the compliments came to my boss about what a good job I did afterwards.

Well, that's it for now. Friday I'm going to lunch with Rep. Sherman so it should be pretty entertaining. I will update more soon. I promise.

A week in Washington DC

From the first class transportation system to the Romanesque buildings, Washington DC truly is a beautiful city. As my subway/train surfaced and passed through Arlington, I am reminded of how many soldiers died fighting for this country. I have only been here for a week and already there has been another casualty of war. Not really, but one of my roommates decided this program was a mistake… A "very" expensive mistake. He discovered that in order to graduate by this summer he had to take some upper division Italian classes only offered in the spring at UCLA. I guess it isnt so bad. He did get to spend his spring break in Washington, DC.

Besides that sad news, everything else has been great. I love the UCDC center. The pictures on the ucdc.edu website really do not do it justice. The center is located in the heart of DC and is only 4 years old. Being only 6 blocks away from the White House doesnt hurt either. Cool people from other UC's are also going to make for a good quarter. My only complaint about the center so far is that my shower broke and is not going to be fixed until Monday. Oh well, nothing’s perfect...

I began my internship last Tuesday and it has been pretty cool so far. I only have to work 27 hours a week so it’s not too bad. I haven’t seen the hill when congress is in session so I am in for a good show the week coming up. Some of the many tasks of my job include answering phone calls, data entry of questionnaires from constituents, sorting mail, and the best part, giving tours of the Capitol building. I did not know this but interns on the Hill almost always double as tour guides for constituents from their office's district. Here is a pic of the building I give tours of: Capitol Building. This building houses the Senate and House of Reps. It's pretty cool because its connected to all the house and senate buildings through underground passages. Speaking of underground, DC has a great subway system and I love the idea of needing to take it to work everyday. It really is relaxing not having to drive.

Pray for the Pope and don’t miss me too much in LA.