Ride Out the Wave

First off, I'd like to apologize for my lack of commitment to this poor blog! Hey, but I swear I'm alive, well, and super busy. I'm sitting here in my dorm right now, peering through my window and catching glimpses of day-to-day city life. So much has happened! From SCOTUS decisions, to museums,to July 4th, to enjoying economics,to Capitol Hill, to all-you-can-manage-to-shove-down-your-throat Indian buffets, to meeting life-changing people, to adventures, to being a somewhat independent adult. Currently, I'm facing reality straight on--for all it's worth.

This past weekend consisted of one of the best days in my recent memory and one of the most terrifying. On the best day note, Baltimore (Charmmmm cityyyyyy) is absolutely gorgeous and the waterfront is to die for. Also, the Walters Art Museum is crazy cool! Edgar Allen Poe's grave is also a place everyone should stop by and see. Graveyards really aren't too morbid! After the trip, I literally called my parents after my time there and told them that B-more is a place where'd I'd gladly live my life ( really--it isn't too violent there! I checked the homicides listing AND called about an apartment). On the terrifying day note, it isn't anyone's business but just know the world is full of terrible things but we cannot let them define us and/or hamper our ability to live a full life.Y'know, just a heads up as I get too philosophical on a Wednesday afternoon.

Other news: Sometimes I stand in front of a mirror (the vain, vain kook I am) and ask myself silently:
Who is this kid staring back at me trying to be? Can she pass for somebody real, real enough to change the world?

Usually, I laugh and think to myself ...who am I kidding?

Buttttt today was a different story! I stared at this kid in the mirror and thought that I kind of fit in. I looked believable in my suit, my hair wasn't poodle size yet, I've been playing my part alright at work. Some of the best advice I ever received was to "fake it till yaaaa make it" and hot damn... it may finally be getting me somewhere! While I won't claim DC as mine just yet, I'd say I could pass for native. I've even started being standoffish, which is out of the norm for me.

Overall, I'd like to say that this time spent in DC has give me both hope for my future as well as a healthy dose of fear. I'm prepared now. I'm ready to take on whatever enters my life, and you better believe I'll be fighting tooth and nail to claim my future and climb those marble steps of life to where ever they lead (maybe to Abraham Lincoln's monument?). I'm not afraid to bounce around and take chances, and I'm not afraid to let people know when I don't have a plan. Hell, I'm a professional when it comes to not having a plan. There's beauty in it!

Basically, expect me to spend this next week and a half scoring memories in DC and marking things off my (soon to be existent) bucket list. Know that I love the opportunity this city offers me, the constant stream of motion, the people, and the whole never-knowing-what's-going-to-happen until it does.

But also know that I love Arkansas (I think this is my first time after admitting this. Maybe I am losing my mind?). I have a bit of a twang that comes out these days. I find myself occasionally belting out some country tunes--even at the office, and I have this intense longing to be in the wilderness. Bless the concrete jungle, but there's something about back roads, hills that overlook the cities, and stars that act like eyes of the night. I miss the fam, and I missed Ramadan with them. I miss my AR pals. I also miss the Ozarks! I've got big plans for next year on and off the stage. SGA won't know what hit it, and life is going to be insanity but I welcome it!

What Arkansas doesn't know yet is that I've been empowered by this city. I've been exposed to tight schedules, crazy situations, and killer stress. I know what coping looks like in all the forms it takes.

So warning: Know I'm taking the world by storm. If anyone tries to stop me, I will do what is in my power to blast them to smithereens.

Quick list of my DC loves

1. Chipotle is love! Seriously, the AR needs to get more of these babies. There's nothing like a chicken burrito bowl with corn, peppers, onions, salsa, corn, and guaccccc.

2.Captain Cookie and the Milkman is my coping mechnanism! Seriously, can't tell you how much I dig their Nutella cookies and chocolate ice cream at obscure hours of the day.

3. 7-11 is also another addition to my life the AR needs to pick up on. This place has saved so many of my weekends.

4. I loveeeeeee non-chain bookstores! We need more in the world. S/O to Kramer's Books and that one joint in the Eastern Market.

5. I'm going to miss walking past the Washington Monument come August.

6.. There's nothing like walking around in light rain. Everything and everyone slowly becomes romanticized. Forget your raincoats and umbrellas!

The Lion's Roar

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a parallel universe; time moves quickly here. If you were to ask me how I spent the last week, I'd struggle to find the words to describe anything--but I'd rather struggle and repeat those struggles here than not at all.

