Final Post.

This is my final post. I am about to go to bed and get up early for my flight and it will be a long day of traveling but I can't wait to get home. This internship has taught me so much and the whole experience has been intense but thrilling. I survived and I can't wait to get home and get ready for school.

Thanks for all of the comments and to everyone who humored me in reading my first blog experience. =)

until next time...
Megan

Two weeks left!

Today was a day where I felt really relaxed but it made it hard to become motivated. I went to work for the first half of the day and actually got to work on time....I think I was late every day last week! And then I went and heard a lecture from The Washington Center and it wasn't that bad. The speaker was more like a storyteller and that was exciting for me because I too like to tell stories. This week seems to be a little on the rainy side as far as the forecast goes and that means that it will be hot and rainy which is not a good combination for my hair....sorry Whitney. But I am coming down the home stretch here! The biggest obsticle right now is to try and get 3 papers finished in the next two days. Chasen is coming tomorrow afternoon and I am really looking forward to nonstop laughing while we are together....but that means that I need to focus so that I can really get some stuff done tonight. I guess I have about 5 more hours max of time tonight to do anything so I will try and use like 3.5 hours of that for my homework. So stressful when there are multiple assignments hanging over my head!

Anywho, more to come

Megan

Sunday.

Today will be fun because I am going to stay home and get some cleaning / homework done! That will feel good to spend a whole day really pushing that stuff so I don't get overwhelmed of course.

Yesterday was nice because Shannon, Ken and I went to Virginia for a very "nontraditional" tour of what is out there. Ken was our expert tour guide and it was really crazy. We went to Boarders for some morning coffee and book searching. Then we went to an International grocery store called Grand Mart. It was amazing! Everything you could possibly imagine and super fresh. All kinds of live fish and squid and all that stuff plus every spice known to man and an entire isle of seaweed and you could buy rice in 25 lb. bags! Then we went to this.....I guess the only way to really describe it was that it was like an Asian dollar store. Then we went to the BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT EVER! I told the waiter guy that it was the best meal I have ever had in my whole life and I meant every word. We also ventured to this like...Vietnamese mall complex where all of the stores were like a cultural experience for us outsiders. It was really cool. And finally we stopped by Pearl art supply store for a second and that concluded my Sat. outing.

Side note, I wanted to let everyone know about my supervisor's book! She gave me a copy of her first novel and I thought I would spread the word in case anyone is interested. Here is the information:

And Silent Left the Place by Elizabeth Bruce
ISBN 0-931846-86-2

A young woman stands naked and afraid in the South Texas dark, silenced by a rich man's bargain - a roll in the desert for her boyfriend's release from jail. Miles away, a silent old man climbs into his secret hole, burdened by his Great War bargain - his voice for life with his beloved. On this night in April 1963, the burden of silence passes from old to young. The debut novel of Texas native Elizabeth Bruce, And Silent Left the Place is a lyric tale of violence, redemption, and love reclaimed in the cruel, dry land of Texas.

Well, I guess I should get to work.

Megan

Comments

People....we are slacking a little bit on the comments.

Megan

Arlington Cemetary, homeless lady, and Archives

Today was really cool but also full of stories.

1. I went to Arlington Cemetery (pictures on facebook) and I got to see the tomb of the unknown soldier....which was really cool. The view at that point was beautiful and it was nice to see the guard on duty because it was just so respectful. Then I made my way up to the area where they had nurses and then the Battle of the Buldge....I don't know if that is the correct spelling....anywho then I saw JFK's grave and Jackie. That was really cool. And in general the cemetery was lovely and it was nice to be in an area that didn't smell like a city and had nice clean oxygen.

