September 25th

It started out as a blustery, cloudy day. Despite the ominous skies that threatened rain, I decided to walk to work--not just to be eco-friendly and save $1.65 on the Metro fare, but to have a more hassle-free, relaxing morning. There is something very therapeutic about walking for me; getting "lost" in a sea of people can be the prescription for the need to be alone. So I braved the rush of Washingtonians on their way to work, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I revel in the city life some days.

Soon after work began, I was allowed to go to a hearing on nuclear terrorism. Don't be fooled by the exotic name, as I was--it turned out to be the only dull hearing I have attended thus far in my three weeks on the Hill. I should've known the meeting was off to a bad start when I walked in the room and saw it was standing-room only. I squeezed in at the last available spot on the back wall, and my feet started to ache immediately in my three-inch heels. All I could do was shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other every 30 seconds, which made me feel like I was too squeamish as Senator Lieberman's eyes seemed to be riveted on me as he sat directly in front of me, facing me and watching me with what appeared to be scrutinous disdain. I was probably dramatizing that part a bit...I think he was more focused on the Undersecretary of Defense than the lowly intern on the back wall.

At any rate, I was struggling to pay attention to the nuclear jargon--acronyms were being thrown left and right, as well as talk of isotopes and uranium and radiation and who knows what else? It was all above my head, and I was trying to stay afloat, but failing miserably. Well, as I stood there with Lieberman's eyes boring holes into my forehead, I saw a man and a woman slip in the door and start to shuffle past all of us unfortunate souls standing against the back wall.

As I proceeded to let them sneak by me, they stopped. Dead in front of me. I couldn't see. I was a bit miffed.

The man turned around and asked if he was in my way. He clearly was.

"No," I smiled sweetly. "You're fine."

They tried to squeeze their way into the one-foot space between me and the man next to me--the one foot space where each of our own personal bubbles had ended and the others began. We were already too close for comfort.

I inched the other direction, bumping arms with the girl on my other side. She didn't seem to notice.

I felt awkward.

Now I was faced with a larger problem: how to stay awake during this hearing without shifting my weight on my feet. I could not take off my shoes. Even if I were bold enough to try and get away with such a stunt in a Congressional hearing, I knew Senator Lieberman would have none of that. He owned the room.

So I tried to do my best to pay attention to the nuclear jargon flying over my head, and to not sway too much to one side or the other. Even trying to stand perfectly straight and still in those heels was difficult enough. Trying to do that for half an hour was harder. I started to feel sick to my stomach and finally snuck out. I think I heard Lieberman cough in irritation as I disrupted the solemn decorum of the room. As I waited for the elevator, the girl who had practically been supporting me from falling to the floor on one side. She had the same glazed-over look in her eyes, and told me about another hearing going on upstairs. The topic was poverty in America. Not only was that one more interesting, but there was a wider variety of people there; instead of every person being stiff as starch and wearing a full suit, there were people from all walks of life there. It was interesting.

It started raining and I thought it would be a drab rest of the day. But not so. My supervisor asked if I would want to order Chinese food for lunch with her, and we'd get free delivery. Why not, I thought, so we ordered our lunch and sat in our seats with our stomachs rumbling for 45 minutes. The Chinese man called to tell us he had arrived outside, so I was sent out to the curb to pick it up. I sat there on the curb as the wind blew my skirt in all directions, shivering, and called the delivery man. I couldn't really understand him through his thick accent. I did finally convey that I was, indeed, waiting on the corner we had specified, and that I could not, in fact, see him waving at me from his car.

After nearly 15 minutes of similar nonsense, I thought my limbs were going to fall off. I stood there shivering as Congressional employees walked back from their lunch breaks, wondering what kind of cruel tyrant sent their intern out in the cold to endure such torture. The Chinese man and I tried to pick a different street corner to meet, and he wasn't there, either. Then he started speaking some language that I know not...I literally could not understand a single word he was saying. Finally, I heard the word "South" in there somewhere, and a lightbulb went off: I remembered that while DC does have a grid system, you also have to specify if you are North, South, East, or West of the Capitol. As soon as I clarified that I was NorthEast of the Capitol, we were on the same page. All I could do was laugh. And after 20 minutes of waiting on a curb, I got my Chinese food delivered straight to me, free of charge. What service!

If you're still reading this, though, the coolest part of my day was yet to come. After downing my bland lunch (at least it was still somewhat warm), I went for a walk in the rain--this time with my umbrella. I hurried back for the last Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing of this Congressional session, and snuck in just as it was beginning. This one was about Palestine-Israeli relations--right up my ally. I sat down and saw Patrick, the professional staff member over the Middle East, approach me and Jon (the other intern). He nodded toward to the stand and said, "Come on!" My mouth dropped open...and I followed Patrick up to the stand.

I sat behind Senator John Kerry, and Senators Hagel and Feingold joined him on the stand in a few minutes. I was 2 yards from them. I was in front of everybody. If you watch on CSPAN at 3-something in the morning because you can't sleep, you'll probably see I'm on TV. But more than that, it was the coolest thing BY FAR I've done here! Congress goes into recess on Saturday (so they say). Unless there's a Lame Duck session, that was it for my career in going to hearings on the Hill this fall. I was all smiles as I scribbled notes from the stand about US foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.


That was the PERFECT end to this rainy day.