ERA

Last Thursday was the 40th anniversary of the passage of ERA in the Senate.  Unfortunately, the ERA never got ratified.  New legislation is being reintroduced to extend the deadline for three more states.

On Thursday, there was a press conference at the federal triangle, which is an area outside the Capitol.  At the event, a lot of legislators spoke about the matter as well as leaders of women organizations including Terry O'Neill, NOW president.  Afterwards, there was an event at the Sewall-Belmont House.  The Selwall-Belmont House served as the last main Hill headquarters for the National's Women Party.  It served as the main organizing center behind the initial ERA passage and a home to a lot of influential feminists including Alice Paul.

Overall, it was a pretty overwhelming experience.  Glad I got to be a part of it.

")

Hey guys!

I hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe this semester is almost over! Last week went well. As I mentioned in my last post, I was pretty much left in charge of the office for 3 days while my supervisors were training in D.C. It was very laid-back. I got to chat with my fellow interns on a more personal level, and we shared our ideas of how we feel about non for profits and the systematic improvements that our organization could use. I actually got a lot of work done, too. A lot of our clients come in wanting help with creating resumes, so I'm in the process of putting together a resume writing workshop. As much as I hate public speaking, I feel that our clients will really benefit from the workshop, so I'll put my fear aside. haha. Oh, and I almost had a little situation when this lady who was clearly mentally unstable strolled into the office, but I think that I handled it well! (O_O)

Well, I hope every one has a terrific and productive week!
")

Hello!

Hi All!

I hope everyone is doing well after the long Spring Break? ... right? ..right? Just kidding... I suppose we are all in the real world now. No more fun spring breaks, but that doesn't go for all of our friends who are still in school! I was lucky enough to have my fiancee visit in DC! I was a great weekend, and I was able to show her around the touristy side of things as well as the general residential. We walked around the Mall, visited the Spy Museum (not as good as the Newseum! I recommend the former!! no doubt). We also had a nice tour of the Capitol by one of the staffers I worked with during the summer! I was grateful for Elyse, my fiancee, to see a place we very well might be living some day! Who Knows!

But now, back to work! It has been a slow start to the week, but I will be running over to the Embassy of Pakistan today for errands. It looks like its sunny! I look forward to walking outside..though it is a bit cold, and the rain took out some of the Cherry Blossoms...

Well that's it for now!

Cheers!

_Eric

Sprinkles Cupcakes

As everyone probably knows from previous posts by other CLPers the Cherry Blossoms are out!!! And that means that when Georgetown Suites came to visit they brought us Sprinkles cupcakes Cherry Blossom edition. And they were delicious, cherry cream icing and a vanilla cake dyed green. Apparently Sprinkles cupcakes are one of Oprah's favorite things so that's exciting.

This week has been amazing! U of I is on Spring Break and that means visitors!!!! I had friends stay over Thursday night and I went in late to work Friday morning and I showed them around the Mall and we went to the Natural History Museum. On Sunday some more friends came in (drove overnight to get here) and we went to Eastern Market, got a ton of free samples and some delicious fruit and veggies. Then we went paddle boating in the tidal basin with Helen. The next couple of days were filled with eating delicious things and hanging out with my friends and I still managed to go to work amazingly enough haha (they slept late).

So what's going on at work? Same old stuff, we have a seminar going on and are preparing for another one happening in just a few weeks. I'm doing a lot of research on the causes of conflict for a seminar in October...so it's hard to get things done when there is no deadline.

Things are going pretty great, I can't believe we are over halfway through this internship!

Turkey Trip!

Hey Guys,

So to follow up with my last post in which I described how I was doing some boring data entry stuff, I have a much more exciting post this time!  The executive director of Niagara Foundation here in Chicago walked into my office on 3/6 and tells me that they appreciate the work I’ve been doing for them and ask if I want to go on the next trip to Turkey that they have planned for ten days.  Of course I said yes, and by 3/9 I was on the plane.  I’m glad I already had a passport!  It was an amazing trip and they brought James Meeks an Illinois State Senator as well as Jack Franks an Illinois State House Rep. as well as a few other lobbyists and other business people.  We went to Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, and Bursa, all in ten days!  We had multiple meetings with government agencies and we were able to watch one of the prime minister’s addresses in parliament, and got to meet him afterwards.  A bunch of the media cameras following the event swarmed us and taped us, but unfortunately I was unable to find the footage on Turkish TV.

Either way it was an awesome experience!  I can’t wait to go back there with you guys next year!  Hope all of your internships are going well and you are having as much fun as me.  You can check out all my pictures from the trip on my Facebook if you want.

