DCDI

Last weekend, I competed at a Ballroom Competition in Washington DC. My schedule had me at 5 hours of sleep followed by 5 hours of competing that was followed by 5 hours of power napping and followed by 5 hours of sleep that was only to be interrupted by 5 hours of competition and then 3 hours of driving back. I LOVED IT!!!! I'm looking forward to the spring competitions.

In regards to the competition, I was called back in Rumba, Cha-Cha, Waltz, and Tango but not for Swing or Foxtrot.

New York

Anyway, I figure I might as well blog about my trip to New York City with my friend Mark Guilladeau (A friend whose last name I will never spell right even if my life depended on it.).

I realize that it has been over three months since my trip with Mark, so I'll be brief. After arriving at NYC, Mark and I went to where his brother, Brian worked. Apparently, Brian works at MTV as a video editor (rather good at it too). Brian is the guy doing the flashy effects that makes an otherwise boring and shallow reality show seem aesthetically interesting. Mark and I had lunch at a Roy Rogers (I thought they were gone!) Unfortunately, the place did not have any of their famous milkshakes.

Over the next several days, Mark and I visited the Met Art Gallery and the American Museum of Nartural History. We also saw a play performed by the Shakespeare in the Park troupe. I thought the troupe did a wonderful job performing the Bacchai (sp?).

On my birthday, Brian showed us a great cocktail place called Please Don't Tell. The cocktail bar was located in a hidden section of a hot dog store. We tried to get a place when we got there but no go. However, I managed to get reservations on my birthday and was able to have drinks with people I hadn't seen in a while.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to see two plays starring, directed, and written by my friends Brent Cirves and Mike Johnson. I was delighted to see how far Usher had come and was not disappointed. On the other hand, Exiles from the Sun needed some work but had potential.

Anyway, Mark and I ran into some problems with the bus back to DC but they were resolved. Advice: Don't rely on reservations for the Chinatown buses.

New York, New York

I leave for New York City tomorrow with Mark.

Boston/NYC Trip Update

Well, Boston has been canceled and I might push up the NYC trip a couple of days early. However, I still plan on seeing both Exiles from the Sun and The Fall of the House of Usher as well as turn 21! I haven't decided what I plan to drink for my 21st but I have time. Time enough at last.

Neither Good or Bad, But Thinking Makes It So (Part 2)

As I wrapped up my final moments at Georgetown University, I couldn't help but reflect on my time here like a bad blogging cliche. Looking back, I've done quite a bit but still not enough.

First off, I actually held a job with real responsibilities such as helping kill the House Dem's healthcare plan and character assassination (deserved assassination for lying about their organization's members) of other groups. I enjoyed my time working at NFIB. The people were really nice, especially the dynamic duo (NFIB equivalent of Abbot and Costello) that I worked for. The internship gave me a really nice insight into how are government works, specifically the House and Senate.

The House functions as follows: the majority essentially passes legislation that is so blatantly horrendous that one can only imagine how these people were ever put in charge of anything. In contrast, the minority whines and moans about how bad said legislation is and accuses the majority of kicking sand in its face while offering no ideas of its own. The Senate is a different beast entirely. At least, the Senate can move efficiently and pretend to be bipartisan better than the House. Anyway, the Dems have the summer to be raked over the coals by their constituents.

Anyway, I ended my internship the same way I started by watching a Congressional hearing and realizing that maybe we need a third party in this country (similar to how Chavez won the Venezuelan presidency). We all had a nice lunch at an Italian place near the Metro center and talked.

As much as I would love to delve into politics, this blog is about travel. Unless I'm referring to another country's politics in a historical or social context. I'm not interested in some loonies (from both sides arguing on this blog ( As if anyone besides family reads this.).)

All in all, I had a very good time here. If I can manage it, I might actually apply again next year for the ICPES program since that seems to be closer to my personal interests.

PS
By the way, I recommend playing the NFIB YEF game, Johnny Money. The game is very similar to Hot Dog Stand from nearly a decade ago.

Onwards and Upwards, Gentlemen

Travel Update:
From August 10 to August 19, I will be traveling to Boston and New York City with my friend, Mark Guillaudeu (assuming we get the tickets.).

Here's the brief and rough itinerary:

August 10-14
Depart DC and arrive at NYC to catch a bus to Boston. Stay at someone's house via couchsurfing website.

August 14-19
Depart Boston and arrive at NYC. Enjoy NYC Fringe Festival and Shakespeare in the Park. Indulge in shopping as funds allow. Return to DC.

Neither Good or Bad, But Thinking Makes It So

I'm starting think that I might need to take a break from political science books, pop culture, theater, and literature. A majority of my blog posts have either been inspired by move lines or quotations from plays.

Anyway, I'm nearing the end of my time here at Georgetown University and I thought I would reflect back on my time here.

Needless to say, I have actually enjoyed my summer here in DC. I've had a chance to run into some old friends and do things I haven't done before or recently. Despite what I've said, I actually enjoyed my classes.
On the one hand, the Power and Values class actually made me think a little bit more about what I believe and what I consider to be moral choices. I really think that I may actually be a little bit closer to finally defining who I am (or at least more willing to use non ambiguous adjectives and concrete descriptions.)

