Entry 4 (May 27 - June 2) Adventures with Friends & Good News!!
Featured Photo:
Monday, May 27
Ah Happy Memorial Day!
Today, I went to the parade on The Mall!
It was hot, and lots of biting bugs, but it was such a great time!! I went with a couple friends from institute. We had a good time hanging out with each other and cracking jokes.
Tensions rose a bit when protesters tried to come from behind us - the crowd - coming from the direction of the Washington Monument, and they were quickly barricaded by police. It was so interesting watching the Police fall in shoulder to shoulder and block this group of people. Two ladies with flags and signs and loud speakers broke through the standing baricade and kept walking towards us and towards the parade. More police came and created a secondary body baricade to block them too. They stood yelling in the Police's faces for a bit, but eventually just stood there.
They weren't protesting anything to do with Memorial Day, so I suppose they were making the most out of the crowds and publicity. My friends started to check X (formerly Twitter) (sorry, that's my favorite saying these days, it's everywhere, like it's one word: X-formerly-known-as-Twitter. It's hilarous) They were checking the app to see how quickly these protesters made the news, and sure enough it took about 15 min. Clever way to make noise for their cause.
The parade itself was very good!! There were soooo many school marching bands and color gaurds. They did such a great job!! There was not much school representation for the west, but those Pennsylvania schools have great band programs! It was fun to see the school spirit, and the uniforms. Miss America also made a performance, which was very cool to me! And guess who else made a cameo?? The Glow-Tato from Idaho New Years!!!
After the parade, me and the pals meandered around The Mall, slowly losing our minds in the humidity + heat combo, until some candy we got at the parade revived us enough to realize we needed to go home and recover.
The rest of my Memorial Day was quite chill and peaceful. I knit on the rooftop as the sun set. A dear friends enjoyed the sunset with me, as she read. The clouds magnificently rolled in, and a clap of thunder made us both look at each other as we just knew it was time to get inside immediately. We clamored to pack up as a sheet of rain fell on the rooftop. We made it inside in the nick of time.
I'm writing to you now from my cozy kitchen again. My dear friend is making pasta and made us both tea. A thunderstorm is pouring rain on the old windows and buildings in this historic district, and there's bright flowers all over our counters leftover from the Memorial Day flower laying ceremony. A couple housemates went and brought home the extras they were given. I feel very still and peaceful. I'm so grateful for friends and the opportunity to be here.
Tuesday, May 28
Today has been very relaxed.
I went to the local Freemason Temple to work on my internship. It was beautiful and smelled old, as always. I noticed that all the workers there are quite young. The librarian in the library I work in was a girl my age in one of those puff dresses. She seemed very cool, 10/10 would be friends with, 0/10 the scary librarian from Monsters Inc I was expecting in an old smelling Freemason Temple. There seemed to be a back room with an elevator that a bunch of middle aged white guys in business casual kept going in and out of...I assumed those are the actual Freemasons? No say on that one.
Besides the people watching, I did get a bunch of good work done on my internship, and felt very good about it.
After working, I took a lil grocery trip to Trader Joe's where in the middle of shopping I got a call saying someone was locked out, and I was the only RA remotely close to the house. The person who was locked out also had a dinner for their internship they had to go to in 30 min. When I say I booked it back to the house, that is such an understatement. I was running with my Trader Joe's brand insulated tote bags full of milk and eggs in humidity and heat back home because gosh darn it, me and my peers need to make a good impression on our bosses by not being late to these fancy dinners!! >:( haha
Homie made it to his dinner within a reasonable amount of lateness, and I felt accomplished, and like I didn't need to go to the gym for the next week haha
Despite feeling like my day has already been full of enough adventure, I went to Institute for the friends (the food, actually) and the Gospel message (the food, actually). It was a great (tasty) time at Institute and I enjoyed (the dinner) very much!! :)
As I'm winding down for the day, I am starting to realize my bug bites from sitting in the grass during the parade are popping out, and I'm seeing that DC climate does come with it's ups and downs. However, my hair has never looked better, so there's tradeoff's everywhere.
Wednesday, May 29
I worked a bunch on my internship today!
I had to get tasks done before the meeting tomorrow so I sat myself down in the kitchen and got it done. I was pretty proud of myself.
After a couple hours, I got an email from SPS (Society of Physics Students, a club I love dearly). I had been waiting for a couple months now to hear back about a scholarship.
SURE ENOUGH
Guys this is so exciting
I got an SPS Scholarship!!!
It's through the Association for Women in Science, and I am absolutely ecstatic!!!
