Time to Say Goodbye

It is amazing how time flies! It has already been 15 weeks? I still can’t believe it that I was just walking into my apartment and meeting my roommate for the first time. Now Grisel, Elena and I have become the best of friends! It has been a sad last few days because we started the week with TWC graduation! It was great to see everyone for the last time to say goodbye.

TWC Graduation

Also, it was a time for several of the other students to show off what they have been doing for the last few months here. Wow, what some of the other students were doing was amazing! One group called LEAF, an environmentally friendly organization created from interns from TWC, created a video to show people how wasteful we are. Not only did I feel lazy because I did not turn in a big project, but now I felt wasteful too! It was a great video, very well put together, incredibly funny, and most importantly it was very informative. Also, they gave out the Civic Engagement Awards and have several speakers. It was a short but sweet ceremony because we were able to see every person from the program all at once. My friends after the program were holding signs that said “free hugs and kisses,” it almost made me cry!

Free Hugs!

In addition, it was my last day at my internship on Wednesday. We had a going away and a holiday party at a nice restaurant near DMG called Tuscana West. Open bar, appetizers, lunch, and dessert and of course spending the last few hours with my co-workers! The other intern and I had to give a speech about our best and worst moments. I shared with the group that my best night was the Vice Presidential Debate and my worst was the day after. Yes, I fessed up to two former Congressmen that I came into work incredibly hungover, but in my defense nobody had any idea! It happens, it is how well you are able to cover it up that matters. Also, we all brought in a $10 gift for the gift exchange. I came home with a nice variety of candles and the other intern, who is headed back to Florida, got hand warmers! He probably will not be needing those! Me on the other hand, I am just trying to mentally prepare myself for how cold it is going to be at home! Yikes! It was really sweet DMG gave us gift cards to Barnes & Noble. I am a big reader, so I will have no problem using it! I am also graduating, so I am going to need something to do! Clearly I am not ready for a full-time job without getting time off for spring break and summer vacations!

I also had the opportunity to go to a Georgetown vs Savannah State basketball game. It was one of my goals at the beginning of the semester because I am a huge sports fan. I got free tickets from the person I went to campaign with in Ohio who has season tickets and then went to the game after work! I wish I was able to stay longer to watch them play a good team. It was a complete blow out like 100-38. The sweet part of the game was when they put their senior walk on into the game and he scored the last two points to make the score break 100. The crowd went wild, other than that it was not much of a game at all. My team is Marquette so I will be home soon enough to watch them play!

Georgetown Basketball

It has been a great 15 weeks and I only hope that my experience will help you to decide to come to Washington DC. If your experience is half as good as mine, I can assure you it is worth it. If you have any questions at all you can find me on Facebook: Krysta Carlson, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Setting up for the holidays

Downey McGrath set up the office for the holidays. The interns and the assistants were in charge of setting up the Christmas tree. We had hot chocolate with marshmallows and we listened to holiday music as we set up the tree. It was very difficult setting up a fake Christmas tree because in Northern Minnesota we always have real trees. This tree was intense. Cords all over the place for the lights, it took us forever to figure out that we had to plug in all of the lights before every string would work. It was really fun though and it got me in the holiday spirit.

Putting the star on the tree at DMG

Also, because it is the last weekend before we leave I decided to make my roommates dinner. I have to tell you living with Mexicans is amazing. I came home to prepared meals all of the time and I told them one time I was going to surprise them and cook. I never even cook for myself, but for an audience? I was nervous! I googled everything from cutting avocados (not recommended) to making fajitas. I made way too much food, but after 14 weeks of being here, there is nothing wrong with leftovers. It’s been a few days and I can tell you that nobody has died from my cooking so I consider that a success.

My food--I'm so proud!

Eating dinner

When I went to Ohio to campaign for McCain I met several people that work at another lobbying firm. They invited me to their “small” Christmas party. I was expecting a little bit of appetizers and a small group of people, not exactly. I walked into a room full of hundreds of people! It was a little bit intimidating, but in my last week here I felt confident I could mingle my way around. Not to mention there were free drinks, appetizers, and a sushi bar! My two favorite things: not drinking, silly! People and food! =)

Turkey Overdose!

