I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

After 9 months, I am back at lovely ol' Swelles. It feels good to be back, and not all that weird. As soon as I got onto the property (well, actually, it was once I was off the highway), it just felt right to be back. It was like I was seeing the campus for the first time again, and my love for the school was renewed. I'm glad I took a semester abroad, but I'm also glad to be back.

One of the best things about being back is that a lot of my friends are back early, too. It's so great seeing people that I haven't seen since either last December or last May! I find this to be, quite possibly, the best part of going abroad. You get to come back and share stories with your friends and hear theirs. Also, everyone is just so excited to see one another again, and that's just wonderful!

I can also feel and smell fall in the air! It's glorious. After a long, hot, and humid summer, I embrace this cool crispness. Some of the trees have even started turning! I'm so glad to have a tree outside my room...I hope it turns all kinds of pretty fall colors!

And so, the end is near...

I just finished my last full week at my internship. I finish on Tuesday to allow ample time for packing up 8 months, 3 seasons, and 8 countries worth of stuff. It's funny that I gave Tuesday as my official day for that reason, and here it is, Sunday, and I'm mostly packed. Oh well - I guess that gives me time to do laundry and make some last minute tourist destinations (like the National Archives or the Air and Space Museum).

I can't believe it's almost time for me to go back to school. While I'm excited and want to go back, I am going to miss my internship. It has been a great summer. My internship was interesting, living on my own, and cooking for myself were all great learning opportunities.

Whoa-oh, we're halfway there

Wow, I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since I got to DC, which means that my internship is halfway over. It's strange to think that summer is almost over.

So far, I've been enjoying DC. I haven't gotten too attached since I'll only be here for 10 weeks, and I find that being incredibly homesick for both California and Swelles makes it difficult to want to establish any sort of home-like feelings for DC. So, on the one hand, I'm excited that I only have 5 weeks left - that means I only have a little over a month before I see all my friends again, which is really exciting. I'm also excited (and incredibly nervous) for senior year.

Getting Started

Today was my second day as an intern and wasn't too eventful. It's taking a little while to get everything all set up for me. I seem to have the computer that likes to have all the problems that need to get fixed as we discover them. For example, we discovered today that my default printer was to the Congressman's office printer (uh-oh), but luckily, it didn't actually print and we quickly fixed that problem. I think my computer should be all hooked up and ready to go - yay!

I've also done a couple of tours (well, I shadowed a seasoned fellow intern). It's not too bad (now), but I bet by the time summer ends, I'll be a little sick of them. The best/worst part is the movie at the beginning. Seeing it once is fine, but watching it over and over again (although, I can wait outside for the group, but sometimes, it's just easier to sit through the 15 minute video and stay with the group) makes you realize how over the top it is. I mean, it's not a bad film - it's a history of the Capitol and Congress and how important Congress is to the nation. Sometimes, the phrasing is a little overly dramatic, but that's to be expected (the goal is to show how great our Congress/government is). The thing is is that they combine the overly dramatic script with equally dramatic music (there's a choral piece, almost like a solemn hymn, playing when discussing the uncertainty of America's future on the brink of the Civil War). And, of course, they gloss over the uglier acts of Congress in our long history of ignoring things like Civil Rights (they recognize the Indian Removal Act and do focus on the changes of the post-Civil War Congress, which I suppose acknowledges that there weren't Civil Rights before such acts). Anyway, it really isn't too horrible of a film, but I've seen it two days in a row now, so I'm looking for little things to pick out. Other than that, the tour isn't so bad, and you get to meet some constituents (there's lots of "oh, I used to work in this city" and "Oh really? I live there.").

I also started on constituent mail. It's not the most glamorous job, but it's pretty interesting (and clues you in on what's going on in Congress/the nation/the world). The form letters (the letters that you send out when you get mass mailings of the exact same letter) are pretty easy to figure out, especially if there's a letter that has already been drafted or approved. I actually haven't gotten the chance to draft a new form letter, but I'm sure that day will come. It's just going to take some getting used to a new computer program (and you know how literate I am when it comes to computers, haha).

