Life @ GW – Page 27 – Postcards from GW

Part 3 Finale

AdminMarch 3, 2014

Sunny and warm, incredibly pleasant weather and released from all commitments to assignments and exams, you are suddenly overcome with a the sheer sensation of being truly alive and free – all of this…really doesn’t apply to Washington DC at the moment in the midst of yet another snow storm with plenty of freezing rain to turn the sidewalks into makeshift ice rinks. In any case, time to conclude this long drawn out series of ramblings on travelling about with a simple, short and final point.

On Making Mistakes

It is inevitable that at some point in your journey you will encounter obstacles and challenges, and most importantly, you will make plenty of mistakes. It might be figuring out that Apple Maps (you know, that app which suggest you drive off bridges and stuff) really isn’t the best navigation tool in the world and that the human mind can only sustain a few road redirections and endless roundabout before being driven close to insanity. It might be accidentally ramming something with your rental car in the middle of the night and hastily concluding that no-one will really notice anything in the morning anyway. It might be learning the difference between the center of the city as opposed to say, a random stadium across town called City Centre. It might be realizing that the place you booked to sleep is in the middle of nowhere, at the edge of town, with lots of creepy cats and looks like it could be the set of some Stephen King novel involving lots of axes and decomposing bodies in that strange attic above your room. But the Liberty Bell, Rockefeller Centre, Times Square, the Statute of Liberty – all those meticulously planned checkpoints of television and movie lore on your itinerary of things to see – are really at the end of the day, always going to be there in some shape or form. Truth be told, sometimes they just really aren’t that amazing as perhaps you would think. At the end of the day (and perhaps several months on when you are back home), the moments you might find yourself coming back to will probably not be that dull tour of Constitution Hall or that $30 ride up a glorified New York elevator, but rather, those mistakes – those small indirections and mishaps – through which you shared a good laugh with good company, learned something about travelling about and something about each other as well. Murphy’s Law states that what might go wrong will go wrong but heck, sometimes stuff going wrong is half the fun.

Breaking (almost) my bubble

AdminFebruary 24, 2014

By inepalacios

It was the first days of March, when I started to plan my future routine in DC: classes, some free time to tour around DC, outings with the exchanges students, time to work on English, running, and weekends to travel. It seemed to be enough plans, even too many activities for each week, but when looking at my schedules I felt that I needed to add some sort of community service activity.

Unexpectedly one of my classes has a community service activity as a requirement. That is how I started my online search for some place for me to help, to be useful. That is how I found Georgetown Ministry Center, an organization of the diverse communities in the neighborhood of Georgetown, dedicated to guiding homeless individuals towards stability and housing.

My volunteer work: collaborating on Saturday afternoons, greeting the homeless, talking, and helping them with the computers or with their laundry. Definitely, my experience these past Saturdays was doing more than simple tasks.

Sharing a coffee, playing some game, listening about some experience or about some country where they are from, knowing about some astonishing life’s story, or simply receiving a smile were gifts for me. It was worth it to realize that my needs seems to be simple whims in comparison with their needs. I realized that my worries, my exams, my problems in general do not matter when I have someone in front of me who needs to talk, or a shelter, or a meal, or a smile, something totally more important. I just need these couples of Saturdays to remember that I am privileged, having all the opportunities that I have.

It was like breaking a bubble, my new and awesome GW bubble. Or it was almost that, because the shelter is located in the nice neighborhood of Georgetown.

It is an interesting contrast, walking around its main street, seeing its fancy stores and restaurant compared to the shelter. I had a moment to realize how the unequal opportunities in the life are not only a problem of Latino America.

At the same time it was a chance to change the environment, a chance to give more value to my life. No doubt, the shelter surprised me; it was not what I was expecting. I had believed that I would help others, but I was the one who was helped: the guys taught me to play chess, they told me about place to go to in DC, and in the US. They even recommended to go to a politic think tank. I am definitely learning a lot, for instance, the last weekend we discussed drug cartels.

Even though I know that I don’t have more time in my day, sometimes I feel that the time that I spend with them is not a real commitment. However, I am sure that that is better than nothing.

