MY Real World, DC

Home Sweet Home

2010-05-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

So I’m officially home and definitely loving it. There will be a multitude of things I miss in DC and a few things I wont, but I’m so fortunate to have had this experience. In my final week I attended the TWC Spring Commencement, where we received our certificates and listened to great speakers. We received a great book about life after this experience, which I found really helpful since I wasn’t returning to college like many of the other students were. Afterwards, the other bloggers and I met with Sara and caught up. I look forward to getting to know them and their experiences through reading their blogs now that we’ve finished.

I continued work throughout the week and was able to complete the work on CCC that I was doing while also taking on another de-framing job, which was really nice to do again. I also did more computer work with the Scurlock collection, which was bittersweet because I couldn’t finish it. I plan to visit everyone sometime this summer with my family.

On friday everyone met after lunch to say goodbye and give me my card, which was really nice.

The cover is a photocopied image of the first CCC Camp Roosevelt and (because I worked on that collection) and then everyone signed it, which was really nice.

This entire experience has been really rewarding and I couldn’t be happier that I had so much fun and have a clear direction to head into afterwards. I absolutely think being in DC was worth the time and energy and I’m looking forward to Graduate school and beginning my career.

As for those of you who are about to start this journey, as a postgraduate, I suggest you absolutely take part in as much as possible. Hopefully, the added course will give you more access to others in your program. I do think that because the postgrads weren’t really forced to do anything together, I didn’t have the same connection that some of the current students did with their classmates, fellow program members, or even internship coworkers. Memorize the Metro system (or get the app). Make friends and connections.

This ends my journey with TWC, but it’s only the beginning of sorting out my future. Please feel free to ask questions.

‘Til then
~K

Last full week...

2010-05-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

So work has been awesome. I feel I’ve accomplished something because I completed one small part of a huge project myself. I finished editing an over 1,600 page container listing! Sounds tedious I know, but it's no small feat. Now I’m putting on the final touches for these last few days.

I finally made it to the Arlington National Cemetery. On my last trip, I was 13 and it was miserable. This time was a much nicer trip weather wise, but what I didn’t remember is how exceptionally powerful and moving the place truly is. I took many pictures this time.

I visited all three Kennedy graves:

JFK

Robert Kennedy

and now of course, Edward Kennedy

I also went up to the Arlington House, at the top of the hill in the cemetery, and the house was in the families of both George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The view from the top towards DC was unbelievably breathtaking

They also have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded around the clock all the time. I was able to catch probably the last public Changing of the Guard for the public to see that day, and it’s also really moving:

It’s really overwhelming how large the cemetery is.

On a happier note, this weekend I went to my third baseball game, first time legal, in Baltimore to see the Sox/Orioles game. We lost…but Sabrina and I had amazing seats:

So this post is jam packed with pictures for you!

Next time...the final post and reflection

‘Til then,

~K

Less than 2 weeks…

2010-04-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wow it’s all going by so fast!

So this week work was pretty much the same, working on small projects because my time is so limited. I was able to go back to do some work on the Scurlock Collection, which was data entry for the most part. I also made some phase boxes for these tiny little diary journals ranging from 1866-1901. I’ve also tried to make some contacts within the archival community outside of the Smithsonian, which will hopefully bring something good, even if its just information.

I also decided to head over to the Library of Congress to do some actual research. Now this semester for the postgraduates, we aren’t really required to do the portfolio or an academic course. I’m fairly certain that’s going to change as of this summer, so good luck post grads :) Well, regardless of whether you need to or not, getting a LOC reader card is really easy and totally worth it. It lasts for 2 years and it’s unbelievably painless. They do say not to get it as a souvenir, so I will too, but it’s still a pretty cool thing to have and I’m sure you can find something to research with it in all those weeks. There are multiple buildings and the staff members there are very helpful in directing you on where to go and what to do, and there is actual signage so you know you're going the right way. The building where you get the reader card is not the pretty one from a few posts ago, but the Madison building, which is right outside the Capitol South Metro stop on the orange/blue line.