2. I decided that I wanted to go to the National Archives and see the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. But I was pretty worn out from powerwalking around Arlington Cemetary. So I went to the Archives metro stop and thought that it would be a good idea to stop at the street vendor and get a pretzel with mustard. I was having a craving anyway. So I got my pretzel and water and wanted to eat it sitting down but didn't want to lose my bearings by going too far away and getting lost. I decided to just eat there on the park bench. Well....there was this asian homeless lady that was sitting on the bench across from me drinking a coke and she kept laughing. Like....hysterically laughing. And of course I didn't know why and also....this was like where all of the skater kids decided to meet and practice. So there was all the skater kid noise plus this homeless woman laughing and a trillion people walking around me. It was a very strange feeling. But I looked over to the bench next to her and there was a homeless woman sleeping and she looked kind of rough. And it made me think again....how do people get to this point? and is it reversable? but I continued to eat my food and trying not to stare at the woman laughing...she was really intriguing though. The thought occurred to me....why did she waste money buying a coke? It would have cost at least a dollar to get that and she seemed not able to reason that purchase. But you know.....maybe she really loves coke? Then I looked closer and realized that she was not actually drinking coke at all...the can was empty and she was only pretending to drink it. That made the whole situation more bizarre. Anywho. I felt like I was losing my mind and that I can see how possibly the only way to cope is to leave reality completely.

3. After that I went and got in line for about an hour and a half to see the famous documents. That was super cool to see the originals but they are looking really faded and won't last much longer.

Thats all for now!

Megan

Week ReCap.

This week has been very interesting. First of all I want to tell the story about the man on the metro the other day. My roommate and I were sitting on the metro going back home after playing with the homeless children and just talking and everything was normal. But after that we were at a metro stop and the doors are only open for a short amount of time so you can't really dilly dally if it is your stop. So we noticed that there were these two brothers....the oldest was probably middle school like 6th grade and the youngest one was somewhere in the early elementary school age group. But the older one was talking to the younger one and their mom got off like right when the train doors opened in the first place. So my roommate and I could see that if they did not hurry that they were not going to get out. Also, when the train doors are about to close there is this noise that kind of beeps that alerts you that you need to stand clear of the doors. So that went off and the older one realized it and then darted off the train and the younger brother starts going towards the door and then it shuts. So basically....there is this little boy on the train and his mom and older brother are on the platform. At this point everyone on the train is aware of the situation and we are all looking at this little boy. Of course the train starts moving and people are watching him to see what he does. To my surprise he does not cry or anything he does not panic one bit! He simply stands there looking out the window of the door. Then this young man walks over....like late 20's...and he kneels down beside him and starts talking to the little boy and says that he will wait with him at the next stop for his mom. And sure enough...when the next stop comes along he gets off and waits with him. It was such a sweet gesture and what made the moment even more touching was that almost everyone on that train was ready to do the same thing. People were starting to get up and offer to go with him. It was so nice and the Washington DC community has proven to be very nice in my experience. I do think that the mother was to blame on that one....I mean....everyone knows that if you have kids on a metro they should get off before you do in order to prevent stuff like that from happening. But everyone makes mistakes.

The second story is about me at the homeless kids playtime thing and I gave my first time out. There was one little boy that I have been playing with and he is really cute but kind of wild. Anywho, he was being extra naughty on the last session and he threw chalk and ran out near the street where he wasn't supposed to and I realize that all of these times were opportunities for me to enforce the rules with timeout but I kept getting distracted because he would just go from one thing to another. So then during snack time he basically smashed his goldfish into a million pieces and then threw his napkin up into the air with the goldfish shards on it. At this point I was like...okay Megan....just do the time out thing. So I picked him up and said....so and so....you can't throw your snack and I told you not to so now you have to take a timeout. So I carried him over to the timeout chair and I was holding him under his arms and he started kicking his feet and expressing that he didn't want time out. I honestly didn't think it was going to work or that I could actually enforce a rule. But I sat him on the chair and I knelt down to his eye level and I said....so and so....you threw your snack and made a mess and we can't do that okay?....and so now you have to sit in time out because you broke a rule. And then I stood up and he just sat there. He didn't resist like I thought he would and he wouldn't look at me and didn't make eye contact. So I stood there and my internal dialogue was like....uh...what do I do now? So I was trying to think back to Nanny 911 and what she did and I couldn't remember how long you were supposed to leave them in timeout and I know that it is different based on the age of the child. I think it might have been a minute long and then at the end I knelt down and said....okay so and so....we don't throw our snack okay? You did a great job in time out but we don't want to come back here again right? I picked him up and put him on the ground and started walking to the room where the other kids were and I looked back and he just stood there and didn't move and looked at the ground with slumped shoulders and and sad face. And I was like...hey so and so... come on let's go play. And was smiling and like...time out is over come on. And then he got it and we went on playing for a little while. I was proud of my first time out experience. =) It wasn't so bad.

