Will's Blog

Adventureland | June 9, 2010

So I suppose there comes a time in every person’s life when he needs an adventure. A good coworker of mine at school spent a summer climbing mountains in Colorado.  A high school buddy just returned from Macedonia. I guess taming the urban jungle that is Washington, DC, counts…right? The saying goes that “life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” (I believe that is Neale Walsch). So—let it begin!

Speaking of comfort zones, first impression: the epically beautiful and historic buildings were not what wowed me at first; it was the HEAT AND HUMIDITY! Why did I waste that space in my luggage for pants and sweatshirts? Apparently Mother Nature doesn’t believe in temperatures below 80 degrees in this neck of the woods.

Seriously though, this is my first time ever being in the nation’s capital. Being from New York State, I’m used to the giant skyscrapers and semi-aggressive attitude of the Big Apple. Washington surprised me at first because it is a very low city, since the planners don’t want anyone to dwarf the capital. What the buildings may lack in size, they make up for in majesty. Of course, in the first few days of being here, a group of us interns did the touristy thing and checked out a bunch of the big-ticket items. I never realized what the Library of Congress really was. I was so humbled by its beauty that I could barely speak. Standing before Jefferson’s library, the hair stood on my neck. A short walk away at the Archives, I got chills as I stood before the Nation’s founding documents. Strolling down the Mall and visiting the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and other sites, it dawned on me that there is something magical about this city. And, we have only scratched the surface. Behind all these tourist traps, as epic, beautiful, and gravely important as they are, there must exist another city in the neighborhood restaurants, coffeeshops, and clubs that only real Washingtonians know, and which make their city home.

I am blessed to have three awesome roommates—one of whom calls himself “the most liberal man in Kentucky.” The other interns are a great crew as well—a diverse group of interesting folks hailing from Seattle to Dallas to New York, all the way out to cities in China. It only took a few days before we had a community party going, and all the initial awkwardness easily melted away. It is these comrades who will help make this whole experience truly memorable. The Hampton already feels like home.

Another surprising thing about Washington has been the genuine kindness I’ve felt since arriving here a week and a half ago. Nowhere has this been more apparent than at my internship, which is with the National Congress of American Indians. At orientation before going to my internship site the first time, my advisors at WII made it sound like I would walk in and get punched in the face because I’m an intern, but fortunately, nothing of the sort occurred! From day 1, I was “Will,” not “the intern.” My coworkers have been incredibly kind and helpful, and took me out to lunch my first day. They have already inspired me because the work to make the world a better place. For those of my coworkers who are American Indians themselves, they are fighting for the survival of their own communities, cultures, and families. I know it will be a great honor to work by their sides.

There is simply too much to write about the first week here, from bizarre shirtless bearded men in pink sunglasses to overpriced drinks at the clubs, but I suppose I shouldn’t be too long winded. It has definitely been intense trying to fit as much as we can into the first week of our short ten-week stay here in DC.

I suppose the first lesson, though, is to keep pushing that comfort zone and to keep challenging my own assumptions about other people, the world around me, and who I think I am. It is in this way that we can grow. The next chapter begins, and it must be faced with the laughing courage of a prizefighter, as Carl Sandburg would say.

And so the adventure begins.