I also checked out the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I was in there today, in the later afternoon, so I didn’t get to see as much as I would’ve liked to, but what I did see was pretty cool. I can’t honestly say that this museum is something that I found all that interesting, but it was really neat to see the actual objects used in Apollo 11 and 13, including clothing and supplies and obviously the space crafts. There was also a section on airplanes that I found interesting--mostly the differences of airport protocol around the 1960’s compared to today. The idea of dressing up, and walking outside to get on the plane is truly hard to fathom. There seemed to be an event going on there and a good amount of the areas were closed after 4:30, which was right about the time I got to the museum, so I didn’t see everything there was to see.

At this point, for these final two weeks, I’ve decided to move out of TWC housing and in with a friend of mine. So this weekend I packed up my suitcases and shipped home whatever was left--so I'm now traveling from Silver Spring, Maryland. It's only 1 stop farther away from my internship, but the ride is almost $3 each way during peak hours, so I’ve upgraded from the weekly short trip pass to the regular weekly pass (which is over $40 since the price increase at the end of February). I truly recommend doing the math and seeing if a weekly pass is worth the money because I find it reassuring knowing I’m getting my money’s worth and don’t have to worry about adding money to my SmarTrip. I do, however, recommend having a SmarTrip card regardless because they’re exceptionally useful.

So…no pictures again this week, I’m really sorry.

This coming week I plan on going to the Arlington Cemetery and perhaps seeing my family when my cousin comes back from college.

‘Til then,

~K

Final countdown!

2010-04-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

So, I’m in the final stretch.Less than 3 weeks until I return home, which is bittersweet. I do miss home, though. I’m not sure about other internships, but even if I wanted to stay, I don’t think there’s a job coming at the end of this for me here in DC. I need to go home anyway, because to get a job like mine I really need to go to grad school in addition to working. I’m pretty sure I have a job at home for me, which I find comforting.

This week was pretty quiet, but I got to work on a bunch of small collections. I’ve started and finished over four or five different small collections. I was able to work with beautiful salt print photographs of drawings of the U.S. Capitol Dome. I’ve also been able to work with a few collections made up of glass plate negatives. Being from the digital era, and not really a camera person myself, it’s really interesting to see these beautiful 8x10 glass plate negatives.

I’ve been able to re-house these plates in appropriate archival housing but with old glass plates come the possibility for broken glass. In those cases, I have to make sink mats, which are literally mats made of blue board that the glass sinks into, as you see here

The non-broken glass plates were put into acid-free negative folders and put into conveniently sized boxes, which is one of my favorite parts of archiving.

So that’s been my week. This weekend was far less exciting than last. I did check out Phase 1 with my friend Sabrina, but it was not quite what I was hoping for. As the weather fluctuates, I hope to be able to check out the Arlington Cemetery by my next post. Also, I'd like to finally visit some other Smithsonian locations, (since there are actually 16 different ones).

Til then...

~K

Time is flying!

2010-04-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

So, I’m a little behind this week because I had such a crazy week and weekend. The renovation tour was really interesting, The work they had planned came out as intended, and I don’t know how they could have housed the amount of people I’ve seen this past week before the renovation. I also got some more information about the future renovation on the west wing of the museum. They will be extending the “Thanks for the Memories” segment, even potentially having a separate section for The Wizard of Oz ruby slippers.

The work week was pretty low key, especially with the tour, but my family came in Thursday afternoon, so I had a short work week. Thursday night we ate at Vapiano in Chinatown, which was really neat and quick. It rained that evening, but we made it back to the hotel before it really began to downpour. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on F Street, which was nicely located close to two red line Metro stations, and my mother and I were able to head up quickly to the pawn shop from last week. I ended up not getting the instrument, but we had a good time together. I was also able to walk with my mother and grandmother from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial for the first time since the snow has been gone. The walk took a bit of a toll on my grandmother, but we all made it up there and the view was beautiful.

Friday night, we met up with my friend Sabrina and her mother and saw Little Shop of Horrors at the Ford’s Theater. The show was fabulous, and was even cuter because the two leads were married to each other in real life. The set up was really fascinating as well because it was on a rotating stage.

Saturday, we were the typical tourists and took the Old Town Trolley Tour through the city. It was nice to get a little bit more information about multiple sites near my job and others through out the city that I had walked by the week before. I even got myself a sweatshirt from one of the stands along the road.

Sunday, we were able to spend time with some family out in Virginia, which was really nice for all of us, and we even unearthed some family secrets….

