Work Week Kolm

Some of the things I did this week include: 

Visiting the National Museum of African-American History & Culture

The exterior of the building is actually glass with a filigree on the outside, so you can see through the building once you're inside. The inspiration for the architecture comes from an African queen's crown. The museum covers six floors, six packed floors. There is so much to see and read. We were only given two-ish hours to explore, and there was no way we could do the entirety in that time. 

This exhibit on sit-ins was designed to make you part of the movement. Bar stools up against a counter-top and backdrop of screens illustrate the struggle of students and others to gain equal rights.

This statue represents the Olympic win in Mexico City in 1968. Tommie Smith & John Carlos of the U.S.A. won the Gold and Bronze medals in the 200 metre running event. They stood shoeless in black socks to represent poverty in the African-American community. More about the history and symbolism of the event here.

This display was the largest on the topic of African-American participation in social organizations, specifically membership in the Masonic Family. It included a bit on the founding of the Prince Hall Masons as well as the African-American chapters of the Order of Eastern Star. 

There is really no adequate way to discuss all that this museum covered. Hundreds of years of history, exhibits on art, music, cinema, sports, movements for suffrage, citizenship, rights, and recognition. There is just so much. 

George Washington's Mount Vernon

Grand Lodge of Texas, fixin' up Mt. Vernon's entranceway.

Look out at what would have been the slave village on the Mt. Vernon property. At the left corner near the "beach" was a couple of people who spend their day cooking period foods in a period-appropriate fashion. And then they eat it. Kinda jealous.
This section of Mt. Vernon also held an interesting example of the various forms of fencing used. While it makes sense when I see it, I wouldn't have thought there were different ways to lace wood and twigs together for a number of purposes.

And here are Washington's teeth, made of several things, none of them wood.  Everything I thought I knew about the world is wrong.

Turns out, Washington started loosing his teeth in his teens, thought he had some of the best dental hygiene. It was one of the reasons he smiled so rarely, because his teeth caused him so much pain it was just easier.

When did we decide this was not the most awesome way to travel? This was one of the displays that made me think about historical locations like this. George Washington died, but his farm went on. Martha Washington died, and the farm goes on. But one day, the carriage is pulled into the carriage house, saddles are hung on the wall, and there they stay to this day, gathering dust. How does a working farm go from productive and money-making, to a display through which tourists wander?

Keeping up with the Bronze Washingtons

Other thoughts from Mt. Vernon:

1) The museum exhibit starts with pre-military Washington, and then moves into Washington as a young British officer. I think this is an interesting point to make. He was good as an American general because he knew how the British think, after being a loyal British colonel. 

2) There's a super cheesy video about the romance between Mr. & Mrs. Washington. There's a lot of cheese in the videos at Mt. Vernon, but there was a 4D theatre with some period drawn maps rendered in "3D" to illustrate troop, artillery, and naval maneuvers. I thought that was a cool feature. 

3) There was a display, the specifics of which are beyond my recollection at the moment, which discussed G.W.'s humble nature, quiet demeanor, and other quietness of character. While I'm not saying all these characteristics are mutual exclusive, it caused me to wonder if all of the pomp & circumstance, all of the drive/ambition/goals for the future, all of the things we historically admire in Washington: were all these things the real Washington, or over the course of time have we attributed more to him because, as our first president, we needed him to be a hero? Because if he was all we say he is, he would dislike so much about what Mt. Vernon has become.

HQs of the NWP

As possibly illustrated in my post about the Sewall-Belmont House, I'm interested in suffrage movements. I had afternoon plans, but was looking for something to do with my morning. I found a note in a museum about the previous headquarters of the National Women's Party, so I looked it up to try to find the old address. And instead I found the list and location of the five headquarters of the NWP in D.C. from 1913 to 1929. So I went on a hunt. I've found four of the five, so stay tuned to see the final one. 

The first HQ was in a basement office at 1420 F Street NW.
Today, there's this giant hotel at the address.

In 1916, the NWP moved to Cameron House, 21 Madison Place NW.
Everything on this street today has historic significance, though
the HQ of the NWP isn't marked on any of them. One of these buildings
is on the spot (or the same building) the NWP used, though the back building is
most famous has being the home of the Madisons. 

From 1917 to 1922, HQ was at 14 Jackson Place, in a building on the location
of one of these. Like many streets, Jackson Place has been renumbered...

The location of #4 is still being sought; research still to be done.

And #5, the HQ of the NWP from 1929 on, they resided at the Sewall-Belmont House. 

Work Week 2

Tuesday (since nothing of note happened Monday): 

Received a couple of projects at work: yay!! They were interesting and important. I also explored the depths of the building. We'll probably get lost if we have to go alone next time.

The Theatre. The Folger's Theatre was showing "Sense & Sensibility," so of course I went to see it. It was opening night, and the cast worked through the kinks fantastically and the show was better than anticipated. As much as I love Austen, "Sense & Sensibility" is ranked near, if not actually, the bottom of the list for me. But I've never seen one of her works performed live, and thought the location was great as well. And they did such a great job!! They definitely amped up the comedy factor significantly. On such a small stage, complete set makeovers would be difficult, so every piece is on a casters and the cast rolls them around effortless. Without getting up from their chairs, a parlour becomes a patio becomes a dining table. The members playing multiple characters were shoved back and forth across the stage when necessary. And the playwright incorporated several proposal lines from other Austen works into this one, for better or worse. The comedy 100% made this performance! Loved it!