     So let's talk about (last) Wednesday! I found myself in Chinatown for the first time! It is such a bright part of town and, of course, smells great. However, I went to place called Clyde's (not Asian in the slightest) to get a bite to eat with my mentor for the program; Isela! Clyde's itself looked like a bar from 20's and gave off a Great Gatsby feel. It had wood siding and high ceilings! I'd like to go back there at some point, don a crazy dress and dance the night away. Anyways, my mentor and I chatted away while other mentor-mentees did the same. To be as young as she was and working in DC, I was impressed with her and maybe gained what one might call hope for my own future.

  The rest of the week I spent working, which is kind of hilarious. I feel like half the time I'm productive and know what I am doing and then other half  of the time I'm trying to figure out how to keep up this effective yuppie charade and work on my projects. I actually prefer to write grants and do social media over the more technical things, haaaaaaaa--imagine that.

              Thursday, I actually spent a couple of hours at the D.C. Superior Court's corridors. I attended a meeting for mental health diversion, and it was pretty fabulous!

Friday, I spent my day in class  and then explored the city for a few hours (after realizing I'd left my keys/ids in my dorm). I toured the Textile Museum, sneaked into GWU's law school (interesting story that is), found the cutest second hand book store,where I bought a copy of Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent, andddddddddddd found myself in a French cafe.

My conversation with the waitress went like this:
Waitress: "Where are you from?"
Me: "Oh, um, Arkansas."
Waitress: "Which country is that?"
Me: "Like in America...in the South. Think cowboy boots and farms...country-western.
Waitress: "Ohhhhhhhhh, I love country people!"

*In defense of the poor girl, she was from Ethiopia--so she wasn't necessarily familiar with all 50 states of the grand ole U.S. of A.

From there, I found my way to Massachusetts avenue, where I encountered a ton of embassies! I crashed the Korean Embassy;alas, no one there knew what I was saying. The Cote d'Ivoire Embassy was much more interesting (massive) and had a cool exhibit going on!

The rest of my weekend is history besides exploring the city, being young, and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time (that Holly character is really something).

This current week has lagged a bit (I'm started to feel like a real member of the workforce.), but it is nothing I can't handle. Life is just project after project and the bagels (and the millions of summer birthdays) in between. Yes, you can quote me on that. Yesterday, however, was the quite the day! My favorite Jew roommate's birthday was  the cause for celebration, so like any good explorers we ate quality shawarma, smoked some hookah, and found a pie place/ "lonely hearts" kind of bar (really, really it had nothing on the South. I misssss pieeeeee).

And here we are with today. Where I do my work until lunch, where I can then sit in the park next to Commodore John Barry's statue and write, where I can then go back indoors and work, go to class, and then have meaningful conversations about the future with people who have experienced something similar to life.

There's a meticulous mechanism, a routine that goes on around here; it is nutty. Really it is! But I'm getting used to it. If I got stuck here, if this was my all, it wouldn't be so bad.  I don't think I'd feel so lost about things. I'd just tell folks that "Hey, look! I'm doing things here. Watch me as I figure this whole life thing out."

But I love to just walk around aimlessly. It seems to be my favorite. In a city like this, you'll never know what you'll come across until you've already crossed it.

From the exhibit!

Busboys and Poets!

                                                     

P.S. (Next post will mention violins and running in the rain!)