Yesterday I also went to see a play that my site supervisor starred in and it was so good! I thought she did such a great job. It was called the Bag Lady and it was this narrative about basically a homeless woman who talked to herself and was out of touch with reality. She actually reminded me a lot of Granny....but not entirely. One time when I was in Granny's house trying to clean I found three huge bags full of plastic bags. And I was like....do you really need all these Granny? I don't remember her answer but she kept them.

My goals today are to go to the Arlington Cemetery, see the Archives, and the American History Museum.

Anywho, that is all for now.

Megan

Sunday

I feel really tired and I am sad that I didn't really do any site seeing like I wanted to but I did a lot of other work. I did homework and I also cleaned and such. It was kind of nice to stay inside and relax....just really plowing through the to do list. I have been having so much fun at my civic engagement project. The homeless children are so adorable and at the last session I got to hold the babies! So cute! I love them all and they cried a lot but I am actually getting used to it. I never thought that I would be able to tolerate that for more than 5 seconds but I guess some kind of switch got turned off.

By the way my new favorite song is Nina Simone Ain't Got No...I've Got Life and I am really super excited about it. I love her! I really like her music....I can't remember if I have ever heard her before but I am lovin it.

Also, I kind of miss being home. I have been here 6 weeks and have 4 weeks left so the end is kind of near. I am going to be glad to be finished with this chapter even though I really enjoy it and have learned so much. I would recommend an internship during undergrad for anyone who can make it happen.

Well, tomorrow is back to work and it will be a busy day but that is expected.

Megan

Weekend!

Today was very busy and I have been working nonstop here in the apartment. It was a cleaning, homework, chores, etc... kind of day and I really feel a lot better now that I have tackled all of that work that was piling up. Tomorrow my plans are to go to the Zoo, a Mongolian Festival, and a play that my supervisor is putting on. It will be such a fun day!

I made a master resume which will be really helpful I think because it basically has all of the information that I could possibly need to compile various resume's, applications, etc. So I am proud of that.

Even though I got a little lonely today I got so much work done that I feel a relief from that and hopefully from this point on everything will be a little more manageable. It is all downhill coasting from here. =)

I am really glad that I am here but I am now looking forward to traveling home and completing this whole internship process. I miss my family and the animals!!!

more soon,
Megan

Week 5: Tuesday

I am feeling good about today. At work we FINALLY started the summer program classes and I think that we have a good group of kids and it will be exciting to hopefully get some "teaching" experience. I have been working on two major projects: documenting and uploading photos of work on Flickr ( I will put the address up here when I am done editing) and cleaning the entire art room. Both projects are finally making progress and I feel that they are at manageable states and it seems to be something that will be a big help to the 'art team' because no one really has time to do what I am doing but really needs it done. There is also a community service requirement to my program and I have decided to volunteer with a nonprofit that goes to homeless shelters where families live with children and they play with the kids for 2 hours twice a week while the parents attend some life enriching classes. So basically I will get to play with these kids every thursday night. I am really excited! I went to the training session this past weekend and I should be ready to start.

So many cool things are happening and I have already been here a month!

More to come,
Megan

I'm Back.

I know that I have not posted in a while but I was preoccupied with some things and I had a hard time getting myself to write. Part of it was the terrible Metro crash that happened last week. That really got me depressed more so than I thought. Anywho, I am back and I will post again soon hopefully!

Megan

Fire Alarm

So at 6:30 am we heard the fire drill go off and I unexpectedly had to get dressed and that took a while since it caught me off guard. Plus we used an exit that no one else really used so it looked as if we were the only ones that even acknowledged the fire and we were like.....uhhhhh.....is everyone just ignoring it??? But then the firemen came really quickly and there was no fire. Plus it was a little eye candy.

