Back in the Blog Game

Hello, my patient fans! I appreciate you all being so patient with me, as my third posting was in the works for- cough, eight months, cough. I actually do have an excuse though- I was assigned a semester-long blog assignment, so I was working diligently on that, and just didn't have it in me to work on my own. Although I am sure you are all dying to know exactly what that second blog was about, I can't post a link to it here because of privacy rights and all that jazz (I volunteered at a medical clinic for the uninsured in Philadelphia). Regardless, it is nice to be back, adding to my own cozy spot on the 'net. At the moment, I am in Washington, DC, getting prepared for a study abroad program in London. The Washington Center, a program that is based here in the capital, requires all students to spend two weeks here in DC before we leave for London.

I have really enjoyed the time in DC, which has been spent thus far getting reacquainted with the city, getting to know the other kids in my program, and really getting an idea of what I got myself involved in!

The Washington Center Headquarters- from here on out, it will be referred to as TWCHQ. Today, we learned that this building was formerly the home of a Virginia coal baron, and then the Nigerian embassy. How cool!

Today was our first "official day" in the TWC program, even though we all arrived here Saturday. Before I even talk about what we have done, did, and will do here in DC, it is amazing to think about how involved just the arriving was- there are students from all over the country in my program, from the east coast, to the mid-west, to the west coast. It is incredible to be part of such a diverse group! It is a lot of fun to interact with people from such diverse and different backgrounds, and to see similarities as well as differences. Very cool. Anyway, moving on...

So, yesterday, our first and only "unofficial day" in the program was filled with explorations around the city. Since I used to go to school in DC, at GWU, it was fun for me to reacquaint myself with this city, as it has so much to offer. Even though I spent a year and a half here, and didn't think I could possibly go to one more Smithsonian, see one more monument, or take one more Metro ride, doing all those things again with people that have never done them before lends an air of excitement and wonder to it again, and I am able to see, in their reactions, why these things are so truly amazing. It has really put my return to DC in perspective for me. 

The first thing we did, luckily for me, was go to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. KG, our program coordinator, suggested to us that we check out the global marketplace event that was being held in the museum. NMWA is my all-time favorite museum, because they display artwork by female artists. It is the only museum in the country with that policy, so I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit such a wonderful, progressive place that is dedicated to giving female artists more notoriety. The global marketplace was an event that brought goods- jewelry, clothing, small decorations, picture frames, scarves, etc- made by women in countries around the world, to the US to be purchased by people here. There were various non-profits that were in charge of this exchange, most of the time, one non-profit focused on one particular country or region from around the globe, and the NMWA brought them all together. There was jewelry made by women in Guatemala, slippers and robes made by women in Africa, and and woven purses made by women in Japan. Even though some of these women live daily on dirt floors with no running water, the skill sets they possess are incredible. 

The visitors to the Global Marketplace at the NMWA

Aside from that one event, the museum itself is amazing. Since you are not allowed to take pictures, and I am all about following the rules (it is true) I could only snap a picture of this piece that is hanging on the stairwell. Beautiful! It was painted by Joan Mitchell.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Sunday was by far our most exciting day, by blog-standards, because today we just hung out at TWCHQ and went over the rules and regulations and what was expected of us on the academic end of the program. As always, stay tuned! I promise you won't be waiting eight more months this time...