I have also discovered the awesomeness of receptions held after work hours on the Hill that offer free food in addition to discussions on selected topics open to staff (including interns, yay). I actually hit up 2 of them tonight and grabbed enough veggies, bread, cheese, and salami to keep me content (thank you, Spain, for teaching me how to live on a smaller dinner and a larger lunch). It's cool on the free food bit (which, come on, we all know gets people to come...all college students understand the free food rule) and on the topic bit. Some of these have really interesting topics and are probably really great places to network. Today, I met a guy who is the chair (I think) of the Texas Medical Association, and he chatted with us (me and the other interns) about life in general. It was pretty cool. Tomorrow, there's a NASA thing going on all day. Definitely going to hit that up.

We were talking about NASA in the office today, and I mentioned how the first time I went to Cape Canaveral (when I was, like 3), I saw a space shuttle take off. Granted, I was in the parking lot and not at the actual site, but I could still see it, and more importantly (and this is what I remember most), I could still feel the ground shake as it took off (which I found really cool). The second (and most recent) time I went there, they had an astronaut signing his autograph on his official NASA photo. I don't know how, but somehow, I managed to end up at Cape Canaveral on days when exciting things were going on. This makes me really excited to take Astronomy in the fall! (Ah, yes, you must love my asides and random trains of thought...since this is something of a journal for me, it's going to be a little random, and maybe not quite so put together. Bear with me.)

Well, that's about it in my glamorous life as a hilltern (as we are so "fondly" referred to on this one gossipy blog about the stupid things some interns do - mostly stories of interns flashing their ID badges thinking it'll make the world stop and revolve around them. News flash guys: we're pretty low on the totem pole. Get used to it. You have to work your way to the top).

Off to bed...my commute is about an hour walking and on the bus (no Metro stop nearby...thank you, residents of Georgetown for not supporting that), so that means early starts to the day (and finishes, haha).

Oh Crap! I'm Actually Supposed to be an Adult Now

As mentioned in the entry I just posted, I have a little bit of an emotional ping-pong going on. I think this is mostly brought on by the harsh reality that I am actually supposed to be an adult now. This is the first summer that I will be completely on my own - I'm not at home, I'm not away at Nana and Papa's, and I don't have a Wellesley-run program taking care of me. No, I am on my own. I am paying rent, utilities, and groceries like an adult and working 9-5 almost like one, too (I say almost because I'm still the unpaid college intern). It kind of fully hit me today, as I went grocery shopping for the week. Then, I convinced myself I was fine as I walked home (I was rather proud of myself for figuring out how to get back from Safeway without my written directions). Of course, Skyping with your family kinda makes you realize how much you miss them. There is definitely a part of me wondering why I decided not going home was a good plan (well, in terms of my resume and job prospects for next year, I suppose it is a good plan to be in D.C.), and the small child in me just wants to go home, curl up under the covers, and let Mommy and Daddy deal with and worry about the big stuff. On the other hand, the more practical side of me is saying that it is a good plan being on my own and it will help me after graduation and that I need to grow up and be an adult (however unappealing it may sound).

I'm pretty sure as soon as I start working, I'll feel better about being so far from home. I'll have a routine and be busy, which will cushion the blow of being so far from home for so long. I didn't really realize how hard it is to be away until I saw my family again. All in all, I have to say that this blog post was really mostly for me - a therapeutic way to just release my feelings and have it out there. I guess what it comes down to is that sometimes, I find it really hard to reconcile my desire to travel with my desire to be near my family.

Last Leg of the Heritage Tour

I am currently back in the US. I'm happy to be back, but sad to leave my family (and Europe), and now, I'm just a mess of emotions, but more on that emotional ping-pong later. On to happier subjects, like the last couple of days of the Heritage Tour.

Day 16 - Poland to Vienna - We left Poland a day earlier than planned as we had completed our task of genealogy research, and drove to Vienna. We made it through 4 countries in one day (all of them in the EU, so no passport stamps, lame). It was interesting to see the differences between Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria all in a day. I believe Hungary had a more Americanized/Westernized way of farming as opposed to the little individual farms owned in Poland and Slovakia. Then, of course, Austria is much more westernized than the other 3 countries and is on the Euro, which was another interesting comparison. We arrived in Vienna just in time to hit a deluge of rain and hail.