Here are the links & press releases I'm featured on, so you can celebrate with me :)
I mean nothing motivates you to work like a scholarship, so after finishing my internship work I did some Astronomy work, and it was a fabulous day!!
Then later in the day I got word that one of my most dear friends in the whole world got engaged!!!!
It was such a good news day!!
Then, later in the day, my new glasses arrived in the mail!!!
I wish I had pictures to share all these good news moments, but alas the only thing on my camera roll from today was a cat meme that does not reflect what I felt today at all, but does reflect how I feel most other days :)
Thursday, May 30:
Today my PI for my astronomy lab reached out to ask if I would use some of my DC network to help keep Chandra Telescope alive. This was honestly one of the most exciting things I've done all summer. I'm always talking about how one day I want to "advocate for STEM and it's necessary funding." I mean it's written right there in all of my scholarship applications, but to actually have a chance to do it? Even a little bit?? Very exciting!! So I talked to my housemates to ask them to talk to their staffers to ask them to talk to their bosses, who are the Congresspeople to sign a petition to get Chandra the money it needs to keep a perfectly good telescope going.
It was such a niche thing, and maybe didn't make a difference, but watching myself be so excited made me remember how much passion I have for the intersection of policy and STEM.
Later that morning, I went to botanical gardens with a friend.
I faced the dreaded rainforest room, where I first discovered my asthma in 6th grade, due to the highest humidity on the sky walkway there. I returned, inhaler in hand as a 20 year old, and had no problems :)
My friend and I went to the Asian Art Museum after that, and it was such a great time!! I had been once - breifly - before with the SPS National Group I went with last September, but we didn't get a chance to see the whole place.
My friend I went with is doing a Master's Degree in National Security and their focus was on relations with Asia. Their interest is Asian cultures, but National Security is a better career path. Either way, they had a much better understanding of the cultures and symbolism represented at the museum, and that made it really fun and interesting!
In the afternoon, I was supposed to have a meeting for my internship, and got my zoom fit all ready: PJ pants + blouse, just to find out that the meeting had been moved. It was unfortunate, but at least I looked half cute haha
I did get word I was hired to be one of two Assistant RA's!! This is very exciting, because I keep locking myself out of my room, so now I can fix that myself haha
In the evening, I went to institute and it was a great time!! The teacher there is so dynamic. He's the best!!
Friday, May 31:
Today I was the best fake housewife to my roommates I could be. I had a bunch of extra energy so I cleaned the apartment and the kitchen and meal prepped. I danced and cooked and cleaned, and all around felt great!! I've been making a bunch of breakfast burritos about every 1.5 weeks and freezing them. They're a fabulous way to make sure I have grab and go food.
Also I was awarded a scholarship today for next year!!! How fabulous!!!
In the evening, I went with a friend to the Marine "parade." I say parade because the Marine from Institute who told me about it called it a parade, but when me and my friend got there, it was not like a walk-down-street-tossing-candy type parade. Everyone was dressed formal, the Marines (it was at the barracks in south DC) accompanied you to your seat on the large bleachers in front of the lawn. Then after all the bleachers were filled in and the sun had set, they turned on these huge flood lights and hundreds of Marines marched in, in perfect order. They did very cool gun flipping and made lots of jokes that went over my head as a civilian. My friend I was with used to be in the ROTC and had a military brother, so they explained the jokes. They even brought out the famous Marine Bulldog, Chesty. The Marine Silent Drill Platoon also made an appearance, and it was honestly one of the coolest and slightly haunting experiences. It was hyped up by my friend, but I still had no clue what to expect. The biggest thing I learned is that when Marines say "silent" they mean there's no yelling, but there is exaggerated shoe and rifle flipping clicking noises. It was very cool.
Unfortunately, my friend did not listen when I said the parade goes until 10pm. They parked their car in a spot that expired at 10pm, and realized this at 9:45 pm, in the middle of the silent performance. So walking in front of the flood lights and in the silence, we had to get up and leave in the middle of the the most important part of the performance. I was...frustrated to say the least. All in all though, it was a very cool experience, and I appreciated the opportunity to go, even if it was a disrespectful exit.
Saturday, June 1:
Today begun with an early start and ended with a late night.
I had made some plans with some friends from Institute, some of which were at the Memorial Day Parade.
I got up early and took the Metro wayyy out west to Dulles where I met up with the friends who drove out. We stopped for Chickfila, made a couple wrong turns, laughed a bunch and finally arrived at the Virginia Air and Space Museum (the one not on The Mall).
