PROGRESS REPORT: DAY 2 IN DC

Assalamu'alaikum....

Well here I am, day 2 of my mini-internship. Last night after work, Linda and I were really tired from our first day of work, so after watching CSI for about an hour, we were debating between walking around in the cold to the White House or just staying in for the night. Well, we decided that the White House might be too far to walk to in the cold, but we could go out for a while and get some hot drinks at Starbucks. Mind you, this was 9pm. When we arrived to the nearest Starbucks, which was 2 blocks away from the hotel, it was unfortunately closed (apparently DC residents don't drink coffeee after 6.30pm), but there was this huge white building right across the street from Starbucks that we decided to check out. It wasn't the White House, but the building next to it was. Score! The first building was actually the Treasury Department, which is pretty huge. The White House is sort of right next to it. Seeing the White House at night is pretty cool, the night wasn't too cold and the streets were very well lighted. We met up with a group of people who I think were from Australia and swapped taking pictures of each other, heheh.

On the way back, we decided to take scenic route and came very close to The Mall area. No, it's not a shopping strip, it's pretty much a garden area that's surrounded by museums and monuments. Oh, and of course a few memorials, as evident from the Washington memorial and a couple others me and Linda saw last night. Here's the Wikipedia link if you guys want more info on it. It's so near our hotel that walking around at night just to walk around The Mall is so not a big thing. Plus there were police officers all around us. Funnily enough, people were still jay-walking right in front of police vehicles. Huh. I guess it's the same mentality that brought us the "throw-thrash-under-the-No-Littering-sign" phenomenon.

Second day of work, I met with Cindy, who's survey I'm helping to proof-read and fact-check. Right now I've just came out of a 2-hour survey analysis marathon... and it's not over yet. Nyahahaha. Bengong. There's still the report to proof read, which I've already read but am gonna have to do it again because a lot of the terminology is very confusing to me. Oh well, I will prevail! Nyahah! I have to admit, as tedious as it is looking at people's responses and trying to figure out what they mean, I love doing real work. Sure, I had to buy 2 vanilla capuccinos to keep me awake, but the experience is priceless :) . Plus the cafeteria has pretty decent (if somewhat expensive) food.

Okay I better get on with work. Later!

Wassalam.

LOCATION: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, DC

Assalamu'alaikum....

It's Spring Break baby!!!! Nyahahah!! I would've probably been more excited about it if it's not for the fact that as I'm writing this, I am in a cubicle in Washington, DC, trying my hardest to keep awake while reading the stuff that I have to do to analyze surveys. Maybe I should backtrack a little.....

Okay, so about a few months ago, SI's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) people started lobbying for students to volunteer for their program. The whole basis of the program is, rather than spending Spring Break in say Cancun or Tahiti, students would get to intern (voluntarily, unpaid) and gain real-life workplace experience in different organizations that need information and library science students (i.e. us students here in SI). So I thought, what the heck, the ride is going to be free, the hotel is mostly paid for, plus it beats figuring out for myself what the heck I was gonna do for a whole week of Spring Break. Now, bear in mind that all these thought process happened before all the shitty semester work came in.

So about a month ago, I attended the meetings for ASB and started to doubt whether or not I really wanted to go. But after much cajoling by my friends and the academic admissions people, I gave in and decided, what the heck, at least my resume would have extra bulk when I'm out trying to find work. Plus I like the irony of being an international, Islamic student but working oh-so-close to the the nation's capital. Take that, all you customs people at the aiports who keep trying to "inspect" my bags! I'm working at the Library of Congress!

Anyway, we finalized which projects all the interns got, and mine was analyzing four surveys for FLICC/FEDLINK, a division of the Library of Congress (LOC). Yummm... After all the drama that went through making the user survey for my SI 622 class, I wasn't sure how this was gonna turn out. But I need to learn somewhere how to analyze survey results, so this might work out okay. By the end of last week, I was so ready leave for DC and do something other than studying and group projects (for a change).

Nik left for Malaysia on Wednesday, and I was sad, of course, but then I had to get my brain into gear for my exams, homeworks and of course, the trip to DC. After doing horribly on the exam and submitting my homework late (it's been a stressful week, okay? All the unneeded drama going on all around, plus my friend leaving, I was a wreck pretty much), I was so ready to leave for DC.

On Sunday, me, Linda, Sara and Tonia pakced ourselves up in a 2006 Chevy Malibu Max SS (nice roomy car, not that good looking though) and sped down the Ohio Turnpike all the way to DC. Driving through the mountains was certainly an interesting experience, thank goodness Tonia is so used to driving long-distance, she offered to drive the whole way. Whoo hoo! And even though we made a 1-1/2 hour pit-stop in Ohio, we still made it to DC in plenty of time to grab dinner at the ESPN Zone restaurant right next to our hotel.

Linda and I woke up bright and early this morning to, supposedly, take the Metro down to the LOC. After much confusion with the grouping and such, all of us ended up walking instead. It was a 40-minute walk, mind you, and at 8.15am in the morning in Washington weather (slight chill, no wind thank God), Linda and I weren't exactly happy campers. Our resolve: get a one-week Metro ticket and take the train. It'll just be a 5-minute walk instead :). Plus we get to experience the Metro AND maybe go to China Town after work. Woot!

This morning I got my LOC identification card and met with my supervisor. In about 15 minutes, I'm supposed to go to lunch with Karen, the person who will be in charge of my not screwing up (heheh) while I'm here. Right now, I have just finished looking at the survey questions in my own cubicle (!). It's kinda cold back here, but it's private enough that I can do my prayers and not have anyone come and disturb me. It seems like the bulk of my work will be for tomorrow instead of today, so today I might have more energy to walk around DC and take pictures and stuff :).

Okay peeps, I'm gonna try and maneouver my brain into thinking that work is fun, so I'll try and pen again later (hahahahahaha.... okay, so I haven't updated recently, sorry!)

Wassalam.....

P/S: what is up with my chatbox?? Where did everybody come from?

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

Assalamu'alaikum.....

After no snow and fairly pleasant weather for the past week, Michigan suddenly decided to snow. It started yesterday and by today, we were ankle deep in snow. Best of all, today is Superbowl Sunday! Yes people, even if you don't know what a touchdown is, if you care anything about football or live in Michigan, then by now you would know that the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks are squaring off today in Detroit. The Motor City is filled with football fans and of course, Hollywood celebrities who either love football or love the parties that are being thrown in honor of the event. I couldn't turn on the radio this past week without hearing something about Diddy's Cashmere party or the club that DJ AM (ex-fiance of Nicole Ritchie). The parties even trump out ads about the game itself. Society's obsession with Hollywood has, inevitable, reached a new level. Step aside, jocks, the drama club is moving in.

What am I doing this Sunday? Well, after being sick the last couple of days, Sunday will be spent doing homework and of course, paying an overdue visit to the gym (did you expect anything else?). After downing burritos on Monday AND Tuesday, I really need to shake off the you're-not-being-healthy-how-are-you-gonna-study feeling in my stomach. So I woke up early and paid NCRB a visit. The good thing about Superbowl Sunday: the normally jam-packed weight room was almost empty. Nyahahah! Best gym trip ever! No waiting for equipments!

I have the TV on and it's tuned to E!, which is showing "100 Sexiest Hollywood Bodies". Oooohhhh... nothing brings a girl down than a whole hour reminding you that you can hit that gym everyday, those 100 people are STILL gonna be hotter than you are. But I do like the guys on the countdown, hehehe. A little eye-candy on a Sunday afternoon doesn't hurt now, does it?

I am declaring my absolute love to Matthew McConaughey. So droolworthy :).