I have done a very poor job keeping up with this blog. I think it is mainly out of laziness, however
I will admit I cannot write unless I am inspired (I’m an artist dammit!). Today,
we got snowed in again. The weather here
is a far cry from anything I’ve ever experienced. I will admit I ready for Spring. Despite the winter cold, D.C. has been a
great city to live in.
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| This was taken this morning by the Huffington Post. Why, God? |
It is hard for me to put my finger on everything but D.C. is
one of the most diverse cities in the United States. With a population that is 50% black, I (and other
Caucasians) am in the minority, which I can honestly say has been a breath of
fresh air for me. I come into contact
with people who have had very different lives than I have, and yet I am able to
find similarities and common ground with many of them. Most of the people I’ve have gotten to know
well have been those who have interned at World Vision. The thing I love most about Washington
D.C. is that people come here from all
over the world.
I have a couple crazy stories about people I have met at the
various free events I’ve attended (these events pretty much are my social
life). At one event at the Canadian
embassy, I had the pleasure of chatting up a Turkish diplomat for around an
hour. Only in Washington D.C. could you
bump into somebody like that. I also
have had the weirdest occurrences of meeting people who know a mutual friend from
Westmont or Dallas. It is
indeed a very small world after all (Thanks Walt Disney!)
Washington D.C. is also extremely unique because it is a
city of culture clash. D.C. is where
North meets the South and East meets the West.
This has nothing to do with geography; it is because of the population
within the city. Because it is the
nation’s capitol, D.C. has people from every corner of the nation and every
political ideology, culture, religion, and race. This creates a city that is extremely
diverse, but also (to the chagrin of the rest of the country) very divided. However, most if not all of your politicians
live outside the city. In fact, if you
run into somebody who is white and middle/upper class, you can bet they live
outside D.C. as well. This is because
the public schools in Washington D.C. are extremely subpar.
Like virtually every major city in America, D.C.’s public
school system is a mess. This is
exacerbated by the existence of many highly ranked private schools (that cost
each around 40 grand a year). So those
who can afford them, go to them leaving the public schools to fend for
themselves. The middle class moves
outside the city and goes to public schools in Northern Virginia or Bethesda. That being said, a lot of public school
management and teaching innovations are being developed in the public schools
in D.C.
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| This was taken back in October when the weather was still great. |
As for my own experience, World Vision could not have been a
better place to end up. I am truly
heartbroken that they don’t have the room or budget to hire me onto the
advocacy team. Non-Profit problems. The advocacy team here does a lot of great
work. They are responsible for engaging
the U.S. government (both the bureaucracy and politicians) on matters of
international aid, development, health, agriculture, human trafficking, and
disaster relief. Last week we spent two
days holding a conference on global access to water sanitation and then met
with many congressional offices to ask for support on a bill going through the
House (H.R. 2901) that essentially will require USAID to spend its allotted
funds on water and sanitation programs in the poorest countries in the world
instead of middle income countries like Egypt and Iraq which already have
extensive water infrastructure (this has been going on and WV wants the focus to be on the countries with greatest need). The
great thing about lobbying for issues like clean water is that nobody is against
clean water for the poor and kids. It is
mainly just a matter of awareness and urgency.
I have learned a lot from my two internships at World Vision, and it will be hard to leave. But, I am looking forward and am excited about
the road ahead. My plan is to intern on
Capitol Hill this summer. It doesn’t pay
(story of my life in DC) but in order to have a career in foreign policy
advocacy, one must begin on the Hill. At
least, that is what everyone is telling me.
So that is my plan, and I’m going for it.
After eight months here I am having a hard time imagining
myself anywhere else. It doesn’t feel
like a whole lot has happened, and I guess in the whole scheme of things
compared to the changes of college, it hasn’t.
However, I feel like a completely different person than I was in
September. I have also been very
surprised at who I’ve kept up with. I
have been able to talk to some people from Westmont that I didn’t think I would
ever hear from again. It is good to
catch up and hear what is going on in other peoples lives, and for the most part everyone is doing well and going through life at their own paces. Of course, as time goes on
people will start to text and call less and less.
Then, before you know it we will start sending those god-awful Christmas
cards to each other (though now that I think about it maybe we will settle with
Facebook stalking).
Anyways, I felt the urge to write this so I guess I will put
this up on the ol’ blog. I wish I had
more pictures to put up but I’m sorry to say that without my personal
photographers Eric Patterson and Shanan Lau I just don’t have the opportunity
to capture the infamous moments of my life.
I’ve already started hanging out with people I meet with nice cameras so
I can become friends with them, and I will once again be back to my spot as the
envy of the Facebook world.
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| I took this the day I moved in. My back was against the wall so this gives you a good idea of how small my room is. |
I plan on putting up some stuff on Syria, the state of
global development, and maybe even Ukraine though I feel like that one might be
a dead horse.
