Hello again, Washingtonians! It's been two weeks since my last post, so I daresay that I'm overdue. Unfortunately, like Kaitlyn, my activities have gotten to the point where they're now routine, and the "newness" and excitement of everything has worn off. Keeping that in mind, finding suitable blogging material has been more difficult to come by. Regardless, I think you'll find this post enjoyable.

Work

At work I have been designing presentations for our new 60" monitor. It has been slow going to say the least, hampered primarily by the fact that only one computer at the Nature Center has the speed and program I need. Even so, I've managed to complete the rough first draft of our first topic: turtles. Ideally, future chapters will include topics such as snakes, songbirds, raptors, and bees - each of which is a high visible and popular attraction at the nature center. Now for your viewing pleasure, I give you the "Rock Creek Creature Feature - Part 1":

Truthfully, I am finding work a little slow. There are even times when I'm asked to man the front desk, taking phone calls and not much else. Somehow I pictured the day-to-day activities of a park ranger as a little more glamorous. This isn't to say I'm not enjoying my internship, I had just never considered how much deskwork was also involved with interpretive work. Still, my supervisor let me know that he's going to ask his higher-ups if I can shadow them for a couple days in the coming weeks. An alternative perspective will most definitely allow me to get a better understanding of the park service as a whole, not to mention gain valuable practical experience.

Civic Engagement

Here is another aspect of my TWC experience that is likely different from most. I have yet to decide on a civic engagement project. I've been in communication with the Nature Conservancy, but as of yet, nothing has been scheduled. Ideally, I'd like to do a Potomac river cleanup, or plant some trees. They have offered me an advocacy position that I am considering as well, but that isn't until April. If any of my readers know of any environmentally related volunteer projects, please don't hesitate to let me know about them.

Home Life

There is a definite familiarity and routine now to my life in DC. My roommates and I have all learned how to manage our respective spaces and effective cohabitate. It's no secret that I prefer the solitary lifestyle, so learning how to juggle a kitchen and refrigerator with three other people has been a chore, to say the least. Cooking too, has presented its own challenges. Almost immediately I was plunged into a situation where I went from cooking for myself maybe once a week to cooking every night. My recipes are all pretty basic, but they're turned out well nonetheless.

Marinated chicken, rice vermacelli, and baby peas. (Certainly better than the typical bachelor diet of Ramen noodles.)

If anyone has any recipes for small, healthy meals, please post them in the comments or send me an email!

Social Life

Here, at least, things have been staying relatively interesting. Two weeks ago, my friend Vance came out to DC to interview with GWU. I'd like to issue a giant congratulations to him for being accepted into their graduate paleoanthropology program.

Since he was only in town for a matter of hours, we partied into the wee hours of the morning, right up until his 6am flight back to Florida. He will be moving back out here in August, and I sincerely hope that I will still be here to welcome him back.

Last weekend was especially exciting. I took the Amtrak into Baltimore where I then caught a ride to a small gathering of snake enthusiasts near the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. The entire night was filled with chili, cornbread, beer, and of course, snakes! The people in attendance all specialized in green tree pythons (Morelia Virdis), or "Chondros" as they more affectionately know due to their former taxonomic classification in the "Chondropython" genus. If I'm lucky, I'll be getting a male from one of the breeders before returning to Florida in May. Here are a few photos from that night.

Usually not prone to handling and highly aggressive, these snakes were remarkably docile.

The sheer volume of green tree python breeders and enthusiasts alone is reason enough to motivate me to permanently relocate to the Maryland area.

This past weekend, I visited the Newseum. Hesitant at first (because I didn't like the idea of paying $20 for admission), I was pleasantly surprised by both the size of the museum and the quality of its collection. The best parts were easily the newspapers spanning back before the American Revolution, as well as the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert exhibit that discussed the nature of political fundraising.

View from the terrace on top of the Newseum.

View from inside the Newseum.

After leaving the Newseum, I found myself walking towards the mall when I happened upon one of the District's many street performers. This gentleman played his saxophone with an amazing talent and vigor. I sat on the curb and listened to his jazz for nearly 20 minutes.

Lastly, I found myself in a sculpture garden across from the National Archives. I was extremely surprised to find an ice skating rink in the middle. Bowing to the pressure of my inner child (and because I had never been ice skating before), I rented a pair of skates and ventured onto the ice. While I am happy to report that while I did not fall, I did find the skates extremely uncomfortable and had to cut my venture short. Suffice it to say I didn't get anywhere near the value of my two hour rental time.

Well, there you have it. I like to think that my weekend excitement can carry me through my less than exhilirating week at work. Again, any questions/comments or good recipes, please post it below!

Until next time.