Week In Review

My first week as an intern has been an enjoyable one! There are two other interns working in the office--Travis and Eric. They both attend UVU and we all get along great. The other full-time staff members have been welcoming, helpful, and fun to work with. I was introduced the Congressman on my first day, and he even sat down with me personally to say welcome, ask me what my expectations were, etc. Overall, it seems like one of the best House offices to work in. There's a great office dynamic, interns are taken seriously, and everybody strives to make visitors feel welcome and important as soon as they walk through the door--be it the Speaker of the House or a page. I think the best part of my job will be giving tours of the Capitol. I gave my first one yesterday to a group of about 15 people from Snow College and it went well!

It almost feels surreal to work in the Longworth building (there are House offices in three buildings on the Hill: Longworth, Cannon, and Rayburn). The Hill is just beautiful and it's amazing to work in a place with so much history. That being said, it's easy to see how the Hill gives people such egos. I think it's partly because of that history, and because there's not many work places that require you to go through a metal detector before entering. Also, the underground tunnels connecting the three House office buildings make people feel way more important than they are. Oh, me? Yeah, I get to walk around in secret passageways. You know, like President Obama. Only they're not really secret. And you're not President Obama.

And now it's time for . . .

ZOOM ZOOM RECAP ZOOM ZOOM

Monday: Washington Seminar orientation. Took the metro to the Capitol, and found my way to Chaffetz' office so I knew where to go the next day. Walked back along the Mall with Brock to the White House. Hit up Johnny Rocket's in Georgetown for some late-night shakes with David and Noah, where we chatted it up with our Pakistani waiter.

Tuesday: First day of work! Met up with Brock to have lunch at the cafeteria in the basement of the Longworth after he listened in on a Senate hearing about U.S. relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan (where he witnessed John Kerry's miraculous ability to completely doze off, wake up, and spout out substantive, rapid-fire questions to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as if he'd been paying attention the whole time). Brock made me pancakes for dinner :)

Wednesday: Followed Travis as he gave a Capitol tour to the husband and daughter of Utah's Teacher of the Year. The husband own and operates a swank rehab facility at Sundance--the one that's treated Lindsay Lohan a couple times. He was actually really funny and it was great to tour with them! Brock made chicken noodle soup for dinner and we headed off to visit the Lincoln Memorial later that night.

Thursday: Had my first conversation with an older constituent who calls into the office almost every day. She was so funny. She tried telling me a joke about a Norwegian and a bacon tree (???) but completely forgot the punchline at the end . . . it ended up being way funnier than if she'd actually remembered! Tagged along with a very-stylin' Eric (in a seersucker suit) as he gave a tour of the Capitol, and then gave my first one to another group immediately thereafter. Saw John Boehner and Eric Cantor walk into Boehner's office right outside the rotunda. Believe it or not, but Boehner is oranger in real life than on TV. Brock made chicken parmesan for dinner (is he a gem or what?!) and we watched Salt on Netflix that night.

Friday: Had a lecture in the morning for Washington Seminar, and visited Judge Griffith (of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals!) in the afternoon. With the hours in between, Brock and I visited the beautiful Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, and WWII Memorial. Grabbed some Potbelly for dinner and stayed at home watching "30 Rock" reruns. Partyin', partyin', YEAH.

Today: Went on a tour of the Capitol! You'd think this is the last thing I'd want to do on my day off, but Brock hadn't been on one and I wanted to hear what the "real" tour guides said on their tours. Grabbed a quick hotdog at a sidewalk vendor afterward, and the vendor turned out to be Egyptian! I would love an Egyptian to practice my Arabic with, so I'll have to frequent his cart at lunchtime during the week. On a side note, can I just say that every Egyptian I've met thus far in DC has been so friendly?? It's awesome. I hope Jordanians are the same!

Tonight, we're planning on getting some Baked and Wired cupcakes after dinner--which, according to locals, are supposed to be so much better than Georgetown Cupcakes or Sprinkles.

For the sake of analysis, I'll may or may not have to try all three.

I do it for you, guys. I do it for you.