DC Carnival w/ Pics!

So my friend who took all the pictures posted them promptly up on facebook, which is really nice of her. ok first of all, let me say this: when you have experienced the real Carnival, most other Carnivals are going to seem sub-par in comparison. So to let me get it out of the way, I do have one or two criticisms about the parade. First there were too many gaps with not enough music in between. Secondly, who is going to pay just to get into the carnival village to pay for food. Not me!

Anyways so for DC it wasn't bad; it was very interesting. It was called the Caribbean parade and there were groups from all over the Caribbean, including Jamaica, St. Thomas, Trinidad and Tobago, etc, etc. But they also had some African nations/groups. I know for a fact that they had a group of people from Sierra Leone. They had good music and looked like they were having fun! I liked that the parade wasn't only restricted to the Caribbean only but all people who had similar cultures/traditions. I like that world unity, quite fitting in the face of all the world unity that the World Cup generates every 2/4? years.

They also had, at the beginning, a lot of the politicians handing out stickers, free beads, things like that. Some people were facing re-election, while others were trying to drum up support in order to oust the current person in office. Either way, I didn't really expect it, or at least I don't remember such shenannigans going on at home. Its probably possible that it did go on but I either didn't notice or they put on a better display. ;) So here are the pics.



Maybe a better photo of the banner above?




See, they cheat and have wheels and a little cart thing.


Not like this guy who carries the thing on his back! (he was a part of the VI troupe) He does it old-school, the right way.


Btw, the VI troupe included some of the majorettes who performed in the parade with their sticks and everything. They came into the office today to take a look at the DC House office. I don't have a picture but I will try and look for one.





A lot of people had snakes there, which was new to me. It was cool seeing the snakes but i had to wonder if they were de-fanged or milked of their venom beforehand, if they were the poisonous type. But one of my suit-mates went up and got to touch a snake.


Afterwards, we got some jamaican food. I ordered some fruit punch and they put banana juice in the fruit punch. That was a new one for me. Btw, it was HOT. People were just sweating. I was like, man this ain't that hot. I remember being in Carnival at home and it was worse. Granted my recollections may be a bit jaded. ;) but yeah after we left, my friends and I all crashed and took long naps because the sun just drains the energy out of you. But it was a fun event and I would go again and recommend it to people.

DC Caribbean Parade

I think I am going to post on this when the pictures come through. I do have pictures from this but I did not take them on my camera, so I have to wait on my friend to upload them to facebook. I mean I could post but I know how some people like their pictures. ;)

So i found some more pictures from the American Indian museum.

This one is a doll made by one of the American Indian cultures. I like how the doll clothes are so detailed, to the point that it is an accurate representation of what the actual people wore. I feel like sometimes doll makers cut corners on clothes, especially minority clothes. But anyways







This was my favorite thing at the exhibit. Who wouldn't want shoes like these? And the child on the shoes is the artist's son.


More dolls.




Thats the end of the museum pictures for real.

Part 3 of the National Museum of the American Indian

One of the things I really liked about this museum was that American Indian didn't just mean North American Indian. They included cultures from South America, Central America, Mexico, and several Caribbean nations. Its really conceited that when someone says that they're from America, that automatic assumption is the U.S. People from South and Central America are Americans too. ugh whatever, before Ii go on to a rant about the ills of American imperialism abroad.

Anyways here are some more pics. Sorry in advance for the blurriness, it was shot without flash.



This plaque explains the headdress above.


These two below I took for my dad cause I thought he would appreciate it.

So part 2 of going to the National Museum of the American Indian! With pictures!

Here's the outside again. I like how its all curvy outside and I'm not sure why. It kind of reminds me of Gaudi and his crazy curvy buildings in barcelona.


This is the outside in the front. I like the water as it makes it seem more natural and in touch with the natural world.


This is a statue on the outside. He has a really big headdress.


This is one the inside. these are little figurines.

These are two photos of American Indians, sorry I'm not sure what the PC term is these days, especially since it varies between scholars and the actual native peoples.

This one has the creepy eyes that follow you from one side of the room to the other

I think the rest of these are going to be self-explanatory unless i add a comment. I might find more background info on them later.

This is the eagle on top of the tree that is in the previous picture,







This is pretty cool I think. he came up with the written language part. Not any modern day people can say that!




More pictures to come soon. I need to work on my Bill for tomorrow.

National Museum of the American Indian

First, HAPPY FATHERS DAY all dads, including my dad!
Today I went to the National Museum of the American Indian. First off, I did not know that there even was a museum dedicated to American Indians in Washington DC. This is not mainly due to ignorance, its more the fact that it is not very well advertised compared to the aeronautics museum or the museum of natural history. Secondly, I know for a fact that there is not an african american museum yet in DC, although it is slated to begin construction soon. I actually found out about the museum thanks to my dad who encouraged me to go. I feel as though Sunday is a good day to go to the museums because you miss the Saturday crowds and its a nice AC-ed place to go to escape from the hot sun. And its FRee! yay!
I have pictures and more but I am tired so I will post tomorrow. But below is a picture of what the museum looks like on the outside.



