Capital with a Kay: food

You're probably wondering why my post title is named after a fictitious city where fires can take place underwater and a sponge is best friends with a squirrel but it makes sense. Today getting off the train I just couldn't understand why the metro station smelt like seafood market.

"It is so stink!"

"It smells like fish", said Audriyana.

"I was think the same thing."

"I call Foggy Bottom Bikini Bottom because it smells like fish sometimes."

I thought that was so hilarious and told her I was going to name my post for the day that. It was the wittiest thing I heard all day and I'm mad I didn't think of that first. Gold.

Is it bad that I want to give D.C. some southern charm. And when I say "charm" I'm talking about a Wal-Mart. I understand it's more space in a city with a population of 50 but areas without a Wal-Mart are missing out. I had to shop in Target when I first got here. Target. I don't even shop in Target back home. Target is too rich for my blood but I'll make do.

I can remember last year when me and three other friends came to visit a friend who attends Howard (the HBCU that gets all the black celebrities and rap song name drops) and we were making fun of how "D.C. is sponsored by CVS." We were kind of ruthless, three to one, but the bus driver stepped in and let us know that the Chuckee Cheese, Wal-Mart, and other pharmacies were in other regions of the DMV area. I'm just saying is our nation capital too good for a Walgreens or Rite-Aid?

I'm still getting used to being charged 5 cents for a grocery bag. Can you imagine if that law was implemented back home. I can hear it now, "I wasn't stealing, I was putting it in my purse since y'all charging for groceries and the bags now." One time I stuffed my coconut oil, shea butter, body wash, and jar of honey in my purse because I honestly didn't need a bag but turned around and held my purse cautiously to not break the glass jars of honey or oil.

Oh let me just air this now since it keeps slipping my mind: I do not like Whole Foods (WF) and I'm borderline with Trader Joes (TJ). I really only like Trader Joes because it's cheaper than Whole Foods. WF is disgusting, I couldn't help but grimace as I walked down the aisles. Organic food just seems so..........bland. Everything about WF just yelled tasteless; I've been conditioned to Wal-Mart, Kroger and Piggly Wiggly too long! Why is there an aisle of grains? Like I can't believe people just munch on granola, flax seeds and nuts--unprocessed. See I'm that bad. I just wanted to get out of there. I ended up buying things I haven't ate in years--peanut butter and jelly. Some may say I sound ignorant to the healthy substitute that organic groceries that WF and TJ sell but this my opinion and I can say what I want. I spent like $30 and bought like six items. WTF. On top of that when I decided to make PB&J; I opened the jar and oil spilled out. "Oil separation is normal." Not only did the oil separate but the "smooth" peanut butter I brought had pieces of peanuts in them. Choosy moms choose JIFF and that's all I have to say about that.

Even though I vowed to never step foot in WF again, I do want to get on a healthier track with the food that I put into my body and definitely when I have children of my own.

Something good came out of the organic groceries I bought: four days of pasta! I decided to make a seafood pasta on Monday and figured half the packet of noodles should be enough for one person. I was so wrong lol. I had enough pasta to feed six people. I was eating pasta for lunch and dinner for the next three days after that. Monday I had seafood pasta, Tuesday I had tilapia with a tomato sauce based pasta,Wednesday I had seafood pasta made with the rest of the pasta from Tuesday (different from Monday), and finally on Thursday I just threw some spaghetti looking stuff on my pasta that my roommate made. It was actually a Ghanaian stew she made but I didn't care I just wanted to get rid of that damn pasta. I will include photos of the dishes I made.

I'm used to sort of a medley of convenient stores, but up here I guess 7-11s are it. 79 cents Parker drinks are swapped for Slurpees! So if you're from Savannah just imagine everyone with a Slurpee cup. Slurpee??? That's a weird name lol. Sluuurrrrppeeeee. You know those words that sound weird when you think about it. Adds Slurpee to list of things to buy before I leave. I've had them before but I call them icees instead but I want to feel like a local and I shall dine on the popular iced pick-me-up on a scorching D.C. day. It's only right.

Earlier this week I attended a lecture with guest speaker, Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute. A nonprofit think tank that supports free enterprise. I enjoyed his message on happiness and the road to get there. Some of his highlights were that a key to happiness is faith, family, and earned success. You have to believe in something and most importantly you have to believe in yourself. Faith to me gives you something to look forward to. I cannot tell you what faith has done for me and how much it has gotten people through tough times. You can't pick your family, ever heard that? It's so true. No family is perfect but a strong family is everything. I'm so thankful I'm not one of those people that got so screwed over by my own blood that I turn my back on them and undermine them to the value of people who have no meaning to my life. I couldn't imagine why people post statuses and tweets publicly letting be known they don't care for their family. You think that's going to bring a family back together? I really don't try to judge people to my ethics, but sometimes I wonder why people run to God when their family and friends don't come through. There's no greater feeling then knowing you deserved what you received. I just don't think people who have slept their way to success on someone else's work has a soul, you don't feel. My words. Probably why when I first got to UGA, I had a moment of thinking my ancestors were right there with me and how I am a product of their success and hard work. Somebody had to fight for African Americans to be admitted in traditional white colleges. According to data that Brooks collected happiness is 48 percent genes, 40 percent transitional periods, and 12 percent lifestyle. Who do you think is more happier: men or women? Women, men fluctuate in happiness and their most depressing age is 45. Inserts Shania Twain "Man! I feel like a woman"

Moving on to my workweek. I said before this is my first time working a 9-5 and mines is fairly enjoyable. I honestly cannot complain that I have a boring internship. My work day doesn't drag. I'm thankful for not being placed at a boring intern site that would make me wish I had something more stimulating and that I didn't come all the way from Georgia for this. I've been at WAMU for three weeks and can say I've never had any watch-the-clock moments.

