Hurricanes and High Heels

Left: View of the National Cathedral from just below the rose window on the "Behind the Scenes" tour. Right: View of the Capitol Building from 1st Street.

So things are going very well here in D.C. We've settled into the apartment, know how to use the metro without looking like total out-of-towners, and have even gotten a bit of sightseeing in.
Thursday Lauren and I spent the majority of our day at the National Cathedral. We took part in a lot of the self-guided tours and even one of the docent led tours, all of which were really interesting. Then we headed into downtown and got to see the Capitol Building on a walk down 1st St. Hung out with Jason and he made us dinner at his very nice townhouse as well.
Friday was the Washington Center Orientation. Get-to-know-you Bingo was a joke since I didn't even fit in any of the categories they had listed, and neither did over half the people I talked to. (Seriously, how many people have ridden a camel in the Sahara Desert?!) The actual orientation was a bit of a joke. They kept telling us the most ridiculously obvious things, though apparently they weren't that obvious to everyone. One girl a few quarters ago didn't pass her internship (yes, we get grades on it) because she made long distance calls to her boyfriend from the company phone each day. Another girl... this quarter, went to an interview and didn't turn her cell phone off. When it rang she even had the audacity to answer it! TWICE!! So maybe I'm incredibly intelligent, maybe my parents taught me good basic manners, or maybe other people really are just stupid beyond realms of imagination.
But let's get to the best part of yesterday. Ernesto. Orientation had a mandatory dress code of a suit. So we (me and my roommates) all woke up and put on very nice suits so as to make a good first impression. We even chose attractive, yet comfortable, heels to perfectly accent the suit and make a statement. In the reflection of the golden elevator doors we looked pretty damn good. Then we stepped outside. Umbrellas were quickly proven pointless as 70mph winds turned them inside out within seconds. It was impossible to angle your umbrella into the wind to avoid it since the wind was coming from every possible direction you could imagine. Then there was the rain. Driving, pounding, intense, hellish, cats and dogs, pick whichever adverb you'd like. Add that to the wind and you had four incredibly wet and uncomfortable girls by the time we finally reached the conference center. Oh, and since it had been rather warm, the air conditioning was still on full blast. So your feet are covered in wet nastiness from the streets along with blisters from wet shoes rubbing against wet feet, you're freezing because you're wet and the A/C is going and you're instantly regretting the decision to wear khaki pants... as you've suddenly become a one woman wet-khakis contest. Welcome to D.C.

(Side note: Ernesto has passed and today I'm spending the day with Jason and Lauren at the zoo and then the monuments at night and then out to chill.)