Cele H.
January 13, 2010
Today was the start of my second week in D.C.! This past week I have had trouble sleeping and have found myself staying up way too late. As you can imagine, this has resulted in me being extremely tired. For instance, I had planned on waking up and working out in the hotel's little gym but unintentionally missed my alarm! I have to admit that I enjoyed the extra sleep. I hopped in the shower, dried my hair, and picked out yet another business ensemble to wear to work. Margot, Catherine, and I experienced the morning rush hour first hand as we weaved our way through the loop holes of people at our different metro stops. People up here are so different from the South. When I accidentally bump into someone, I apologize and give them a smile! To my surprise, their reaction to my apology is very different than what I am used to. They either a) ignore your attempt at apologizing completely b) look at you like you're from a different planet or c) scowl at you for making the mistake in the first place! I actually did not take it personally, but rather was just shocked by such a different response. I guess it is just southern culture to be warm and welcoming. After arriving at Union Station, we made our way to our offices by walking in clumps of what seems all black. It's as if everyone here knows to wear a black pea coat to work each morning in order to blend in! When I got to my office, I began working on a project on Microsoft Excel involving a contacts list for a TVA project that the Senator is working on. I had to call different Senate and House offices to retrieve information about members of their office, and then log the information I received into the charts. Surprisingly this took the whole day because there were so many offices to call! I was so exhausted when it was time to go home, and I even crashed on our couch the second I walked in the door. I planned to only sleep for about 30 minutes, but I ended up sleeping for two whole hours! When I awoke I ordered room service with some of my friends and watched The Bachelor in one of their rooms. Currently I am lying awake, sitting in my bed, and regretting those two hours I slept when I got home because I'm now ready to go at ten o'clock at night!