My internship seminar class was kinda of a bust but at least I got to meet some interesting people. However, the other parts (Professional Development Series, Site Briefs, lunch) were rather informative and at least were pretty cool (although I wish we got tours with the site briefs). In fact, I might actually consider taking the foreign service exam. I've always had in interest in International Relations and working for the State Dept might be a chance for me to find out (albeit, an internship might be more likely given the economy and the government enjoyment of cutting State's budget for no good reason.)

I'll admit that I was a skeptic of the Business, Government, and Public Policy class. However, the professor did make some good points about how government interference can lead to messing up the marketplace. Apparently, the law of unintended consequences applies greatly in regulations and legislation.

Anyway, I'm happy that I was accepted to TFAS. I might consider applying next year for the ICPES program to finish rounding out my education. Plus, I'll be 21 and able to take advantage of Happy Hour!!

Most Wretched Hive of Scum and Villiany

Well, I'm back after a three week hiatus from my last post. Since I last wrote, I've been mainly working downtown at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which is an advocacy group for small business. I'm working with the Health Care section of their Federal Public Policy department (if the person in charge of checking to see if NFIB's name is being dragged through the mud is reading this, you only have one guess to figure out who this is...). I've enjoyed work so far. I've had the opportunity to see a Congressional hearing in person and saw Dennis Kucinich tear a Canadian columnist a new one, attend a Bipartisan Policy Center press conference, and have watched multiple hearings online concerning health care reform (I recommend stockpiling splints, antibiotics, and do-it-yourself field surgery kits). The whole big picture interaction between government, advocacy groups has been interesting (at least on the advocacy group side.)

Despite having lived in Northern Virginia most of my life, I have never really had a chance to fully experience DC. Yes, I've used the metro and seen the museums but its different than living in the suburbs. Everything here is so close together and crowded, not to mention the limited hours the stores are open (Not like I have the money anyway). Personally, I enjoy taking the metro to work since it's quite and people ignore the heck out of you (As an afterthought, I'm perfectly fine. While I take the red line to work and back, the crash occured after the metro center stop.). I haven't had a chance to get out and visit the museums and spots like that. I did go out for a bit and caught a National games with Stephen and Marynn last week. the stadium was nice but the team is a little bit subpar to say the least.

I've got a few things coming up and I was planning to either go to a friend's birthday party in the evening or a barbecue. The barbecue is basically filled with TFAS alumni from TFAS programs past. Granted it's an opportunity for me to network but I'm little hesitant to do so. You know shyness and stuf like that. In other news, the Capital Fringe Festival starts in less than two weeks!! Which means I will have gone broke purchasing tickets for various plays and transportation to get to them. From what I can tell the performances are located around the DC convention center, which makes it easier for me to go there. I'm checking my finances to make sure I have money but I might have to cut back on Chinese food (or milk the parental money cow).

T-11 Hours

Dear Supposed Readers,
Tomorrow I start my internship and vote in the Virginia Democratic Primaries. I'm going to start regularly updating weekly instead of daily because I probably won't have much time too. I might even end up posting messages from Mary Ingram's trip to Italy and Europe if I can get away with it.

Today, we had orientation, which basically meant that we sat around listening to people talk and got our ids from the office. I had lunch in the apartment and went out to dinner with one of my roommates. Before dinner I had one of my classes and I really enjoyed. It's the first history/political science class I've had in a long time. I did a dry run of going to the office and got off too early. I then headed back. I still have to find a less painful way to get back, I ended up walking from GWU to Georgetown. After that I didn't do much. I did however share a rather awkward missed connection with a fairly attractive Indian (descent) girl but I was too tired and exhausted from walking all the way from GWU/Foggy Bottom to Georgetown. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll run into her again. And maybe pigs fly.

Summer Plans

Dear Avid Readers (if you exist),
I realize that I've put my adventuring days on hold but complete(supposed) liberation is coming up in one year and I need to update my resume. I'll be interning at the National Federation of Independent Businesses as part of The Fund for American Studies summer program. In other words, for the first time in several years, I will be in Northern Virginia for the majority of the summer. Although, I may travel somewhere in August (Perhaps NYC again?). I'll occasionally report my exploits here, seeing as how DC is slightly reminiscent of Baghdad and a foreign place even to suburbanites. Anyway, I have a few exotic locals planned for next year that I plan to travel to and here's a list of possibilities:

Peru
Argentina
Chile
Australia
Turkey
Europe

Anyway, I'll see how those plan out.

The Innocent

NYC Diary

Hey folks, I didn't have much time to blog or write about my experiences in New York City so here's a day by day account. The post is largely unfinished because I keep procrastinating but here's what I have so far:

Monday, March 9
I woke up at 5:00 in the morning, got dressed, and double checked to make sure that I had everything set and ready. My little brother dragged himself out of bed to drive me over to the metro station, which would take me to Union Station. Thankfully, I did not run into any problems on the train, in fact, it was smooth sailing the entire way. I just love taking the train. For me it combines what I like about driving and what I like about flying. I'm glad Obama decided to throw Biden a bone and give money to Amtrak for updating and improving the railways. Anyway, enough of my wishy-washy rail lovefest.

