Back in IC

I've been home for a week now, and my time has mainly consisted of me moving into my new apartment and being lazy. I had my first Daily Iowan meeting for the semester today, and now I'm just looking forward to getting back into school and my job at the newspaper.

DC this summer was an amazing experience (even worth going through every penny of my savings) and I will never forget all the fun times and great people I met. I'm really glad I had this blog throughout the summer - now I will really always be able to remember.

Thanks for reading, and I'm sure next summer I'll have a new blog... in Africa, perhaps?

Love,
Clara

Sasha And The Last Few Days

My best friend Sasha arrived in DC Wednesday around noon to spend the final days of my stay here with me. Why is she coming the last few days, you ask? Poor planning.. haha. Originally I was suppose to go back to Iowa Aug. 16 but because I was getting kicked out of my room I decided to leave a week earlier. But Sasha had already made plans to come in early August. So she is here until Monday, even though I leave Saturday. It's okay though because she has a friend from school that lives in DC she is staying with. Then on Monday she is going with her friend to Boston until Friday. So when I get back to Iowa she won't be there...which is stupid.

Sasha and I have had a productive few days, but we've also spent time relaxing.

When she got into town on Wednesday we ate lunch and then walked down to see all of the monuments. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam memorial, the Washington monument and the WWII memorial.




In case you weren't aware, Sasha is my BESTESTSEST friend since fourth grade. She goes to Northwestern now. So although it was kinda weird to have her here when I'm getting ready to go home, it was also really nice because she kept me in the moment and enjoying DC, when if she wasn't here, I would just be anxious to leave!

On Wednesday night we saw the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was cheesy and unrealistic and just what we wanted from it!

On Thursday I woke up to pack stuff to ship home and Sasha slept in. I FedExed a BIG package to my IC apartment and then we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was really powerful, as I'm sure you've heard.

Later on that night we got ice cream and walked past my office building and to the White House.


Today we woke up and got a Capitol tour (yes, I did this with Molly) but I didn't take any pictures... Sasha did.

Today I'm going to pack! I leave TOMORROW MORNING!!!

10 Little Things About DC I Don't Want To Forget

1. The vendor outside my office. This man was always so nice to me when I bought my $2.50 hot dogs/chips/drink or my after-work treat. One time I forgot I didn't have cash, but he let me take food anyway - he said he trusted I'd pay him later.

2. Walking past the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank every day. And thinking it's a good thing all those security guards stand around the buildings, or else they would for sure be threatened.

3. White Grape Crystal Light. We went through 300 pitchers of that stuff. Not exaggerating.

4. All the randomly selected magazine pages stuck to our walls, including Ashlee Simpson's face and a dog lying in purple flowers.

5. Seeing the top of the Lincoln Memorial when crossing the street to get to Ivory Tower.

6. The metro's doors always nearly crushing me as the lady says, "Step back, doors closing. Please move to the center of the car."

7. The nice Asian people who run the little market downstairs. And how the little market downstairs has every thing one could ever possibly need.

8. Ellie's whistling and Christine's blaring music. Anything from African tunes, to top 40 hits and even a little o' country.

9. The saxophone player who sometimes plays Star Spangled Banner in the morning.

10. How often I heard French, as well a few other dozen languages, all around me.

11. My roommate's several accents. Especially the "Keira Knightley" one.

12. How no matter who you meet here, they ask you all about yourself, and they always have an interesting story to return.

13. That everyone dresses really well, and they often seem uptight, but most of the time they are really interesting and down to earth.

14. The constant torture of humidity, and how it makes you truly enjoy a cool day.

15. The way it made me appreciate my home in Iowa City.

Goodbye...already?

It seems very strange to say I had my last day at Africa Action. I feel like it was just the other day when I timidly took the elevator to the 8th floor to meet Ellie and Uduak and then all of the other interns/staff who work in the office.
Everything was scary then, but it was equally exciting. I knew going into the internship that they took a chance on me. I was an 18 year old Iowa girl who obviously didn't have the kind of experience the others did. But they saw that I wanted to learn - and I did. I knew I would learn a lot and have great experiences, but my time at Africa Action was more rewarding than I could have imagined.
I come away from the internship knowing much more about the world, not just because I spent hours reading about and researching topics, but from meeting some of the most amazing and interesting people I've ever met. A lot of information came from events, on the hill, and other non-profits, etc., but most of it came from the 9 people I worked with in the office.
Just 10 years ago, Briggs led his university in Zimbabwe to fight back again a repressive government. Today he is still invested in guaranteeing Mugabe's removal. And despite the fact they haven't been home or seen their family in years, I could always count on Uduak and Atlang to be having a great time, no matter what they were doing. Their laughs were contagious and loud and they weren't ashamed to let it out. Michael, just 22, seems to have the knowledge of a 50 year old stuffed inside his head, and Christine's passion to fight HIV/AIDS is inspiring. Millicent, the only one my age, always amazed me by her curiosity and the way that she always wanted to know people's back stories. Finally, Justine and Ellie, the two other DPACers that I grew closest with, I'll miss eating lunch outside of the White House with them every day, talking about our plans, but mostly making fun of Ellie's British accent (we speak it better, the English don't know how to speak English) After those first orientation days, we all have grown close. What surprises me is how much we connected, yet how different all of us are.
Africa Action always preaches how once you're there, you're always family, and I feel that to be true. All of the staff has taught me so much, and I can't thank them enough.
From the first days of getting used to answering the phone, to protesting to the Senate offices and creating a brand-new Africa Action blog, I have a lot to take away from the internship.
Tuesday when we all sat around a table at Safari Cafe, eating Kenyan food, I realized that I'd always keep in touch.

Here are some pictures from my last day:

Africa and me... and an old wise man


Ellie by our entrance:


Our Executive Director and me


Africa Action's founding fathers: black and white working for the same cause


The DPAC Team


I will miss you!

Oh Yeah, There's Salt In Here

On Friday I met with Greg Polk, my second cousin, because my Aunt Jan suggested we meet because he has spent his life doing a lot of things that pertain to my interests as well. Greg works on projects to develop new cities in developing countries and and also works to upgrade slums in Africa. We met for coffee, had lunch, I saw his apartment, and we went to the National Gallery to see an exhibit.

Thanks for meeting with me Greg! I had a lot of fun, and I hope we keep in touch.


When I got home my roommates informed me we were going to the ocean for the weekend. No big deal. So I got my stuff together and their from Lucy (who also so kindly had us over for dinner) picked us up. We drove around 3 hours to her beach house (again, no big deal). The house was amazing. It was immaculate and beautiful! On Saturday we spent the whole day on the boat. My roommates water skied and wake boarded... and I attempted to get on this thing called a kneeboard... I failed. I will post pictures up here of this trip soon!