two week dc wrap up

sunday night. finally sweat free and clean after a four mile humidity-filled run down the river outside. sitting on our hotel room floor eating cereal and watching long island medium with my teammates. this has become my nightly routine.

we've been working right along in FEMA headquarters getting things done for america in external affairs. I've really been loving the environment we've been working in. not only are the people we work with wonderful and welcoming and are willing to help us with any area of difficulty we come across, but the people of dc have been a welcome addition to life as well. I feel like dc is a very determined, motivated, and challenging city buzzing with self-starting intellectuals of all kinds. because I've spent so much time prior to FEMA corps working on separating myself from politics and government-ish issues (mainly because I found them to be frustrating and preferred to live in my blissful southern california bubble) I find myself learning so much by just being here in this city. and working with an agency within the department of homeland security has been a fascinating experience. I find myself wanting to learn as much as I can everyday so that I can make informed opinions and hopefully put my (future) masters of social work degree to use and work to make changes in society at a national level. 

aside from my philosophical, wanting-to-make-a-difference-in-the-world viewpoints, I've also really enjoyed getting to see how FEMA works behind the scenes. we've spent all of our time up til now being out in the field and going door-to-door and interacting with people directly affected by disasters and now we get to see what happens in headquarters when disasters are declared and how people are deployed out and how things start moving. we also get to see who FEMA is interacting with both outside and inside DHS and the new movements they're pushing for (ex. incorporating the use of iPads into disaster relief and recovery, which, by the way, obama referred to specifically when he recently announced his new management agenda. and, by the way, he was directly referencing the work we have been out in the field doing, especially when we were in illinois and were a part of the iPad pilot program). so I'd have to say, getting an (indirect) shout out from the president was pretty cool.

planned for this coming week...more softball games with FEMA (we're on the deputy administrator's, richard serino's, team), a tour of the capitol, and a possible visit to the national zoo. so I'd say it's probably going to be a good week.

(also I can't believe I forgot to mention that my beautiful and talented older sister came to visit me last week and I am just so appreciative of the time she took off to come see me. love my sista so much! ........does that work, kristina?)