Today, Monday, I went on a Library of Congress tour, which I hadn’t realized I’d already been on until I walked into that great hall, and I looked up at the amazing ceiling:

The Smithsonian Interns went on a guided tour, and we were shown the three main points: the main hall, the reading room (which we aren’t supposed to take pictures of) and the Minerva mosaic:

The library also had some exhibits out, which were interesting, but I kept finding myself enthralled by the artistry of the building itself. There is so much allegory and there are so many meaningful sculptures and paintings that it’s overwhelming. They sell a book about all of their meanings that I was tempted to get, but it was a bit pricey for me.

So now begins the final month before I return home.

No more scheduled field trips, but perhaps more park service visits...

'Til then,

~K

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

This March went by ridiculously quickly. The weather wasn’t as beautiful at the beginning of the week but April began really warm and bright. I finally finished the project I was working on in the archives, which I consider an awesome achievement, because it was 167 boxes full of information. I also learned some techniques for using Photoshop. This is one of the archives center's quieter weeks because two of my advisors are on vacation and no students are coming for any more spring breaks.

However, as quiet as work has been in our area, the museum has been super packed. The cafeteria is practically standing room only, and sometimes its not even worth trying to find a place. On the upside it has been warm enough to eat outdoors for a few days.

Wednesday the 31st I went to the Phillips Collection to look at the major exhibition right now called Georgia O’Keefe’s Abstraction. The Phillip Collection was established in 1921 and was the first museum of modern art. It was founded by Duncan Phillips, with his mother, in honor of his father and brother. It’s not a government run organization, so it does charge, but I went with the intern group so it was free. It’s on display through May, but other pieces of art are there besides the O’Keefe exhibit and one of the most famous paintings there is Pierre-Auguste Renoirs’ Luncheon of the Boating Party, which is definitely worth seeing on its own. I did have a few flashbacks of my Art Appreciation course from junior year of college, and was in awe that these were THE paintings I learned about.

I haven’t been able to see as many cherry blossoms as I would like, but I did get a few snapshots Saturday:

Friday night, I saw an awesome cover band called Lost in Paris, at the Clarendon Grill, in Arlington, and they just furthered my current rock band obsession. Saturday I spent all day walking around DC, from Adams Morgan to Georgetown, from Dupont Circle to The National Mall. I was on the search for music by the original 70’s all-girl rock band the Runaways, which has a movie coming out as well. I received a free screening for 2 on Monday in Georgetown. In my explorations around the city I went in to two really cool different record stores, Crooked Beat Records, in Adams Morgan, and Melody Record Shop in Dupont Circle. The record store in Georgetown had closed down, so that was a long walk for pretty much no reason. I also went to my first pawn shop called Crown Pawnbrokers, on 14th street, and it was really kind of cool. I almost put money down on a bass guitar, but I held back today. All that walking Saturday tired me out, so I ended up missing the fireworks that evening, but next week my mother and nana should be here!

Next week I have a renovation tour of the American History Museum and maybe I’ll have a new bass guitar.

~K

This weather gives me whiplash!

2010-03-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend was GORGEOUS! I actually went on a visit to New Jersey, via Amtrak, to spend some time with my favorite, Brittney and her family. The Amtrak train was really easy to access, even at 605 in the morning, via Metro to Union Station, and then you’re right there in the station. It was actually warm enough to lie outside and get a little bit of a tan! I spent two days there, and we drove back to Massachusetts, because her spring break had ended. I stayed at my house, which was nice, and will be the last time until I return in May, and then I flew from Boston to Baltimore this past Monday morning. To get back to my apartment, I took the Metrobus B30 line to Greenbelt station, where I switched to the Orange line at L’Enfant Plaza. Woo that was quite a day.

This week at work we had another few graduate students on their spring break from the University of Illinois. During the lunch hours they discussed the paths they had chosen and why they returned to school and my bosses did as well, which gave me an awesome perspective and multiple ideas to consider for options on my next step. I was continuing with my side project from the previous week and should definitely finish this upcoming Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday night I went to a TWC-sponsored happy hour meeting with current postgraduates and many alumni. It was a really nice place to network with people from other years and actually to meet a few people from MA. I finally got to give out some of those business cards that we received from The Washington Center. Also, later at a place across from my apartment, a friend and I were also able to network with people outside the program but who were all really very nice. I found both settings really interesting because college doesn’t always work like that with the social end. The people I met outside of the classroom, or in my case even outside of my athletic team, I didn’t really know beyond their names and their drink choices. These happy hours can be used as a great way to meet new people or really get to know the new friends you’ve made.

