back problems, tornados, heat, no power.

So these past couple weeks have been really crazy. So to recap, I had went to the doctor for my back, got muscle relaxers and pain medicine, does me no good. I find a chiropractor to go to, got xrays, they showed that my hips were unleveled, my sacrum and spine are out of alignment, leaning more to the left than center. also my right leg is longer than my left. All these are previous problems I have had this year, I just haven't been to get an adjustment in almost 3 months I would say. Also, the facets (muscles and nerves surrounding veterbrae) are inflammed. So I get one adjustment, but they tell me I need to come 3 times a week, which it is much more expensive here, like everything else, really not feasible. So my directors here at work recommended me to a physical therapist that works with dancers. They offered to help me cover the costs because it is very expensive. So I finally went to the physical therapist yesterday, I was there for 2 hours. It was very relaxing and she was able to release some of the tension and pain I was having. So far, my body has felt much better and I finally feel more relaxed and comfortable. Today I finally got to move, I went to a 3 mile run/walk on a bike trail that follows the metro, I am only like 2 miles from the Capitol, which I could see on the trail. so that is the short version, it has been a very frustrating and overwhelming process.

Now, this weekend I had a show to dance in. The concept was situations and things you would see at a club/concert so the audience stood around us, like an actual club. It was really fun, unfortunately, our show on Sunday got canceled because of the storm that came through. or tornado really..I was at my house and I walk outside and see the sky is dark and cloudy, so it will rain..no big deal. I walk across the street to Dance Place and about 5 min. later there is tons of rain, wind, and things flying everywhere. It didn't last very long at all, but afterwards, there were tons of trees down, powerline down, trash cans flew everywhere, fences down, and so sunday night we had no power and it was really hot...over 200,000 people lost power so we had heard we may not get power back until the end of the week but luckily the next day we got it back, our food was saved, and we had ac again! Last night I went to eat at Chipotle with some of my roommates and staff, got a massive burrito which was so good then we got frozenyo! (frozen yogurt but like soft serve ice cream, tastes the same really, just fat free) which is really amazing, I love that you can pick as many flavors as you want and put what toppings you want. your cost just depends on how much it weighs, and the hot fudge is free. I highly recommend it. so that is the latest update, I only have 3 and half weeks left which is exciting, I am also touring the White House Friday ;)

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Address

So I have been asked by a couple people for my address here so I shall give it you! If you feel led to write or send something. It is 3220 8th St. NE Washington, DC 20017 (this address is for letters only) If you want to send a package, the address is 3225 8th st NE Washington, DC 20017.

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Halfway point.

So I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote. I will start with 4th of July weekend. My mom and grandma got to come visit and see me which was a lot of fun. We spent as much time as we could in 3 days to see all the sights in DC. It was really tiring and exhausting, but we did a lot. I experienced my first Independence day parade and DC fireworks, which actually we thought we kinda disappointing and thought Nashville is actually better. I am still working on getting all those pics up on facebook. Since then I have been just doing my intern hours mainly and hanging around at home. This week has been the hardest week to say the least. I have reached the point where I hate being in the city, I am desperate for a change of scenery, ready to see some land and animals and not just buildings! I haven't had sweet tea since I've been here, the one time I did have "sweet tea" I could barely drink it was so bad. All the mexican places here are tex mex, which is okay but I miss the mexican back home. Gotta have my queso dip! I really miss being home in the south. Things were getting better on Monday when 2 of my roommates and I went to take a hip-hop class at a dance studio across town. It was really fun and we just had a good time. I discovered some classes I would like to take and even some free ones this upcoming week that would be free. However, yesterday I unfortunately I hurt my lower back really bad in dance class. It is frustrating, I was warm and we had been dancing for an hour and 15 min. We were doing improv and I went to bend over, then I felt a sudden charge of sharp pain everywhere in my lower back. It was a displacing feeling, I had never felt so much pain to the point I was crying it hurt so bad. I laid on the floor the rest of class, managed to get back across to my house after class, took advil and called my chiropractor from home. I basically strained my back really bad, I have been resting and icing it and feeling miserable. I hate being stuck inside laying around and it has made doing things very difficult. I can't really bend at all so it is frustrating. I am hoping it heals quickly, I am supposed to be dancing in a show next weekend even though my chiropractor told me not to dance for awhile..it is a frustrating time but all I can do at this point is seek the Lord.

