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Adventures Out There

Writer's picture: Juan Diego GonzálezJuan Diego González

Updated: Jul 17, 2024

Tuesday: June 18th, 2024

Today was the day that Michelle and I were going to give our presentation to the CEO of LULAC, so I was up bright and early getting my suit on! I was also going a bit more formal as Domingo Garcia, President of LULAC, was going to be coming to the office from Texas. I'm just glad that our presentation was set for before he arrived, because I couldn't imagine having to do it with the added pressure of it being our first interaction! When the time came, Michelle and I went into the conference room and did our thing! Our ideas, points, and arguments flowed together like water down a stream! We had the CEO engaged and attentive to the issue that we were highlighting, and received insightful feedback on how to get more information to delve into the topic even more!


After finishing, I went to start working on the fact sheets that I had been assigned last week. The office was very hectic as the convention was quickly approaching, but when Domingo arrived it was almost like time froze. The whole office was waiting in the conference room as he walked in, and with an immense presence he delivered a brief but very welcoming intro speech. He was extremely courteous, but got to work soon after arriving. However, the rest of the day for me was spent scrolling through information! After work I got home and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed!

 
Wednesday: June 19th, 2024

Today we had the opportunity of being able to explore the celebration of the Juneteenth national holiday! There were different groups having events and people walking all over the city with shirts representing African American culture with pride! The other interns and I wanted to be able to go to one of the many celebrations that was happening and settled on going to one in a place that we'd yet to explore. We chose an event that was happening in Anacostia, and met up to get on the train there. After arriving, we noticed that the sides of buildings were covered with murals and artwork depicting African American people and culture! It was beautiful to see the city with such vibrant colors, and even more so because of the culture that was emulating through them. The event was small but had many stalls with information, I was sad that we weren't able to get any food because we had gotten there earlier in the day.


After we left, we decided to find a place to eat. I recommended Henry's Soul Cafe, as I had heard about it from reading online. We got an Uber to the restaurant and ran into some CHCI interns who were also there looking for food. After getting our meals, we left to go eat at a nearby park. When I tell you that I devoured that plate, I DEVOURED that plate! It was so good!!! But after eating everything that I had ordered, the itis hit me like a train! Joan and I took the train back to the dorms, stopping at the farmers market that was nearby. We got paletas, after which we went back to our rooms and I proceeded to take another extended nap!


 
Thursday: June 20th, 2024

Today I got to go visit Cindy and Esmeralda at the Capitol, as Esme was providing a testimony at a Pell Grant event! After leaving work I took the metro to one of the Senate buildings, where I then watched the presentation that they gave on the Pell Grant. Esmeralda gave an AMAZING testimony, speaking on the real experiences of what college life is like for many students, and how this grant has impacted her. After a few more questions and talking points, the event ended and Esme needed to go back to her job. I, however, asked Cindy if she could take me to her office building so that I could go visit her and a friend from CHCI. We went through a maze of tunnels and walkways, and there was even an underground little trolley car!! I got to my friend's representative's office where I was given the grand tour of the entire office (it was like 4 rooms total lol), and was given what seemed like an endless supply of Milky Way bars! After chatting with her coworkers, I went to go find Cindy but she had already left! I was able to meet up with her at the metro and we rode home from there. Then after getting home I got out of my suit and tie, to get some rest!

 
Friday: June 21st, 2024

This morning was a mess! I had closed my room door after waking up, but the door was still locked! I tried my best to open it but it was already getting close to nine so I called GW and they provided me with the address for the Key Center. So, in chanclas and my pajamas, I made my way to the Key Center to get the key to my room door. After walking all the way back to my dorm, I get the key and turn the lock. And to my surprise, IT DIDN'T WORK!! So I had to go all the way back the Key Center and had to have the woman who was working come with me to my dorm room to unlock it with her key! It was a very humbling experience, to say the least...! By the time I got to work it was already 11:30, and the rest of the day seemed to fly by. After a very, VERY, long day, I closed my door (this time making sure it was unlocked) and went to bed.

 
Saturday: June 22nd, 2024

This morning, I went on a quest for a haircut! I had met someone on the train who's cut I thought was really good and got his barber's information. My appointment was at 11:30 in the morning, but the problem was that the barber was in Maryland! I'm not one to shy away from a little exploration, so I hopped on the metro and started off. After getting to the last stop on the red line, I got an Uber to go all the way to Beltsville. Here I was dropped off at a huge building complex, and it is also where I found my first problem! I didn't know what room or floor the barber was on!! He wasn't responding to my texts so I wandered around aimlessly for a bit to no avail.


After seeing some people walking out with their hair cut I asked where their barber was located, and after going to the 4th floor I followed the sound of music to find a barber tucked away in a far corner of the office. But it turns out that he wasn't the person that I was looking for! He did however, provide me with the location of another barber on the 7th floor! I made my way all the way up to the top to find out that he was, in fact, also not my barber! But thankfully, in the room next door was the man I was looking for! His name was Xavier, he came from Nicaragua, and he also was very good at cutting hair! Once I got back home, some interns from CHCI wanted to go to the pool for a bit so I ended up tagging along. And after having gone to the pool I ended up ordering an entire pizza for myself to eat for dinner! After which, I promptly fell asleep!



 
Sunday: June 23rd, 2024

This was my rest day for the week, and also my prep day! Tomorrow I leave for Las Vegas! I'm so excited that all day I've been getting my things ready to be able to be prepared for all the things that I'm going to be doing out there! I was mostly cleaning and packing, but I leave to the airport at 5am so I decided that today I'd cut it short and go to be early!


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