An update from DC

It's been a while (to say the least), so an update if you will. First, I must warn you that this post will be blissfully and wonderfully unedited, unrevised, and at times grammatically incorrect as I am on my one-year sabbatical from academic writing :o)

I feel like I'm finally settled into DC, my job, and life enough to move out "on my own!" I spent a good chunk of the summer traveling back to Iowa for both planned and unplanned trips surrounding weddings, funerals, birthdays, and the State Fair, and on the weekends I didn't fly west, I'd tour the East Coast (NYC, Philly) or host visitors in DC or find a new mountain to hike or river to raft - I absolutely loved it all! BUT now that's it's fall, I'm feeling less like a tourist and more like a real person who gets exhausted trying to see all the sites all the time! I've been living with a relative in Montgomery Co, MD, who is absolutely wonderful - I couldn't have asked for a better housemate and feel very comfortable here, but the commute is wearing on me (it takes less time to drive from Ames to Des Moines, than it does to get from my house to my office no matter whether I drive, bus, or metro, even though it's only half the distance), so as of yesterday I found an apartment in a rowhouse on the Hill and I'm excited to sign the lease (mainly because it's month to month, so still manageable with my uncertain plans). It's also the same neighborhood as a number of my friend and coworkers, which will make me feel more like I live in a community and not another state (to be fair, at the moment, I do).

I attended a regional conference on International Education in Richmond, VA, last weekend. I really enjoyed learning more about the field and found that I was most drawn to the sessions regarding advising students in an on-campus setting (no surprise there - I really enjoyed working in the Study Abroad Center last year and doing the peer advising). I feel like my knowledge of Iowa State - the academic process, the people, the locations abroad - would enable me to be quite effective if I worked at ISU right now, certainly a lot more effective than I am here in this position in DC, but I am very happy here. It was strange to attend a conference and 1) simply attend without being in charge of anything (I liked being "in the know" at World Food Prize and Lectures) and 2) not know anyone or have any network established yet - rest assured that I'm fixing that!

All in all, life is good. I'm trying to take full advantage of the city's offerings while I can - from theater events to museum exhibits to the night class I took for the past two months on Catholic Social Teaching and Immigration Policy taught by a Georgetown professor. I think my next agenda item will be to join Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Stay posted...and for more regular communication, email is best!