Summer!

Well, I finished my first year of grad school with a bang...

First, I was offered a teach assistant position next year. I'll be TA'ing the undergraduate Introduction to Public Policy class. This means I'll attend all their classes as well as lead two discussion sessions. Cannot wait!

Second, I was named Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Policy Review. It's the policy journal at the public policy school. I've assembled my amazing staff and we have big plans for next year. I'm totally pumped. We plan to host a national conference, prominent female policy makers, and produce a couple of top-knotch issues.

Third, I was offered a research position with the Tim Kaine campaign. For political neophytes, he is the former governor of Virginia and former chair of the DNC. He is running to fill the empty seat currently held by Jim Webb. I have been working for the campaign one day a week since after spring break when I decided I needed to work a campaign and why not try out working for the guy whose bumper sticker I had on the back of my car? :) I love the people I work with and am hoping to stay on part-time through the end of the campaign in November.

Cville is great. The drive to Richmond every day is easy and I've found a nice gf on the campaign who I crash with on the nights that I can't drive home to Cville.

I also found that I can 'borrow' the pool next store where one of my classmates used to live. So perfect.

In other news, I quit my side-job...no more traveling! It was wearing me out. Glad I can now really enjoy summer.

Blooming and Booming

I have never spent a Spring on east coast until now. Now, being in the middle of it, I think everyone should spend a Spring here. It is the most gorgeous season I have ever witnessed. Nevermind the changing color of the leaves in the Fall. That was pretty but it was nothing compared to the blooms that surprise me everyday to the point where I constantly have my iphone out snapping pictures and sending them to my grandma.

Besides the blooms, it has been an incredibly busy season at Batten too. First, our Congress class was offered the opportunity to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He was incredibly candid and sharp.

Second, our Congress class did a day on the Hill where we met with senior staffers, lobbyists, and a Congressman. We talked politics, process, procedure, and anything else we threw at them. All of our meetings were interesting and informative. Our meeting with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's office even ended with us scoring a visit to the Speaker's balcony.

Third, the Clinton Global Initiative invited a group of Batten students to attend their annual conference  in DC. President Clinton was there all weekend speaking to us. Usher made an appearance. Chelsea Clinton moderated a panel. And, the event ended with Jon Stewart and President Clinton speaking to us for over an hour about development. It was a great event.

Spring Break/ The DR & Panama City

I took extensive notes on my whole trip to the DR on my iPhone only to accidentally erase ALL of them the minute I got back to the States. So, instead of attempting to retype the whole thing I will attempt a bullet point summary:

• Arrived in Santo Domingo after an 8 hour flight which took us through Panama
• Taxi driver Kelly knows buys us "welcome" beers.
• Go to the Monumento de San Francisco for awesome Dominican dancing and Latin music
• Wake up and go to Peace Corps office- eat delicious mango
• Take a bus to Kelly's site
• Two motorcycle taxis take us to her site--I figure out where to put my hands on a 70 yr old man
• Tour Kelly's site--reminds me of El Sal (everything does) 
• Eat Dominican food--lots of yucca, egg plant (La Bandera)
• Give out gifts to Kelly's friends-- meet Americans learning about the water filter project
• Get haircut and nails done Caribe-style
• Leave Kelly's site and visit Joe Kennedy's Peace Corps project- 27 Charcos-- Waterfall tour
• Take buses to Cabarete, big beach town
• Check into sketchy hotel
• Hit the beach and drink happy hour beers at the local Irish bar
• Go back to shower for dinner and Kelly has discovered thirty dollars missing. I tell her we will find it in the morning
• Next morning, I discover I am also missing a thousand pesos. We figure out the maid ripped us off. We explain to hotel owner that now that we've paid $60 on the room instead of the original $30 we don't think we should pay. She agrees.
• We hit the beach for an intense day of tanning before we leave-- its overcast off and on.
• We get way too much sun and Kelly looks bright pink
• Take a bus to Capital- at hotel I discover that I have a sunburn for the first time in my life. Kelly passes out in the lobby from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
• Plane to Panama the next morning. We lay over for 8 hours so we decide to explore Casco Viejo.
• While looking for ATM we are offered a free tour of the Palacio Bolivar where Simon Bolivar convened his Latin Congress against US Manifest Destiny.
• Eat lunch at the Fish Market--yummy
• Plane back home to US

PICTURES

Vocab

Guagua- Micro (ES)- Van

Si (deep voice)

guapo-enojada (ES)- angry

colmada-comedor (ES)-restaurant

Bola-drunk (ES)- hitchhiking

Longhorns are everywhere

I've noticed this before but today was exceptional. On the way to and from the gym today, which is a mere mile from my house, I saw THREE silver Longhorn decals on cars. I did note that all three had Virginia license plates. I bet they are mostly grad students like me but it is interesting...until you consider that UT graduates thousands of students every year and then it doesn't seem so implausible to see THREE Longhorn decals in Charlottesville, VA.

Virginia Winter

I lucked out this year. Winter has been very mild and allowed me to adjust without completely freaking out about the cold. It's pretty chilly right now but we still haven't seen any significant snowfall. I consider this a good thing since the only thing that snow is good for is skiing and I haven't had the time to do that anyways. Although we did go snowtubing at Wintergreen which was pretty cool.

