J'aime Voyager: March 2009

Howdy!

I’ve now been working in DC for a little over two months! Last time I wrote, I had just completed capitol tour training. Since then, I’ve given eight tours to a total of 52 people. My first tour (if you can imagine) was to 16 employees of the British Embassy in DC!

My seventh weekend in DC, I met two co-workers, Congressman Carter and his wife Erika at the Washington National Cathedral to hear the Round Rock Community Choir perform. It was so much fun! I also got to take my first picture with Congressman Carter after the concert.

Another notable experience I have had in the past month was getting to go to a joint session of Congress! One of our staff members was kind enough to give me a ticket to go hear Prime Minister Gordon Brown speak. I was able to recognize Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry on the house floor during the session. The only bad thing was that I had a terrible time paying attention because of my excitement! Every once in a while I would realize how far away my mind was, and would pull it back and concentrate on the speech for a while before my excitement would take over again.

I’ve gone to three congressional hearings in the past month. These are meetings where committees discuss and hear witnesses speak for or against new legislation. It’s always interesting to hear the questions the congressmen ask the witnesses after their testimony. I’ve also gone to several briefings. Briefings are sponsored by groups, so they are more one-sided than hearings, and give presentations to encourage funding or new legislation for the group’s interests.

Here are pictures of what I’ve been spending my weekends doing!