Ruthena Meets Her Parthenon!

Today I woke up early enough to have a nice long exercise period downstairs while watching the news. Yes, the TV was working AND it was turned on to a news channel!!! Can you BELIEVE IT!?! Actually, this only occurred because yesterday the guys were fiddling with it so they could watch recaps of the Superbowl (rolling eyes). Don’t worry, Dad—I did NOT watch any of it. Also to Dad, thanks for the heartfelt criticism; I would bristle at anyone else’s offering the same advice, but when you say it, I just hafta hang my head and agree with you. I’ll try to do better from now on, okay?

Back to my day! The news said that it was going to be a big change from yesterday’s nice weather, and that it would probably snow all night and be really chilly, so I wore my big coat and a long-sleeved sweater. This turned out to be a mistake—the weather was so sunny that I broke out into a sweat every time I walked from one place to another (which turned out to be...four times). Of course, I also broke out into a sweat because I was walking very quickly to get from one place to another... Michael Bean (who works at the American Association for the Advancement of Science—which happens to be RIGHT NEXT to NMWA) was going to walk with me to and from work today, but I ended up coming downstairs too late for him to accompany me any further than the Metro Station stop (he likes to be on time, or early, whereas my supervisors are pretty lax about my arrival schedule). However—he, taking the Metro, barely made it to his workplace on time, and I—setting a new record for speed-walking—arrived at NMWA at EXACTLY 8:59 am! Tomorrow I’m planning on getting up earlier so we can walk together, since the long walk alone can be tedious (unless you’re pushing 7-8 mph like I was today). Plus it’s nice to have someone to walk with when it’s dark at night, even though I’m really not as worried about that as I used to be.

I ended up getting to do a lot of walking today, since our Intern coordinator had scheduled an activity for all the Interns at the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. We were going to eat lunch together and attend a free lecture, and she had emailed us to meet at the Information desk at 11:45 am. I showed up, found no one there, walked around for a bit, re-checked my email, re-checked the National Gallery to find out if the lecture was still on (it was), and decided not to waste the opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, breeze, and time away from my little dungeon of a cubicle.

This impulsive decision of mine to head out for the NGA on my own turned out to be something I did NOT regret in the least! It took me about twenty minutes to walk down to the Mall, and just a few more to find the NGA, which is composed of a large and lovely sculpture garden, a West End (which looks almost exactly like the Parthenon, only about 5 times bigger!!!), and a modern-looking, much smaller (though much more populated) East End. I wished I had brought my camera to take pictures of the incredibly huge, numerous West End steps and the overwhelming, awesome pillars and pediment at the top—it was literally one of the most awe-inspiring, breathtakingly intimidating experiences of my life. Like climbing up the Harfang-sized stairs at the Smith Fieldhouse, only set in ancient Greece? Or maybe like Christian climbing the gates into the Celestial City...? It was also very quiet and peaceful with the sunshine, the lack of tourists, and the breeze... a very ethereal experience. Particularly when I got inside and had my jaw drop at the sight of all the beautiful fountains, pillars, statues, colorful ornamentation, etc. decorating the inside.

After I walked in a daze through this incredible, huge, gorgeous building (honestly, I was almost too overwhelmed by the scope and magnificence of the architecture and design of the building to notice the paintings and works on display), I went back out on the Mall lawn to eat my lunch before the lecture. This was possibly my most favorite part of the day: There’s nothing quite like spreading your coat out on the Mall, sitting in the shade of a tree, and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the U.S. Capitol on one side of you, the Washington Monument on the other, and one of the most incredible art buildings in the world in front of you. And don’t even get me started on the antics of those cute little squirrels and birds... :)

After lunch, I found the place where the lecture was being held, and was surprised when my Intern coordinator walked in and found me there! She apologized for not meeting me at the desk (she had been in a docent training session all morning), and we listened to the lecture together. It was good, but a little dry and I found myself struggling hard to stay awake during the last ten or fifteen minutes. Fortunately, they had a question-answer period afterwards, which woke me up sufficiently to have a rousing conversation about the lecture with my coordinator on the way out.

Back at work, I ran a few more errands and did a little bit of work on a few more projects, which was fun since I didn’t have to stay at my cubicle much. I got to learn how the camera works and visit the Museum Shop to take a few pictures of their display window, which was kind of fun. I also got to chit-chat with one of my supervisors some more about what “being a Mormon in Utah” entails. I did my best to explain some of the things she was curious about, but got a little bogged down in trying to think of the best way to describe what an “ordinance” was, and why we perform certain ones in the “temple.” Looks like I will need to brush up on my LDS 101 vocabulary some more—too bad I left my “Preach My Gospel” at home :(

Unfortunately, I finished chit-chatting at 5:10 pm, thus missing the chance to walk home with Michael, who likes to leave EXACTLY at 5 pm (I get the feeling he’s not exactly fond of his internship...). I walked fast, catching up to at least three guys who sort of looked like him from a distance, but in the end they all turned out to be fakes (er, no offense...), so I finally gave up. As I walked home, I was accosted, as usual, by several down-on-their-luck-looking men, asking for change or for “donations to the homeless.” I ignored them, as usual, but was startled enough to stare a bit at the group of youngsters screaming at passersby to “please make a difference and help Louisiana!” I wasn’t able to decipher from their signs or screams what scrape Louisiana had gotten itself into, or how I could make a difference in saving that unfortunate state, but I was impressed by the rather unique slant which they brought to the “asking for money” routine that occurs every day here.

After I got home, Valerie and I went shopping at Safeway, then we ate dinner and went to FHE. The activity was a “Family Feud-meets-Battle-of-the-Sexes” type thing, wherein boys were polled about the answers girls had given to a survey, and vice versa. I believe the girls ended up winning the whole shebang, but I take little credit since the activity went with very little input from me. Most of my silent guesses turned out to be wrong, and none of the “girls say THIS” declarations reflected my own personal answers to the survey. After the game, we had cereal and milk for refreshments. Surprisingly yummy!

I don’t really feel like doing anything tonight other than reading scriptures and Redwall and having a good night’s sleep so I can wake up early and leave early for work with Mike. I also have phone duty tomorrow, soooo – pray for me!?!!?

Sorry again for being too lazy/tired/unwilling to post pictures...but I WILL post a movie for y’all to make up for it in a teeny tiny way. This vid is from one of my favorite free concert performances at the Kennedy Center: The Orrin Star Duo. The lead player (Orrin Star) was very talkative and friendly, and the crowd—and there WAS a crowd, which usually signifies the group is good—really got into a lot of his songs with the cheering and clapping and cat-calling. This is one of his slower, more thoughtful pieces, but I still liked it. Enjoy!