What better way to celebrate than to eat mounds of food?! That’s my kind of holiday! The RA’s at Fenestra had a pre-thanksgiving feast in the clubroom. It was really sweet because a lot of people in my building did not have family to spend time with so it was an opportunity for all of us to hang out and eat. The RA’s made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie just for us! It was amazing! We spent the night hanging out, talking, and playing pool. Oddly enough Thanksgiving eve is a big night to go out! Americans will make any excuse to throw a party! My friends and I decided to paint the city red because nobody had to work the next day. Fun times!

Fenestra Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Eve

The next day I took the metro to the stop closest to Baltimore, New Carrolton, and my Aunt picked me up! I had not seen her in ten years! I was even more excited for my sister and my grandma to fly out for the holiday and three infant cousins that I had never met. When I got there it was amazing! How do you catch up on ten years? There is so much that has happened, I didn’t know where to begin. The funny thing about family is that they don’t really care what you have been doing, they just want your company. Forget about all of the amazing things I was doing in DC, this was by far the best weekend that I had this semester. My family and food, what more could a girl ask for?!

The crew

Alyssa and me

I’m so blessed. You come to realize living in a big city that there are so many people that are less fortunate. DC has one of the highest homeless rates. Hearing the statistic is one thing, but witnessing it everyday is much more difficult. My internship, Downey McGrath Group, was located next door to a homeless shelter until they closed it down. For the first few months of work I saw several homeless people a day lying next to buildings and by statutes. They may ask you for change, but they are for the most part harmless and are the people that need to be remembered the most in the season for giving. I spent the Tuesday before Thanksgiving boxing up canned foods for needy families. It reminds you how important it is to volunteer on a regular basis and not just during the holiday season, because homelessness and poverty continues to rise.

A Day in the Life with a Lobbyist

Today TWC had an event called “A Day in the Life with a Lobbyist.” When I got the e-mail I wasn’t really interested because I work at a lobbying firm. However, when I saw it was at Downey McGrath Group, Inc. with one of the vice presidents, Sloan Rappoport, I was really excited! Don’t get me wrong, I love my internship, but spicing it up a little bit is always a good thing! And they brought free Potbelly's, and after a few months on an unpaid internship and blowing money you don’t have, free food is greatly appreciated.

I told my boss that I was going to sit in the meeting and just respond “No, you don’t” to everything he said and ask difficult questions, just to make it more fun. I behaved, though, and the program went really well. It was very interesting and I actually learned a lot more about what he does. What was more interesting was seeing the other students ask questions and hearing how he answered them. He should've mentioned that kitchen duty is a perk to being a lobbyist--DMG rotates the person on duty each week, as Sloan told me after the session.

In addition, the Big Three from the main car manufacturing companies were in DC today. The other intern got to go to the meeting (we normally swap every other one), but I watched it in the office. It was fascinating. It’s amazing to me how after the bailout passed everyone thinks they deserve a little piece of the cake! Is following normal bankruptcy laws no longer an option?! It just seems like a band-aid to me and will not help the infrastructure of these companies. What was worse is they were talking about people losing jobs and their retirements, but those attending the meeting flew in on private jets on the company's dollar?! Take away a few luxurious trips and they could probably pay for most of these people's retirements! Americans! We don’t know how good we have it sometimes!

DC Nightlife

I thought I would dedicate one entry to the nightlife in DC. DC definitely is mostly work, but there is a little time for play too. Of course for the 21 and up group DC’s nightlife is amazing. There are 4 main areas that we like to go. Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and K Street. My favorite area is Dupont Circle. It is a mix of Georgetown and Adams Morgan. My roommates go to this place called The Front Page, which is right next to the Dupont Metro. My roommates are Mexican, and it seems as if they are always traveling in crowds of 10-20. A group of 5 with them is unheard of! But always a great time! Also, since my roommates are Mexican they like going to Latin American clubs. Café Citron and Sesto Senso are also in Dupont Circle. Reeeally fun! Warning lots of sombreros and loud Spanish music. I’ve made it out there a few Thursdays, but I try not to go out during the week because I’m one of those people that don’t function without 8 hours of sleep!

