Monday, June 13, 2016
By:
The first week is over and it was a whirlwind of events for me. On day two of arriving here I decided it was time to venture out to get some of the basics like groceries and household goods. My little adventure took me to Target and Best Buy with a stop at Safeway on the way home. I may have been a bit overzealous with my shopping ambitions. A mile and a half doesn't seem all that far away until you are carrying several bags full of things like laundry detergent and foods and hand soap and by the time that mile and a half was up, I felt like my arm was going to fall off! Needless to say I will not be attempting such a large expedition again and when carrying groceries and things the metro will be my best friend.
Come Monday, during our intern orientation, I was fortunate enough to meet Nobel Prize Winner Dr. John Mather for lunch with the other interns. You hear about these people rather frequently but it is not often that you get to meet these people and have lunch with them. It is somewhat surreal to sit down with a Nobel winner, have lunch, and just have an open conversation with him. It is definitely an experience I will not forget and it was an inspiring beginning to my internship on the Hill.
While in session, the Science Committee office seems to be a blur of activity. On day two of work I found myself working a hearing with big name witnesses discussing the future of the National Weather Service. Only my second day and I find myself sitting directly several members of the Science Committee! I have since started working on preparations for the next run of hearings in the coming week. I came into this internship completely blind as to what my role would be in the office and I have already begun researching and writing up important materials for staff and member use. After this first week however, I was ready for a fun relaxing weekend catching up on all of my missed sleep!
After a rather low key Saturday consisting of gathering groceries for the week and getting the laundry done, I was ready for an adventure come Sunday. Sunday morning I took a few hours to head to the Zoo. It was stiflingly hot but it was fantastic! I had been to only one other zoo previously, the San Francisco Zoo. Wandering through the exhibits with no agenda was glorious. I took all the time I wanted and got to see every exhibit! The first animal I got to see was the Sloth Bear in the Asian exhibit. I have never seen one before and they are something else! The bear was quite active and a very interesting start to my Zoo adventure! It’s pretty safe to say that the first exhibit would have made the heat of the day BEARable. With that, its now time to get ready to tackle next week!
Demitri Call