D.C. appears to have welcomed me with open arms

"It's better to ask twice than lose your way once" (page 9)

Well this is for sure and I feel like it's going to dictate my trip for the next 2 months. This city is HUGE! I know I used to live in suburbia of here and Atlanta, but man, after living in Vermont for 6 years, one forgets what it's like to live somewhere so....big. I like this saying and it does make me happy--I hate it when people won't ask for directions! It's so much easier to simply ask and find your way. And that's what I'll be doing now as I explore the city. In fact, I'm about to take off on my first Metro adventure of the summer!

My last day in Vermont was filled with last minute packing, of course, and a nice night in Putney with Dillon that involved some delicious brownies. He knows me so well. The next morning Dill made me a hearty breakfast and sent me off with some seriously great food for the road, and I took off! The drive was relatively uneventful, minus the crazy drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike. I finally broke my coffee absence of 6 months and had to have a cup because I was drifting off behind the wheel!

I spent the night in Arlington at my grandpa and uncle's house. It was REALLY nice catching up. It was funny being back in the area where I spent so much of my childhood, but actually driving now. It's amazing how much I kind of remember when it comes to getting myself around!

Yesterday morning no one but DANI LUKENS came and picked me up and with the help of SHERRALD (Megan) FITZGERALD we moved me in :-D I love that my Belize friends are everywhere! It'll be a great summer of hanging out with them. I live in a nice 5 person apartment (all 4 girls are really great) and am rooming with a girl from UGA. Campus is huge and we've already been to a couple orientation sessions. I'm doing the "Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service, so it's nice to be around a bunch of like-minded people who are out there to do some good in the world (there's about 65 people in my program). Last night I was up till 3AM putting my room together! I'll take pictures soon and post them. Life has been quite a whirlwind!

Now I am off to TARGET (yesss!) and then Petco to get my FISH BABY! I am SO excited. One of my roommates and I are going to go explore the Metro system. My to-do list is about 5 miles long, so when I get back later I get to deal with all that. Tonight I need to go grocery shopping and I have my first ethics class, so we'll see how that all goes. It appears I won't be getting a lot of sleep for the next 8 weeks....But hopefully the program will end up being great!