Bulletproof Weeks

As I sit down to right this, I realize I'm probabblyyyy only doing this to avoid writing my op-ed for Econ, which I will probabblyyyy be doing eh...later on. It has been well over a week since my last post, so I'm going to try my damnedest to touch on the whirlwind that is my life and is DC. First of all, I need to mention that I feel like I've lived here for a century. Everything and everyone I've come in contact with is reminiscent of my "idea" of what home should be like, with the exception of the umpteen times I've succeeded in almost having panic attacks on the Metro (God bless the Orange Line and the Red Line and the mounds of people who are around at 5 o' clock, ahh business casual!) or the times I've spent looking similar to a lost puppy as I try to find my way back home to "F" street on GWU's historic campus. If it weren't for all the numbered streets, as well as my ability to name  off the alphabet in order, I really would be in a ditch somewhere.
     But onto the postive! I started my internship exactly a week ago, and from day one...I was sold. I remember being shown around the office building that I had walked to with much more ease than expected. Before heading to the office building, I stopped by Jimmy John's and came across a couple of astonishing facts: 1. THEY HAD SWEET TEA.  2. It was "brewed" sweet tea! Being the addict I was, I took this as a gracious sign from above and bought my self a cup of iced tea, because what is not a normal 8:30 am drink these days? Once arriving at the office, I realized my job would require me taking on numerous projects that I had little experience in, but I think I decided to relish the challenge. I, Badria, can take on the world of grant-writing, fundraising, and nonprofits in strides! This was confirmed only when my supervisors took me into a fancy law firm (Yes, they had revolving doors!), and I witnessed a committee meeting for the nonprofit with some of their coolest Board members. Of course, I was there only to take notes, but man, it was great fun--and kinda gave me hope for my own little high-rollin', semi-politico future.
   The Council for Court Excellence equals awesomeness, as does GMU's Arlington campus. I started my class there the next day and really enjoyed how modern it was and had my first trip to ole' Virginia. I decided perhaps Economics could be interesting, and that my professor will probably end up teaching me more than expected. Haha, I also learned that being in a nonprofit program doesn't always equate to being a "good" person. In my case, I actually grow tiresome of directly helping people and have learned that the strategy behind giving is what I am more interested in, as well as effective altruism. As I had mentioned to a few people, I realize not all of us have a "heart of gold," but rather a stone that has been long-since painted gold, to which the paint gradually chips away unless the stone is closely monitored.
     Okay, so that's enough of my nutty philosophy, if we fast-forward a little bit-- I'd like to make EVERYONE jealous that I saw Lana Del Rey live in Bristow, Virginia. I cannot repeat enough how phenomenal she is live, and how I much I wanted to ball my eyes out when she sang "Ultraviolence." I mean, shit--holy shit. Coming off the Lana high, I continued to be amazed by a lot of life. I attended my first Pride Festival ever and was dumbstruck by how much love the DC community had to offer to all kinds of people. I saw so many Christian denominations, parents, organizations, and many others who were so kind and in full support of the LGBT movement. Yet, it was also saddening--by knowing Arkansas has yet to reach a level where such full and complete support is realized. Also, I got a bunch of free stuff and bonded with some pretty wicked TFASers.

And those are my highlights for the week, but not to worry folks! For your enjoyment, I have made a lists of DOs and DON'Ts of DC

Do

• Do walk around DC as much as possible and take pleasure in the sights you see (I accidentally encountered a 7-11, Watergate, and the Saudi Arabian Embassy recently! )
• Do ask for directions when lost because people are pretty friendly
• Do fall in love with Trader Joe's, as it is the best grocery store around andddddd they perpetuate the cheap, granola, wholesome vibe
• Do go to any/all of the Smithsonians. There are so many interesting exhibits (aka the India exhibit in the Museum of Natural History)
• Do pay attention to homeless people because they are people and do having meaning, just as we all do in our crackpot little world
• Do eat fancy grilled cheeses at grilled cheese bars
• Do spend time with intelligent people because there is the hope that those people will rub off on you
• Do be a "yes man" or a "yes woman" because Goddddd, life is really great when you're open-minded

Don't

• Don't get discouraged at a fast-paced job or internship
• Don't run up an escalator
• Don't spend all your money at Whole Foods, no matter how appealing it is
• DON'T WALK AROUND DC IN YOUR HEELS. ahhhhggggg, so much painnnnnn
• Don't think that people at crosswalks are engaging in a really serious game of red-rover with you
• Don't fall into the category of people who don't smile when you smile at them
• Don't lose your Metro card!
• Don't forget to dress to impress because this city really digs that

Most importantly: Have those kooky adventures that are worth telling your grand kids about someday! Run across crosswalks! Get lost with people who interest you! Check out that cheeky cafe that's down the street from you! Pick up on what the world is telling you and actively participate in  life with a thirst for knowledge and energy that is so eagerly intertwined with being young and inexperienced.

Only Just Begun

There's something very holistic about sitting on the granite steps that lead up to the Lincoln Memorial, which is where I found myself around sundown. At that point, I'd already spent roughly 30 hours in one of America's greatest cities--Washington D.C. Since then,  I've found myself coming to a  major conclusion: This D.C. thing (I'm making a reference to the next two months of my life that I have secured in D.C. through The Fund for American Studies, where I am enrolled in the Institute of Philanthropy and Volunteer Service, and am participating in a pretty wicked internship with the Council for Court Excellence.) is real. I'm in the city where bills become legislation, where POTUS probably paces the halls of the White House, where filibusters are the real deal, and people from all over the country and the world come together. I felt and still feel like I can pull off this D.C. thing. I can be a professional and live the D.C. life, whatever that may be. I can make a difference in the city where ideas become actions. So far, I've found D.C. to be perfect, from their eco-friendly bike riders to fashionable youngsters who stroll the streets and can be found at any coffee shop around the corner. I also love, lovee, loveeeeeeee Foggy Bottom and how close it is to all the monuments, and love my fellow "TFASers" who are brilliant, interesting people and are always up for an adventure. Tomorrow begins the workweek and my first trip to George Mason University. Here's to all my best rambles for the night!

With love from Foggy Bottom,

Badria Mryyan

Sightseeing:

(felt like Abe was sending me "gud vibez")