I should only say thank you to my new friends at Georgetown Minister Center; thank you for showing me another interesting and enriching aspect of DC.

Reflection Time !

AdminFebruary 24, 2014

By nimames

Being thousands of kilometers away from the comfy and toasty cocoon of my home has made me realize something; life is a sneaky little thing ! What I mean by that is that life works in rather mysterious, often unexpected ways. One day you are perfectly content with the way your day is going. And the other, well it's not as great is you might have expected it to be. This weekend has been the combination of both. Great moments of joy and happiness shared with loved friends and moments of disappointment and helplessness. I don't mean to be a downer by any means but tonight, as I am sitting in my desk covered with books, articles, and notes, I feel pensive.

First things first ! I have spent tremendously great moments catching up with my friends. We went out to explore DC's nightlife for a much deserved night of fun. I had personally had a hard week what with discovering that the eye infection I had, hadn't resolved and has to be surgically drained. Therefore, we took matters in our hand and headed to the Sign of the Whale where we could enjoy good music with an amazing company. Saturday was a great day for a stroll in the city since the sun has finally decided to show itself gifting us a warm, sunny day. We decided to walk to Georgetown and I was pleasantly surprised to see the nice little neighborhood (it's kind of my favorite) filled with people. In fact, the streets were downright packed with lines of pedestrians that dusted off their flip flops, t-shirts and shorts so they can absorb as much vitamin D as a the day could allow.

The next day was yet another sunny day but I had the feeling that it wouldn't last. Having been here for more than month now I have learned a precious lesson: not to trust DC's weather. It can be 17 degrees Celsius and in a blink of an eye, the temperature would drop below the dreaded 0. Granted, I wouldn't say no to (yet another) snow day but still, I have heard great things about spring time in DC when all the trees blossom and the streets are covered with pink and crimson. That is certainly something I look forward to ! I hope with all my heart that like the iPhone map, the weather forecast would be wrong about the next days to come. A snowy, chilly weather wouldn't encourage me to either tackle the dreaded amount of reading I have, nor would it allow me to see as much of the city (and the country) as I would like to. Fingers crossed !

Exploring DC events

AdminFebruary 10, 2014

By hannahbethdray

DC is a wonderful city, with so many different events happening every day, however when you’re at college you find yourself in a bubble of going to classes, eating at the same restaurants and visiting the same bars. I decided this weekend to find one of these great events, and see what Washington had to offer. This event came in the form of the Mercedes Benz fashion show, which was being hosted at the W Hotel. . A free event that only required an RSVP, my friend Maleeha and I decided to celebrate her birthday by being classy ladies, dressing fancy and being sophisticated women for a night and not just college students. When we arrived, everything appeared to be coated in pink, including the live DJ performing We grabbed a cocktail and went to explore the area. It was incredibly busy with many people watching the live models show off Diane Von Furtstenberg’s latest designs (which were incredible!). Picture 5 (3) We felt like superstars at such a cool event , but it got even better when we found out we could get our make-up done for free. After we were glammed up to the max and had our photograph taken , we felt incredibly grown up. It is a lot of fun to get out of your comfort zone and experience something new, and I recommend to anyone here on exchange to just do a little Googling or checking local events for the area. With the cherry blossoms festival coming up in the next month, there will be a lot of events going on including the Blossom Kite Festival on the 29^th March.

At GW It was also Homecoming weekend which is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of the school. It opened on Friday night with a Bonfire in University Yard, including performances from the Acapella groups on campus. The basketball game against Fordham was great as GW are still on their winning streak and beat Fordham 93-67. I missed the first half of the game unfortunately but for a good cause as I have just started volunteering at an organization called Life Pieces to Masterpieces. Only 33% of students in Wards 7 and 8 (areas in DC) will graduate from high school and only 5% will earn a post-secondary degree. These numbers are very low, compared to both district and national averages. The organisation works with African American boys on an after school basis with homework, leadership and development. They create art such as these to express feelings on projects they are working on. I thought it would be good to do something different while I was living in DC and give something back to the community. For anyone interested in this, speak to EngageDC, a great organization working through GWU.