Also I am super excited because I found a recycling center downstairs in the apartment and we can do recycling!! Woohoo!

That is about all for now,

Megan

End of the Second Week.

Today was a really easy day at work. Basically this week I have been cleaning the art room....which means trying to group like items and give it some sense of organization. I think that it is just a good idea so that you don't waste money buying multiples of things and you can make some cool projects because they have a TON of stuff and a lot of it gets donated to them. So when I was not doing that I played BINGO with the kids. That is funny. They all act the same way....they get really excited about winning even though we rig it to where everyone wins an equal number of times. haha

I have also observed that a lot of interesting things happen on the metro. I have seen some really kind moments between people....and they are always spontaneous among strangers....and I have also seen some people be really rude and uncalled for. I really enjoy my 40 minute commute sometimes because I get to people watch. Except today on the way home it was SUPER crowded. I was so close to the people around me that we were within inches of touching and were basically hugging. It is funny that I get smushed between all of these business men.....it makes me laugh. hahahah

At work I am really excited because I am going to actually be teaching a painting class. Not next week but the week after. It will be really small...like 5 people plus me.....since I have never taught a class that seems to be the best. And so now I am trying to think of some lesson plans and it is kind of exciting to maybe inspire some people to be painters....and hopefully expose them to new ideas and to be more creative people. I also had an idea of introducing a new artist each day and having some examples or a handout or something so that at the end of the summer they will have been exposed to 14 major artists in history and I guess have a little bio or something. If anyone has any suggestions....I have some ideas of my own but of course any tips from anyone would be welcomed.

-Megan

Second Week: Tuesday

Today was very relaxed and not too hard. I got to leave an hour early which was nice and most of the day I spent playing BINGO with the kids and drawing with them. None of my roomates are here in the room now so I have been trying to use this alone time to get some work done and I cleaned up a little and am getting my checkbook straightened out.

The weather here was really stormy early this morning....then hot....then it stormed pretty badly when I got off work.

Currently I am enjoying the pink sunset from my bedroom window which is beautiful.

-Megan

Second week of work: Monday

Today I went to work for a few hours and filmed a class where these two guys were doing this project where they needed me to film them in the classroom. So I got a chance to film these 3 year olds...which is always amusing...and I learned a lot about them and how to deal with a 3 year old and also a bit about filming. That felt productive.

After lunch and a break I went to this place called the Foundation Center http://foundationcenter.org/ Check it out! It has all of this wonderful information about grants, proposals, nonprofits etc. and they have some free online class kind of stuff that you can participate in from your personal computer. If you want to know anything else about it just let me know and I can explain where some stuff is or you can use their search engine to navigate the website. Also....for anyone interested the website for my internship is www.centronia.org

Now I am going to do some school work and maybe watch a movie. Yay! Free time!

Megan

Contemporary Works

This morning my friend from Canada and I went to the National Gallery and visited their contemporary art section. It was so cool! All of the big wigs: Phillip Guston, Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Giacometti, Duchamp, Rachel Whiteread, Goldsworthy, Richard Serra, Pollock....cool right?

Holocaust

The holocaust museum was a very powerful experience. It took a while to get through but it was beautifully made and so intense. I think that the part that really got me was when I was actually able to go inside of one of the cattle cars that was used to transport real people. When I walked in I could feel the screams and torture of the people hunderds of people who had to be in that very car and experience the end of their lives. It was really powerful and I don't know how anyone survived. Also...things like the piles of shoes and anything that was actually touched by these people who died was really overwhelming. Something else that was nice was they had a wall with all of the known people who helped save people from the Nazi's killings by hiding them or getting them fake papers to save them. That was just as powerful to look at the way these people were willing to save so many in the midst of such propoganda and manipulation. It was a good experience and I am glad that it exists as a way to educate and remember victims by.

Also, when you first go in there are two stacks of these little booklets and one half is labled male and the other half female. So I picked a female card and it is this little biography / story of someone who actually lived during the holocaust. It really got to me because I instantly became attached to her as a person. Here is an individual and in some way I am responsible for her memory and her story is being passed on to me. Erika Neuman is her name....and her birthday was June 12, 1928. She survived the Holocaust but I feel really strange having her here infront of me. It is really extraordinary.