Unfortunately the weather went from summer-y to winter-y almost immediately. That may be a slight exaggeration but it did reach very low temperatures, especially Friday evening. Saturday the 27th kicked off the Cherry Blossom Festival here in DC, and the weather was brisk but had a nice sun. I spent most of the day in Georgetown, but I’m hoping during the coming weekdays I’ll be able to get some really nice pictures of cherry blossoms.

These next two weeks of the festival also see the National Museum of American History on extended hours, which happens every year, so whether you’re coming this year or any other spring, definitely try to get out to the museum, its open an extra 2 hours.

Next weekend there should be fireworks~

Til then,

~K

And of course, with spring comes rain.

2010-03-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

So this week was not as exciting as I would've hoped for, because it was pretty wet. Saturday I spent most of the day inside, catching up on laundry and TV shows, and then went out to eat in Maryland with a friend from home. We had planned on going in to DC to check out some of the other clubs in the area, but with Daylight Savings taking place, we forgot the trains were closing earlier. So we stayed in and decided to walk around D.C. and see Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX. There are only three theaters that have that in about a 40 mile radius, and the one thats most Metro accessible is the one off of Eisenhower Ave Yellow Line Metro stop, called AMC Hoffman Center 22 in Alexandria VA.

Because of the wait for the movie, my friend and Sabrina and I walked around DC to kill some time before our movie. We went to my job and looked at the some of the Pop Culture history, which had been updated since my first arrival with a special case with Olympics-related treasures, including Brian Boitano's ice skates, Nastia Luikin's leotard, Bobby Morrow's 1956 gold medal, and an Olympic torch from the 1984 Summer Games, and Apolo Ohno speed skates, which were up before. We also saw C-3PO, and the Louisville slugger on display along the wall on the second first floor near the Constitution street exit.

Saint Patrick's Day was also this week, which is a really big deal back at home in Boston, but here I did see quite a few people in green to celebrate the day. Multiple happy hours with specific deals on Guinness and other Irish beers were going on throughout the city.

Work has been fun. I have a site visit coming up next week, and I'm currently working on an important, somewhat tedious job of double checking a finding aid to be sure everything is correct. As boring as that may sound, I find it interesting and stimulating. I am also really thinking about graduate school and have sent a request for information to the school local to home, Simmons in Boston, about their Library Science program. This internship has been extremely successful so far in helping me find direction.

More next week, and I'll try for pictures next time!

Til then,

~k

It feels like spring!

2010-03-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

So this is the first March during which I have ever felt, especially this early in the month, that spring was close…really close. This weekend was gorgeous, so I tried to do as much as I could outdoors while still going to some local indoor attractions.

I’m really enjoying my job, so I thought I would actually check out another archives, the National Archives, which holds the Magna Carta, The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. I have no pictures of these because photography is official restricted there. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think those documents are exceptionally important, but my favorite part was actually the interactive public vaults area. It’s really interesting even if you’re not a super nerd like myself, but what I really enjoyed about the set up of the exhibit as that it actually looked like we were walking in to an actual archive, they had acid free boxes, map cases drawers, images of microfilm and reels. The average visitor has probably not seen the inside of an archive, so I probably looked like a moron, since I was fascinated with the way the exhibit was set up and not so much the interactive materials.

I also made a stop at National Museum of Natural History, which was overrun with kids! I didn’t take pictures because I had trouble actually getting close to something without someone ruining the shot, but I would definitely recommend making a visit. Its full of ANIMALS! All and any kind of animal you could think of, including the bones of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths as well as Neanderthal bones. As a Smithsonian employee I also took advantage of my weekly free IMAX ticket, so I saw the Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia. This was my first 3D IMAX, ever, although not my first 3D, or first IMAX. However this is the first 3D in the newer not so “blue and red” kind of 3D, so it actually looks the coloring it was supposed to be. I found it really interesting, and am excited to see the other films that are offered at the museum. They range between 6-10 dollars depending on age.

I also decided to walk to some more outdoor park service sites, I walked from the Washington Monument, down passed Thomas Jefferson Memorial, to George Mason Memorial.

I continued to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which is really large, although these are some of my favorite images of the monument.

There were so many people out on the Mall and it was just a really beautiful weekend.

