Week 1

DC Arrival

Saturday

I arrived to Washington D.C.! It was an exciting day where all of the CAMP interns met each other for the first time and began to familiarize ourselves with the area that will be our home for the next few weeks. My first impression, I noticed the walkability of the area. Everything is close by and walking distance away. It was enjoyable to walk to a restaurant for dinner and the weather was incredible. It was chilly and windy. I enjoyed the day walking around and becoming familiar with the city!

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A Day of Fun

Sunday

I started off Sunday with a nice walk to get breakfast bagels with my new CAMP friends. I enjoyed trying new things. For today, I decided to try the salmon bagel. It was not my cup of tea, but I still ate it. It was fun joking about how I like trying new things, yet I usually do not like what I try. After all of the food and giggles, we headed to buy groceries and apartment needs. It was an adventure learning how to use the metro. I am still a little confused about it, but I am sure I will get the hang of it with due time. By the time we finished shopping, we were hungry again.

Good thing the CHCI orientation awaited us, and they had food. On the menu were fries, grilled chicken, fried chicken, burgers, and other items. CHCI also provided aguas frescas, which I appreciated. During mealtime, we had the opportunity to meet the CHCI interns and network with them. During the meeting, we had to practice introducing ourselves. I realized that I needed to improve my introduction. I forgot to include my internship office placement. Nonetheless, we live, and we learn. At the end of the meeting, I felt energized enough to join the group that wanted to go to the symphony that was happening at the U.S. Capitol.

We were all so excited to get to listen to instrumental music and visit Capitol Hill. First, we walked around Capitol Hill, and it was gorgeous. The view was incredible because it was in the evening, and it was windy. To top it off we got to see the Washington Monument. The walk there felt long because we had walked so much prior to this. The night view was definitely worth it!!!

Due to all of the waling, unfortunately, we did not make the symphony because we arrived late and there was no more entry. We all still had fun and took amazing pictures!

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The National Mall is Not a "Shopping" Mall

Monday

Today was such a beautiful and nice day. My new CAMP friends and I started the day with a nice stroll to the National Mall. At first, I thought the National Mall was a bunch of shopping stores. I was ready to buy stuff with my grocery bag. Little did I know that the National Mall is a stretch of historical monuments. When I found out about this, I felt a little silly. I was still excited to explore!! We started off by visiting the Lincoln Memorial. When I saw the Lincoln statue, I was in awe. The monument was huge!!

After taking some funny pictures, we went to see the Washington Monument. Seeing it in the daylight was very different. I noticed the color of the bottom of the monument was different compared to the top. I learned that due to weather conditions, the color of the monument changed. After this, we headed to see other monuments such as the World War II Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Monument, etc. My favorite was the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. I enjoyed reading through the quotes. After this, we were all hungry, so we went and got some food!

After lunch, we headed towards the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center to get a tour. It was amazing to be able to see historical art pieces and learn more about the Senate. Being able to see the Apotheosis of Washington in person was an amazing experience! I enjoyed the tour, then went and visited the gift shop. I didn't buy anything because none of the items appealed to me. I do want to see the monuments at sunrise.

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Our Break Comes to an End

Tuesday

Our first day of CHCI was today. I had to dress professionally. We received our HEP/CAMP and CHCI pins. During the day, we had multiple presenters. We learned about the importance of leadership and how to develop it. We also experienced group activities and partner activities where we developed our introduction of ourselves with each other. Additionally, we all had an opportunity to learn from each other through a show and tell activity. Each of us had an opportunity to share an item that represents us. I shared a booklet of Tokyo, Japan and how this booklet has impacted me. It was nice feeling comfortable sharing my item with a large group and getting to know about others.

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Latinos are Powerful

Wednesday

Today was an informative day. I visited the National Museum of American History, where I learned more about my heritage and how it intertwines with American History. This day was special because we had the opportunity to get an exclusive tour before the museum opened. I was also able to see a printing press and got to see pop art with my friends from HEP/CAMP. I saw an original outfit from my favorite singer, Selena Quintanilla. Apart from this, I saw other cool art. After this, we headed to CHCI programming, where we learned about the importance of networking. We also met our professor for the summer. The professor had an activity to learn about us by asking about our favorite holiday. I liked her enthusiasm and could tell that she has so much to offer. Once CHCI programming was over, I went with one of my HEP/CAMP friends to Whole Foods. At the end of our grocery shop, all of the HEP/CAMP interns got together to cook some tacos.

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Networking Day

Thursday

Today I took my professional headshot! I was able to take my professional headshot in front of the United States Capitol. It was so much fun interacting with my peers while we waited to take all of our portraits. I learned that one of the girls in the program is my friend's cousin. We were both in shock to learn this. We thought, "What a small world." To continue, the photographer was patient and took great photos. It took some time to take our pictures, but after we finished, we headed to a room inside the Capitol where we ate lunch. On the way, an individual who worked on the hill escorted us. We went underground, and he said, "This is where they put the bad interns." My friends just looked at each other and laughed.

After lunch, a CHCI alum shared about their experience, and we had more time to network. Everyone was so inspiring! I received so much insight to prepare me to work on the hill. I found it especially nice that I met someone from my hometown, and we were able to connect.