Sunday for us is always breakfast day, courtesy of my wonderful chef Vanessa, who this morning was making Waffles with Johnny sorting the Bacon. We also headed out for a late Brunch at Founding Farmers – I have learnt that Brunch is a very important thing for any big city in the US and I am a big fan of it! James had already decided he was going to pig out, and he definitely had more than enough food there Vanessa and I decided to avoid the burgers but still had way too much food ourselves! Keep tuned for next week as I’ll be starting my new internship at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund – exciting stuff!!

Running around DC

AdminFebruary 10, 2014

By inepalacios

While the past week I was talking about the places I knew in the US, my class, the journeys and the people that I know, I ran out of space to talk about one the most lovely aspect of my exchange experience: running around DC.

At the beginning I felt that this habit would not be interesting enough to write about. Week after week, the people I met, the places, and the enjoyable moments made it impossible to avoid talking about this activity. I actually discovered for the first time most of the most important place of DC while running.

The first time, I went to the Washington Memorial and the White House with one of the exchange friend, Johanna. Since that time, I have not spent any week without going for a run. The following week was the turn to see the Lincoln, the Jefferson and the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial, it was awesome: the smooth wind, the landscape, the Potomac, the serenity, the beauty of the city by night made enjoyable every instant. The last time, on Friday afternoon, while running to the Capitol, I saw the best sunset I have ever seen in the Northern Hemisphere.

The best aspect of my running experience in DC was that I could find a running team “to temporarily replace” my running team in Buenos Aires. No doubt that both groups are particularly different, but wonderful in their own way. I miss my Argentinean team, but meanwhile I have been spending enjoyable trainings with the GW Cross Country Club, the guys of the team are really friendly people. Thanks to this team I could know new places, new roads and news neighborhoods. Most importantly: being part of the group allows me to experiment another aspect of the GW students’ world.

Many people told me that running is boring, for me is a way to relax, to keep active, to enjoy the nature, to clear my mind. In the past years, running was the chance to spent time with my friends. Now, it allows me to get to know more people, the city and to get involve in another great GW experience.

Time to enjoy DC: the perfect excuse for hanging out

AdminFebruary 5, 2014

By inepalacios

If two weeks ago the solution to see all the new friends and to save time to study was organizing a party in my dorm, this last week there was no solution. I had no other choice but to join all of the proposed plans made by my new friends, adding more incredible moments to my exchange.

The great plans started since the Sunday the 26th, when the exchange students from Australia decided to organize a party to celebrate the Australian independence. Games, music, jokes, and typical Australian food, which were delicious, set the precedent for all the rest of the exchange students to share our culture. Timo, the other Argentinean student, and I were thinking that we definitely should prepare some of our typical food: empanadas, as soon as possible.

Photo one

To not miss each other, the exchanges students planned to go to another excited Colonials’ basketball game. As it was expected, the Colonial’s victory required celebration, so we had a dinner in Timo’s room, and played songs on Timo’s ukulele.

On Thursday night the plan was impossible to refuse: Nima and Nadine, both exchange students celebrated their birthday, although I had a class on Friday morning I ended up going to Nadine and Nima’s party for a while.

On Friday despite the fun moments my thought was “I spent 4 weeks in DC, with the exception of the orientation week, I didn’t go out of GW’s campus”. But with the weekend, the solution to my concern appeared.

Agustín, a Spanish friend organized to have a dinner with Ernestine, Inma, Gonzalo, Gisella, and Javiera (all of them are exchange students who have been studying in Washington since last semester), they were definitely a great company to get to know Georgetown, one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in DC. Among talks of history, politics, personal experiences, they shared with me their exciting journey of studying in GW.

On Saturday, as a great international city, Washington, DC was prepared to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The best way to get involved in the occasion: celebrate it in the interesting neighborhood of Chinatown. Andrew, one of our EXO leaders, invited all of the exchange students to his home. It was a really nice way to get to know and enjoy Chinatown.