The train pulls into Penn station and the first thing I do is take a deep breath of the sweet, smoggy, polluted gas that clings to the city streets. After that, I stood hacking and coughing for several seconds. I took the 2 down to meet the people in the most wretched hive of scum and villainy, Wall Street. I met Sylvia Escobar (wife) in front of where she works (Deutsche Bank) and she showed me the way to her apartment. The couple (Diego and Sylvia Escobar) I was staying with are friends of my mom who agreed to let me stay with them. They're a nice Latin American couple both from Colombia. The husband doesn't like waste and works hard while the wife also works and fattens up her husband so that no other women will even look at him while she maintains her figure (like most Latina women). Anyway, their apartment's nice it's a small one room apartment but accommodating. After she returned to work, I decided to pick up my theater tickets that I had on reserve, find the the theaters I panned to go to and go shopping!! Shopping didn't out but I did manage to find a few shops I was interested in (Brooks Brothers, Alden, Allen Edmonds). I managed to find the the theaters that I was going to go to after searching Times Square for several hours.

I returned to the apartment around 7:00 and met Diego (Sylvia's husband) and he was a pretty nice guy. One thing I noticed is the couple would not stop checking to see if I was okay. Personally, if I haven't dropped dead I think I'm okay. Anyway we went out to a restaurant nearby and talked a little bit and then bed.

Tuesday, March 10
I woke up around 9AM and left around 10AM. When I arrived at Times Square, I remembered why I missed NYC. The sights and sounds that just envelope you as people are running around everywhere, dodging cars, poor people, and people trying to help poor people. I went to the TKTS location to be in the first groups so I could get some good seats for Avenue Q. Apparently I arrived early enough to be one of the first twenty people.

Afterward, I returned to the shops I stopped by the previous day and bought a nice jacket from Brooks Brothers and really nice pair of shoes from Allen Edmonds. I considered getting a nice pair of Indy Boots from Alden but I figured driving myself deeper into debt for a good pair of rain boots was unnecessary. I stopped by the ToysRus to look at the Lego statues and just watch the ferris wheel go by.

I spent most of the day trying to get my bearings and finding the theater locations of the plays I planned to go see. I went to see Avenue Q and I enjoyed. The actors seemed to be forcing it a little bit.

Wednesday, March 11
Against my better financial judgment, I saw a comedy. The name currently escapes but it was basically Monty Python meets Alfred Hitchcock.

I went to see Sleepwalk with Me written and starring Mike Birbiglia (sp?). The play itself was interesting.

Thursday, March 12
I woke up at 8:30 AM. Nearly froze to death at 9:30 AM and saw two gay Alaskans standing in the freezing cold for one hour while they waited in line for the ferry. The way it works is that the ferry takes you in the order they want you to see (or makes more efficient sense). Lady Liberty was beautiful and I wish I could've spent more time there. At night, I went to see Zombie, a play about a serial killer. The play was mercifully short. The play wasn't bad but it is one of those the plays where you mildly like it or really hate it.

Friday, March 13
I went to the Metropolitan Art Museum and the Natural History Museum. After a day of walking around museums, I decided to pay one last visit to the pinnacle of my stint as a prop master. As the NYC metro train grind to a halt, I recognized the familiar look of the station with its multiple exists and banal coloring. I exited the station to an intersection with filled parking spaces. I slowly walked down the street leading to the Lucille Lortel Theatre, only pausing to stare at some of the sex shops along the way. I reached the cafe where I bought rancid bananas aong with a stale strawberry pie for the cast to eat and bought a hot chocolate and a stale chocolate chip cookie to keep me company.

Saturday, March 14
I woke up early, got ready and left the apartment for Union Station. The train arrived thirty minutes late and I got home around 3PM. Nothing much to say here.

NYC Here I come!!

So I decided to go to New York City instead of Sousa, DR. I've already bought tickets to two plays: Sleepwalk With Me and Zombie. The former is about a guy's sleepwalking problem and his fear about growing up and everything else. Zombie is about a homosexual serial killer who has issues, issues that manifest themselves in his desire to create homosexual zombie from his victim's body parts (It received good reviews during Fringe...). I'm staying with my mother's friend who loves in the Financial District, so I get a front row street of bankers falling to their deaths (I'll be sure to search their bodies for any fancy jewelry.). I'll be there from Monday, March 9 to Saturday, March 14. Although, maybe I'll come back on Fri 13 (Gasp!!) and maybe go to second Saturday. Hmmm. Maybe.

Happy Spring Break Everyone!!

Sosua, DR

Anyway, I figure I may as well update since I should actually be continuing my theater project. My dad informed me recently that his friend Fabio is willing to give me a job as a researcher at a law firm branch in Sosua, DR. I will be researching on how to turn charter services into sole proprietorship. Whoopie.

On the other hand, Sosua is known as a big tourist spot full of hot women (foreign and domestic), prostitutes, beach, foreign women, night life, and prostitutes (prostitution is illegal but tolerated as long as the girl is over 18). In other words, a single man's dream.