Thursday:

The first memo I wrote required very little editing and passed all the way up the chain of command to the boss! I've officially done a thing.

In addition, since D.C. is crawling with Congressmen, I've started Congressman Bingo. Unfortunately, I can't post photos like I do with Embassy Bingo, because I've rarely seen any of them long enough to take a photo. But so far we've at least seen:

Senator Cory Booker

Senator Rand Paul

Senator Marco Rubio

Senator Bill Cassidy

Congressman Don Young

There are certainly others, but with so many of them, I'm still learning to recognize faces. 

Saturday: 

I have been wanting to go to a Madame Tussaud's for a very long time. It's been on my to-do list in London, but I just haven't done it yet. So I went to the D.C. exhibit! I know that each is themed for the city it's in, so I wasn't surprised to see all the presidents; I was surprised that there wasn't much else. There are maybe four other rooms, each with a few... is statues the right word? But it's predominately presidents. 

The Taft

The Kennedys 

Uncle Sam

Me and my new oven are capable of great things.

I didn't get many good pictures because I'm terribly unaccustomed to the idea of getting up-close-and-personal or touching the displays. There were plenty of other people wandering the narrow space, climbing on plinths, putting their arms around the figures, but it just felt... wrong. 

Post-Madame Tussaud's, I headed to the International Spy Museum. Dang, that place is cool. Videos narrated by Linda Hunt and Toby Stephens, the temporary exhibit on James Bond, and the interactive "learning to be a spy" portions. I climbed through an air duct, listened to the bugs around the building, saved the world from a nuclear device, and hung off a helicopter (for more than 10 seconds, everybody). Essentially, this museum tells you everything you think about spies is true at least some portion of the time. 

Russia post-1990s knows what's up.

And I used a digital Enigma machine. How did anyone
figure this out, the first time 'round?

I went to find cannoli afterward, but it turns out the bakery I was looking for has disappeared. But I did pass the Carnegie Library and the MLK Memorial Library and went through Chinatown (which has a super fancy archway).

The back of the Carnegie Library is way more interesting
than the front.

Sunday: 

Just explored the Pentagon City Mall today. Found another Panera, a Teavana (their Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Chocolate tea is amazing, and possibly the first Pumpkin Spice drink I've had), another Taco Bell, a Nordstrom Rack and a Marshalls, etc. Once again made me realize I miss Tasku's habit of stores putting the price of the items mannequins are wearing in the window, so I could see how expensive a store is going to be before I walk in and immediately leave. 

And unless something crazy happens in the next several hours, that was my week!

Work Week 1

This post is a bit delayed as I tried to walk that delicate line between recording the experiences of my internship for my own recollection later and the fact that the internet knows everything about everyone and is full of people who could very well find out where I work and creep hard.

So, here's a vague idea of what I did this week!

Item 1: I went on a tour of the Capitol Building, and it was super cool, so I'll definitely be back!

Ceiling near the Old Senate Chamber 

Item 2: I got French Macarons. I've been wanting to make these for months, but they require special ingredients not readily on hand and, from what I understand, are super time consuming to make. Feeling like I should be doing something afterwork other than going home and watching "Madam Secretary" or YouTube videos, I headed into the great wide somewhere and acquired these beauties.

Flavors & Rating:

Vanilla Violet *

Pineapple Sage ***

Hazelnut ***

Raspberry *****

Blueberry something Thyme ****

Lavender ** 

There were a few on the online menu that weren't in store the day I visited, so I'll have to go back, but I picked up a few flavors I wasn't sure I'd like. I've recently found I have to be in the right mood to like lavender, so wasn't surprised when I didn't like that much. I'm not sure when I've had violet before, but that was not the time. 

On my walk home, I passed the Capitol, all lit up, calm, sans tourists. It looked pretty cool, so I felt obliged to stop and take a few photos. It was also craaaaazy hot outside. 

Item 3: Tidal Basin Paddle Boats

Checked this off the D.C. Bucket list! It was super hot outside and I ended up just allowing the current to move the boat, so I would only have to put in the effort to get back.

Item 4: Post Tidal Basin, I visited the closest museum (as I was desperately in need of A/C). It just so happens the closest museum was the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum. I was expecting something a bit different from the reviews online than what I ended up seeing when I walked through the museum, but there were several things they did that I have to give them kudos for.
1) They had a large display on how the Holocaust affected Eastern Europe. I'll admit, I'm partial to Eastern Europe, but much of the history taught on this subject in the U.S. focuses on Western Europe and Poland, and I was glad to see the emphasis on how widely people were affected by the Holocaust. There is even a room several stories tall filled with pictures of people who lived in an almost entirely Jewish town in Lithuania which was wiped out over a short period of time.

