i belong

I've been busy busy busy! In the two weeks since I last updated this blog, I've done so much and been to so many new areas... Now, I'm so used to the city and how to get around and where to go for what that it feels like I really am living here.

In the first week or so after I arrived, I met a bunch of students from Michigan State who are doing the same sort of program that we are, and who are also staying in our hotel for the semester. It's a fun bunch of people, with a few crazy ones thrown in for good measure. The entire dynamic between the Madison people and the Michigan people and all the different personalities is interesting, to say the least.

The Michigan group invited me to come along on a bus tour of the city and on a boat tour on the Potomac during the first week. Both were great and gave me a good sense of the city. A couple of us went to see the monuments on the mall one Saturday, which helped me realize that on my previous trips to DC, I really had no idea about the significance and magnitude of everything that this city stands for. Of course, there's also the requisite shopping trips to Georgetown and Dupont Circle and the Outlet Malls. We're also going out a lot at night, because there's never enough to do in DC! One night, we went to a Brazilian party at a club. The music was crazy, with 50 different beats in the same song... It was impossible to dance to, but it was fun to try! I wonder if that's the sort of thing Annika is experiencing in Brazil.....

My favorite part of this whole experience is exactly what I expected it to be: working at the United Nations Foundation. I'm in Public Affairs, and on a daily basis, I am basically getting paid to read the news!! As all of you know, I'm a news junkie, so I am having a great time! I also get to write quite a bit, whether it's summarizing news stories or writing press advisories, press releases, and press kits. From time to time, I get stuck updating contact lists of reporters, but even that isn't too bad, because I get to talk to reporters all over the world...

The UNF is partners with the American Red Cross, and I've been volunteering at the ARC Headquarters a couple afternoons a week, and it turns out that I'm getting paid through UNF for my time, which is nice, but completely unnecessary. I've been working in Fundraising with some really cool people, writing general letters to people who donated money for relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. This past week, I wrote a letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and to the Hilton Corporation, thanking them for their donations. I love volunteering, and the Red Cross is such an important organization, that I jumped at the chance to help out.

I'm having such a great time here! Now off to watch the Badger game!! I'll talk with you all soon :)

overwhelmed

Last night, we arrived in DC at about 7:30... naturally, we went looking for dinner. As we were driving on the highway overlooking the city, I saw the Washington Monument and the Capitol bathed in the glow of the city lights... it was amazing. I realized at that moment that what I had wanted and what I had worked for is actually coming true. If this whole experience is awful, at least I can take comfort in knowing that I achieved what I have worked for... I'm in Washington, DC, by myself, living on my own, and working at the United Nations Foundation, an organization I can only hope will help lead to my career goals. I'm a bit scared... it's a big change from living in Madison, surrounded by friends and family, as I have been for 17 years. I'm also very proud of myself and I have promised that I will turn this opportunity into something great.

Being here has also made me realize how much I miss my family and friends... I realize how important all of you are to me. Thank you for helping me get this far and for being there for me no matter what.