On Sunday my buddy Steven planed to bring me to Dupont Circle, and have a delicious brunch. I was there, when a memory of the first Washingtonians that I knew came to mind. It was in Santa Maria, in the province of Catamarca, in Argentina last year, when I met a couple of Washingtonians who gave me my first demonstration of DC. Among their descriptions they told me “DC is well known for its nice habit to have brunches, the combination between breakfast and lunch, we do it every Sunday”. It was exactly a year ago. By that time I could not imagine that a year later, I would be enjoying that brunch that they had described to me so well in DC.

At the end, Mary (a friend of Steven who accompanied us), Steven, and I finished walking around the pleasant area of Dupont Circle.

If I was worried because I had not left GW, a weekend was enough to give me the pleasure of knowing Georgetown, Chinatown, and Dupont circle.

But the weekend had not finished yet. Megan, Christine, Sam, Arielle, some American friends that I had met a couple of weeks ago invited me to see the Super Bowl, the most important game in American Football. Although I did not know a lot about American Football, it was an opportunity to get involved in a typical American activity.

At the end of the day, I realized that beside that the parties could be fun, the place nice, and food delicious, spending time with new people is my favorite pastime.

Although I did not talk much about my class, the difficult challenge of studying in a new language is still present. But the friendly people who are accompanying me are the perfect balance, definitely.

Happy Chinese New Year and Superbowl!

AdminFebruary 5, 2014

By hannahbethdray

This week has been one of trying new food, and experiencing new events, and what a week it has been! For the last few months my friend Vanessa has been telling me how amazing Korean BBQ was, so on Thursday evening I finally bit the bullet and we travelled into Virginia for one of the biggest meals I had ever had. The table was completely covered in fantastic plates of delicious food; I ate so much that I needed a nap by the end of it! Vanessa decided that after this meal she was going to prove how great her cooking was, so on Friday night we hosted 12 people for a dinner party. This turned out to be quite a squeeze and a real run around trying to find enough chairs, but it turned out to be a great success with every plate licked clean. The dishwasher definitely came in handy that night! On Saturday it was Chinese New Year – the year of the horse (or the Bronco’s my friend Paul told me, but this will come later). There was a big parade in Chinatown featuring dragons and great dancing!
... and then it was time to celebrate with a pot luck party. I am not the best cook so Vanessa and I made some pasta together and took over a chocolate cake – there was so much food and of course some fortune cookies too! Vanessa and I also got to try our friend Ian’s world famous chocolate chip cookies – and they were the best I’d ever had. We had a great time and a lot of fun meeting new people. I was treated on Sunday to crepes, thanks to French Pancake Day courtesy of Christina; she even let me make a few (with supervision of course) and they went down a treat!Sunday however was the big event of the weekend – The Superbowl! Now in the UK it is a little difficult to watch the Superbowl as it doesn't start till 11pm, so to see it through, you’re up half the night. Luckily being in the US I was able to sit down with everyone at 6:30 ready to watch the greatest game of the year! I went over to my friends in Chinatown where the guys had turned on the grill and made some fantastic homemade guacamole. There were over 20 people crowded into the living room to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos. I was supporting the Broncos, which as you have probably seen from the scores, wasn’t the best choice. Unfortunately for my friend Paul, this is his home team, so it was a pretty sad night when Seattle won 43 to 8. The half time show though was incredible, with Bruno Mars dominating the stage and the commercials were brilliant too. Check out the Budweiser Advert – best one of the night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4
So as you can see, most of my weekend has been spent eating a lot of food, but also getting to spend some time with amazing friends!

Das Weekend.

AdminFebruary 5, 2014

By nimames

I have been feeling lately that all my blogposts revolve around food and I would like to point out that I do not have a relationship solely with food and I do in fact have friends; people that I have met only 3 weeks ago but proud to call my friends.

This week has been one full of excitement to say the least! I got to celebrate my birthday with wonderful people in three folds. First there was a get together Thursday at my place. Although it wasn’t technically my birthday (my actual birthday was on February 1s), my lovely roommate suggested throwing a party because she wasn’t going to be in town for my birthday weekend. I was really happy to introduce the diversified group of the spring 2014 exchange people to both of my lovely roommates. In the end, the evening was full of excitement and joy and I was really happy and touched to see everyone again.

