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?