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2 and 1/2 weeks down

So not a whole has been going on since I wrote last, pretty much just been working in the office Mondays and Thursday and on Saturdays I studio manage. This past weekend I went to the Freer Gallery which has some artwork and stuff on Buddhism, Egypt, Japan, and culture stuff like that. Then I went to the Air and Space museum which was totally awesome. It had so much information in it that it was a little much to take in. It is 2 stories and it took about 2 and 1/2 hours to go through, probably could have stayed longer but my brain had all it could handle. It was really hot outside and of course lots of walking so I was really tired once I got back to my house. I ushered for a performance that night as well. Word dance theater was in town and did work based off Isadora Duncan's life which was pretty good and interesting. Sundays are quickly becoming my favorite days, they are so refreshing and God continually reminds me of the reasons I am here and that He is faithful. I went to church, this time I didn't have to walk 7 blocks out of the way! The sermon was exactly what I needed to hear and it was really encouraging. After service, they had a connection cafe for newcomers and provided us with pizza, fruit, salad, and cookies which were very good! I also met some people in the church as well as some of the staff. The best way to get to know people is through small groups and ironically enough, there is small group for dance and they will be doing some outreach to kids at a dance studio on National Dance Day so hopefully I will be able to do that. I also took a visit to the postal museum that day which was nice.
Last night, I went with some of the staff and interns to Georgetown cupcake, I had a salted caramel cupcake, man it was good :) TLC is actually about to premiere a show about them, called DC Cupcakes. I am excited for this weekend, mom and grandma will be arriving tomorrow night and we have plans to see a bunch of sights of course! I actually got us in for a tour at the Capitol so excited about that. I can't wait to see the fireworks either :) Good times ahead!

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A fun and slightly tiring weekend

Well a lot has been going on since I last wrote. I've been staying busy and enjoying life in this city. I'll start with Thursday night since that is where I left off. My director offered the interns a chance to go to a dance concert, Dance: Yes we can!, at the Landsburgh theatre which is a part of the Shakespeare theatre company. One of my room mates, Maddie and I decided to go. The show was really good and featured dance companies and ensembles from the D.C. area. It was a mix of comtemporary, modern, hip-hop, step, ballet, and other cultural dances such as african. I really enjoyed the performance and I also got to experience some of Chinatown. Before the show, Maddie and I got sushi and some ice cream to eat which was really good.

On Friday I got to sleep in and make some money! One of our staff here at Dance Place, has his own dance theatre company with his wife and needed someone to pick some people up from the metro to take them to the theatre because they had a show this weekend. So I made some money and saw the show for free! So I was most definitely happy about that.
I had to get up early Saturday to start my first day of studio managing. I came to discover there are a ton of things you have to do before the studio opens for the day. Lots of cleaning and setting things up before people arrive for dance classes in the morning/afternoon. Once things are all open and set up then people will come in for class and I learned how to sign them in for class and such. It was a lot to take in at first but I certainly like it a lot better than doing office hours. So I went in at 8:30 and got off around 12:30, had lunch, and walked down the street to the organic market close by and picked up a few things. I then got ready for the night. One of my other roommates, Courtney and I had planned to go see the crime and punishment museum and see some of the monuments at night with her sister who lives close by. The museum had a lot of interesting facts about criminals, crimes, serial killers, etc. It had some interactive parts to it as well, I think my favorite was probably scanning my fingerprints and then it printed them out on a card and told you why you were being "arrested". It told me I committed battery. haha anyways, after that we grabbed a bite to eat at Chipotle then headed down a few blocks to see the monuments. We saw the Washington monument, WWII memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. My feet were hurting pretty bad from all the walking! Then, after that Courtney and I decided to go meet up with 2 of the other interns in Adams Morgan which is the place to be. It is definitely the more party scene but we didn't stay long, hung out until they finished their dinner and listened to some karaoke then headed home because we were all really tired.

