Our First Week in DC.

It has been an incredible first week in Washington DC. The degree of comfort the class now has with the city, its geography, and its transport is not reflective of the brief time we've spent here. Our week has been packed with educational activities, meetings, service opportunities, social events, and a great start to the exploration of DC's cultural landscape. And of course no report of this week would be complete without the excitement of the arrival of the South African Washington Internship Program (SAWIP) interns. With their arrival, we not only learn about the differences and similarities between North and South, East and West of our island, but also get to discover a huge amount about a culture and nation very different to our own.

 

Our efforts thus far have been dedicated to learning the ropes of DC life; this coming week changes all that with the start of our internships. With a political internship on the Hill, I am incredibly excited. While on the tour of the Capitol on Friday, it was funny to think that in a matter of days we too could well be giving those tours alongside the intern from Indiana who gave us ours. In anticipation of our very immediate future as interns in Congress, we asked to see his ID badge to know what we should expect come Tuesday, our first day in the office. Last week saw a huge diversity of activity on our part. Highlights include our tours of the Library of Congress and Capitol Hill, our time in J.O. Wilson Elementary School, and playing Frisbee on the Mall with the SAWIPers. It has been a wonderful week and one that flew by.