I can see the whole city from the top of my building...

So I've switched gears.

I'm working for a lobbying/consulting group that has clients seeking change on the state legislative level. It's letting me get a closer look at yet another thing I could do with my soon-to-be-achieved BS (any irony here?) in political science. I've worked at the MA State House before, but for a senator, and it's a way different world as a lobbyist. We have about a dozen active clients, all seeking either budget earmarks (we successfully passed every earmark we lobbied for--the governor didn't line-item veto any of them this month!) or seeking support for legislation. I'm not sure how I feel about lobbying, tactics, or the entire field of elected politics right now. July has been one crazy month, and the legislative session 2007-2008 ends Thursday, when its do-or-die for every bill thats been raised in the last two years. Same-day election day registration is a big cause in the state right now, and we're involved. August will be crazy quiet in the office after all the legislative hubbub is over, but they want me to help redo their marketing materials, which will be good experience.

I also picked up a freelance gig working for a new website called www.povo.com--check it out! Kind of cross between Yelp and Wikipedia. More on that later...

what if?

its that time of the year--im overanalyzing.

go out? stay in?
sleep? work out?
job? suntan?
beach? city?
flipflops? heels?
nerd it up? drink harder?
look for love? enjoy being selfish?
criticize? ignore?
try to fix the flaws? look for just the good in things?
ambition? enjoy the little things?
care for myself more? care for others more?
the big picture? the short-term?
keep making to-do lists? just turn my brain off?

in other news:
i'm definitely scanning the internet for post-grad jobs in london.
im way excited to be on campus for classes in the fall.
im loving summer in the city: bars, free live music, life chats over coffee or champagne, long walks in the south end.
im trying to say yes to most things this summer.
rihanna is the current musical guilty pleasure.
late nights on porches make long days at the internship worthwhile.
summer tans and dirty feet are good for the soul.
i'm proud of my brother for deciding to go to california in the fall, and looking forward to watching him love college like i have.
living by the water is essential to my sanity.
laughing in the back corner at work with the interns is so gratifying.
i know i made the right choice in coming to boston for 4 years so far.

the end of the beginning of the end.

Yesterday and today brought the end of the two internships making up my 3rd coop rotation.

The jobs weren't what I expected. However, if I've learned anything from the coop concept, its that so often, what you reap from the situation isn't all about the good parts. Its the entire experience: good, bad, how your boss treated you, how you interacted with the environment, learning about the sphere of work you were involved in.

I still need some focused reflection time on the jobs, but I think that even though the outcome of the past 5+ months is a far sight from what I thought it would be, I'm satisfied with my choices and the end result.

This semester was quick, and kind of blurry though. In a year or two, I'm not sure what the defining moments will have been. One of the more mellow semesters I've had in Boston, and introspective on some levels, but without the focus and the drive to really delve into things with the passion I'm used to.

I go home Monday, and am hoping that with some time at home, and my 21st birthday in two weeks, I can use the change in lifestyle and schedule as a catalyst. Cast off any feelings about the past chapter in my life, and start a new one: pick the tone, set my goals, and take a different approach to all the parts of my life.

The general election is now a go, with Obama as the confirmed challenger to McCain. As a political science nerd, this will also be a big part of the next chapter of my life. Other bits that have to comprise my next chapter:

-summer internship
-fall classes on campus for the first time since fall 2006
-deciding whether or not to prepare for the LSAT
-beginning the job investigation
-cleaning house, mentally, and physically. I want to slim down my body, my belongings, my neuroses: less baggage all around.
-taking advantage of Boston, because after May 2009, who knows where I'll be
-making the most of time with friends and family: traveling to see people, jacking up my phone bill keeping in touch with those who aren't anywhere near me, and making time in what's going to be a busy summer and year for the ones that matter--and only the ones that matter. Nobody who brings me down, or frustrates me, or is an emotional drain. Only the good ones--and I'm lucky to have enough of those around.
-finding things that center me, and remembering to keep them high on the to-do list. working out, reading the paper, walking in the south end, sitting by the esplanade, going to the MFA--things that always make me happy.
-being a more positive person in other people's lives--not being such a worrywart or complainer or overanalyst.
-plenty of sleep, plenty of water, plenty of hugs.
-more writing.