Finally Sunday! I decided to go to National Community Church that I discovered through googling. It has 5 locations and the one closest to me was union station, which is 2 metro stops away from me. So I got off at union station, had my map and directions in hand, when I looked it up online it looked really easy to find. Well, I had arrived at union station a little after 11:30 to make the 12pm service. I started walking and I got really confused as where to go, the walking directions didn't make sense to me and the map I had wasn't specific on the little side streets I was finding. I finally found some streets on the map I came to, finally realized that I had walked 7 blocks past the church :( of course it was quite hot today so I was sweating and my feet were hurting again. I finally found the right road and then the church which actually meets at a coffee shop. Luckily, I was only 10 min. late. The first floor is the coffee shop and then you walk downstairs to where service is. It isn't too big of a space which is probably one of the reasons why they have 4 services here. I really enjoyed the music and message. It was really contemporary and Christine Caine from Hillsong (church in Australia and a bunch of places in the world/popular worship band) spoke which was really good. Most of the sermons are from video since the church has 5 locations in D.C. I had filled out a connection card and when I got home I saw where they had already emailed me! So I thought that was pretty cool to have a response that fast. After church, I found out that the church is literally right next to union station...at least now I know! I also discovered a 3 story mall full of shops and food at union station! They have a tons of stores like Ann Taylor, Express, Barnes and Noble, starbucks, victoria's secret, chicos, white house black market, and a bunch more others. So I decided to look around for a bit and I need a part time job to make money for food and extra things to do so I thought this would be a good place. I was talking to a lady who worked in White House Black Market about why I was in D.C. who I later discovered was the manager. She was really nice and it came to find out she had taken some classes at Dance Place before a couple years ago. Soo before I left I wanted to see if they were hiring and so I got an application and I have an interview on Friday so hopefully that will work out! Well that is the most recent things going on, kinda long so I am proud if you have made it to the end of this entry haha.

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New things and frustrations

So the past two days I have actually started learning more about my job here. Yesterday I was able to take 3 dance classes, modern, jamican folk dance, and repertory/performance class. Needless to say, today my back is killin me and my legs and neck are sore as well. Oh the joys of not dancing in a month..I have to say, the jamican class was a workout! I haven't sweated like that in a dance class in awhile..it was pretty intense but fun all the same. For the repertory/performance class we are setting a piece based on the concept of a nightclub, it is really fun so far. I will get to perform in this towards the end of July which is exciting. Today was my first day to work in the office, I am quickly discovering that sitting all day staring at a computer screen and answering the phone is not where I would like to be. It got really boring entering stuff into the database but hopefully I will be able to do other random things that are more entertaining. tonight I am going to see a dance concert downtown at the shakespeare theatre so I am looking forward to that! tomorrow I have a free day and maybe I can figure out why my computer hasn't been working with our wireless in the house. this is my frustration haha and my computer is just doing psycho things oh well, ciao!

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I have arrived in D.C.!

So I finally arrived here in D.C. yesterday afternoon! When I got here I first went to the place I am interning at, Dance Place. I got to see the space and met some of the staff. Then, I went to the house I am living this summer which I luckily found out that I was not living in the house at Maryland which I was originally assigned to. I got to move to the house right across the street from Dance Place so that was very exciting since I do not have a car here. The house is like a townhouse, it has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I live downstairs while my other 3 roommates live upstairs. Some of the other interns were going downtown to the pride festival and invited me to come so I decided to tag along because I wanted to see some of the city and get used to getting around. Saw some interesting things at the festival but also saw where some museums were and places around town that I would like to visit. Then we went and got some italian ice at a place called Rita's then I ordered some chinese take out for dinner at a place down the street. So at the end of the day, I was exhausted from traveling and going around town. Today I slept in and then went to our staff meeting at noon to meet all the staff and try to learn what is happening around here. After that, I was able to take one of the staff's car to the grocery store to get some food, I had a map and it wasn't too far away so it was pretty easy to find. Tonight I went and took a modern class from our director which was fun, I haven't taken a modern class in forever so it was nice. I will probably be sore tomorrow because I haven't danced in a month soo we will see! tomorrow I have an intern meeting and I will probably take another dance class which will probably be another modern and salsa class! So that is all I have for now! ciao

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