And the National Shrine is right outside my door:
Anyways, I've spent my first few days here just settling in and figuring DC out. I have a few first impressions to discuss. First, the HEAT! The first few days here were brutal, especially in dress clothes, but the last two or three have been much better.. I've finally had the chance to walk around DC at lunch and on campus in the evening without sweating profusely, which is great. There are so many amazing sights to see, I'm not sure how I'm going to do it all. Yesterday I took a walk up to the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial and just took it in for a bit. I also wanted to walk down the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, but when I got there, I found that the whole thing was torn up! "Renovation..." The other incredible thing is that so many of the museums are free, which is fantastic for both my minute attention span and my sometimes cramped schedule. I will keep you posted on the monuments and exhibits that I enjoy the most.
Next, the Metro is SO clean! It is a totally different world from the Subway. DC is also really small! I feel like I already have a decent grasp of the geography and generally understand where the five (only five!) Metro lines go--something I definitely cannot even pretend to say about New York. (I know you're all DYING to read my commentary on such a fascinating subject as underground trains.)
Work is good! The first day was definitely overwhelming just trying to figure the place out. I'm working in the Ariel Rios North building, which is located at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue in the Federal Triangle (IRS, Commerce, and EPA all have their headquarters here, and some other Federal departments also have some space). Apparently the same geniuses who designed Edens were responsible for this inspired collection of buildings, because in order to get to my second floor office from the main security entrance, I need to go up to the third floor, walk around the building, go down a flight of stairs, and walk around the building again. Which, particularly on the first day, is overwhelmingly intuitive! I have a pretty big desk, and a window which looks out onto the Old Post Office Pavilion and 12th Street. (Quotation of day 1 was in reference to the window, "It's cool, sometimes they ring a signal and the President drives by.")
I'm working in the Office of External Affairs and Environmental Education, and my direct boss is Stephanie, the Deputy Administrator (ie head) of the office. This summer I'm supposed to have two main projects, America's Great Outdoors, which is a program started by the President earlier this year which aims to enhance outdoor spaces and engage more Americans in a culture of outdoor action, etc. Read about it on the website, it's a pretty cool, New-Deal-ish project. I'm not quite sure what my role with it will be yet, but we have some big meetings about it next week. Thus far it's just been about getting me up to speed on who everyone is, what the legislation says, etc.
My other project is the Green Sports Initiative, which is all about engaging professional leagues/teams/athletes to participate sustainably--better waste, water, and energy management in the stadiums and at practices, and using athletes as positive role models for green living. Our main goal this summer is to take the work of the Green Sports Alliance, which has partnered with EPA Region 10 (Northwest), national.
I've also been working on miscellaneous things around the office, and sitting in on meetings that my supervisor thinks will be interesting/beneficial. So I've seen a budget meeting for the new Office of Environmental Education (which actually wasn't as boring as it sounds!), I've talked with a member of the board from the American Fly Fishing Trade Association about the importance of protecting our waters--and learned a lot about his political and environmental distinctions between fishermen and hunters, I could talk about that for a while now--and yesterday I actually got to write the briefing report and compile some research documents for a meeting about the health benefits and risks of water fluorination. On Monday about 20 more interns start at the Agency, and I can't wait to get to know them. I'm sure you're all waiting anxiously for me to talk about "work friends," since I know you all rejoice when I starting going on about "town friends," "home friends," "NJSP friends," or "school friends."
I've rambled a bit and have neglected to explain the post title. So much of my week has been spent in meetings and behind documents, attempting to decode the alphabet soup that characterizes language in this town. DC, EPA, OGC, DoI, HHS, EA, EE, AGO, GSA, the list goes on and on and reads like our essay about FOP (@RebeccaCurwin). Stephanie has asked me to stop her any time she uses an abbreviation that I don't recognize, but I feel badly interrupting when there are lots of staffers around. So for now, they just get jotted in my notebook and Googled later!
So far, so good. It's beautiful weather today, so I'm going to go out and enjoy the city. I'll post more stories and pictures soon, and they'll likely be much more interesting/substantive. Just figured I'd take this post to get you all acquainted with my little bubble here, as that's what I've been doing this week.
:)
George
PS: Congrats to Li Na for winning the French Open! First singles Major for China, what an achievement. Pulling big for Roger tomorrow.
PPS: I'm now hooked on the West Wing (way to fit a stereotype, I know). You should all watch, too. I could probably write a long post just about my favorite things from the first half a season I've watched this week... but I won't bore you with that until Big Block of Cheese Day.
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