April showers bring...a lot of thoughts in May

Having two internships simultaneously, along with new responsibilities in two student groups (a presidency and a vice presidency) makes for a split-screen brain lately. it's hard to know which part of my life to concentrate on: work, campus life, personal wellbeing, social life, connections back home and outside of the city, the future. Sometimes an influx of things helps me pull it together and focus: currently, I'm all over the map.

Public Relations Internship:
Minus: Basement desk. No windows. Lack of connection to other staff/interns upstairs. Clients that aren't exactly sparkly. Lack of on going projects because I'm not there every day.
Plus: The nicest, most laid-back boss ever. After a month or two, more freedom to try and learn. Realizing I'm learning a little more about the industry than I thought I would. Interesting conversation with a freelance copywriter entirely by accident on the phone this morning.

Marketing internship:
Minus: No other staff my age. Lack of ongoing projects because I'm not in every day. Bizarre company set-up. Boss is getting laid off effective Friday. Very little interaction with company owners, even considering the tiny nature of the office.
Plus: Strong positive interaction with (slightly insane) boss prior to her layoff. Seen as insightful as a result of being part of the target audience of the company. Freedom in many aspects of my small projects.

End result (with one month left of each job)--still no idea what I want to pursue post-graduation. July/August yields an internship with a consulting/lobbying firm with progresive roots, near the MA State House. On the ground work, the chance to directly lobby, they want me to do PR (!) after seeing it mentioned on my resume. Working downtown, near the commons, beautiful weather. WIll have three day weekends every week. Hopefully very hands on, active, influential in small office and on political platforms.

I've been here almost a month??

It's hard to sit down and write a blog entry when there's so much else going on.

I'll just get some of this updating out of the way by bulletpointing, otherwise I'll perenially be weeks behind.

After we found out our internship placement, needless to say we spent the rest of the day after classes googling our new jobs and trying on first-day-of-work outfits. Having so little time to feel prepared before starting a job we'd never even interviewed for was weird...especially coming from NU, where I apply and interview for jobs and internships all the time, this felt really strange and unnerving.

My first two weeks there have gone well though: I work on the Equalities Team for the Greater London Authority (GLA) at City Hall. The City Hall building is fondly nicknamed "the testicle" by locals, but it's a neat space, down by the water with a great view of the city. My team consists of about 6 people, who work on various equalities issues like race, faith, gender, and bi/gay/trans. Those 4 issues, along with age and disabilities, make up the "6 strands" of disadvantaged people whose concerns the GLA seeks to address. My supervisor's name is Sue--she's lovely, very nice, kind of on the meek side, and I feel like I overwhelm her a little, but she doesn't dislike me. I also have another supervisor, Julia, on Thursdays, who is a little more my speed. My projects will consist of updating statistics for the annual "State of Equality in London Report" and then utilizing gender statistics from that report and a variety of other sources to create a "Status of Women in London" report in time to be useful for the mayoral elections n the spring. I'll also get to help out on a womens conference to be held in March, for International Women's Day--I'm considering flying back then if its something I get super-involved in. I didn't do too much work the first two weeks, but I went to a lot of meetings, met the mayor by accident in the elevator (and we discussed breakfast sandwiches??), and started to wrap my head around all of the statistics. Last week, I went out for tapas and to see Stomp with the team to celebrate some birthdays and work anniversaries, which was a lot of fun. The woman who is the big big boss, the advisor to the mayor on women's issues, is the British version of my old crazy boss from spring coop, which never fails to make me laugh.

Classes are going well too, I just turned in my first paper for my British Politics and Policy class--it was on civil liberties, and hopefully I get a good grade...I'm not so sure how my BS skills will stack up to the British grading system, but I guess we'll wait and see. I have a few more papers and exams, as well as my dissertation, that comprise my final grades. My professors are both pretty chill--we all think our Parliament professor would be fun to go out drinking with.