Playing the bongos at a Latino bar

Adams Morgan isn’t really my style. I like to get dressed up and go out. I felt like it was a very “fratty” area and everytime I’ve been there the street has been loaded with police officers on standby. To me it means they are there for a reason, so I didn’t feel that safe there. But a lot of people like it because there aren't too many lines and the drinks there are really cheap compared to the rest of DC. My favorite place there is Madam’s Organ. Live bands, great crowd, really fun time. Adams Morgan also has Jumbo Slice Pizza that normally wouldn’t sound good any other time of the day other than when its time to go home! I would recommend Adams Morgan during the day and hit up there shops and restaurants. Night, not so much.

Out with my Roomies!

Georgetown is awesome if you can afford it! I would say the drinks there are double the price at most places. Also, the Metro doesn’t go directly to Georgetown. They did this on purpose because they didn’t want the “riffraff” coming into Georgetown. So ladies if you are wearing heels carry a big purse and some flip flops because you will be walking a lot!

K Street is also very fun. This is the street to go out and get really dressed up on which is one of my favorite things to do. We go to this place called The Park, which is 4 floors, and each plays different kinds of music. It is also right across the street from the McPherson Square Metro, so no walking necessary, which you’ll find is key in DC. If you are traveling with males, beware that it is not easy to get them in everywhere. But a group of ladies? That’s a different story. This is by far one of my favorite places. Lima and Butterfly Lounge are across the street which are both classy clubs, but they are much more relaxed.

Oddly enough, the rain has kept us in Rockville or Bethesda quite a bit. The traveling and commuting gets to you, so when the weather is bad its hard to be motiviated to take a long train ride. But Gordon Biersch and BlackFinn are a ton of fun! Definitely your jeans and T-shirt kind of places, but when its raining, who really cares about looking cute anymore?!

The girls out for dinner in Rockville

I’m still on a mission to find my favorite restaurant. So far it is still Sushi Damo out by my apartment in Rockville. Surprisingly enough Baja Fresh is up there too. This isn’t really a restaurant, it's more like a Qdoba or Chipotle, but I LOVE IT! Don’t stand between a girl and her burritos. I’m a classy girl what can I say! It’s also conveniently located next to The Front Page in Dupont, so is great for late night cravings.

Dinner with TWC friends

Off to Ohio to campaign for McCain/Palin 2008

Planting signs!

When I was at the Vice Presidential debate at ESPN Zone in DC, I was introduced to several people. One of these was Marc Lampkin, who was assembling a team from DC to go to Ohio to campaign the week before the election. I got the ok with my boss and headed out to Columbus, Ohio, which I think is the most important battle ground state in this election and normally a must in order to win the presidency. Random fact, JFK is the only President who has ever won without Ohio. I flew out on Halloween night, so I wasn’t able to dress up. However, I had my hair pulled back and someone said “Hey guys look that girl over there is dressed up as Cindy McCain!” So YES I did have a costume and I didn’t even know it. She is a beautiful woman, but 30 years my senior--not exactly a compliment! It was far from a wild night because we had to be up early to begin intensive campaigning for a candidate we all knew needed a miracle.

This was my first campaign so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. When I arrived, I met Team Lampkin, and it was everyone from Senior Bush Appointees to military officers, lobbyists, and college students--a very diverse group of people. I was pretty nervous just because I know how frustrating it is having strangers calling and knocking all day before an election! We started out in Westerville, a cute quaint neighborhood that had street names like walnut and birch. It was a great first day for me because I knew a lot of doors were not going to be slammed in my face because it was suburban America, which is predominantly Republican. After going door to door, the positive reactions from the constituents there made me start to get awkwardly optimistic about the election, and as we said we “started drinking the kool-aid.” The next day we went to a Republican area, but they had low voter turnout, again signs in every yard and they came to the door with open arms. Interesting.

