There's no place like home...but I don't have to go back yet

I have realized that my time here in D.C. is almost up, so of course now I wish it would be maybe a week longer...or more. Yes, this coming from the girl who two weeks ago could not wait to be home for Thanksgiving. I think the week in Indiana let me recharge for these last three weeks in inside the beltway. How will I see more sights, work, finish my portfolio, travel, and enjoy Christmastime in D.C. all in three weeks?? I'll do what every college kid does this time of year: cram.

Well, yesterday I wrote my defense letter for my internship that my advisor back at Xavier will read. I had to explain to him why I should get credit for all of this. I think if I had written it a few weeks ago I might not have sold my point. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty homesick. It wasn't that I wasn't having a good time here. I was. I've explained before that I was just not comfortable.

My analogy has been this: it's like when you pick up a glass of what you think is coke, and it ends up being root beer. It's not that it's bad, you just didn't expect it. When I left for D.C. I had a very distinct picture in my head of what I thought it would be like. It turns out, I was very wrong. That's not a bad thing--it's just not what I expected. So, during the weeks of getting used to D.C., I was also having to adjust my expectations, which is never comforting. Especially when you're coming from the junior year of college bubble where you've had the same friends for two years and you are extremely comfortable with everything and everyone.

I explained this to the people here and they of course agree with me, and I was starting to perpetuate my homesickness (or we might call it xavier-sickness). But then I talked to a few people that kind of slapped me back into reality. Who cares if you're not comfortable! (They said this in a much more polite way, of course.) You will only get to intern in D.C. once, and you have the rest of your life you be comfortable. Make the best of it. It turns out that they were absolutely right. Thanks to them.

So now, I am rejuvenated and ready to face any discomfort I'm given, just knowing that I am 20 years old, and I'm living and working in D.C. I am a reporter on Capitol Hill, for goodness sakes. I am getting to fast forward my life in a way and glimpsing what it might be like in the future. This is priceless.

I have been doing more than thinking philosophically about my time here, I promise. I'll start by saying it was nice to be home for Thanksgiving. A lot of my friends are studying abroad this semester, and I feel sorry for them (only a little, since they are in another country, of course) because I just cannot imagine going without turkey and family on the third Thursday in November. It was great to catch up with family and friends...though many members of my family did not even know I was here. Haha. This is further testament to their being the busier side of the family. :-) You can't blame them, as they were very committed this fall to helping my uncle be elected mayor. Congrats again, Paul.

I also could not imagine going without our annual trip to Reed's Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving and then going downtown to see the lights on the circle--aka the biggest Christmas tree in the WORLD. (No arguments from Xavier people, please). ;-) Finally I can start listening to Christmas music!

Right when I returned to D.C. I had things to do, people to see. The Monday night I got back I was able to go to another Kalb Report. I think I mentioned this earlier in the semester when we went to see Katie Couric. This time it was with four White House correspondents: David Gregory, Helen Thomas, David Sanger, and Dan Rather. It was a very interesting discussion, and yet more proof that my teacher is amazing. It's also funny that when you are introduced to something, you then see it all the time. I have now seen David Gregory in many news programs and in movie we watched in our next class: Journey's With George. That is a great documentary of George Bush's campaign for President in 2000, made by Alexandra Pelosi (yes, that Pelosi's daughter). I recommend it to anyone of any political persuasion. Pelosi herself calls it a Rorsharch test. I agree.

Since Congress is still not in session, Friday I got to pick any event I wanted to cover for work. I chose the Democratic National Committee's annual meeting. I acutally ended up going with my roommate Naty and her friends instead of for work. It was very funny because instead of using my press pass to get in, I had to sign up in support of one of the campaigns and wait in line. One of Naty's friends actually volunteers for Hillary...so guess who I got stickers, pins and t-shirts for? It turned out that she didn't make it because of the hostage situation, but I did see Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi (again), and I got to experience the crazyness of a political rally--which was basically what it was. Republicans, beware, Dem.'s are going to win the Presidency. Or at least that's what they told me. :-)

Friday night I hung out with my favorite neighbors Steph R. and Lucy. We went to Zoolights (pictured here) and then this amazing Turkish restaraunt that was like a mix between a deli and Starbucks. The food here is quite good. I've gotten to taste many different nationalities. (Of food, that is.)

Saturday I caught up on my portfolio-- which will be a culmination of all of my projects and work here. Don't worry, it still kind of is like I'm in school. I also got to see some family friends on Saturday night. I babysat for Whitney's Aunty M. and Uncle John and their cute son Jack and his friend Daniel. It was great to see a familiar face and the boys were precious, of course. Melissa had only gone out one other time since they've moved here (!!), so I was happy to give her time to relax. :-) They were also very generous, which I appreciated more than I can say. While D.C. might be priceless...it is still qute pricey.

So now it is a relaxing Sunday, and I have more catching up to do for my portfolio. I hope to get at least one more blog entry before I leave...we'll see if I can fit it into my cramming. I love and miss everyone. I hope everyone's having a fantastic December! Happy Advent!