Back from DC

The debate continues...to blog or not to blog. For now, to blog. I am supposed to be reading White Noise for English tomorrow but I am going to leave it until tonight and freak out then. There are more pressing things to do, like recap my weekend for the benefit of the online community.

Last week was incredibly stressful. I could tell because my teeth were sore from my unconsciously grinding them at night. I had my first midterm on Wednesday in Public Policy (open book and open note--seemingly less but also more stress) and I was preparing for the fall National Youth Council meeting in DC. To top it off we had two major security issues going on--a peeping tom and some bike thefts--in the residence halls. On Thursday morning I left and began a very strange yet productive weekend on the East Coast.

Thursday dinner was fun, then the Friday and Saturday meetings went well. Kelli and I attended the Board of Governors meeting on Friday afternoon which is always interesting. On Friday night we dined with our "adopted" board members and I got useful career advice among other info. Saturday night after the meeting was over was when the craziness began. Jessica, Ralph, and I started getting ready for the National Italian American Foundation Youth Gala, held at the Hilton Washington and Towers in downtown DC. Our cab was late to take us to the metro and then we also had to make a stop at a shoe store for some better-matching shoes. Our cab driver, Felix, took us to the nearest Payless and, being a full-service cab driver, came in and commented on which sandals I should buy. He then took us to the metro station where we attracted many a stare dressed in our prom wear. We finally made it into the city and we were late for the Gala...leaving no seats together. We ate separately (I met some very nice people from GW), enjoyed visits by Tony Danza, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill (so random!). This only begins the randomness of the evening. To add to this, Ted had decided to get the hell out of North Carolina and fly up to DC for about 12 hours. He arrived at 9 PM and made his way to the Gala hotel. In the meantime three separate middle-aged men commented on my feet and how nice they are. Only one was obviously drunk. At this point I definitely felt I was dreaming.

We changed into street clothes and left the hotel. Jessica and Ralph headed for the metro back to Falls Church and Ted and I grabbed dinner at Cosi and then, at 12 AM, set out on our early morning tour of downtown DC and the monuments. Two and a half hours later we hobbled back to the metro station and made it back to Falls Church at about 3:30 AM. Jessica and Ralph didn't sleep at all, Ted slept for about 2 hours, and I slept for a good 7 hours into the late morning. They departed at various times of the ungodly hours of the morning.

Then I bummed around Falls Church and headed for the airport (with Felix, our new personal driver). Luckily I got there earlier because things were crazy...it was like the airports look during Christmas in the movies. There were so many lines and no one knew which one to get in...there were three large lines heading into security alone and everyone in each line seemed to think he or she was entitled to go first. I made it through, sat in a terribly uncomfortable seat, and now I'm back, home safe, in Berkeley! And back to the daily grind of school etc.

Happy Half-Way Through the Semester...'tis the 8th week!