It also happened that the following day, was the Chinese new year and what a better way to celebrate it than to go to nice Asian restaurant. We promptly headed to Nooshi and had really amazing Asian food. I ordered noodles with chicken, caramelized onions, peppers and pineapples. The salty of the chicken and the sweet and sour of the onions and pineapples elevated the dish to a whole new level. In other words, it was heavenly. Once our tummies were full, we were all craving ice cream so we decided to walk to Georgetown and get some delicious ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s.

I’ve been in the US for over 3 weeks now and I’m always amazed at the array of choices you can get; either at the grocery strode, the coffee shop down the street, and the ice cream parlor. It ranged from cookie dough; berries, vanilla and Oreos, to chubby hubby and scotch scotch scotch. We then walked to the notorious DC cupcakes from which my friend Zenia got me these mouth-watering cupcakes.

Although I vowed not to talk about food anymore, I keep reverting back to my food experience in DC. I guess it’s because food is a huge part of my experience here and it’s even more worthwhile when I get to share it with the lovely people I meet !

This weekend has been a great weekend not because it was my birthday and I turned 21 but it’s because I got to share precious moments with people I love and appreciate. And I hope that next weekend will be as fun and rich in emotion as this one had been, and I’m sure it will because although we come from different places, we speak different languages and we have various customs and habits, we still are in this together and this is what ultimately unites us !

“Are you Australian?” he said in an American accent. “Really?”

AdminJanuary 28, 2014

By aaront162

Yesterday on the 26th of January, the Australian exchange students organized a small Australia Day party complete with all the trimmings – a sausage sizzle (slight burnt, onions optional of course), fair bread (buttered toast with sprinkles, atypical of any primary school birthday party), Tim Tams (which I think were the fastest to disappear) and of course vegemite (diluted with a bit of butter for those not used to its strong taste). Yet in the midst of creating our little sampling plate of Australiana, I realized it has been just over three or so weeks since I arrived in the US and more so than anything else, I find myself drawn back towards Sydney and Australia though not purely out of sorely missing the summer warmth in the midst of yet another polar vortex in Washington DC.

Australia Day does not mark the birth of Australia – it marks the birth of a colony of Britain which over the course of over two hundred years has wrestled with its own identity set against the identity of others. If the narrative is to be believed, Australia began unmistakably and loyally British in birth, recasting itself as a nation in 1901 with the formation of a federation of states coming of age on the fields of the Western Front and the beaches of Gallipoli, and then once again along the Kokoda Trail. Yet within this narrative is a story of insecurity – of the fear of outsiders which led it to implement the White Australia Policy and a desperate attempt to maintain itself as a loyal outpost of Europe set amongst South East Asia. Australia Day is a strange creature – it marks the date upon which the British flag was raised on Sydney Cove by Governor Phillip. A simple enough act but one which, beneath the sausage sizzles and Australian flags draped over sunburnt shoulders, reveals the sheer complexity of Australian culture, identity and indeed, that most politically loaded notion of what is “Australian”.

There is a certain degree of surprise when I speak to someone in the US – the Australian accent seems to be discordant with what they would expect. This is perhaps understandable enough when much of Australian culture and people continues to be represented by the likes of Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin but does a grave injustice to the true, and in my opinion, far more beautiful face of Australia today as a rich, diverse and multicultural nation. Looking back, the most striking image of Australia Day was not at the Cricket Grounds, the Footy Field or even in Canberra. It was a small suburban park in Sydney’s South-West, a area well known for its multiculturalism, in which an Afghani family was having a barbeque, flatbread and lamb next to the Tip-Top with the slightly burnt sausages. I could not help but be reminded of this image as I looked around the room at the multitude of cultures which were celebrating Australia day with us, bringing just a bit of Sydney in the midst of chilly Washington DC. There is little doubt that our Australia Day party helped remind me what being an Australian is all about.

Time to begin an interesting routine

AdminJanuary 27, 2014

By inepalacios

After a first week in US, spending time with my friend Emma in the nice region of New England; after another week knowing DC and the other exchange students; it was time to begin my classes at GW, to begin my exchange routine. But when I say routine, I am not necessarily referring to a boring routine.

