Hello Everyone!
I know it has been AGES since I have done an update, but this semester has by far been the busiest. I have been interning at the Inter-American Dialogue 24 hrs or so a week (http://www.thedialogue.org), working 10 hours a week for Professor Said, and taking three classes: Historical Archaeology, Dance & Society, and US Foreign Policy: Latin America. I'm really enjoying all of it but the semester is completely flying by!
My internship...
The Inter-American Dialogue is a non-profit organization that provides US-Latin America Foreign Policy recommendations that it gets from its members who include past heads of state, business and media leaders, and academics from the US, Canada and Latin America. Every two years their 100 members meet to discuss US-Latin American Foreign Policy and from that a suggestion is written and distributed to all the Western Hemisphere country leaders. Besides this members' meeting which is called the Linowitz Forum, the Dialogue also has many different project areas which cover projects such as education policy, China and Latin America, Energy, Development and Remittances, and many different kinds of conferences and meetings. There are weekly events that the Dialogue hosts which usually include experts from Latin America (today it was Bolivian Senators who were meeting with the president and other Dialogue staff). Most are usually open to the public.
I'm working in the Special Projects/Legislative Affairs division where I help plan Congressional Dinners (dinners planned for Senators and Representatives so they can meet with the Latin American experts and learn about certain current topics like Obama's trip to Latin America) and with preparations for two other big meetings which will not happen in the US and sadly I will not be able to attend. One will be in Madrid, Spain and the other in El Salvador. This means I usually do lots of phone calling to try to get contact info (both to congress members, embassy's and if that doesn't work sometimes different countries). I also search for information (official titles, etc) of people and am gathering election statistics of Central American countries for the meeting in El Salvador. It's really interesting and I always get to meet interesting people, including those that work at the Dialogue. Most people speak or at least can understand English and Spanish. :) It's fun.
One of the most exciting contacts I've made has been with Mr. Sergio Bitar, the Chilean ex-minister of education, mining, and public works (during three separate administrations). He is currently a resident fellow until the end of April, I think. Because he worked for Chilean President Salvador Allende, when Pinochet took over, Mr. Bitar was put in several concentration camps in the far south of Chile for over a year. He has written a book in Spanish based on his experiences in the concentration camps called "Isla 10" which has also been made into a movie "Dawson Isla 10" (haven't been able to find it in the US yet). He even gave me a copy of his book that I am reading and I will be meeting with him next Tuesday to ask him some more questions about his experiences. He said when I first met him and his wife that I should come visit them in Santiago! (^_^)
Work...
Working with Professor Said is as inspirational as always. He really is like a grandfather and always wants to know how I am doing and what I have been up to. He is one of the busiest 80 year olds I have ever met but still keeps on his toes (which keeps us running!). As official Office Organizer I have finally finished unpacking the many boxes that were the storage closet, but am stiiiiiill filing and alphabetizing his MANY articles (written by him and others) and files. Electronisizing will be the next process.
Class...
I am also enjoying my classes. Historical Archaeology is fairly easy for me but really interesting. I'm learning about what life was like in the US (mostly south-eastern part) and how scientists understand these things from the artifacts and documents they find. We've learned about the colonists at Jamestown, the native americans and the Trail of Tears, and are now learning about the African American enslaved peoples. It is extremely interesting. Dance & Society is fun as it is mostly lecture-based about the history of dance and how different dances evolved and what they mean, etc. However, 6 or so times during the semester we have been going into the dance studio to learn a few dances ourselves! It's fun. The semester projects include: creating a manifesto of what I think of dance, choreographing a group dance to portray a research question (ours is "What are the similarities and differences between Salsa and Martha Graham technique of Modern Dance?"), and creating an artifact that somehow ties together my major (int'l relations) and dance. I will be making a collage using different important aspects or props of dances from around the world. My US-Latin American Foreign Policy class has been challenging just because of the large volume of reading, but also very interesting and has coincided nicely with my internship. Also, my professor, Robert Pastor, worked for Carter's Administration and specifically on the Panama Canal transfer, and the Nicaragua intervention and is still active as he was sent to the Middle East to speak with Hamas a few weeks back and accompanied Carter on his trip to Cuba. So it's amazing to hear his stories, even if he is a hard grader. :)
GRADUATION!!!...
Crazy as it seems, my four years of college are almost over! It's craaaaazy!!!! I will be graduating from American University on Sunday, May 8th at 1 pm and will have a BA in International Studies with a Minor in Spanish. Soooo weird to say that. To help me celebrate the big day, my Japanese mother-like figure Kikue, my parents, Granny Kit and Oma, Aunt Karen and great Aunt Maggie and Uncle Bob will be coming to take over DC. :p It shall be fun and exciting! (^_^)
And beyond...
For after graduation I have applied to a temp agency that specializes in governmental, legal and non-governmental organizations (some of which are international-related) so hopefully I will find something fun and exciting to pass my summer days in DC and save up so that I can head down to Chile sometime at the end of the summer (August or September) to find a job there and work until I figure out what I want to study in Grad school. Don't worry! I do plan to got to Portland for a few weeks first to 1) get my driver's licens, 2) spend time with family and friends, and 3) un-pack, store, and re-pack my things for Chile. :) It shall be exciting! Hopefully I will be able to find a cheap living situation in DC so that I can save more for my Chilean adventures (and paying back student loans starting next year). I'm hoping for maybe a kidsitting for rent situation? I'm in the process of searching.