Day 17 - Vienna - Today, we saw the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna. It was very nice and interesting to see the old Austro-Hungarian map hanging in one of the rooms (which showed why it's so complicated in figuring out if my family is Polish, Austrian, or something else). I also had a giant pretzel (that I could barely finish) that was very soft and tasty! We also went to the Mozarthaus museum which is located in one of the apartments Mozart lived in during his time in Vienna. It was a pretty good museum if you stopped listening to the audio guide (which was rather long and overly-detailed and not wholly relevant to the room it was supposedly talking about).

Day 18 - Vienna - Today, we took a bus tour around the city. We didn't really do much since we were exhausted with ambitious plans to see entire cities in 1 or 2 days at the end of the tour.

Day 19 - Vienna to Rothenburg - Today, we packed up once again for Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria. Along the way, we stopped near Füssen to see the Neuschwanstein Castle (which is famous for being the inspiration of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle) built (but never finished) by Ludwig II. The finished rooms are very interesting. Ludwig II built the castle as an homage to Richard Wagner. His bedroom has a Tristan and Isolde theme, one of the rooms leads to a false cave that is supposed to be grotto (based off of one of Wagner's works), and there's a large room that was supposed to serve as a staging place for operas. It is a beautiful castle and very Romantic sitting up on top of a hill surrounded by the fog rolling in. Afterwards, we finished the last leg of our journey, and headed to Rothenburg. Rothenburg has very strong preservation orders, which has led the town to remaining like a little slice of Medieval history. The tour book described it as a "Medieval theme park," which isn't completely inaccurate. I like it - it's charming and full of history.

Day 20 - Rothenburg to Frankfurt - Today, we wandered around Rothenburg looking in all of the cute little shops (and of course, stopping in the large Christmas store). My dad and I went to the Medieval Crime (criminal?) Museum which showed a bunch of instruments of torture as well as decrees and laws from the Medieval times. It was interesting and better than the one in Cordoba because it wasn't just instruments of torture, but also information about laws of the time. We also tried the local specialty - the schneeballen (snow-ball), which wasn't quite like I expected it to be. Afterwards, we headed to our last stop - Frankfurt.

Day 21 - Frankfurt to Washington, D.C. - This was another one of those bittersweet days. I was excited to return to the U.S. after 134 days of being in Europe, but I was sad to say goodbye to my family. Sometimes, I think it's harder to see people for a short period of time after a long time apart, and then have to say goodbye again. The flight wasn't so bad - I slept through most of it. And, so ends the Heritage Tour. Onto my internship!

Whirlwind Tour

It has been 2 weeks since I embarked on my Heritage Tour with my dad and grandma, and we've seen London, Paris, Sweden, Berlin, and are currently situated in Poland. So, to give you a (brief) summary of what has really been quite the whirlwind tour. Day 1 - May 28th: Day 15 - June 11 (for reference)

Day 1 - London: Despite having a cold (thank you, Spain for that lovely parting gift), I enjoyed London. We took a bus tour to see all the most important sights (the London Eye, Parliament/Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the bridge, etc.) and got off to go into the Tower of London, which was really awesome. I love Medieval and Renaissance history and such, so it was great to see such a vital part of British history from those time periods (I still think that the princes in the Bloody Tower were murdered...they didn't just "disappear").

Day 2 - London to Paris: We took the bullet train in the morning to Paris. To all my friends who are giant Harry Potter nerds, er, I mean, fans, I didn't leave from King's Cross. Bummer, I know. Going under the Channel wasn't too bad - I didn't really notice that we were in an underground tunnel. After a long, complicated, stressful trip from the train station to the hotel, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Now, the tower is cool and all, but I do see why Parisians found it offensive (?) at first. It is a rather ugly (in comparison to the rest of Paris) large metal thing with no real useful function sitting in the middle of the city. That being said, it provides an amazing view of Paris and the surrounding area. It's interesting that this tower was considered so offensive to Parisians once upon a time, and now, it's one of the most iconic pieces of Paris.

