4.26.2010 - Day 3

It is so nice to finally have my cell phone back. I owe it all to the wonderful Claire Watson and Alix and Art Herbig. First off, it was great to spend the day with them, not having seen Claire or Alix for years, and meeting Art, Alix's husband . I finally managed to figure out what metro station I needed, so that I could be as close as possible to Annapolis, where Alix and Art live. We enjoyed lunch and dinner together and just talked and played some Xbox games. And they were kind enough to run me to the airport, not once, but twice! After several shift changes at SuperShuttle, and multiple re-explanations of the situation, my cell phone was located and we, despite the threatening T-storms in the area, made it to the airport, where my phone and I were finally reunited. So sweet, it was. And the forecasted rain didn't really kick in until we arrived at the metro station in Maryland, where I caught my ride back to D.C. It was wet, but I was dry :) and once I got to D.C. the rain had stopped there.

Among other things, yesterday was also my first experience with the D.C. metro system. Despite the difficulty I had understanding it while online prior to arriving in the area, it was quite easily navigated once I made it to D.C. and received some direction from seasoned patrons. It really wasn't all that exciting; the trains in Denmark are certainly nicer and probably more thorough, but still, public transport is what it is, and I sure love it!

Today we had our final prep class (the previous four were given at BYU). We had a police chief from George Washington University (GWU) come in and give us tips on keeping safe in the city. We really live in a safe area, but there are, obviously, still problems. Apparently many people, while walking and talking on their cell phones, have their mobiles stolen mid conversation. I don't think mine is too much of a target, but the expensive iPhones and such are.

After orientation we split up into eight or so groups and headed to lunch. We stopped at the Union Station food court - which is huge - and ate. I ordered some Indian food and it was great -flavorful and spicy. They even served it to me in this nice plastic container that I'll definitely be able to use for future lunches at work!

Once we finished lunch we set out to find the intern office of each person. The first girl is working with Senator Harry Reid. We found her building, where I had to go through the metal detector about five times forgetting first my belt, then my cell phone and who knows what else. A nice little line formed behind me... After locating her office we walked around the capitol, just to see some of the sights. We next headed out to find my office, where we only entered the lobby to look on the directory and make sure it was the right one. With only three of us - one bailed to go with another group and another intern began work today - we only had to find three workplaces. The girl working with the senator left us early as her feet were hurting, and I accompanied the other girl to find her office which wasn't far from mine. Fortunately we didn't have anyone in our group working in Virginia, otherwise we would have spent a whole lot more on the metro. After finding her intern office, which is working with Where magazine, we walked home, which didn't take too long.

I'm off now to find the GWU fitness center and maybe work out for a bit, but I anticipate that I won't have much time left once I actually get there...