This week at work was really awesome as well because, Michelle Obama’s Inauguration dress was officially presented and is now on display at the National Museum of American History. I decided not to take and post an image first because its up on the Smithsonian website somewhere, but more so because I truly don’t think that dress, or many of the others with sparkly accents transfer well in photo media.

Also, this week was the last week for my fellow interns at the Archives Center, so Ryan and Katrina head back to California to finish their semesters, but they were really nice and I’ll definitely miss them.

So, Spring Forward.

And I'll catch you all next week...

Til then,

~K

2010-03-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

Here we go again,

So this week has been really nice. I went home for the weekend, which was less hectic with the weather not being terrible. I left from Dulles, so I took the Metro to West Church Falls, and then grabbed the Washington Flyer, which even at 5:45 in the evening was a quick trip to the airport. The airport is set up different than Logan and Newark, and it seems like it’s smaller than it actually is. I celebrated my birthday with my family, and my favorite, and we saw a bunch of really good movies.

Monday I spent the entire day traveling back to DC, but Tuesday I went on a tour of the Capitol Building with the Smithsonian Interns. I had gone once before, but they’ve added an orientation video which is really interesting. Our group was really large, so we were able to use those weird headsets so we could all hear her. The rotunda area has 6 large photographs depicting our country’s history and has beautiful artwork at the top of the dome and around the walls higher up on the dome. That also depicts important events in American History and this image was of Lexington Green, on April 19 1775, the first battle of the American Revolution.

Another room we went to was the old Senate room or the Whispering room. The guide was able to turn off the microphone, walk across the room and whisper and we could all here her. On the floor, there was a plaque that noted the location of John Quincy Adams’s desk.

The “tomb” which was intended to be the burial location for George and Martha Washington, but couldn’t be due to their will, contains statues of important people from the 13 original colonies, with the exception of Lincoln’s unfinished head. My state, Massachusetts, had Samuel Adams, the cousin of John Adams.

This week at the Archives Center, grad students from the University of Michigan’s Library school came for their alternative spring break and worked on a collection. It was really helpful to talk to them about where they came from and what they wanted to do after college. One was my age, going to grad school right after undergrad, while the others were returning to school after 7 years. Some of my superiors gave small presentations about what they do, but instead of helping me, they just seemed to show me more options, and I’m still pretty confused.

More next week,
~K

2010-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Alright!

Well, this week has been really fun. I turned 23 on the 23rd this week, and it was my first birthday away from close friends and family. My coworkers, who are awesome, nicely sang to me and got me a cupcake. My roommates got me Cold Stone's Birthday Cake ice cream, and Ruchika and I went to Cheesecake Factory and she got them to sing to me and bring me some awesome cheesecake.

Aside from that, I went on a few field trips this week as well. I went on a tour of the Pentagon, which is much larger than I actually thought. It holds thousands of people, has 3 area codes and 4 zip codes. Inside it’s almost like a small city, with its own post office, different shops and a CVS. The tour brought us around one half of it, and then to the 911 memorial wing. We weren’t allowed to take photographs, so I suggest taking the tour on your own. The memorial is really moving.

I also took a tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This tour was through the Smithsonian Interns group on Facebook, so it was interns throughout all the Smithsonian Museums. This was actually my second time through the museum, but it’s been 9 years since my last trip, and I’m not sure that at 14 I really understood what was being shown to me. We were brought through with a guide, which was an interesting experience, because in some cases we got more information than walking through and reading everything. He also gave us a nice understanding of the history of the museum itself. For example, the museum was really only built to hold maybe 500,000 people a year, and it receives over 2 million.

My third field trip of the week was on a much smaller scale. My fellow intern Katrina Schrool and one of my supervisors, Alison Oswald, and I went to the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site. The location was the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, which she developed, and was her last home in DC. We were there more specifically to see the National Archives for Black Women's History, which is housed at that location as well. It was nice to see a smaller archive, because if we decide to go into the archivist field, that situation is what we are more likely to be working in, as opposed to a huge museum. The fact that the archive was also a part of a Park Service Site was really special to me, since I’m currently an employee of the Park Service.

Speaking of archives, I want to share where I work. I happened to be alone at work on the day these photos were taken, but I usually have between 2 and 10 people around at all times.