So anywho, that's my life in a nutshell. It's a bit crazy and stressful at times but very exciting!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Sorry for the lengthy post, but it'd been a while. :)
Love, Kaia (^_^)
I know it has been AGES since I have done an update, but this semester has by far been the busiest. I have been interning at the Inter-American Dialogue 24 hrs or so a week (http://www.thedialogue.org), working 10 hours a week for Professor Said, and taking three classes: Historical Archaeology, Dance & Society, and US Foreign Policy: Latin America. I'm really enjoying all of it but the semester is completely flying by!
My internship...
The Inter-American Dialogue is a non-profit organization that provides US-Latin America Foreign Policy recommendations that it gets from its members who include past heads of state, business and media leaders, and academics from the US, Canada and Latin America. Every two years their 100 members meet to discuss US-Latin American Foreign Policy and from that a suggestion is written and distributed to all the Western Hemisphere country leaders. Besides this members' meeting which is called the Linowitz Forum, the Dialogue also has many different project areas which cover projects such as education policy, China and Latin America, Energy, Development and Remittances, and many different kinds of conferences and meetings. There are weekly events that the Dialogue hosts which usually include experts from Latin America (today it was Bolivian Senators who were meeting with the president and other Dialogue staff). Most are usually open to the public.
I'm working in the Special Projects/Legislative Affairs division where I help plan Congressional Dinners (dinners planned for Senators and Representatives so they can meet with the Latin American experts and learn about certain current topics like Obama's trip to Latin America) and with preparations for two other big meetings which will not happen in the US and sadly I will not be able to attend. One will be in Madrid, Spain and the other in El Salvador. This means I usually do lots of phone calling to try to get contact info (both to congress members, embassy's and if that doesn't work sometimes different countries). I also search for information (official titles, etc) of people and am gathering election statistics of Central American countries for the meeting in El Salvador. It's really interesting and I always get to meet interesting people, including those that work at the Dialogue. Most people speak or at least can understand English and Spanish. :) It's fun.
One of the most exciting contacts I've made has been with Mr. Sergio Bitar, the Chilean ex-minister of education, mining, and public works (during three separate administrations). He is currently a resident fellow until the end of April, I think. Because he worked for Chilean President Salvador Allende, when Pinochet took over, Mr. Bitar was put in several concentration camps in the far south of Chile for over a year. He has written a book in Spanish based on his experiences in the concentration camps called "Isla 10" which has also been made into a movie "Dawson Isla 10" (haven't been able to find it in the US yet). He even gave me a copy of his book that I am reading and I will be meeting with him next Tuesday to ask him some more questions about his experiences. He said when I first met him and his wife that I should come visit them in Santiago! (^_^)
Work...
Working with Professor Said is as inspirational as always. He really is like a grandfather and always wants to know how I am doing and what I have been up to. He is one of the busiest 80 year olds I have ever met but still keeps on his toes (which keeps us running!). As official Office Organizer I have finally finished unpacking the many boxes that were the storage closet, but am stiiiiiill filing and alphabetizing his MANY articles (written by him and others) and files. Electronisizing will be the next process.
Class...
I am also enjoying my classes. Historical Archaeology is fairly easy for me but really interesting. I'm learning about what life was like in the US (mostly south-eastern part) and how scientists understand these things from the artifacts and documents they find. We've learned about the colonists at Jamestown, the native americans and the Trail of Tears, and are now learning about the African American enslaved peoples. It is extremely interesting. Dance & Society is fun as it is mostly lecture-based about the history of dance and how different dances evolved and what they mean, etc. However, 6 or so times during the semester we have been going into the dance studio to learn a few dances ourselves! It's fun. The semester projects include: creating a manifesto of what I think of dance, choreographing a group dance to portray a research question (ours is "What are the similarities and differences between Salsa and Martha Graham technique of Modern Dance?"), and creating an artifact that somehow ties together my major (int'l relations) and dance. I will be making a collage using different important aspects or props of dances from around the world. My US-Latin American Foreign Policy class has been challenging just because of the large volume of reading, but also very interesting and has coincided nicely with my internship. Also, my professor, Robert Pastor, worked for Carter's Administration and specifically on the Panama Canal transfer, and the Nicaragua intervention and is still active as he was sent to the Middle East to speak with Hamas a few weeks back and accompanied Carter on his trip to Cuba. So it's amazing to hear his stories, even if he is a hard grader. :)
GRADUATION!!!...
Crazy as it seems, my four years of college are almost over! It's craaaaazy!!!! I will be graduating from American University on Sunday, May 8th at 1 pm and will have a BA in International Studies with a Minor in Spanish. Soooo weird to say that. To help me celebrate the big day, my Japanese mother-like figure Kikue, my parents, Granny Kit and Oma, Aunt Karen and great Aunt Maggie and Uncle Bob will be coming to take over DC. :p It shall be fun and exciting! (^_^)
And beyond...
For after graduation I have applied to a temp agency that specializes in governmental, legal and non-governmental organizations (some of which are international-related) so hopefully I will find something fun and exciting to pass my summer days in DC and save up so that I can head down to Chile sometime at the end of the summer (August or September) to find a job there and work until I figure out what I want to study in Grad school. Don't worry! I do plan to got to Portland for a few weeks first to 1) get my driver's licens, 2) spend time with family and friends, and 3) un-pack, store, and re-pack my things for Chile. :) It shall be exciting! Hopefully I will be able to find a cheap living situation in DC so that I can save more for my Chilean adventures (and paying back student loans starting next year). I'm hoping for maybe a kidsitting for rent situation? I'm in the process of searching.
So anywho, that's my life in a nutshell. It's a bit crazy and stressful at times but very exciting!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Sorry for the lengthy post, but it'd been a while. :)
Love, Kaia (^_^)
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