Now living in Washington, DC :)

Hi everyone,

I know it's been a while since I have written a substantial update and there's a lot going on. I moved to Washington, DC one week ago today. I came to work at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies which is part of the National Defense University. They have a website so you can look it up if you'd like more information. I signed on for three months and am hoping that I will either find something permanent with them or a related office or something else here in DC. So we'll see what happens, I am sure it will be a lot of work, but I am looking forward to it. For those of you who don't know, I am staying with a family right in the center of DC and helping them with their young baby. The baby is five months old and they also have a three year old.

Before I left Arizona for DC, my best friend Nicole had a stroke. We all went to the Renaissance Festival and had a lovely dinner at my favorite thai restaurant in Tempe and the next day I found out she had bleeding in her brain. She is still in the hospital in Phoenix and will probably be there for quite some time to come, but she is doing much better than before. I even got to talk to her for a minute today which was a wonderful thing to hear her voice. She will be spending her birthday in the hospital next week so that's really quite a shame and I encourage anyone who would like to send her gifts that would cheer her up or help keep her occupied to do so! And if not, please keep her in your prayers, she's going to have a tough road ahead of her I am sure, and it's already begun.

Happy birthday to my favorite person in the world, my grandma. I am so happy and lucky that I was able to spend so much time with her in Arizona before coming to DC and we got to have almost the entire family together for a really nice lunch to celebrate her 75th just a few days before my departure.

My first day of work was yesterday and it was really jam packed. I got into the office a bit before 9 after navigating the metro and walking to work without getting lost, which is quite an accomplishment for me. The day was full of meetings and getting to know everyone at the Center. We found out in the afternoon that President Obama would be giving his first speech on the crisis in Libya where I am working! So I got to sit and watch the address live from just a few feet away. It was definitely an unexpected and nice surprise to be able to witness something like that on my first day on the job. I think I am going to enjoy the people and the work with the Africa Center. I will keep you all updated.

That's about all from here... I hope everyone is doing well. I am going to enjoy the cherry blossom festival this weekend! Lots of love from DC.