I don't know why its all squiggly shaped but I will find out.

Receptions

One of the best things about being an intern is the amount of receptions/congressional hearings we have access to. First, most of the information about these receptions/hearings comes from either;
Your friends/fellow interns/fellow staff members
Reading the Congressional Quarterly/Daily, which provides a rundown of all the hearings that week/day.

Why is this important? FREE FOOD!!!! Living in DC can be expensive, and if free food is available, why should you go out and buy your own food. Coupled with the fact that we are broke college students who are used to free food, as colleges know that the only way to get students to any events is to provide free food, you are guaranteed to find at least a couple of interns at any given reception. Sometimes the food provided at the receptions are light fare, other times you can eat your dinner there. And the food is usually good. For example, I went to a reception hosted by Agriculture, and it was a cheese and pizza tasting. They had a lot of cheese, as well as pizza and vegetables and a salad. The one caveat; get there early/in the middle, as the food tends to run out as the time goes by. (Note: The main point of the receptions is to actually network, and that does happen while eating your free food. ;.p )

Hearings a bit different. Hearings are usually more serious than receptions, the point is definitely NOT networking. You are usually there to listen to a testimony or information session. Hearings are held inside hearing rooms, which means seating and food is limited. You also must be quiet, and at the very least, pretend to be interested in the subject matter at hand. For example, I went to the Food and Water hearing, which was composed of the said organization presenting with the engineer guy from BP who was fired because he kept bringing up safety concerns on the Atlantis oil rig. Lunch at those are usually provided by the Hill Catering. You receive a bag filled with 1 cookie, 1 bag of Sun Chips, 1 cup of pasta salad (YUCK!), an apple, and a sandwich. You can choose your drink, which is usually soda, orange juice or water. For a free lunch and a chance to learn something new, thats not bad.

Moral of the Story: Go to receptions/hearings. You get to eat free food, network, and enjoy yourself. Whats not to love?

My Bag

So we have to have some sort of bag/purse for all of our stuff that we carry around. Since I can't go around with my green ratty backpack dressed up in business casual. It just wouldn't gel. So most girls carry around big purses so they can fit all their stuff in it, including notepads and binders. Here is a rundown of all the items that I was carrying in my bag today. Some of these items are regulars, some are one day only's:

1 Pair of Flip-flops (Are replaced by heels in the morning and evening)
1 squished half of a Italian BLT footlong (one time event)
1 current newspaper
1 pocket copy of the Constitution
1 Message pad that receptionists use
Many pens
2 String Cheese (from a reception this evening)
1 spoon
1 Wallet
1 Cell Phone
1 Intern ID Badge
1 travel sized bottle of perfume
2 Lip Balm
1 Ipod and accompanying headphones
2 name tags from old receptions
1 half-eaten bar of chocolate
2 red apples
1 yogurt (in the mornings only)
1 Whatever I'm bringing for Lunch
1 lightweight Scarf
1 umbrella
1 Plastic cutlery set
1 Map of DC Metro
1 Small Notebook/Notepad
1 CBCF Internship Program Packet
and finally...1 folder from the Food and Water Watch Congressional Hearing

Man, no wonder my shoulders are extremely tense and sore after a day at work. And the ironic thing is that I am not usually one of those girls who carry around huge shoulder bags. All I need is some water, bandages, and medicine, and I'll be prepared for anything. Its ridiculous.

Friday wasn't that interesting. We went to the library of Congress and did an orientation on their research system, as it is an extremely helpful system used by senators, congresspeople, staffers, etc. We had our last lunch, as it was the last day of 'orientation' for us.
Saturday was more interesting. I went with one of my roommates, Arielle, to the Holocaust Museum. Neither of us had been before, and we wanted to do something low-key and relatively free, so we went. First thing off, the Holocaust Museum is not a walk in the park. It is some deep and depressing stuff. They had the main exhibit and a special exhibit, called State of Deception: the Power of Nazi Propaganda. It basically outlines how Hitler and the Nazi party managed to sway millions to their cause and their beliefs. Power indeed. And it was interesting that there was relatively few counter-propoganda efforts, although I'm sure that if there were any, it would be underground, as Hitler controlled the media and the $$.
The permanent exhibit presents a narrative history using more than 900 artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition is divided into three parts: “Nazi Assault,” “Final Solution,” and “Last Chapter.” Most people take 2 and half-3 hours the first time they see the exhibit. The exhibit was quite large; they had an actual train car used by the Nazi's to deport Jews and other people to concentration camps, actual cobblestones from the warsaw ghetto, actual bunk beds used in the concentration camps... they also made use of audio, video, and movie. Even the museum itself was designed in a pretty depressing way, with lots of brick and metal and the color black. I think they designed it that way to evoke the settings of a concentration camp, so people will be constantly reminded, wether they like it or not, about what the Jews and others suffered through.
Despite the depressing theme, I think that the Holocaust Museum is very important as it reminds people of what happened and that it should never happen again. I seriously don't understand how people can even deny the fact that the Holocaust happened. Obviously they are messed up people who deserve the mental ward. This made me think; why don't we have a slavery museum here in DC? i just read an article saying that the idea has been thought about but come on. I guess its something that they maybe don't want in DC because it portrays the founders in a extremely negative light. Oh well. Maybe the members of the Congressional Black Caucus will take it up.

oh Wow I'm sorry, I am extremely late on posting and soo much has happened. It also doesn't help that my internet WASN't working for the most of last week. So picking up from the week before last, which was Thursday. The highlight of this day was going to the National Museum of African art. It is off the Smithsonian Metro Stop. The National Museum of African Art "fosters the discovery and appreciation of the visual arts of Africa, the cradle of humanity." It was established as a private museum in 1964, and officially became a part of the Smithsonian Institution in August 1979.

