Mrs. Scott Goes to Washington

Here we are in the nation's capital.  We made it through a fantastic week of Camp RYLA (which I will get to soon) and have arrived at our home for the summer. 

We got in late Saturday night after taking two planes, a bus and walking 10 blocks to the condo.  We are staying with a nice married couple in their late twenties.  They own a very nice condo in northeast DC, and we are renting a room from them for a little more than what an average Texas mortgage costs.  Yeah.  Robert discovered they were looking for someone to rent the room through his supervisor, as the wife also works where Robert is working.


We're very fortunate to have found a nice big place with utilities, furniture, washer/dryer and parking included.  If you've ever looked for an apartment, you can understand.  It's not my ideal situation because, of course, we have roommates again, but as you can see, the positives outweigh the negatives.  Robert drove out here back in May, so he has been here longer than me and is quite a fan of our living situation.  From the two days I've interacted with them, the couple seems very sweet, although a little quiet.  But we have already played a board game with them, and we will be joining them for a couples' Bible study tonight.

Robert works nearly 50 hours a week, so I'm going to need to find something to do to occupy my time.  I applied for five different theatre internships, but unfortunately, none of them worked out.  One rejection letter stated that over 800 highly qualified applications were submitted, so I'm trying to remind myself that it is very competitive during the summer and that I lost out by sheer numbers alone.  It's been hard convincing myself of that though, because you'd think someone with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and years of theatre experience and a broad range of skills might at least get a phone interview.  It's easy to feel down on yourself after something like that.

At any rate, I plan on spending my days writing and networking.  I hope to get the chance to volunteer with some theaters and maybe meet some of the people who might be interested in hiring me in the future.  I also intend to finish writing at least one play, read some new ones, and brush up on my theatre history/acting theory.  If anyone has any recommendations out there, I'd love to hear them.  I miss being challenged.  I miss mental stimulation.  I miss college.

Being in this city is definitely going to take some getting used to.  When you think of Washington, D.C., you generally think of the Capitol building, the Whitehouse, famous monuments and memorials, beautiful architecture steeped in history and general grandeur.  That is what they want you to think. Many of the neighborhoods in the city are very old and run down.  Full of history, yes, and probably also cock roaches.  Then there are the gorgeous multimillion dollar apartment buildings, and somewhere in between, are the charming, colorful row houses full of people like you and me.  All this to say, D.C. is not all white marble and pink granite.  It's a city like any other.

It is also a huge melting pot, so I have already encountered people of many diverse ethnic backgrounds, which is great.  In my neighborhood, however, it is a large African American population, so I feel like I stand out.  Robert has already made friends with some of the neighbors, because, if you know him, you know that he'll be your best friend until you give him a reason not to be.  It will be fun getting to know some new folks because no matter where we live, we always seem to meet unique and interesting people.

I am really looking forward to getting to know the city better, visiting (or revisiting) museums, memorials, monuments, etc.  We did visit Old Town Alexandria (which I LOVE) on Sunday afternoon, and we ventured into Maryland yesterday.  There are a lot of great opportunities in this city, it's just a matter of finding them.  Step one would be actually leaving the condo by myself, but I'm still not super comfortable walking around by myself (Robert takes the car to work) and also it looks like it might rain today.  Staying home it is!  After all, now that our room is set up and organized, it is awfully cozy.  Plus sitting at my computer, looking out the window at the D.C. streets and sipping my coffee is rather appealing.  I think I could get used to this working from home stuff.

So that's D.C. thus far.  I'll hopefully have some pics and updates for you all soon.  I know you have nothing better to do than read about my life.  Clearly.