The Smithsonian, Snow, Studying and Shindigs: A Recap of the Week

Once again, I haven't realized the extent of my lack of blogging over the past week! I think it has something to do with working four days out of the week and not particularly having much to report on those days. Hopefully I can still give an accurate account of everything that has happened in the last week.

I have four programs that I split my time between at work. They are taking place within the next year, some in April and July--one is special in that the teachers are coming to Washington DC and getting the opportunity to see various museums and monuments for themselves! My work has been different every day but in general I am so excited about what my department actually does--bringing learning opportunities to teachers who lack the knowledge and/or motivation to teach students and enhance their ability to achieve. I spent the bulk of my time speaking with museum curators who are going to be presenting at various programs, finishing up my Lewis and Clark object search and designing the covers for binders that are going to be distributed to teachers. On Monday, the March for Life was taking place on the Mall where thousands of people came to show their support for the pro-life movement. It surprised me the shear amount of people who attended and also the large numbers of young people who were also there.

Once the weekend rolled around I had more of an opportunity to do some exploration. On Friday a few of my friends stopped by my office at the Ripley center for a visit. I showed off my cubicle and the minor customizations I have made. Friday was the perfect example of a serious change in weather. In the morning it was pouring rain, my pants were soaked to my knees from walking into and out of the metro but by lunchtime the weather was absolutely gorgeous with very few clouds in the sky. I was able to get off work an hour early and meet up with my friends in the National Museum of American History. I am sad to report that it took me this long to actually visit one of the Smithsonian museums! Although we didn't have much time I sped through several exhibits and hit some of the highlights, notably seeing the Ruby Slippers, a Stradivarius violin and the transportation exhibit with huge generators and train parts. I am looking forward to returning so I can see several of the exhibits that I missed. We left the museum and took a walk to the Capitol which looked beautiful in the evening.

On Saturday, myself and a few friends went to Eastern Market which is conveniently accessible via the metro. There were several street vendors and an indoor market with fresh vegetables and some good looking cheeses. The highlight was the kettle corn stand and a doughnut stand where the doughnuts are fried to order and turn out very tasty! After eating lunch near the Market we went to the Mall and visited the National Museum of Natural History. We didn't see every exhibit but I especially enjoyed the mammal exhibit and the precious gems, of course! My favorite was a crown gifted by Napoleon. Later in the evening we ventured out to Georgetown in order to try Serendipity 3 and their frozen hot chocolate which I would recommend!

On Sunday, my roommate Cristina and I returned to Georgetown to visit the library to get some books to facilitate the writing of our research papers. Upon seeing the Georgetown library I have realized how spoiled we are at UCLA. Powell is such an amazing study spot with great looking architecture and in great condition! Luckily we were both able to find some great materials and are excited to dive into our papers. We did some light shopping and stopped at a highly recommended cupcakery called Baked and Wired. I got a chocolate strawberry cupcake and it was fantastic! It was gluten-free and simply yummy. I am looking forward to returning sometime soon!