The hallway that holds all the offices for the employees that aren’t interns

My work station

Another angle of my work station, and Cooby and Matt’s work station, but at this time my stuff is spilling over on to it

The other stations from the point of view of my work station

And lastly, the back room which holds the current projects, along with lockers and the cutting boards

Well, that’s this week. I travel back home for the weekend, (weather permitting) and next week the archives center has grad students for the week and a trip to the Capitol.

Til then,

~K

Welcome back!

2010-02-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

This week has been a vast improvement from last week. It stopped snowing, although there are snow banks as big as buses, and my mum came to visit! So, finally getting back to work Friday was a nice change, but also fairly simple because I had to go in late and leave early. My mother came in by train, so I hopped on the Metro to Union Station, which is really easy because the Metro stop is right inside the station. Train stations in general are seemingly similar to navigate, and Union Station has plenty of stores and shops to visit regardless of whether you’re going to take a train.

So for the three day weekend, mum and I went NON STOP. After taking an expensive 4 minute taxi trip, we walked through my place of work, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. We walked through the Star Spangled-Banner exhibit, which is such a moving display, as well as through the Scurlock exhibit and the First Ladies exhibit. The Scurlock exhibit ends this month, but the actually materials are being held in the Archives Center and are accessible to researchers as well as to me. Addison Scurlock and his sons were black photographers in Washington D.C. that took images not only of prominent members of the black community like Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, but also images of just the black community in the area. The First Ladies exhibit is always so crowded on the weekend, but that day it was quite nice to be able to look at all the dresses and other objects dating back as far as the very first First Lady.

Saturday, I met Michelle and Barack Obama!

Ok, technically I met the wax Michelle and Barack Obama, and that’s probably as close as I’m going to get, especially wearing the hat, but Madame Tussaud’s is the famous wax museum that has multiple locations around the world. They have a huge President collection, and mum met Abraham Lincoln.

I really wanted to see the Kennedys; the JFK Library and Museum is in Boston and is one of my favorite places--but they were out at a function, and I will just have to go back again. Other than presidents there are also musicians, actors, and athletes from all through time, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Tiger Woods.

Next we went to the Museum of Crime and Punishment. It’s really big, and awesome! There is so much in there, starting in the early colonial years, to up to date unsolved cases. There’s even an opportunity to do a CSI lab. The museum alone took 2 hours to go through, and had some interactive moments.

We then made the LONG trek from 7th street to the National Mall, and then continued another mile and change over to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The walk one way is about 45 minutes, and that’s without factoring in the mountains of snow around. We finally got there, fairly safely, and I got a few good images.

Now Sunday we were SORE! Walking in the cold on dangerous ground was stressful on the body. We went to the Ford’s Theatre, the place Lincoln was shot. “The Rivalry” was being performed and only partial view seats were available, so we saw the museum before the show, and the first half, but it was hard to get engaged and the theater was packed, so we left at intermission. I was, however, able to get two images of the stage and the box that Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot.

After leaving, we popped across the street to the Petersen House, which is where Lincoln actually died, and it was a very quick walk from the front to the back of the house, the first floor the only one open to the public.

Then we set out for the Newseum. This museum is MASSIVE! And only open from 9-5. We got there at about 4:15, but the tickets are actually good for two consecutive days, so while mum left the next early afternoon, I was able to explore the museum Monday. It has so much going on, from the Berlin Wall and Watchtower, to a part of the fallen Twin Towers, to the Watergate Door, among a multitude of interactive programs and objects, aside from just the historical information.

Wooo…

I hope that makes up for my utter lack of anything good last week.

Next week, I’ll be going on three different field trips!

Til then,

~K

2010-02-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hello again...

It’s taken me a little longer this week to post because, in all honesty, I have been stuck in the snow!

Washington D.C. has officially, after almost a week of snow, broken all of its previous snowfall records. It’s been snowing on and off since Friday, and I haven’t really left the building since. I haven’t worked since Friday afternoon, and I’m actually starting to miss it. The original plans I had for this past weekend have been pushed up to the holiday weekend, which was terrific, because it’s a visit from my mum and there was no hassle to move it a week.

Of the few times I did go out, the group went out to Vapiano for Desiree’s birthday celebration.

The restaurant is actually really close to our apartment and is really unique, because at this time there are only about five in the country. Instead of being waited on, it's pretty much self service, and you use this card to track your purchases instead of worrying about separate checks.

