Crazy couple of weeks

Hey everybody,

Ok so I broke my promise and haven't updated in two weeks, but I've had good reasons for it. There have actually been a lot of things going on in my life for the past few weeks, and I have many interesting stories, but I do not feel that it would appropriate to write them all here in the public eye. So I will give the bare minimum, and those of you who know me and would like more information, I will be happy to tell you the full story in a more private setting.

I resigned from my internship at the other organization I was briefly working at. I know that in my last post I was very excited about the internship, but it did not take me long to realize that it was not going to work out. However, I did get two more calls about interviews for other internships. I interviewed with one organization today, a non-profit organization that works with orphans and impoverished children and families in 137 countries worldwide. The interview went really well and I was offered the internship for this fall. I'm really excited and interested in the organization, and they said that there was a possibility of advancement for interns (and that they are actually looking to expand in the next few months), and they are also willing to reimburse me for transportation expenses, which is really nice. I have quickly been learning that commuting from Manassas to DC can cost upwards of $100/week. I have another possible interview with a foreign policy think tank next week (although I am not sure yet exactly when), so hopefully that will work out well also. I promised the organization I was interviewing with today that I would be able to give them my decision whether to work there by the end of the month. If I do decide to work there, I will start sometime in mid-August or early September.

Beyond what's been going on with the whole internship drama, I had a really great, fun weekend. My friend Mike Berrios came to visit me from last Wednesday - yesterday morning, and we had an amazing time hanging out and seeing the city. On Thursday, Mike, Becca and I went to a federal government job fair, which was not very helpful for finding a job, but at least we got some good advice and felt that we were doing something proactive for our careers.

On Friday, the three of us went into the city to do touristy stuff, because Mike hadn't been to DC since he was a little kid. We toured the National Mall and the monuments and memorials, saw the White House, and I even gave in and went to the Air and Space Museum for an hour or so. (I hate the Air and Space Museum because I was forced to endure visiting it for endless hours so many times as a child due to my family's obsession with flying objects. Oh, and there are in fact multiple Air and Space Museums in the DC area. I have been to both.) We had to drive Becca to the airport on Friday evening because she went home for the weekend to go to her cousin's wedding, and then Mike and I met some friends in the city for dinner and drinks...and then experienced the city's metro system at 2 am. Surprisingly, the Washington DC metro has very little violent crime, even late at night, and is actually mobbed with people at 2 am. The Paris metro is kind of shady at night, especially in some areas of Paris and at bigger stations, so it was good to know that Washington DC's metro is relatively safe to take at night.

On Saturday, Mike and I met up with his friend Hillary and toured Old Town Alexandria. That area is really cute and pretty, with European-looking townhouses and lots of shops and restaurants. I loved it...too bad that I can never afford to live there! Unless I meet a man with a trust fund...hmm. I'll have to work on that. We went for a walk by the Potomac and went out to dinner at a really good pizza restaurant in Arlington. It was such a beautiful, nice day.

On Sunday, Mike and I toured the Manassas battlefield and learned a lot about the Battle of Bull Run / Battle of Manassas (name changes depending on whether you were a Yankee or a Rebel). The amount of confederate flags flying at the cemetery and on the battlefield reminded me that I do in fact live in The South now...not sure how I feel about that. I'll always be a Northerner at heart. We then picked Becca up from the airport, and went to the movies to see Harry Potter. Becca and I were basically dying to see it because it came out Tuesday night and we had to wait 5 whole days before we got to see it! It was torture.

So, Mike left yesterday, and the rest of this week I'll basically just be hanging out, waiting to find out what's going on with my internship and stuff. Anyways, I just wanted to update everyone on my life...like I said, I know this version is kind of lacking on details, but for the full version of events, contact me and I'll be happy to share. Hopefully I'll write again soon with good news about a new internship.

Lots of love,
Sarah