I was not mentally prepared for the amount of airplanes there!! It was just a huge hangar full of new & old historical and cool planes!! Some very mentionable ones were the Enola Gay, THE FREAKING DISCOVERY SPACE SHUTTLE, a bunch of Nazi planes (I just like...haven't seen actual like real swastika's in real life on things that were actually like Nazi things? I don't know how to fully convey to you what I was feeling, but like it hit me in a different way to see just that giant symbol and imagine it flying overhead. That must've been so scary in a way I couldn't fathom before I saw those airplanes), the redbull diver guy's suit and ship was there too, and so was a chinook and the stealth planes I grew up seeing flying over my hometown all the time.
The group of friends (that was dubbed, "Team Snacks" when I pulled out fruitsnacks for everyone and they asked
what are these?
and I said, snacks for the team?
and they said, team snacks? like snacks for the team? are we team?
and I realized that doing sports in high school really always has me thinking any group of people is in term of "team," so I said yes. we are team. here are snacks. we can also be team snacks, as a group name.
And we all agreed our lil group would henceforth be known as Team Snacks.
Anyways, we - Team Snacks - went to the JWST Movie that was playing in the museum theater, and let me tell you, there are a couple ways to get an Astronomy student nerding out, and watching a viedo about James Webb Space Telescope is one of them!
What made it cooler is a bunch of the video was clips from an interview with my hero Amber Straughn!!!! She is just the coolest Astrophysicist ever (if she ever reads this, hello and you're my favorite). Team Snacks was in for a wild ride of chattering when we left the theater. However, in my excitment walking out, I walk past a familiar face.
Not Amber, unfortunately.
Almost more surprising?
I see a friend from Physics classes at The U.
wut.
Huh??
How???
At the exact time I was there, he's there too?? like in the museum. What are the odds. No say on that one.
Anyways, I whip around and get his attention and in my eloquent way of trying to put a name to a face I've seen multiple times over the last 2 years of undergrad, I say
"I know you..."
And thank goodness he recognizes me too, and that neither of us remember each other's names because no one really talked much in physics this last semester.
Apparently he got an internship also in National Security, but like the real gov org, but he didn't go through the Hinckley Institute. So he's a Ute, but out in DC on his own accord. So of course I got his number and invited him over to the Hatch House in case he's ever feeling home sick, because the Hatch House
Let me press enter for emphasis
Being in The Hatch House is truly like being back in Utah.
Take that how you will
but it does beat the homesickness.
It was wild, but on brand, to run into someone I know in an obscure place with obscure timing. I'm glad I always have friends everywhere I go.
Team Snacks did a last walk around, and we headed out. We drove past the George Washington Freemason Temple, and it was cool to see it up close. I have only ever seen it from the train station on the way to Philly a couple years ago.
Team Snacks went to the Basilica. It was absolutely gorgeous there!! I've never been in such an intricate place of worship. There were so many facets and corridors. It was so stunning.
After that, we decided to keep the adventrue going and go to the Kind Tut exhibit that was in town. Personally, I don't care for anything that is authentically from Egypt. Call it supersititon, call it sensativity but everytime I've been in the room with a real mummy I've started crying and had to leave, ever since I was a kid. I'm glad other people find it facinating, but it's just not my thing. However, the other people in Team Snacks wanted to go, and I didn't really have a way to get home, so I just took it head on.
The vibe was off the second we walked in, but the tickets were already bought. The vibe was the same as that Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience. As we progressed through the winding curtains of the exhibit, and we finally arrived at King Tut, I didn't have any sort of reaction. I was dreading walking into the room, but nothing happened...turns out "King Tut" was a replica. And absolutely nothing there was authentic. I was relieved and also laughing really hard.
After that we were already 10 hours into adventuring that day, so we decided to hit the Alexandria and see the oldtown and water there. The night life there was so fun! It was a great mixture of families, dogs, and party people. There were a couple of street musicians and seeing twilight on the water was gorgeous.
Our 12 hour day of adventures ended being dropped off at home. I was exhausted, and grateful for afternoon church.
Sunday, June 2:
I spent most of the day recovering from the long day of adventures the day before.
Church was great! There were 3 baptisms, which blows my mind!! That is so cool!!
I finished reading my book on the rooftop, and went for a walk to really let the book ending melancholy sink in. It turns out that the only path I know well in my neighborhood is the one that leads to Trader Joes, so I found myself there where I figured if I've already made the trip, why not pick up some things (ice cream)?
I love early June because the Hydrangeas are in full bloom, and they're stunning! I love how the east coast loves Hydrangeas.
