finally doing something!

My new workplace....

My office (ok, just kidding, that's the main entrance)

I was almost certain my next post would be entitled "doing nothing - week 3" and I almost made it but fortunately I started my job today. It's much more exciting than I thought it would be to be working at the World Bank - probably because I don't have to go through a metal detector to get in anymore and because the cafeteria has a city wide reputation for being amazing and I can eat there all I want now (though I already made my sandwich for tomorrow...). There's also the minor detail that I momentarily feared I'd be unemployed all summer long and that the job I got is going to be fantastic.

For those of you who've never been, the World Bank building is amazing. Even though I have a cubicle I feel like I have a huge office with windows because all the walls are glass so I get tons of natural light and can see the city all around me. My co-workers seem great and the project is interesting so I really couldn't ask for more - except for larger water glasses. There's everything you could want as an employee (fancy pens, about 15 printers for about 5 people, beautiful Asian artwork in the the office) but the cups at the water cooler are about the size of a thimble! Strange...

doing nothing - week two

Those of you who know me well know I'm horrible at having nothing to do. This weakness is vastly magnified after two years of studying for about 15 hours a day. It turns out that you can visit a lot of museums in 15 hours (also turns out they're not open for 15 hours a day). So I've been trying really hard to find things to keep me busy now that I'm unemployed and out of school.

The good news is that I have been offered a job in the East-Asia Pacific Vice-Presidency of the World Bank that should start next week if all goes well (but as anyone who glances at the newspapers these days knows, things are not going particularly well at the WB... hopefully I won't have another job fall through at the last minute).

In any case, here's a quick summary of my last two weeks of fun: spent lots of time making lists of what I should do, found an apartment in Dupont Circle, tried to sell furniture on craigslist, went to a Japanese movie at the Freer Gallery (Ken Watanabe starred in the film and was there to introduce it - he's also in Memoirs of a Geisha, the Last Samurai etc), played lots of soccer, read (for pleasure!), cooked (also for fun!), went to a congressional hearing on HIV/AIDS for the ILO, went shopping, went to dinners with friends, looked for the job that I found (see above)...

Last night Alicia and I got together for a Spanish dinner that consisted of chorizo, cheese, olives, and wine. We were going to go to an art exhibit afterwards but that plan fell by the wayside as the conversation got funnier and wine bottle emptier. Now I'm about to go to a soccer game and hope to still be able to run today after last night's less than balanced meal!

nice end to a bad start

I have to admit that this week started off pretty badly when I learned on Tuesday that the internship I hoped to start tomorrow wasn't going to work out after all. Now I'm madly searching for something and it is doubtful I will find legal work to do for the summer as those jobs are mostly taken and I won't be able to get credit for my work if I don't find something by Thursday. So, please cross your finger and don't uncross them until Thursday at midnight at the very earliest! Thanks!

After putting that disappointment into perspective my week got much better. This weekend I played soccer on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's heat and humidity made me realize just how bad of shape I'm in but today's game was great. GW alumni (yes, I sort of jumped the gun on getting onto that team but you have to be optimistic in life) beat the Yale alumni 4-2 to remain undefeated. It was great. After today's I was a linesman (one of the side refs in soccer) for the first time in my life. The first 15 minutes was really stressful because everyone was telling me what to do although I thought I knew. Some people take soccer too seriously (and by some people I mean Penn State alumni).

On Saturday night I went to a going away party at my friend Blase's house. We met last summer interning in Costa Rica and he left today for a great summer job at a law firm in Chicago. Then he's going to study abroad in Santiago, Chile next semester. So, all in all, the week was good - particularly since exams are now over!!!

Goodbye Blase!

weekend at the beach

The boardwalk.
Amish DJs.... who knew! And a huge lizard on the roof!?

Sohail flying away in 40 mph winds.

The beach.

To celebrate the end of the semester Sohail and I went to the beach to do nothing but relax for an entire weekend. It was a bit windy and chilly so we didn't swim but we did kick the soccer ball around, go for a run, play tennis, read, and eat lots of good food. For those of you who know SC beaches, this beach was like part folly beach (laid back beach bum beach), part myrtle beach (tacky beach), and part hilton head (fancy tourist beach)... a very strange combination.