Week Three
After two weekends of traveling and finally moving into my summer sublease, I was more than ready for a week focused on settling into the city. To kick things off, on Monday, NCSC sent us to the United States Supreme Court for their annual lecture. Thanks to NCSC, the fellow interns and myself are now official members of the Supreme Court Historical Society until next year. Despite my dozens of visits to DC over the years, I had never been inside the USSC building before and to my delight, it was gorgeous. I am an architecture/interior design nerd, and was pleasantly surprised by the intricate murals, chandeliers, and less permanent art fixtures located throughout the building. We were given a VIP tour of the Supreme Court building, and besides the chambers, the main highlight for me was the library. We were only allowed to visit about 20 square feet of the space, but the view of the building, the endless rows of books, and the faded-into-pastel mural on the ceiling took my breath away. After the tour, it was time for the annual lecture. This year, though, instead of a lecture attendees were treated to a recording of a new one-man play about Oliver Wendell Holmes. I went into this lecture knowing we would be seeing a movie about Holmes, but I was expecting a documentary, not a play. The actor who played Holmes did a fantastic job of engaging the audience for 65 minutes of pure dialogue. I found myself to grow a touch emotional during scenes from the play when Holmes reflected on his late wife and the friends he had lost in the Civil War. This performance was the perfect way to top off an informative and exciting day.
As my boss is in Italy for the next two weeks, my work this week consisted mostly of catching up on lengthy assignments as well as assisting various other staff members with a myriad of shorter-term projects. For example, I helped make charts explaining the desired outcomes from objectives associated with proposals for both the Philippines and Bangladesh. In my personal life, this was a week for me to slow down, settle into my sublease, and get into a proper routine. I now commute to Arlington from Maryland, and I've successfully found the best metro, bus, and driving routes to do so. I spent my first DC weekend of the summer catching up on unpacking, cleaning, and making time to see friends, old and new. On Saturday evening I attended the fireworks at The Wharf for Pride with my new summer roommate. I finished off the weekend with eating at one of my favorite Mediterranean restaurants with a friend from undergrad that I reconnected with during my DC internship last summer.