Door to door trying to win Ohio!

We spent the next several days canvassing until it got dark out and then we did phone banks. It’s amazing how pleasant people are to you when they can put a face to a message, but on the phone it is a different story. I had my life threatened several times! As much as people say they hate the calls and will not vote because they are annoyed, statistically they still vote. So even if they threaten your first born you have to keep on keepin on!

Phone banking's finest

What made me even more optimistic was standing outside by voter precincts and holding McCain/Palin signs. I didn’t get flipped off once, so you know campaigning that’s a good day! The worst I heard was “UGH you’re voting for Mclane?! OBAMA!” Yeah, she probably shouldn’t vote if she doesn’t know who is running against Obama. Also, the 8-12 year olds on buses were rather ruthless too, but again not our target audience and their bus driver gave us the thumbs up so that’s all that matters. We spent election night calling the West coast after the Ohio polls closed and listening to updates on the news (Fox of course, which is drinking the kool-aid even more!). The first update we heard was the Virginia exit polls, where McCain took the first lead, and that Republican voter turn-out in Pennsylvania was at 200%. It was game on from there and I’ve never gone through phone lists so fast!

Of course, we all know how the night ended up. God bless Obama and Axelrod, they ran one of the best campaigns this nation has ever seen and the historical significance of his victory is incredible. To think only four decades ago the Civil Rights Act was passed. Now, do I think this country is better off electing him? No. The people yelling “Yes we can” at Obama’s victory party still make me nervous, as I'm not sure what they're talking about. To be honest, I don’t think they even know exactly, but change is definitely going to come in the next four years with a Democratic supermajority and no checks; I can only pray it’s positive change. The election was a Bush referendum in the midst of a collapsing economy; an uphill battle would be an understatement, but there was no way I would have been able to sleep at night if I knew I didn’t do everything in my power to get McCain elected. We did what we could, but in the end it didn’t go our way. So is life. Back to work!

I shook hands with Dana Perino

TWC sent us an e-mail saying our speaker had changed. The last time this happened, it changed from a Congressman to the motivational speaker, so I groaned before I read on. BUT then it said we would be going to the Eisenhower building to hear White House Press Secretary Dana Perino speak to us! So then a lot of other people groaned, but Democrat or Republican, it was truly an honor! She spoke for several minutes and took the rest of the time for questions. I was able to ask her what advice she’d offer to the next President of the United States in regards to the first steps they need to take in the War on Terror. She had just finished talking about Bi-lateral FTA’s, so I was able to squeeze in a work related question about whether she thought the USTR would advance trade negotiations with the UAE and Oman. One of the students tried to sarcastically comment on the low approval ratings of President Bush. She shut him down and said President Bush does not wake up in the morning and ask himself what his approval ratings are; his job is to make sure Americans are safe. Since September 11, 2001 there has not been a terrorist attack. What was even better, at the end of the hour of questions she said she would take pictures with us individually. Considering she is such a busy woman, that was an amazing gesture.

Eisenhower Building

A few feet away from Secretary Perino speaking!

Dana Perino and me

People in DC celebrate Halloween early. We started seeing costumes out several weeks before the actual weekend of Halloween!? Don’t get me wrong I think Halloween is fun, but a few weeks before is a bit ridiculous. The Senior Vice President at my internship told me about an annual Drag Queen Race they have the week of Halloween every year in DuPont. My roommate and I decided to go check it out. I don’t know what was worse, the fact that men were dressed up in heels and costumes to race or how many people turned out to watch them?! It was packed! I saw several “Sarah Palins,” one had labels all over the coat and the other was with her husband and her infant son. A group of men did the Victoria Secret fashion show, you know the one with the big wings?! Hilarious. My other favorite was Princess Diana and her bodyguards. It got really cold, so I only made it through the parade and I missed the high heel race! Nuts?! I don’t think I’ll ever need to go again, but it was definitely worth seeing once.

Drag Queen Race