Weeks 4 and 5: More Sightseeing!

Things are definitely getting busy around here! I'm starting to have assignments due in my research seminar and I have a midterm coming up soon for my Washington Ethics elective. My internship has been pretty crazy as well - lots of research, reports, and correspondence I've been working on over the past week and a half.

This past weekend was a lot of fun - I spent Saturday in Philadelphia and Sunday touring the White House gardens. Philadelphia was amazing and I can't wait to go back - I loved the seamless mixture of historical and modern. Our group took a historical tour of the city and then split off to explore on our own. I ran over to the University of Pennsylvania to check out the law school before going back to see the sights, and I have to say that Penn Law was the highlight of my day. It's an absolutely gorgeous school and I've been gushing about it ever since!

Elfreth's Alley

The home of Betsy Ross

Penn Law courtyard

Christ Church

National Constitution Center



The White House gardens on Sunday were just as impressive. I woke up late and was worried I'd miss my tour time, so I practically sprinted to the White House Visitor Center. (I later found out that they accepted any tour ticket that was for a previous timeslot, so I could have slept later and eaten breakfast!) After standing in line for 20 minutes, I was able to get in and see the gardens. Beautiful!

 

Mandatory White House photo

 

 

 

 

Other side of the White House



Malia and Sasha's playground

White House Kitchen Garden



On the Mall while heading out

While heading back from the garden tours, I stopped at Starbucks and spent about an hour catching up on required reading over a Salted Caramel Mocha (obsessed with those right now!) - which was good, since with all of my sightseeing over the weekend I was way behind on homework! I've been catching up little-by-little over the past few days, just in time for the rush of assignments. Now that we're nearly halfway done with the quarter, research proposals are due and it's time to start taking classes more seriously - not that I wasn't taking them seriously to begin with, though!

...Unfortunately, this weekend won't be a good time for me to start working on my research paper, since I'm actually heading to New York! This will be my first time there and I'm super excited. (Expect plenty of pictures, of course.) When I actually do start working on my research paper, I'll let you know. The paper was always one of my hesitations about the UCDC Program, since I don't really enjoy writing 20-page papers and I don't know too many people who do! However, I'll be writing about the Arab Spring which is fascinating to me, so hopefully that will get me through it. Fingers crossed for a smooth writing process - and for smooth democratic transitions in the Middle East! (Ha. I wish.)