These last two weeks of class were not an ordinary experience. It was two weeks to know my professors, to set my new academic goals, to realize how challenging study in English will be for me, to plan how I will reach all my exchange goals.

These two weeks were unexpectedly full of new senses. On one hand, I was afraid of not being able to understand each word of lectures, because all of my professors speak in a speed that is really difficult for me. But on the other hand, these weeks were to propose myself the challenging to learn and involve myself in issues that I really want to get to know. I realized that there are many academic skills to acquire, and at the same time a lot of people to get to know.

These two weeks were worth to stop some concerns I had before starting.

- I was afraid of not be able to understand mathematics topics in my class of Public Finance, but after a revision I realized that my home university provided me a strong base in mathematics. I noticed that I am ready to learn about the US public finance. It will help me distinguish which aspects, the Argentinean public finance – a typical system of developing country- could improve following the political and economical aspect of the US public finance.

- I wanted to take an Argentinean economic policy class that is offered only this semester in my home university, so I thought that I was loosing to learn about these issues but I noticed that the Latin America class that I am taking has an important approach in the Latin America’s economic policies and the professor is very dynamic.

- I was afraid to not take advantage of GW since I wasn’t taking a class about American or Political History, but I noticed that my Poverty, Welfare and Work class is a course that not only addresses the issue of poverty, but also address American poverty problems, so I am having the opportunity to learn deeply about the US and about one of the social issues that I am interested in.

- I was wishing to be engaged in some American community service and I found that my Ethical of Leadership class is a course that not only has an activity of community service as a requirement, also it offers a good guide to learn about the practices of human services.

First conclusion: I am really gratified with the GW courses that I am taking. So, I just have to be responsible with this great opportunity to be studying at GW.

In each first class of all of the courses I was remembering the EXO’s advice: to get contact information of someone in our class to ask help whenever we need. So, just waiting to get some contact information from my classmates I found more than a simple contact information. In each class I found really friendly people.

In Public Finance I knew Darby, Christina, and Sohyoun and we met to work in the first assignments.

In Ethical of Leadership I knew Nadia and Megan; they have been helping me to find some activity of community service.

In Poverty, Welfare and Work, I knew Emily, she let me borrow her class notes.

In Latin America I knew Steph, she is a really nice person, we have shared not only classes, but also dinners, hang outs, parties, potlucks, and long talks. We also are planning to travel together! Thank Steph for those fun moments!

But also, I could meet with the people who I knew before to arrive to DC.

One of them is Fernando. I met Fernando a month ago, thanks to one great friend in Argentina, Marcelo. Thanks, Marce, for introducing me to your friend. Thank you, Fernando, for the great welcome, the coffee, the DC references, I was missing a good Argentinean talk.

Also I knew Chelsea, a friend of some guys that I met on new years in Fairfield. Thank Chelsea for your willingness to help!

Moreover, I started to do Language Exchange with one of my EXO Leaders, Whitney. She is so nice, we had been talking long talks, hanging out, and going to basketball games. She also was helping with my writing, thank you so much Whitney!

Also I met two Chilean girls, Gisella and Javiera, they are so lovely, we share outings and they invited me to visit their OAE where they are working.

I can’t forget of my dear buddy, Steven. He was studying in my home university the last semester. I can say that he was one of the people who helped me pass the English exam to be here. These last weeks, he has been inviting me to hang out with his nice friends, Bert, Betsy, Anna. We also had a nice dinner with his dad. Thank you so much Steven for everything!

Anyway, it was the beginning of this last weekend and I felt overwhelmed with all of the reading that I had, and all my expectations to hang out with all my new friends. How can I do to see all of them? What can I do to spent time with the Exchange students? How can I plan with them but save time to study? I realized that the best thing would be to organize a meeting in my apartment. So, I invited all of them.

We were almost 45 students among my friends and friend of my friends in my apartment. Us music, Latin-American music, Argentinean music, games, dancing, jokes, time to talk with all my friends, opportunity to invite other friends, among them to invite Bibi, another Argentinean girl who is studying in American University, so all these made my weekend a good beginning of the exchange routine.

At the same time, I had time to study and see all the new friends.

Again this exchange is exceeding my expectations.

Thanks all for this great class beginning!