Shopping Adventure!

I managed to find the Target. It took a bit of work. Google maps told me to turn somewhere on a road that now has a different name, so I toured Rockville a bit. But I found it!
And it's huge. Parked in a parking garage, then I went in and found that this Target has fresh produce that is reasonably priced (yay - only one-stop shopping required this summer!). And it has two floors with - wait for it - escalators for the shopping carts.
Yes. It was fairly awesome.

Saturday in Georgetown

I have acquired my summer bike! Yesterday one of my hosts drove me to the bike shop where her daughter’s bike (which is no longer being used by said daughter) was getting tuned up. So now I have transportation and can very easily get myself to and from the Metro station, which is nice.
In the afternoon, I Metroed into Georgetown (an adventure on a holiday weekend, when many fewer trains run, and a double adventure since I took my bike on the train) and saw some friends. A guy who studied with me in Egypt in Summer 2009 just graduated from American University; he and I grabbed ice cream and chatted (not surprisingly, mostly about politics). We ended up in the strangest place: The downstairs was your average neighborhood ice cream shop – a counter, ice cream toppings, etc. But the upstairs was a collection of couches and sofa chairs with neon lights, a laser ball, streamers, and techno music playing. They weren’t separate establishments; it was the ice cream parlor’s lounge. It was very strange. I felt out of place eating ice cream in such an atmosphere…brought new meaning to the phrase “ice cream bar.”
And I finally got my date with Amy. We managed to plan a time, place, and even day to meet up this time. We strolled around Georgetown’s adorable downtown, went shopping, ate a really good dinner. (Really good – I had filet mignon with yummy grilled vegetables and balsamic glaze.)

My hosts are now in Baltimore for the weekend, so I have a quiet weekend with the dog. I also have the car, so I'll be using my day off to go grocery shopping. (I will probably do that today in an effort to miss the Memorial Day crowds, though there will probably be an obnoxious number of people out shopping for tomorrow's barbecues...oh well.)

Scheduling Oops

Note to self: When you make plans with a friend over the weekend, make sure you are both making plans for the same day. A friend and I were going to meet at the Air & Space Museum this past weekend, at 10:30 am. We were going to see the Museum, then go to lunch.
Saturday, I got a call at 10:20 am.
I was planning to be there Sunday at 10:30 am.
Oops.

Life Post-Rapture

It was fun to be in DC during all of the “Gloom and Doom” warnings. The signs and street preaching on my way into work each day were very entertaining, and really started the day off well. : )
But Saturday came and went, and no one was taken to Heaven (at least as far as I know). So back the daily grind we went.
I’m personally very glad – my Jewish hosts were laughing about the fact that I may not be with them for dinner on Saturday, and I had to convince that I was rather hoping I would be!

Shabbat Shalom!

I had a wonderful Shabbat dinner with my hosts tonight. They are Reconstructionist Jews, a denomination strongly centered on issues of social justice. We had a short service blessing the candles and the bread, and then ate and shared stories. Was a wonderful night and excellent food. (I'm always a friend of challah bread...)

Rockville, MD

I am all nicely settled in Rockville, Maryland for the summer. My commute isn't bad at all, and I have a wonderful mini poodle named "Shammi." Shammi and I get to take walks every day; we're having a blast. My hosts are headed out of the country in July. I will probably take Shammi out running with me in the morning when that happens as well, which will loads o' fun.

Becca's Career Path

As I write the applications for the UK Scholarships, a process involving a lot of exploration of higher education in Britain and Ireland, it is becoming more and more clear to me that I am inevitably going to enter academia. I might as well just give in now.
I would enjoy it, certainly. Heaven knows I'm enough of a nerd. And NO ONE is looking at food security in the Middle East and North Africa. It is becoming absolutely maddening.
So here we go. Enter Becca's new future path.

Happily in DC

I am happily and safely arrived in DC. My host family is absolutely wonderful. Spending a nice lazy Sunday today unpacking and getting some research hours done before the real fun starts tomorrow at my internship!