Edinburgh was the 2nd week we were here, and the Friday we got back, Jess and Laura, my two old roommates, came to visit! Jess is studying in Perugia (Italy) and Laura is studying in Belfast, so they both hopped on a plane and came in for a long weekend. It was SO much fun. We had a whirlwind weekend where I tried to play tourguide and show them the best parts of the city. We went out for delicious Moroccan food the night they came in, and then out with my friends to a weird club by school. Saturday, we were all over the place--Westminster, Portobello Market, the Tate Modern, all over. That night, we went to a great pub with a bunch of my friends. Sunday, we hit up Camden Market, and went to an amazing restaurant down by the Thames, where you could sit outside near heat lamps and wrap yourself in big wool blankets while you ate and drank.

All weekend, the three of us just kept talking about how lucky we are, and how surreal it seems to be in London, Belfast, Perugia, traveling to other cities. Our lives are just so unbelievable sometimes. It was fantastic to see them. The three of us are a wonderful team--really laidback, excited about everything, flexible, and wanting to get our hands on everything. We also encourage each other to buy too many cute things, but that's another story.

The weekend after they were here, I went to Dublin with 5 other kids: Mike, Jordan, Julia, Steph, and Miranda. We'd bought the tickets a few days after getting to London, and then promptly forgot to make accommodation plans. We scrambled around all week, and ended up finding an apartment for the first two nights, and decided to find a place for Saturday once we got there. Fly by the seat of our pants, if you like. Also, the apartment was for two people, and we were 5 people to a room, and that was going to be a bit of a challenge...

We flew out of Stansted airport, an hour outside of Londn, right from work on Thursday, and because of a flight delay, didn't end up in Dublin til around midnight, then had to get to our hotel--Jordan and I sketchily pretended to be a couple and got the keys to our little apartment and picked the others up on a corner and wandered around until we found it--SCORE. A huge king bed for the 3 girls to share, a flat screen tv and couch with cushions for the boys, a kitchen....so great.

The next day we spent wandering around Dublin, seeing the basic sights: St. Patrick's, Guinness Factory, St. Stephen;s Green, etc. Gorgeous. We did a bit of a pub crawl through Temple Bar that night, ending with the boys abandoning us on a street corner with Australians and wandering home to buy a Cosmo and frozen pizza, curling up on the couch to watch bad tv.

Saturday, we checked out of our apartment, and had finally managed to find a hotel with a room available. We went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, and did some more walking around, just seeing the sights. We watched the rugby game in the pub connected to our hotel, then went out, ending up at the Gin Palace?? So fun, made friends, sang crazy songs, and generally made a big scene. Sunday, we woke up to check out, and went to catch a train out of the city, north to Howth. My internship boss used to live in Howth, which is a fishing village about 20 minutes outside the city, and recommended that we spend Sunday there, hiking around the cliffs. We happened to be there on a market day, so we got fresh food and sat to eat and peoplewatch, then spent a few hours up in the cliffs, both on and off paths... I'm a city girl, and the rest of my pack are outdoorsy, so there were a few patches where I was a little nerved out, and my heavy weekend bag on my back didn't help matters. The views were unbelievable though, and the high we got from getting to the top made it all worth it. Pictures to come some time soon. We came back down, tired and muddy, and wandered around until we could get a table at a restaurant. After, we got a few beers at the pub by the train, then got a cab to the airport: our flight was crazy early on Monday, so we didn't bother getting a room and just crashed at the airport from 12-6 am. We just found tables and boothes to curl up in, listened to music, played cards, and watched people. We saw a guy get arrested for choking another guy who encroached on his sleeping space?! Then we caught our flight home, landed, hopped on a train back into the city, and managed to be on campus by 930 for our 10 am class. Needless to say, we all had massive trouble keeping our eyes open, but the weekend was a major success on all accounts. It was a great group to travel with, and I loved Dublin.

I'll try to get all caught up in one more post tomorrow, but I have work in the morning....

London Bridge: Isn't Falling Down, It's Where I Get Off the Tube Three Times a Week!

and three weeks later....

I've literally been too busy to sit down and write a legitimate blog post. And even now, I really should be working on my Policy paper that's due next Monday. I suppose it can wait.

So in summation, I love London. Our area is great--lots of restaurants, a silly convenience grocery store, two wine shops, a good local pub, a stationery store, a hardware store, and another pub. Also an amazing cookie shop. And the tube stop is 3 minutes from my front door. There's no real shopping, which is good, or I would be even broker (not a word, I'm aware) than I am.