Other than that little outing, I’ve spent most of my time inside. I’m not afraid of snow, although I don’t particularly like it, but the weather here has immobilized everything. Being from New England, I have seen my share of big snowstorms, the difference here is how devastating and paralyzing it is.

I’m used to the sound of salt trucks and plows throughout the night, but here I only hear a few people out shoveling on occasion.

I’ve been feeling the affects of cabin fever, and am actually missing my job. If I have work tomorrow, it’ll be the first day all week, and then President’s Day is after this weekend. I hope that with the snow ending, this weekend I will have far more adventures and be able to have more fun experiences to share.

Stick with me!

Until next time,

~k

2010-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Alrighty,

Here I am at week 2 and I'm having a fabulous time. So I'm from Massachusetts and we have our own public transportation, the T, but the Metro is a welcome change.

Here, the stations are smoke free, food and drink free, even pet free. They're almost unbelievably clean. They're really convenient because they actually follow a schedule that can be traced. www.wmata.com can help you plan any trip and the expected expenses. There are a few ways to get around on the Metro. What's generally recommended is the SmarTrip card, which is a rechargeable and can be registered so you won't lose your money. There are also different kinds of passes. For my personal use, I have a SmarTrip card but I think the Short Trip weekly pass is the best for the money I spend. It's $26.40 per week, but I can go anywhere that's less than $2.65 during peak hours. That makes more sense when you're actually here but the website is really useful when making those decisions.

So the rest of the week at work was extremely awesome. To work in the Smithsonian "with the stuff" was something I've wanted since i was 13, on my first trip to DC. My specific project at the moment is removing photographs from frames and putting them in folders. These photographs are panoramic images of different C.C.C. camps. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a work relief program, giving men jobs when there weren't any during the Depression Era. I'm sure it sounds boring to some, but this is becoming something I really enjoy doing. I work as an intern for the processing team and they've all been so helpful for answering my questions not just about the work I'm doing now, but also about where to go to make a career out of archiving, becoming an archivist.

Along with working, my job is centrally located near the National Mall which has the Washington Monument

and the Lincoln Memorial

among other memorials. As an actual employee of the National Park Service, I'm actively working on my Passport to the National Parks. It's a book that you put image stamps in with descriptions of the different locations, and there's a cancellation stamp with the date on it for when you actually visit. So far I've been to a few of the DC sites, and I plan on trying to make it to all of them.

Before I go, we did get snow this past weekend, which being from New England, isn't a huge deal, but here's a view from my window of the snow.

That's all for now,

~K

Hello!

2010-01-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

So where to start? I'm Kendra and I am a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. I am here through the Washington Center's Postgraduate Professional Development Program. I'm interning at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in the Archives Department. I’m extremely excited to be here in D.C, since being here was a dream of mine since I was in middle school. I couldn’t come through my institution while in college due to athletic requirements, so although this was out of pocket, I’m sure this will be totally worth it.

Enough about my life story, more about being in this crazy city:

So I took a quick flight from Boston MA, where I said goodbye to my mum and my car and my full size bed, and hello to roommates and the Metro and my twin bed.

I’m living off of the Ballston-MU Metro station and our apartment is really nice. This images are my and my roommate Jocelyn's bedroom and private bathroom. It's really nice because she is also from MA so I don't feel so far from home.

All of the flatmates get along really well, Hanna and Dayna are friends from school but we all have a really good time together.

We also are located really close to grocery store, Harris Teeter, so it's a pretty prime location.

Friday we had orientation, which varies slightly for each group. The PPDP group went to the National Museum of the American Indian, which was quite fascinating, and on our way out of the city we stumbled upon a huge rally for the March For Life on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

The flatmates and I went out for our first weekend in DC with our neighbors Ruchika and Desiree, and the place in DC was nice because it was 18 plus which was nice because not all of us are 21.

Saturday Ruchika and Desiree and I went to where I'll be working, the National Museum of American History, for a test run and a fun trip to one of the multiple museums in the city.

Monday was another orientation and then the fun began on Tuesday. My first day was full of paperwork, of course, but my actual internship was really different because it's rather hands on. Archiving in general is already not the typical desk job, but not only were the many really neat interesting people around, each of us was doing something unique but important to the common goal of preservation.

Anyway, more on that next time.

~K