I’ve seen my fair share of amazing fireworks and been to a handful of crazy 4th celebrations but seriously, none top being in DC. If all you want to do is visit DC, try to get your travel bug out during this time of the summer. The whole city has been teeming with interesting people, cool (free) activities, and this buzz of energy.
On the actual Independence Day I woke up early to try to get a spot on the National Mall. I’d heard over and over again by my supervisor at work, residents of DC, and professors that you “need to get there really early to get a good spot.” By really early, they did NOT mean 10:30, which is when I got there, they really meant 3:00 pm. Whoops. But by getting there really REALLY early, I got a prime spot right by the WW II memorial under a tree and napped all day in the sun to the sounds of the Navy Band practicing for their concert later that night. They definitely were trying to tailor to their younger audiences – playing Glee songs (so covering cover songs?) and hokey sing-a-long classics in addition to the standard patriotic tunes. I, obviously, knew every word to every song and loudly sang along, much to my area’s dismay I’m sure. Favorite quote of the day was said by my immediate neighbor on our little patch of grass: “Wait, don’t we have a black president? Where’s the SOUL man?! None of this Miley shit.” BAHHAHA.
WW II memorial….Duh. Had to do it.
After napping for probably six hours and eating my weight in Wheat Thins and Goldfish the fireworks started. Oh. My. God. It was INSANE. It was kind of short, but it was amazing. Below is a pic my friend took…
At that point, all of my friends and I were amped up and fully rested, so we began screaming all these patriotic things, my personal favorite being the hick’esque “‘MMMMMERICA” shouted my my North Carolina’ian roommate Blythe. But eventually this resulted in singing the Star Spangled Banner with everyone around us. Pretty sweet. It reminded me of what our campus was like after the election – everyone breaking out into patriotic chants and songs. After the fireworks the thousands of people watching them all stormed the streets trying to get transportation home. It seriously felt something like a disaster area, kind of reminded me of a zombie movie with everyone walking tired mobbing the streets.
Aside from fun celebrations, DC has been going well. My internship has been going well – I’ve really gotten a taste of the non-profit world and the process of applying for grants and such. Yesterday we had a pizza lunch where we exchanged stories about encounters with bugs and rats…yep. Unfortunately for me, I’m having a rodent-filled summer (as it sounds like John has too). Story time…
Our apartment here has been infested with mice. Yep. Apparently this a DC-wide problem, but the apartments here in G’town have a particularly annoying problem. We’ve been given these sticky pads to “catch” them but we’re not sure what to do with them when they’re stuck because they’re still alive and squealing, so oftentimes we get a boy across the hall to rip them off the pad and let them go outside. So they usually come back, obviously. We’ve also recently discovered that they are entering through our oven…
So. I was baking cookies one night to sell at a fundraiser when I start hearing this insanely loud, tragic squealing noise. I immediately recognized that this was the mouse squeals and proceeded to scream myself. I literally thought I was incinerating a mouse. I knew that they come into our apartment through the oven that was on at 350 at the time and was SO nervous I was lighting a mouse on fire. I also was scared if I opened the oven, the mouse would come jumping out because mice jump as a sign of defense (they can jump to a FOOT high….I’ve seen it). I slowly opened the oven and nothing happened, but the squealing didn’t stop.
Later we realized it was stuck to a sticky pad below the oven. THANK GOD. I would not have known what to do with a burnt mouse in my oven…
Anyhoo, some adventures from DC for your reading enjoyment! It’s been a good week, minus mouse mishaps…
Until later…