The first week we were here was literally like summer camp. We went to intro meetings and classes, and seminars, and were pretty much on our own to get settled in and see a little bit of London. And see London we did. We went on a bus tour through the city, which got detoured because of a crazy biking event, and did exploring on our own. The programme also took us on a tour of Parliament, which is all I'll see of the place, since my internship placed me elsewhere. The first week was great to just settle in a little, have lots of time to get to know one another, and get our bearings a little bit.

The second week, we went to Edinburgh with the whole group, thereby wrecking any semblance of routine we managed to create the first week. Edinburgh was a 4 hour train ride through the countryside, and a really nice little adventure to take us all on in the first few weeks. We stayed at a really cool little hotel that felt like the Scottish version of our flats, and served cute little breakfast in the morning. We had lectures and the chance to sit on on Scottish Parliament, which was awesome. We watched a debate in the morning on whether or not the Scottish National Party had held up its end of the promises it made coming into office. The MPs were really intense and yelling and mocking each other: pretty sweet, and nothing I could've imagined going on in the Senate back home. It was a cool window into another political system. The UK has a devolved system, where Scotland and Wales have their own Parliaments, but also send MPs to Westminster. The building Scottish Parliament is in is also interesting--apparently cost a fortune, and seems a little unnecessary, but since my mom's an architect, I got a kick out of it.

While in Edinburgh, we also had free afternoons and got to do some sightseeing. We saw Edinburgh Castle, bought some plaid scarves, did a funny little tour of the underground part of the city, and hiked up a little mountain/hill in the center of the city. We ate and drank at some cool pubs, and generally wandered around the city. I liked the way the city felt: old and kind of grand, without being overwhelming at all. The architecture was cool, castles are amazing, and it just seemed...mature? London feels like a younger city, and is definitely more fun, but I liked Edinburgh a lot.

While we were there, we all had different roommates too, which was really nice to just bond with some new people and switch up the social scene a little bit. I loved taking the train there and back as well: its relaxing, scenic, and less of a pain than flights. Having a few hours with nothing to do but read and listen to music was definitely ideal.

We found out about our internships on Monday the 8th: and were due to start them Tuesday the 9th. There was a lot of hubbub the day before, because Gordon Brown, the new Prime Minister, was hypothetically going to call a snap election, which would have meant that MPs would have gone home to their constituencies to campaign, and nobody would have been placed in Parliament. I knew I wasn't getting placed with an MP because I didn't receive security forms, but there was a general spike of insanity in the flats for a day or two.

My placement is...drum roll...

At London City Hall, with the Greater London Authority, working for the Equalities Team, primarily on gender.

What does this mean?

I'm working on a team of about 6 people, who report to one or two of the advisors to the mayor. My projects will consist of updating the "State of Equality in London" report with this year's stats, then pulling all gender-relevant pieces out to compile a large body of data and trend for a "Status of Women in London" report for the mayor, as well as maybe working on a womens conference that will be held in the spring. I like my team thus far, and am going to dinner and a show with them this week, actually.

Got sidetracked editing Armine's Fulbright application, so I'll continue this tomorrow...bedtime!

week 1 in london: check.

i've been keeping a little notebook elsewhere, and thus haven't been "blogging" literally, but I have plenty of things to relate....

which will happen later, because im off to class :)

but all is well. it was a crazy busy week. I love the kids I live with, and I'm slowly growing obsessed with London. I'm going to look into work/grad school here for after I graduate (if that ever happens). I'm missing everyone at home a little, and as my roommate Miranda says, we all have FOMO--fear of missing out on things at home. but i'l survive, especially because everyone emails me! London holds a lot for me this semester, I'm excited. We go to Edinburgh tomorrow, then start internships next week, then a bunch of us are going to Dublin. Should be good! More later, I promise...

hellooooo london

we made it!

im in London, or South Kensington rather. Living on a super posh street where our neighbors all pay millions of pounds to live, and if we make noise on on the street after 11, we might get fined? Let's see how that turns out.