Video of Holocaust survivors from Latvia & Lithuania

2) They had a floor dedicated to the genocides that have taken place since the end of WWII. For all our "Never Again" speeches, genocide is still a daily reality and has been since our first "never again." We say we'll never let it happen again, and while nothing has happened on the 6-million-victim scale, genocide has occurred again and again, in Cambodia and Africa.

3) They discussed the U.S. reaction at the time. History classes teach "The Nazis did this, the French did that, the USSR did this other thing." What did we do? Essentially, nothing. I didn't listen to the entirety of all 5 ways the U.S. reacted, but I sat through most of them. President Roosevelt removed the U.S. Ambassador to Berlin, and we thought, "That'll do it. They'll give up." knowing full well many many many people were being killed while we shook our heads.

4) One floor as the history of Jewish persecution. The Nazis weren't the first; not by a long shot. It took the Vatican nearly 1500 years to apologize for their initial persecution and subsequent centuries.

5) The translations into Hebrew. The poem below rests above a collection of shoes from a concentration camp in Poland:

We are the shoes. We are the last witnesses.
We are the shoes from grandchildren and grandfathers.
From Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam.
And because we are only made of fabric and leather
And not of blood and flesh,
Each one of us avoided the Hellfire.
-Moses Schulstein

And finally, 6) The exhibition pieces from lesser known concentration camps continue to show how many there were, not just Dachau or Auschwitz, but many many more from all across Europe. In addition, many of the pieces were casts, or replicas, which I think is important. Those artifacts should remain in situ to be teaching tools for those cities and regions. In terms of the piles of clothing, shoes, hair, etc. that are on display at Auschwitz, removal of portions of those piles kind of diminishes the effect. The United States had no concentration camps like these, and we stood back and watched for so long, why should we take important pieces of history from the countries to whom they belong and who suffered for them to exist? 

It's a museum visited by a lot of senior citizens, and that's just fine. But the standing in the middle of hallways, walking directly in front of someone to press up against an exhibit so no one else can read around them, the inability to whisper... all diminished the overall experience at the museum; I was ready to be far away from all the people.

Item 5: I visited the Flea Market at Eastern Market. I'll have to time my visit next time so I can snack or pick up some fruit for the road. Not much to tempt me, though one skirt made an impression but isn't in a style I'd be able to wear to work. :( 

And those are some of the big things I did this week. I'm still getting into gear at work, with full-time employees adjusting to having interns around there haven't been many projects to do, but as time goes on I'm sure things will pick up. 

Seeing the Sights: The D.C. Embassy Edition

While most of what I did today was walk up and down Embassy Row, I did a few things first. 

1) Georgetown: I planned to wander, which I kind of did. I saw a cupcake shop on my map, so I headed there. Turns out, Georgetown Cupcakes is the setting for the TLC show "DC Cupcakes" which means it's always busy and there's a line up the block. I acquired: red velvet, salted caramel, strawberry, chocolate ganache surprise, carrot, and a chocolate coconut cupcake. They're good, but I don't know if they're "you deserve a TV show" good. I haven't tried the salted caramel or ganache cupcakes yet. 

And my phone case enters the photo...

Cupcakes....

2) I walked past this sign, which requires a several step process to crop down and resend to my laptop, so... it says "Huckleberry Cheesecake ------->" While I think it's for a business, which may or may not have anything to do with food, they certainly caught my attention.

3) Adventuring for something else and walked past Gallaudet! I will be visiting later, for sure.

4) Other Random Photographs:

Bob the Builder, shall he build it? Bob the Builder, yes, he shall!

Abandoned embassy. How much do they want for it?!

Epic mosque(?) at the end of Embassy Row.

RIP Harambee

FOR THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BE WAITING FOR

THE EMBASSIES!

Argentina

Barbados

Belize

Bulgaria

Ma armastan sind Eesti!

Burkina Faso

Chad

Cote d'Ivoire

Croatia

Haiti

Dominican Republic

One of Greece's Buildings

Ireland

The cooler India building

Kyrgystan

Indonesia

Latvia

Japan

Madagascar

Luxembourg

Malawi

Mexico

Mongolia

Morocco

Myanmar

Paraguay

Romania

South Korea

Spain

Turkmenistan (This flag, though...)

Turkey

Togo & Iraq?

Zambia

Columbia?

Swaziland? & Kenya

Vietnam

Sudan (I'm pretty sure...)

Let's get real, I have no idea. I can't read the sign above the door,
and I've figured out about 5 possibilities...

I love embassies! Clarification: I love embassies that are not U.S. embassies, because they are never pretty, uninterestingly located, and super intimidating. If I've lost my passport, I shouldn't need to pass an electric fence, armed squadron, and provide 3 forms of government issued ID to ask for help. I'm bummed I won't be here for the Embassy Row open house, where the embassies have cultural snacks and events. Maybe it'll go on my bucket list. But! I loved getting to walk around and see flags, statues, historical figures, etc. I learned what a "chancery" is, and had to find the subtle differences between embassies, consulates, and residences. Loved it! It did lead to some cupcake melting and a slight sunburn...

(P.S. All the cupcakes are gone now.)