One day this week a questioned I ask got called "trivial", of very little importance or value; insignificant, thanks Dictionary.com. Trivial??? "I wouldn't bother with something that trivial", or along those lines. Well excuse me Ms. Intern but I'll ask what I want to ask. Now maybe I could have figured out how to do what I asked, but, I didn't. I'm a very cautious person and when I don't know how to do something or need clarification, I ask trivial or not. Don't get me wrong the other intern I work beside is a nice girl, but to consider my question as trivial is subjective. I'm one of those people that doesn't like to fuck things up. Especially when it ain't my shit. Don't let someone make you feel like you asked a dumb question unless you ask how to turn off Caps Lock on the computer. I asked one of my roommates where was the nearest laundry mat was yesterday and she's steady saying laundry room and how it's one down stairs and why you don't want to use that one. She eventually asked what is a laundry mat and I told her stop talking me and moved on to another roommate. Okay kind of went off track there.

Wednesday I had my first interview and it went great, even though my interviewee was nervous. My interviewee was so nice, after all the searching I did to find one! I finished my first radio piece yesterday and I couldn't help but smile. To know that you completed something with a software that seems so intimidating and technical was rewarding. I only pray that once my supervisor hears it she'll like it too. If so, it will be my first solo project aired on the radio. I find joy in any little thing I do and accomplish. When I was first introduced with Adobe Audition I thought how much there was to learn about it, I mean this is my first time using any type of editing software. Windows Movie Maker? Pssh? This is the stuff jobs ask what type of experience do you have and now I can put Adobe Audition, it is the 1.5 version (that's what the station uses). Can't wait to share it when it's ready for air!

I have been blogging through a headache so I am done......for today.
Jusqu'à la prochaine fois!

Arthur Brooks lecture

Monday: Before I added the pasta.

Tuesday: Don't laugh at my tilapia (it broke during flips). Still was delicious.

Wednesday: Honestly, this was my favorite of the week. They were all good but I loved it.

Don't have Thursday!

This will pretty much be a compilation from everyday this week, even though I've tried to update daily as much as possible. So let's hear about week one.

My first week alone made me appreciate my hometown a little more. To complain about Savannah traffic is like someone complaining about the winters in Miami. If you get my point, the traffic back home is nothing in comparison to cities such as DC, where just the streets are as confusing as their addresses. You may see a street sign that reads Constitution Ave and under it is 1200, which can translate to......on the 1200th block of Constitution Avenue blah blah. Back home I hear the word 'block' but I rarely use it, not shame to say I didn't understand what it meant either, but I have seen the light. 'Block' is very similar to how we say 'street', yes street is more broad and can mean anything but back home one would say "three streets over", "up the street" or "bout a street up" compared to up north; here every 'street' is replaced with 'block'.

You know I'm starting to really fall in love with this place and it's only week one. Now there are some things I can do without. Starters, I don't like the Metro. Yes, you read correctly. For one, I wouldn't say the metro is wallet-friendly that much. You can purchase a weekly unlimited for $36 but I mean calculate how much you're spending a week, a month, a year on Metro passes. Maybe this is just my "visitor" talking but honestly compared to gas it's not that off. But on the plus side if you have a car it's better on your miles, maintenance and finding parking here is madness, but these are just my opinions only.

Second, I would want to live and work in the midst of everything. I will possibly regret that because in a city that is in motion 24 hours when will one sleep, find quiet or get a little peace. But this city has so much inside it, you want to be at the center of everything.

DC is nothing like back home, there's so much in your reach one cannot complain how boring and slow it is. See back home there are things to do but you more so have to be creative in what there is to do versus DC. So to my generation, I strongly suggest going out and seeing what this country has to offer first before you want to go abroad; there are some fascinating places at home as well.

Even though I am paving my way and starting to lay a foundation for myself in the communications and journalism world in U.S. headquarters, I still drift off in sadness. Have you ever just had a moment where you think about someone and say "I can't believe they're dead." It's an amazing feeling and amazement does not have to be connected to just positive only. No, it can adhere to anything. It's amazing when you really want to talk to this person, it's amazing when it's a birthday, it's amazing when you wear their favorite color, and it's amazing when that person is not there anymore. The comfort of knowing someone will always be with you spiritually doesn't console forever, especially not in the early stages. I couldn't tell you what works for me.

Once I snap back into the moment I let my mourning and focus become one and have to understand it's all a part of reality. A reality you have to face at...the same damn time. On one hand I'm sad and the other I'm excited about the many opportunities that await me this summer.

There's no way I will go into the new school year without an incredible story that starts out "Omg while I was interning in DC......" This I promise. I have a good feeling that this summer will be unforgettable, mainly cause it started on a bad note, has to get better.

So far I got to see a friend from high school, that I missed dearly and got to enjoy what I like to call a Failed Friday. Shop at Chinatown, which is more like a whole bunch of Chinese restaurants and places with it's name translated in Chinese underneath, but still a cool place. Go down to the waterfront with a friend from UGA, treat ourselves at a semi-fancy seafood restaurant (the southern in us) and walk in a complete circle just to end up calling a cab (and getting ripped off). To ending my weekend in Sunday service and studying.

All the fails, money spent, time wasted, you know the things that make you go "ugh" are still memories. I for one will not draw more light to them but leave them in the past where they belong. I'm 21 and if I haven't made mistakes or had "spills" along the wait yet, I might want to get myself checked out.

I'm not going to end this on my typical French note but instead with a verse from one of my favorite Outkast songs.

"Don't let the days of your life pass by"