We had the quite the adventure getting here, but aside from lack of internet til now, it's been pretty smooth sailing. The people all seem really awesome. We're living 11 each in 3 flat-suites, with 2 triples, a double, and 3 singles. Lots of US kids, a bunch of international, and a mix of grad students and undergrads. There are 5 of us from NU, 3 from Cornell, 2 from Goucher, and most people came as the only one from their schools. Love my roommates thus far, we stayed up and had a little girl bonding last night.

The day we came in, we ended up being up for 36 hours. I'm thoroughly impressed with us. We got into Londond at 7 am, and didn't go to bed until 2 am (we'd all been up since 7 am the day before...). We got in, unpacked a little, ran errands, met up with other people, etc, had drinks in the flats with most of the group, then split up--we went to Earl's Court to meet up with Dave, a friend of mine from home. We saw his flat, went to a pub, then I sat in our kitchen for a few hours with some of the kids, talking politics--clearly. The next day, we had a flat meeting with our RAs, a break, then met over by where we'll have classes to go on a bus tour. There was a ton of traffic because of some biking event, so we did a lot of "shilly-shallying" according to our tourguide. We saw lots of major things, but I was so tired I dozed off a few times. Got a chance to know a few more of the kids. Then we went back, I finally got to meet my roommates, and had a little downtime. One of my roommates if from Canada and goes to Cornell, the other goes to Goucher in Maryland. Phoebe, from Goucher, came in the night we all got there at 10 pm, and our director told her someone should be there to let her in. Only everyone who was awake was out, and the people who were asleep couldn't hear any bell or call, if one was even audible. So she crashed in a hotel down the street--she handled it so well, I would've been livid. But they seem like a lot of fun!

Now I have to run to get dressed, and go to our first intro meeting with people from our program, then we have a tour of school and an introductory lecture for one of our classes. Typically London weather--it's raining, so I get to break out my ladybug rainboots and paraplouille from Geneva :)

More later!

<3
Marisa

I'm Ready, I Am (?)

oh hello suitcases...

i leave for the boston pitstop on the way to london tomorrow. and im attempting to actually pack, after a month at home where you might think I would've gotten myself organized. Wrongggg. I did unpack (most of) my boxes when I got home, but my room is still a disaster. Things are hanging and piled everywhere, and I'm wishing I wasn't so materialistic. Too much stuff to try to narrow down into two 50 pound bags.

I went to Florida this weekend to see my grandma for her 91st birthday with my family! We don't get down there as often as I'd like, and especially when I'll be lacking normal phone contact for a few months, I'm glad I spent some time with her. My family has been really busy while I've been home too, so a chance for everyone to not be at work/in school was great right before I leave.

Packing is my nemesis--I flip out during the process, then once I get to the place I packed for, I realize I'm grossly overpacked and probably could have chilled out just a little. I'm trying to be rational about this trip, plan for leisure and travel and work and going out and all of it, without packing my suitcases too full to bring home new UK clothes and trinkets. I did pretty well packing for a month in Geneva with only one suitcase, so hopefully my talent continues!

I'm loving reading everyone else's study abroad blogs compulsively and it's making me even more excited to be in London. Adrienne is in Brussels, Laura's taking a break from pharmacy in Belfast, Jess is in scenic Perugia, Dave is already in London (where he'll only be .5 miles away from me!!), Grace and Cait left for Greece today, Troy is in Paris, and I'm sure I'm forgetting people. Ryan also lives about 30 minutes outside of London, and it'll be cool to see his campus. A guy I'd met a few years ago randomly got in touch, and he lives in Madrid! Knowing there are friends in other cities is comforting, and I'm hoping to have lots of weekend trips to meet up with them and see more of the continent.

I have a love/hate relationship with change, so packing up is always hard for me. I adore my family and my life in Boston is fantastic, and that makes it hard to want to leave either of them for something else new and different. I had the same problem when I moved to Boston for school--but look how well that turned out. Going to Geneva this summer was like a test run for leaving for a while. I was in Geneva for a month, and London will be 3--doesn't seem so long when I think about it that way, and I bet I'll be so sorry to leave at the end. Also, now that I'm considering Peace Corps after I graduate, I need to get used to change!

