Washington D.C. will be fun, they said.

Mackenzie's Average Schedule as an Adult who is in total control of her life.

Monday
Commute: 35 minutes to Intern
9:00-5:00 - Intern
Commute: 35 minutes to dorm
Commute: 45 minutes to class
6:45-8:45 - Class [Ethics and Leadership]
Commute: 45 minutes to dorm
Study, Homework - Whenever I get back to whenever I pass out. 

Tuesday
Commute: 35 minutes to Intern
9:00-5:00 Intern
Commute: 35 minutes to dorm
Study/Goof Off/Research because no CLASS

Wednesday
Commute: 35 minutes to Intern
9:00-1:00 - Intern
Commute: 35 minutes to dorm
Commute: 45 minutes to class
3:00-5:00 - Class [Public Policy]
5:00-7:00 - Class [International Economic Policy]
7:30-8:30 - Guest Lecture [Subject to cancellation, this week it didn't happen]
Commute: 45 minutes to dorm

Thursday
Commute: 35 minutes to Intern
9:00-12:00 - Intern
Commute: 35 minutes to dorm
Commute: 45 minutes to class
2:00-4:00 - Class [Public Policy]
Commute: 45 minutes to dorm
Study/Goof Off/Research/Group meeting

Friday
Commute: 45 minutes to class
9:00-11:30 - Class [International Economic Policy]
Commute: 45 minutes to dorm
Commute: 35 minutes to Intern
1:00-5:00 - Intern 
TFAS Activities in the evening usually 

So, newsflash, being an adult is hard. Being an unpaid intern is even harder. You might remember me saying something about updating my blog more frequently to keep up with everything that's happened. In order to give the information while not writing a 13-page blog post, I've decided to condense the information into two categories: "good" and "bad."

Good Stuff
The Food here is great
Georgetown (And D.C. itself) is pretty, well, pretty
I have a laid back work environment where I can wear whatever to work
My commute is relatively short and I don't have to take the metro (saves money!)
I found a nice, cheap (also relative) grocery store so I don't have to shop at whole foods
There are a lot of cute dogs here
The museums are great
Made some good friends (and fellow hella nerds)
Went to Krispy Kreme for the first time and had a FRESH HOT DONUT
Acquired hoodies
Generally having a really great time
May go to New York to see friend??
I probably won't get fat (eating not so great, not a lot of time to cook) since I walk everywhere

Bad Stuff
Laundry is really expensive (3.50 to wash and dry)
I'm out of quarters
I'm also running out of clothes
It's really, really, really hot
The humidity is also high
A combination of these two factors makes it feel like I'm swimming to work. in sweat and tears.
Everything is generally more expensive here
I'm really really really busy and have no time to commit to any of my hobbies
I did not bring enough shorts
There is a large wealth divide here
Politician Mentality (what can YOU do for ME)
There is no free wifi
We had an ant problem in our apartment
also the shower won't get hot but you know what cold showers are INVIGORATING (not)



So I think that sums it up pretty well. I need to dump some pictures, though, so get ready to scroll. This might end up being a 13-page blog post SORRY NOT SORRY.

Okay so all the photos are uploading so I'll talk some more I guess. My three classes, Int'l Econ, Ethics/Leadership and Public Policy are pretty great. I was, uh, completely certain that Public Policy was ALSO about international affairs but it's not. We're talking about Congress and Lobbyists and it's awkward cause I have had a government course since 10th grade. Yeah. It's not so bad.

Ethics and Leadership is really fun, and thought-provoking, but it's really easy to just zone out. Also the leadership portion of the class, while informative, is a bit dull. Once you've been in a leadership position (even something as minute as running a college club) you kinda get a feel for it so classes like this just get.. a little... zzzz.... Especially after working all day.

International Econ is nice. Just talking about international economics and issues like that. Fun stuff.

All the classes are designed around giving you something you can't get from your own college (I mean, I would hope, I just took international econ last semester. In fact, I'll use that example in the next sentence.) I took International Econ last semester and got an A-. It was a class full of memorization, theorems, and calculations. This class I'm taking now, however, is a flippy flop of that. Equations don't belong here. Equations don't explain people. You can't graph public choice! So while at the UoM my class was about general Int'l Econ, here it's about Int'l Econ and PEOPLE. Pretty cool stuff.

Photos are still uploading. Shoot. Because there's not a lot of free wifi, my phone can't automatically upload these pics, so I'm having to do it all now.

Uh, I promise life here is interesting. I'm going to get bangs? I pet a dog on my first day here. The metro is cool! Not so cool when it's really full. July 4th is coming. Twenty-seven pictures left. I tried a cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake!! Apparently they have a TV show. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History? Karaoke on Saturday? Coffee? ARIZONA GREEN TEA FROM THE CAN!

Photos are done! I'm off the hook.

That left corner has become "my spot." 

IDK sometimes we congregate in here but the internet is kind-of bad.

I thought the stairs were pretty at first but then I spent a day climbing up and down them and now they just make me grumpy.

VERY IMPORTANT BUSINESS ROOM.

The backyard view of the Potomac

Aaaaaaaaaaaand the entryway. All of the above pictures are from the "office" where I work!

A grilled cheese BBQ sandwich. I hesitated too. It was beautiful.

I went through a whole box of pancake mix in a week and I've yet to buy more. This specimen looks like Jupiter.

"How do you spend your Saturday nights, Mackenzie?"
"Well..."

A lot of people will try and give you things on the street. In a good mood, I happened to stop and talk to some people dressed as nurses and doctors and received three of these. It was awesome.

I didn't see any college hunks though. :-(

Right outside our door. Since cleaned, but it was there for a few days. 

That great feeling when the barista says Mackenzie is his favorite name then spells it right.

This guy talked about the federalist papers a lot. A term I have also not heard since 10th grade.

Oh, I didn't mention this. I went to a dinner at the Fairmont! It was amazing. A beautiful building! Live piano! A bar (I can't drink but it was still cool)!

It was like a giant greenhouse but air conditioned and for humans.

And a courtyard???

My table...

Not shown: butter of three varieties carved into ornate balls. You know you're in a nice place when your butter is balled.

This was the appetizer. That pastry-looking block? Literally a rectangle of brie cheese. But it was delicious.

The main course--- of course I took pictures of all my food. Did you expect anything different??

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand dessert. 

My lovely roommate tried (tried) to have a pregaming event in our room. This sad string of lights perfectly embodies how it went.

At the Smithsonian... So cute.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE OUT OF COFFEE?"

ROCKS! The rocks were my favorite part.

And also... rocks.

This place is like chipotle but cheaper and better. 

My public policy group meeting at 10:30 last night in a cafeteria to try and get some work done... these are the results.