*Most of the museums are FREE!!! how sick is that? In Atlanta, you are always paying, unless you donate the big bucks maybe.*

This is what it looks like on the outside.



The inside is nicer, I think. The main collection that we saw was the Disney-Tishman collection, a collection bought out from the Tishmans, who had collected a huge amount of African art with his wife. Although I'm sure we all know who really collected the art. ;.) It was very interesting to me, as I had never really been in a museum that specifically focuses on African art. I managed to take some pictures of the items on display, but since there was already a ridiculous amount of light and glass, I had to not use flash. As a result, they are yellow tinted and slightly blurry. But then again, I only had a digital camera, not one of those pro ones. Alane, have you any tips for taking pictures in a museum?



internet version


This horn is interesting because it is an example of African art mixed with European art. It was made by the Bullom or Temne peoples of Sierra Leone in the late 15th century. When the Portuguese arrived in Africa, they wanted to bring gifts back to their sponsors, who were usually rich and had aristocratic taste in art. They couldn't really bring back a local piece of art, especially when the masters, like da Vinci, were in vogue. So they commissioned African artists to make this piece using European designs and this is the result. The design is pretty intricate. Looking at it, you can see both African and European influences.



These are some earrings, which I thought was cool. They remind me of the art of the San Blas people with all their beadwork.
They had a more children-geared exhibit, which I thought was cool because it was art depicting animals, mostly carvings/statues.


(Sorry that its blurry!) This one looks like some a crocodile with those sharp teeth, yes? But then taken from another angle...

Its some kind of sheep/mountain goat. Who knew they had such sharp teeth? I like the horns too. It doesn't say what animal this is but it does say that it was made by the Ejagham peoples of Nigeria.

COW!

Here's a better picture.

This one is my favorite. It is a Cow! Who doesn't like cows, especially with their pink tongues? Also cows are extremely important, as they play a larger role than just being cattle. "The west African buffalo or bush cow is a wild animal, powerful and possibly dangerous. Carvings of this animal into large community-owned slit gongs that can sound alerts and gather men armed to fight indicate the buffalo's power can be harnessed for the good of the community. The buffalo is often a symbol of a ruler or his enforcers." See, I knew cows were cool.

This is a picture of the Smithsonian Castle, which was right next door. We did not go see it but I thought it was worth adding. It currently houses all the administrative offices of the Smithsonian but before, it used to be the home of the curator of the Smithsonian, correct me if I am wrong.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was boring in comparison.

Mini-rant

hold up, hold up. I have a mini rant, one of the few drawbacks of living in DC. If you are under 21, it is hard to go to bars/clubs. The important part to remember is that after work, many bars and clubs have a happy hour from anywhere from 5-10 I would say. And you know who goes to those happy hours? People! And you know why that is important? NETWORKING!!! How can I network in DC if I can't even get in? Its not like I have a burning desire to get in because I want to drink.

Even if you're not networking, just going to dance, from ballroom, salsa, blues, and in the club, you can't really get in, except if they have certain over-18 nights. Basically, DC is not a very friendly under-21 city. It's fine if you want to do the whole look at the monuments, visit museums, explore our historical past (which I'm not nocking, as apparently a lot of the museums are free!) but still. Give us under-21 year olds, especially the 20 years old, a break.

This time, I am quite late on the postings, but hey, things happen. Also, I figure that I'll be one day late for every post, as things tend to happen in the evening/night, so its best to report them the next day.

So lets see, what happened on..I really have no clue what today is so.... OK This post is for Wednesday!

So nothing much happened on Wednesday. We had a Congressional Black Caucus luncheon, which was nice.

The only thing I remember, was during my lunch break, I wandered around the area near the Rayburn Building (where we meet most of the time) and I took a bunch of pics of the surrounding area.

this is what the Capitol Building looks like regularly: (generic picture)



The first two are of the Capitol Building, front and back.


The one with the trees reminded me of Scripps. The Capitol Building would look right at home on Scripps campus or visa versa, I think.

The next is the small fountain found in the front part of the Capitol Building:



This is a more scenic view of that small fountain, with the Washington Monument in the background.



But what are those things in the water? Ducks, thats right!



Its a regular zoo here in DC. There a bunch of squirrels, even ones that come up and beg for food.



I'm surprised I haven't seen any stray dogs. Next thing you know, we'll see Riot-Dog in town!



This is another fountain with a shot of the Capital Building in back. I particularly like the lion head faucets or whatever you call them on the fountain. Interesting architectural touch.