Day 3 - Versailles and Giverny: Versailles was quite possibly one of the best palaces I've seen in Europe (the Hall of Mirrors is rather impressive). It was also nice that I could take pictures since the palace isn't in use anymore (unlike El Palacio Real in Madrid and the Royal Palace in Sweden). The trip to Giverny and Monet's Garden was very nice (despite getting lost along the way...but, we managed to figure out the not so detailed maps that we had and go the right way). The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and made for a splendid drive. The garden was also breathtaking and it's not hard to see how Monet could have painted so many masterpieces using his garden. Upon returning to the city, my dad and I took a walk around just to see what there was. We ended up returning to the hotel at night, so I got to see Paris all lit up.

Day 4 - Paris: This was the day with A LOT of walking because we went to the Louvre, but before that, we headed to Notre Dame. Despite being a little worn out with cathedrals (do you have any idea how many there are in Spain?), I was excited to see Notre Dame (perhaps it had something to do with it's fame). It is a beautiful cathedral and I got to get my ARTH 100 geek on and tell my family all I could remember about Gothic architecture. After the cathedral, we hopped back on our "boat bus" that took us down the Seine to the Louvre. Oh, the Louvre. I knew it was big, but I didn't realize how big until I walked in it. I saw the Winged Victory of Samothrace (my favorite work of art from ARTH 100), Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa (Annie, definitely thought of you and your photo project), as well as other works of art...I spent a lot of time in the Egyptian section of the museum. I think I saw a handful of rooms on each floor of each section, which means my dad and I probably walked the entire length of the Louvre at least twice (if not 3 times). Needless to say, I was a bit exhausted at the end of the day.

Day 5 - Paris to Lund (via Copenhagen): This was pretty much a travel day. We flew from Paris to Copenhagen, where there was a scare at Charles DeGaulle. Someone had left their luggage unattended and the police were called in and the passengers relocated. It turned out to be all ok, and we proceeded to fly to Copenhagen without any more drama (although, the flight was a little bumpy, if I remember correctly). Sorry, Leslye, but we didn't stay too long in Copenhagen - only long enough to get our bags and catch the train to Sweden. Our hotel in Lund was actually like a studio apartment - a sleeping area, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. It was quite nice. We then had dinner with cousin (my 3rd cousin once removed) and his family, and he made us reindeer stew. It was very tasty. That's one new big game animal that I've tried! There was also a fabulous LOTR reference at dinner, a sure sign of the awesomeness in my family. :)

Day 6 - Lund: Today, we saw my great-great grandmother's birthplace in Torpa, Sweden. It's amazing that the house is still standing. Afterward, we wandered around the parish church's graveyard and found my great-great-great grandparents' tombstone (in the prime location right behind the church...wonder how they ended up there?). Then, we had tea and sweets with some more cousins, and my grandma got some more information for her family tree. I tried wild boar for dinner - game animal number 2.

Day 7 - Lund to Stockholm: Today, we flew to Stockholm, and then drove to Skinnskatteberg (the name comes from the fact that the area is full of sheep farmers and they are known for sheep skins or something like that). We stayed in a beyond adorable bed and breakfast with a wonderful old couple who ran it. There was a lake, a little porch/veranda (on which, I took a nap), trees, sheep, sheepdogs, and just plenty of beautiful sights.

Day 8 - Retracing Footsteps: Today, we retraced my great-great-grandfather's footsteps from his birth in Skinnskatteberg to the last known location in Österåker before heading to the USA (where he met my great-great-grandmother whose house we had seen a couple days earlier). It was amazing to think that he had followed the same road (more or less), except not in a car and during the winter. I don't know how they traveled from farm to farm in the winter, but somehow, they made it. We, then had dinner with more cousins, which was another fabulous event. I've found the Swedes to be generally nice, polite, friendly people, which only makes me more proud of my heritage. Everyone we met in Sweden (especially, in the little towns) chatted with us and answered all of our questions about the history of the places we were in. I would love to go back again and again and again!