-Megan

Weekend coming to a close.

Today should be a good day. I am going to work here for a couple of hours trying to finish up some of my school readings and a writing assignment. I feel so much better today now that I worked yesterday and got a lot done on my to do list. Today will be manageable and I will be able to go see some DC sites. It looks like it is going to be hot today....which is not my favorite but I have no control over the weather of course! Not much to write home about at this moment but last night was fun because we walked up the street and got some late night ice cream which was super awesome....yummmy. I got like this chocolate peanut butter one. Couldn't resist. =) I will probably have more to say after I visit the Holocaust Museum....I feel like that will be a powerful experience.

-Megan

End of the first week of work.

This week has been really nice. I have had a variety of experiences and Friday was such an interesting day. In the morning I helped with the VIP breakfast thing. It was supposed to be a way to try and get donors and people to actually come to CentroNia instead of just giving money because I guess the idea is that when they actually get there they (as individuals) will fall in love with it and want to give more. It was nice because they had some people speak about how the organization has impacted them and also free breakfast =) which was great. So my role in that was to be an extra pair of hands for this art project. There wasn't enough adults for each child so I got to sit in and participate. I worked with this little girl who was so cute! And we were like best friends in 5 minutes. I love that.

At the end of the day there was a concert put on by this group of high school guys that do the after school program and they practice a lot and they have a recording studio in the building. So they did this live concert and it was sooooo good. It was great. I helped prepare some stuff for it and it was just amazing to see these kids really use their time in a productive way and choose not to live a "street" life so to speak. It is one of the many amazing benefits of being at this place.

Today I am feeling a little bit stressed with all of the stuff that I need to do. During this week I really have not had time to sit down and get work done because I have had so much to do but I am going to have to take today as a work day and I will have to not be really social or touristy. I don't want to get behind and I need time to read and etc. So...my goals of sight seeing...I am going to go and finish seeing the more contemporary section of the National Gallery and then I also want to go to the Holocaust Museum thing. I will probably do that tomorrow because tonight I am going to this event that my Palestinian roommate is going to in response to conflicts with Israel. It is kind of an event where I can learn more about what is happening with that whole thing.

It should be a good weekend and I want to really get some stuff done while I feel up to it and motivated.

Also, sometime in the next few hours I am going to go to this event at my workplace....it is kind of like an art day. There will be different things that the kids have made and also some artists will be selling some stuff. I want to go check it out and then go to target.

I am feeling good about it. I guess that is all for now. Back to work.

-Megan

Third day of work.

Today was great. Work went really well and I got a lot done and I love the people I am working with! After work I was proud of myself for taking the bus and walking to class. My class was really good and I think that we will cover some really good materials. The crazy part happened when we left class and I had to walk about a half a mile to the metro station in a torrential downpour. The water was rushing down the streets and sidewalks and my friend Jade and I were sharing an umbrella! It was so insane. I was soaked and then had to ride the metro and it was dark and I was squealing like a little kid. It was super fun.....sort of. But now it is late and I need to do laundry.

Peace Out.

-Megan

Second Day.

Yesterday was my second day of work and it was really nice to meet some of the kids. They let me sit in and observe a 4th grade class and a 2nd grade class. Um....that was insane. It was funny because the majority of them were boys and it was really interesting to see what they talked about (which was mainly Star Wars, weapons, how their native country basically had more weapons to destroy the other countries.....I guess that is normal for boys.) It just made me laugh because they were really intrigued with me for a few reasons, they don't get much exposure to white people and so I am sure that was fun....also I was a new person so they had a lot of questions and things to ask me. For example. "Do you like weapons?" So I didn't answer that one. I am still in observation mode right now and am just looking and soaking in the environment and soon I will hopefully be able to get to know some of them a little better and not feel overwhelmed by the screaming and yelling that goes on at all times.

Plus...today I think I actually might possibly get my desk. =) Yay office!

Okay, off to work.

-Megan