PROGRESS REPORT: DAY 4 AND 5 in DC

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Omigosh, I can't believe it's my last day interning at the LOC!! I mean, a couple of days ago I was still trying to get used to the fact that I'm an "intern" and today we're already taking pictures of our last working day here in DC. I'm so sad :( . I like being in DC, the work has been tough but I've had loads of fun at the office and of course seeing all the beautiful buildings. This is probably the first time I go somewhere and not buy a whole bunch of touristy souvenirs, which is just as well because we're spending major cash in terms of eating.

Last night me, Tonia, Nancy and Linda went Jaleo, a Spanish restaurant on the corner of 7th Street and E (I think, or it D?). We ordered a whole bunch of tapas (Spanish hors d'ouvres) and had a Spanish coffee drink (cajillo) and dessert (Basque cake and lemon-lime ice-cream.... yummy) to end the meal with. Total cost per person: a cool 25 dollars.... just for dinner. And it wasn't even a special occasion, it was just... dinner. After work. After the 10 bucks I spent on lunch, total spending on food, just for yesterday, was a cool 40 dollars, not including Metro tickets. Oh.. my.. bug. I think somewhere between the tapas and coffee, I must've caught something 'cause today my head feels a wee bit heavy and I feel like I'm coming down with something. Bleurgh.

My digital camera is busted (it fell and the case broke open, buggy bug bug), so I have now discovered the wonders of disposable, one-time-use cameras. There's pretty easy to use, and decent enough but I do miss being able to zoom on things. However, I have now discovered the new wonder of technology: disposable digital cameras. Observe, the CVS Digital One-Time-Use camera with Picture Preview:

What you do with one of these thingamajigs is:

1. Take a picture
2. Preview the picture by pressing on the "Display" button
3. Keep the picture, or delete it by pressing the delete button twice
4. If you get confused, refer to instructions on the camera.

These things are pretty handy. However, since they're disposables (and only cost 20 bucks), there's a few limitations:

• The camera can only be processed at a CVS center, where you get a free CD with digital prints along with (paid) hard copy prints.
• The camera can only delete the last picture that was taken.
• There is no way to turn off the automatic flash, which is pretty bright that it even made my tan skin look a litlle wash out (this jusdgement is based on the display image only, not the actual prints yet)
  
• No way to download the images into your computer, the only way to get the digital prints is to send it in to CVS.

I tried taking a few pictures yesterday, and it looks pretty decent. I like being able to delete images, even if the capability is pretty limited. Some reviews also mentioned that the pictures usually turn out better than normal disposable film cameras. We'll have to see, today is certainly the day to try it out. The interns are meeting at the Jefferson Building (part of the LOC) for a tour of the library. We might get to see some rare manuscripts and books (apparently some US presidents are notorious note-takers and annotators, and the US's first cookbook is somewhere in the library) and also take pictures all around the building.

I hjave to say this before I forget: I love the food in Washington. Firehook Bakery and Coffee House is my favorite breakfast place (a cafe near the LOC), and of course there's Penang and Malaysia Kopitiam, and Jaleo, and Kramer's Books and Grill (the crab rigatoni is so good, so is the Chocolate malt milkshake). Linda and I are gonna check out Teaism today, which is supposed to have all kinds of tea (hence the name) and of course, food. Reminds of Bubble Island, except on a more posh scale. The only funny thing that I noted was that the map I bought before coming here showed an abundance of McDonald's and Burger King, but we only saw one Burger King and No McDonald's, and the only place DC have an abundance of is Starbucks. There's one in every freakin' corner, sometimes 2!

Okay, I need to take a walk to clear my head and warm myself, I'll pen in again when I get to AA!

Wassalam...