School is busy, especially with 18 hours on my plate. And, I spent a lot of the month of January doing work for my job. My bosses came into town on a speaking tour at Whole Foods and I was their guide. The month wore me out. Not to mention, the second weekend out I had my purse stolen at a popular college bar. The purse had my new camera in it and Peace Corps passport. It had my wallet and a million other little things but those things were the biggest. The camera was obviously a financial pain but losing the PC passport with all of the stamps of my wonderful journeys would have been sad too. Luckily, I woke up at 8 am and immediately started making calls. I left a message for the bar just in case it turned up...I didn't really think it would but I thought it was worth a try. I soon found out that whomever had stolen my purse had gone to a convenience store 5 doors down from the bar and bought $50 worth of something. Then, they went to Qdoba 3 doors the other direction and used my other credit card to buy a late-night snack. College student? I think so.  A couple hours after I filed my police report, the bar called. They had my purse! I was soooo happy. I asked if my camera was in it. They checked the random little pocket it was stored in and confirmed it was. Thank G-d for random little pockets thieves don't think to look in. So, my wallet was gone but I got my passport and camera back. Not bad.

Since then, I have been laying low doing lots of school work. We are overwhelmed with group projects this semester so those meetings take up much of my time. I did go wine tasting yesterday for the first time. It was great. I went with a small group of girls to Keswick, Jefferson, and Blenheim (Dave Matthew's) Winery. Dave's place was hands-down the prettiest. All the wine we tasted was really good but his views and the tasting room were phenomenal. Even at this time of year when everything is dead, it was beautiful.

Other than that, just working and then working off my stress with frequent trips to the gym and hot tub. One of the best things about UVA is definitely the giant hot tub next to the Olympic-size pool, right near my favorite ellipticals.

Future events: Dominican Republic for spring break! I'm pumped. Then, going to the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference in DC. And, of course, waiting to hear about internships. I'm hoping to wrap up that search sooner than later...

First Semester Wrap-up

Wrote this for the Batten Student Blog...I guess I'll post this to my own blog too...

I just finished my first semester at Batten…my first semester of grad school. My best friend asked me after my last final if I felt more like a “master.” Obviously, it was completely sarcastic but looking back I definitely have learned a lot. I KNOW my writing has gotten tons better (no blog writing doesn't count...this is casual). I definitely know how to engage someone on the economic wisdom of certain policy interventions. Before this program, I definitely did not know what paternalistic altruism is or why I should care about it. I’ve learned how to write a history-based opinion editorial. I always enjoyed reading them but actually feel like I could write a solid one.  I met with some of the top officials in the immigration policy world through the podcast series I recorded for my "Changing Context of Policy" class.  Batten sent me to an Edward Tufte workshop on graphical presentations that was amazing. It’s been sort of a whirlwind.

I love Charlottesville. I love Virginia. It’s like nowhere else I have ever lived. After growing up in Texas, Americorps VISTA in East Los Angeles, and Peace Corps in El Salvador, UVA is quite a change but a nice one. I love the smallness of this town. I can be anywhere in five minutes but it still has everything I want. I love the cool weather, beautiful leaves, crisp air. I can get to DC in two hours…a trip I have made at least 15 times this semester. I go for work or we went up at least 5 times for class projects but every time it’s so easy. I absolutely love DC. But, I am always glad to get back to Cville. First, I will likely spend a significant amount of time after grad school living in DC, so I am not in a rush. Second, it’s so much more affordable to live here than DC! Third, DC would be incredibly distracting to me if I lived there during school!!

Nerdy as it sounds, I cannot wait until next semester. At the Holiday Party, I met the professor teaching the Congress class in the spring. He’s a super-Hill veteran and totally convinced me my education will be incomplete without his class. Hilarious. I have never had a professor talk me into enrolling in their class before. I am also taking a Spanish to English Translation class, which I am super pumped about. What I am not so pumped about is the prospect of 18 hrs!! I intentionally took NO electives my first semester in order to re-learn how to manage my time. I feel like I can handle some electives now. We’ll see!

Winter break will be focused on applying to internships, working on some Virginia Policy Review stuff, and planning an event for Batten Council. Should be a busy break!

Calling Home

Just called home to El Salvador. I had been putting it off for months, dreading what I would hear. My abuela in El Salvador was on the verge of dying last time I called down so that played into a big part of the delay. I finally called mostly because I needed to get the number of one of my girlfriends who walked to the States shortly before I left. She is living in NYC now and I want to check on her when I head up to the city in a few weeks.

In El Salvador, phones get ruined, lost, or stolen all the time. The average PCV goes through about 3 phones in 2 years so you can imagine how many phones the people there go through. I heard before I left El Salvador that they were about to run out of phone numbers. The cell phones there are mostly pre-paid and you don't register them so companies have no idea which numbers are inactive. I guess they are gonna have to figure it out soon.

Anyways, suffice it to say I had a hard time getting a hold of my host mom because none of her phone numbers worked anymore. I did manage to locate her son's phone number though and got through. Happily, her family is doing great including her mother. But, the women who gave me Cleo and was always helpful to me while I lived in my community had died of sudden heart attack. It made me so sad to hear. She was an awesome lady. I lived in the same house with her son and daughter-in-law so I saw her all the time. And, of course, I loved her because she gave me one of the little joys of my life.

It's weird to call back to El Salvador. The world there doesn't stop moving just because I am not there but somehow it feels like it should. I do want to get back if only to hang out with my host mom. I miss her. A lot. I miss the pace of life too. Its horrible to say that now because when you are there the pace is exactly what can drive you insane.