Two days in Boston will be great in between Pittsburgh and London--I need a dose of Beantown and its lovely residents before I flee the country. I am in need of a change, some things at school had gotten a little stagnant, and nothing mixes things up like new experiences and a little break. Keeping in touch has never been a problem for me either, so things will be mostly the same when I get back in January.

Now that I've taken yet another procrastination break from packing....next time, I'll post from Boston!

Oy Jews or Joy Jews

I took a break from packing/freaking out about traveling this weekend and next week, and went to Rosh Hashanah services with my grandfather tonight. I hadn't been to my synagogue since I went away to Boston, and I was definitely curious to see if anything had changed and to run into the temple regulars I enjoy. I didn't realize there was a new junior rabbi, a younger woman, along with the senior rabbi, a man that my family doesn't have a very positive outlook on. The new rabbi gave tonight's sermon. I was prepared to scoff at it. For background, I'm what I call an agnostic Jew. I'm culturally Jewish, see being Jewish as more of an ethnicity than a religion, and have a relatively skeptical view of religion these days. That being said, I was very active in my synagogue's religious school and youth group before I graduated high school, and used to have more respect for a lot of it. I'm unsure of how I view spirituality, religion, and its accompanying views and outlooks these days, and maybe I went to services tonight to get a new perspective on it.

The sermon the new rabbi gave talked about joy as it related to Rosh Hashanah--the Jewish New Year (its 5768 this year), and to Judaism overall. Judaism can often get a bad rap, for having disciples who point of the negative in life more often than the positive. She referred to the two types of Jews that exist as Oy Jews and Joy Jews--those who see more of the negative, or those who seek to see the positive. She and other rabbis and researchers see joy in life not as a condition, but as a practice: being joyous is a conscious decision, and requires attention to your own behavior, soul, and outlook on your surroundings. Being joyous is a tenet of Judaism, according to her studies--as Jews we are to take in all of the good things in our lives that G-d has given us and rejoice in them! As stated in the Shulchan Aruch (46:3), Laws of Blessings dictate that all Jews are to seek out at least 100 things to bless in their lives every day. Sounds like a lot, but just making the effort to find that many things to be positive about can change the lens through which you see life.

This past year has been a stressful one for me, my family, and a lot of my friends. Sometimes, its easy to forget all the good things we have and to just focus on worrying or fixing all the issues. For years, I have actually kept a notebook of what I call "the happy list"--things that just make me smile. Some of my friends in high school keep one as well, and I kept an online list with some college girl friends too. I definitely let the list fall by the wayside this year though--I've been busy, stressed, traveling, focused on a million worrisome things. Maybe all I really needed was to stop and (cliche drumroll...) count my blessings. There are so many tiny things that can lift my spirits, and they can help me forget whatever is bothering me: ten minutes at the reflecting pool in Boston calms me down, and my dog jumping on my bed while I pack helps me feel less stressed. As I get ready to leave from a month at home for a few days in Florida, a day back home, two days in Boston, and then three months in London, I need a way to ground myself. I want to start making sure I notice all the blessings in my life. There are thousands of wonderful things around me to balance out whatever truly minimal problems I have in my pretty charmed little existence.

I want to challenge myself, and the people around me, to be Joy people, not Oy people, and make all the blessings a bigger part of our lives.

Inaugural "blog" blessing list for today:

-the perfect fall weather!
-being spoiled enough to have my little brother take me for errands in his convertible in the gorgeous weather
-that packing is so hard only because i have so much pretty clothing
-the chance to take a break from my usual frenetic life at school and relax at home for a month
-sitting outside reading a trashy novel on my porch
-a delicious lunch at Aladdin's with a high school friend
-reading through old yearbooks
-that I get to see some of my cousins and their adorable kids this weekend
-apples and honey with my mom to celebrate the new year when she got home
-how excited i am to see as many of my Boston friends as possible in the 50 hours in the city
-all the cute pictures from Geneva everyone keeps posting!
-that the reason for going to Florida this weekend is my grandma's 91st birthday
-going to services tonight with my grandfather
-keeping in touch with people i care about--emails, phonecalls, IMs
-my cozy bed that's calling to me...