And we're back!

Hey folks,

I know it's been a long time since my last post so I'll take a second to catch you up and then we'll look forward.

Since the last time I posted we've passed the half-way point here in D.C. and I have to tell you it's a very strange feeling. They say it takes you 6 weeks to become comfortable sleeping in a new environment and that 6 weeks is half of this program. I can tell you that for a while I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I was at home, or at my home school and being really confused for a few moments. That doesn't happen any more and along with it I've begun to feel like a real resident of D.C.! It's a great feeling. They talk about Potomac fever, and I knew I had it before I came here, and I certainly have it now!

I'm going to take this paragraph to talk about how the Washington Semester isn't all fun and games... while it's all fun, there's definitely a work load like you've probably never seen. My midterm was about a week ago and a small group of us made a study which turn out to be... ready for it... 80 typed pages! We took about 30 hours studying for it and that was certainly not overkill considering what we had to know. That being said, I was having a conversation with my dad the other day during which I realized  that if I wasn't been asked to do so much, and know so much, and work so hard, I wouldn't be getting everything out of the program that I am. I've never taken part in a program, taken a class etc. that has made me feel like my writing is improving to the degree that it is during this program, and that in itself is an amazing feat.

I had a few friends from my home school Clark University, visit about a week ago and I showed them around the city. One hadn't ever been to D.C. before and was amazed at the scale of everything. We walked from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and realized that, as I had known but forgotten, that it's quite a long walk along the Mall. 2.5 miles to be exact! This falls in line with everything here. The names, the faces, the buildings are all bigger than anything you've seen before. It's one thing to see a celebrity on the streets of LA, and another thing entirely to see, in person, someone whose job it is to make the laws that affect your life every day. In some cases, dealing in foreign affairs, these men and women are making laws and regulations that affect the entire world! No celebrity can claim to have the same clout and you'll see that for yourselves when you get here.

Moving forward, I'll be doing more of what I've been doing. That is, meeting amazing people with great stories to tell and advice to pass on, seeing more of the city, because you can never see enough, and doing more hard work.

That's all for now, my posts will become more frequent as these weeks continue and I hope you'll be joining me!