And we're off!

I'm headed to DC tonight for my internship. I will be blogging on this site a bit about my time in DC, but I'll be heavily occupied in the office and doing thesis research. So forgive me if posts don't come all that regularly!
Becca loves you madly.
Happy summer!
:)

Shopping!

Granna and Mum did me the honor of paying a visit to Lansing. We hit up Kohl's, Penney's, and Younkers. Successful day, all in all, I would say! Went to dinner with some friends and got a good amount of work done on some scholarship applications for grad school. And now to bed in preparation for another wonderful day!

All grades

The results are in, folks. Officially 4.0ed the semester! That's fun. Would be interested in hearing some folks' comments on some of the final papers...I may need to go ask/email.
:)

Some grades

4.0ed Economics of Health Care...was never worried about that one.
4.0ed Islam in Africa...didn't love my final paper for that class, so I was a bit worried; that's reassuring.
4.0ed Economic Analysis of Africa...yay! Hard but fun class.
4.0ed Birth of Christianity. Was not expecting to, and I think I didn't mathematically speaking. But I'm not complaining!
Verdict still out on MC 320 (Politics and Society in the Third World), but I think I should be good. Positive I 4.0ed my Women's Studies class, and my philosophy independent study is certainly a 4.0, so I think I may have had a "perfect" semester!
Of course, now that I said that, it would serve me right to have Komori give me a 3.5...

Dinner!

I'm cooking for some friends tonight. It is going to be amazing. On the menu:
Caprese Salad (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar)
Goat Cheese Pepper Bruschetta (Homemade herb baguette toasted in rosemary olive oil, topped with goat cheese and colored bell peppers sauteed in sea salt)
Grilled balsamic marinated chicken breast topped with diced fresh tomato on a bed of lemon olive oil angel hair
Tres leches for dessert!
Gonna be a good night. The question is whether or not I get anything done...'cause I seriously need to get to work.

Great Trip

Megan and I just had a wonderful mini-break to Chicago. Hopped on the train Friday morning, got to eat fun Japanese with the Obingers. Friday we saw a special screening of the "Frankenstein" at the London National - directed by Danny Boyle. The writing and acting was absolutely incredible. Saturday night Barb and Todd got a date and Meg and I got to babysit the babies (now 6 and almost 9...rapidly losing baby status). Sunday was church and a Mother's Day celebration.
All in all, a good weekend. Now comes the regretting having not worked at all over that period of time...

Class 1 Grade

Economics of Health Care is officially a four point; huzzah.
: )

One exam left - Birth of Christianity tomorrow. And then a bunch of research hours. I finished my official hours in GenCen today as well. We're wrapping up here, folks!

Midnight Breakfast!

Wesley held its traditional "Midnight Breakfast" last night. Kelly managed to make an old campus minister's famous cinnamon-baked French toast. 'Twas all quite wonderful.
Yesterday also involved some productivity on a philosophy independent study, several hours in the office, a meeting about the Honors College picnic for next year, and some restaurant runs with friends. Good day!
Wednesday: More work on the independent study, more productivity at GenCen, and then baby-sitting (more like soccer mom transportation) for a professor.

One left...

Monday went very well. The exams were almost insultingly easy. Or at least I hope they were. Otherwise, I really and truly bombed them.
: )
All I've got now is an exam in "Religious Studies: Birth of Christianity," and some website work for my philosophy independent study. We're doing well, folks.

One down!

Well, that was easy.
: )
Econ of Health Care was a blast. Mostly, my hand is just going to hurt really badly tonight. I am not at all used to this much handwriting!

Wish me luck!

Monday's schedule:
7:45 am - Final Exam, Economics of Health Care
10 am - Meeting, Grant Writing, GenCen and the Dean of the College of Law
12:45 pm - Final Exam, Economic Analysis of Africa
3:00 pm - Final Exam, Politics and Society in the Developing World

And then breathing. So much happy breathing. lol.

And then some research work, for which hours desperately need to be taken care of.