i want to be a part of it

at the end of my fifth week in DC, on the saturday, i caught a bus from DC to NY. i woke up around 6:30 to catch the 8:30 bus, which left from a stop conveniently only about 4 blocks from my residence. the ride was comfortable (i had the row to myself), cheap ($25 one-way - by comparison, a one-way greyhound ticket from my parents' to edmonton is usually about $32, and that's only a 2-hour trip), relatively short (4 hours), and offered some pretty lovely autumn scenery. i arrived at the stop near penn station in NY shortly after noon, and walked a few blocks over to mood (the fabric store featured on project runway) so i could check it out and pick up some hot pink fringe for my halloween costume before meeting david (the boy i met on the viarail train in september) and his friends (well, younger cousin, younger cousin's boyfriend, and friend's younger sister).

the five of us took the subway to the southeast corner of central park and walked through the park up to the met. since it was raining pretty hard, i took off my shoes (my soft-soled moccasins) and replaced them with flip-flops - a smart move as far as keeping my feet comfortable and easy to dry off whenever we went indoors, but a very poor move in terms of my hangnail that quickly got infected by all of the dirty NY puddle water running all over it (it's preeeetty much healed now, though). at the met we got a sweet discount because of my smithsonian badge, and we toured (amongst other things) a fun exhibition on knights' armor. after the met we went for (a mediocre) supper in little italy, made a quick stop at times square to check out the lights, then went back to the hostel we were all conveniently staying at because we were all wet and cold and tired. david and i stayed up late talking in the lounge, which was nice.

the next day we took the staten island ferry over to staten island. we saw the statue of liberty as we passed by, but it wasn't that impressive. afterwards we went for pizza (which was overpriced and not very good), then walked about 70 blocks from the staten island ferry terminal to rockefeller center. david's friends went up to the viewing site there, but it cost almost $20 and i wasn't in the mood for paying that kind of money for that kind of experience, so he and i took the subway over to burgers and cupcakes (which i wanted to visit because it seemed to be natasha's dream restaurant) for... burgers & cupcakes. then we walked over to my bus stop and said goodbye. my bus ride back to DC was slightly less enjoyable than the one to NY - i had to share my aisle, and since it was dark out i couldn't see all the autumnal goodness, but it was still nice to sit by myself and have nothing to do but listen to my ipod.

fifth week in DC

on sunday i went on a tour of the white house gardens (they're only open to the public once a year). it was neat to see the place up close. after that, i went to the solar decathlon on the mall. i had been wanting to see it since it opened, but it was always too rainy to go. i ended up just being able to see the alberta entry, which was pretty neat. i ate lunch by myself at the smithsonian castle, and then went to stitch DC to look at yarn. i didn't buy any because i didn't have any needles.

on tuesday three of the other interns (including my sort-of crush) and i skipped out on work to see "where the wild things are." i didn't ever read the book when i was young, so i am not drawn to the movie in the way that some other people are. i didn't love it, but there were definitely some beautiful parts. right after that i went to another theatre to watch "a serious man" with one of my letter-writing friends. i never like coen brothers' films, so i'm not sure why i keep seeing them.

on wednesday i had a 4-hour hangout with my intern crush. it was super enjoyable and satisfying. hanging out with crushes is the best. we biked to jefferson memorial and talked and looked out over the tidal basin at the city, and then we went for supper at qdoba downtown. yesss.

on friday night after work i helped out at a teacher workshop at the natural history museum. it was exhausting but there was good free food.

saturday: bussed to NYC; mood; central park; met; supper in little italy; spent evening at hostel

fourth week in DC

on sunday i stayed at home and napped most of the day because i had super bad cramps. i also worked on my sshrc application.

on monday i bought a bike and took it to get front brake fixed & tires filled. it was cheap and it creaks but it was the first one i could get off of craigslist.

on tuesday i made frybread in the morning at my supervisor's house with her and two other coworkers for the frybread fundraiser. then i took the smithsonian shuttle to suitland, maryland, where i met up with the other interns for a little presentation on repatriation. i rode the shuttle back with my sort-of crush, who is another intern at my museum. i skipped out on the rest of work and biked home, where i napped. i waited for the boy i tutor to call me but he didn't, so i went to union station for some steak & mashed potatoes.

on thursday i went to see "coco before chanel" with some of the other interns. it was so so so good.

on friday i went for tea after work with a boy i have been writing letters with. after that, we went to the brian jungen talk at the hirshhorn. my intern crush also showed up and sat with us. BUT i couldn't sit with EITHER of those boys because my bladder is too small and the tea was too big and i spent the WHOLE talk standing at the back and running to the washroom every 10 minutes. after the talk the letter-writing boy and i went to union station and ate sbarro and he grilled me on why i don't want to get married. ugh. it's a conversation i don't like having, and a conviction i stand by firmly.

on saturday morning i went for cupcakes with another letter-writing friend, and she and i walked around afterwards and went for coffee and had the same conversation that i had had the night before (except that she understood where i was coming from).i worked on my sshrc application in the evening, and ordered two pairs of simple shoes online (it had been raining in DC for a week straight, and i was desperate for anything but my moccasins, which get wet super quickly. i couldn't bring myself to order rubber boots, even though i had scoured DC looking for a pair, so i ended up ordering these and these).