Day 9 - Stockholm: Today, we toured the capital city. We saw the royal palace (and a bunch of its museums), the changing of the guard, and the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a 17th century warship that sunk on its maiden voyage, but due to some wondrous biological processes, the ship didn't decay, and they pulled it out of the water intact in the late 1960s. Nowadays, you can see the ship in the museum, which is made of 95% of its original material. It's the only ship like that in the world - crazy, right? We also went to Old Town and did some souvenir shopping and got some Swedish food (I had elk...it was ok...really tender, but had a funky texture...large game animal number 3). Stockholm is a very lovely city - I wish I could have spent a little more time in the city, although I did thoroughly enjoy our days in the countryside!

Day 10 - Stockholm to Berlin: Alas, all good things must come to an end, and we packed up and left Stockholm. After some delays, we ended up in our hotel just outside of Berlin. It was in a very nice little town with a traditional German restaurant near the hotel.

Day 11 - Berlin: Today, we toured the city of Berlin. We went to see remnants of the wall and a museum about the Nazi-era, and later, the era of communism in Germany. I attempted, yet again, to climb the wall. This time, since it was at a more run down remnant, there were some bars to hold on to, but I still didn't make it very far up the wall, which I suppose, was the point of the wall in the first place. Then, we saw Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (didn't wait in the 1 hour line since my dad and I have been up there, and my grandma didn't have much interest in climbing the dome), Checkpoint Charlie, and Charlottenberg. It was a rather nice day and there was a lot of "we're in West Berlin. Oh, now we're in East Berlin." as we crossed over the double row of cobblestones marking the old outline of the wall (yes, we could feel the cobblestones as we drove over them).

Day 12 - Berlin to Poland: We left Berlin and drove pretty much all the way across Poland to the south-eastern area (our town is about 1 hour away from the Ukranian border). It was a long 11-hour drive, but the countryside provided for a beautiful view. It wasn't so bad until we hit the area where there had been flooding earlier in the week and the roads were being worked on. It's interesting to see how Poland's membership in the EU has led to some changes in the past 6 years. The roads are getting makeovers to be more up to date with the rest of European roads, so there is a lot of construction, which makes for a very interesting drive.

Day 13 - Przemyśl: Today, we went to a small town in southern Poland (10 km from the Ukrainian border - too bad we couldn't just pop over) to do some genealogy research. I had a small (if you can call it small) Hungarian potato pancake for dinner - there's a pancake (which is pretty thick) made of potato topped with a meat goulash sauce, cheese, and sour cream. It was very delicious even though I couldn't finish it!

Day 14 - Osobonica: We went to a village to do some more genealogy research. The priest was very nice and even made us have lunch (even though he already ate). We had chicken that had probably been alive a couple of days before we got there. It's so interesting being in the countryside, especially in Europe. So many people think Europe is completely like Paris, Madrid, or London, but especially in Eastern Europe, it's not like that and there's more countryside than cities (even the biggest towns would be considered small to Americans). In Osobonica, I saw people with old tractors, plows, and carts that were pulled by horses, and I even saw one pulled by a guy riding a bike attached to the cart. The animals also grazed pretty much wherever they wanted to - there were very little fences and the livestock just hung out in the pastures (some of them were even almost at the road). It was refreshing to see farming going on the way it was in the "old world" or "back in the day" instead of the agribusiness that we have in the US and just knowing that the animals here are probably only killed when meat is needed and it's done by hand, not by some factory. It makes me want to spend some actual time on a farm working the land. I feel like I would gain an appreciation for my food and home and just the Earth in general that I couldn't get any other way (K.Kelles, I feel like I'm channeling you right about now & Karena, I know you understand what I'm saying here).

Day 15 - Polish Countryside: Today, we drove around the Polish countryside looking for something to do, but weren't quite successful. At least it was a nice, relaxing, beautiful day. We did walk around Krosno, which is the biggest city/town in the area, and it's probably smaller than Cordoba. It was nice - I had some ice cream and the cones are shaped like cups, which made it a lot less messy to eat (always a plus when dealing with me)!

Well, that about wraps it up! Next stop - Vienna!