Flush Rush

Last week I phone banked.  We were calling our members in Missouri between Kansas City and St. Louis to tell them about an action that was happening in the capitol.  Speaker Tilley of the Missouri House of Representatives is poised to unveil a statue of Rush Limbaugh in the State Capitol.  Our members presented the speaker with over 500 rolls of toilet paper asking him to Flush Rush.  Members who could not attend were ask to send him a sheet of toilet paper with those words on it.  Unfortunately, Tilley says he is still going to unveil the statue, which will put him in company with Mark Twain and Walt Disney, an honor he doesn't deserve.  


This weekend I went to New York City to meet up with friends.  I love that for the roundtrip it costed me less than $20.  You can't beat that.  If you are ever in NYC, you must go to the 9/11 memorial.  The design they chose could not be more appropriate.  The only thing was very overwhelming.


Hope all is well with everyone!

03/12-03/18

Hey everyone!

This past week was good, considering how beautiful the weather has been. Chicago hit record highs, 80+ days! Overall, last week was pretty simple, nothing extraordinary. One of my clients got hired at a place that I helped him apply for, which is AMAZING! Another one of my clients got called back for an interview this week, and he is seems so thankful for my help. Client service can be stressful, but those moments make the stress worthwhile. Yesterday, we had our ongoing training, and we had a guest speaker who is a Residence Program Manager at a YMCA in Evanston (I think). She was great, and she's a social worker, so her advise was very relevant to the issues that we have in our office.


From today through Wednesday, my two supervisors will be at our national office in D.C. training, so they left me in charge! This should be fun :)


Well, hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Blossoms!

Hello again everyone!

This week's internship experience was slow. Very slow. We moved offices. And I have to digitalize a quote book that looks like its 300 pages. Maybe 400. It seems like one million. Not sure but not looking forward to it. There was a tab on Christopher Columbus, all these quotes about him. He's sort of a d-bag, so I don't know why there were about 6 page of quotes from him. That was ridiculous. I'm still working on it, suppose to finish it this week but I only just got through the Cs. So that's been my work so far, at least all that I can talk about for now!

Green Fountain for St. Patty's day!

DC is GORGEOUS right now--I feel like singing in the national Mall. St Patty's was amazing, and I took a snap of the White House's green fountain.

Sunday was phenomenal as well--I paddle-boated on the tidal basin, ate an entire loaf of pesto and cheese bread, listen to poets, walked around the spring time version of DC, and frolicked in the blossoms. Enjoy the photos.

Stipend day!

Happy stipend day everyone! It's undoubtedly my favorite time of the month. I feel like Richie Rich for approximately one week, until I pay my rent and buy groceries and realize I can't find a place in this city to get a haircut for less than a hundred bucks. Then I cry and start collecting Swedish coins I find in the subway.

Work has been busy. My sister is coming to visit next week, so I've been attempting to get a lot done so I can take it easy while she's here. I've been meeting with lots of people and working on an outline for the paper I one day hope to produce from this research. I noticed this weird blotchy pattern on my left thigh about a week ago, and upon further investigation have learned it's called ''laptop leg'' a.k.a. a BURN on my LAP from having my computer sitting there so much. It's nothing serious obviously, but tells you a lot about my lifestyle here. I have since started putting my laptop on the desk, but the internet suggests this burn might stick around anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. So that's kind of scary.

I'm jealous of the warm weather everyone on facebook as been bragging about! It's definitely warmed up here, but nothing past the 40s so far. Despite thorough embarassment of my weird thigh rash, I want to start wearing dresses so so bad. Next week my sister and I will take some day trips to nearby cities, do some hiking, and other fun touristy things so I'm looking forward to that. Also in early April I'm spending a few days in Copenhagen, which I think will be a lot of fun.

Being here has made me rethink some of my future plans. I'm holding all of you to this, as you will be my support system for the next year or so--- I do not want to go to law school right away. Seriously. If you see me with an LSAT book slap it out of my hands (not that that would ever have actually been an issue). Don't let me get caught up in school again and change my mind. Okay? Okay, guys!? Taking ''time-off'' is amazing. If I can find someone who will pay me to do something cool in a unique place for a few years after my master's, I will take it. Then, and only then, will I consider law school. Please occasionally remind me of this next semester, y'all. I'm counting on you!

I'm moving in April to a place where my rent is partly covered by my department. It's a crappier location and place, but the benefit is that I will be able to afford to stay past May, which I would really love. So that's my current plan. I still don't have anywhere to live when we get back though, I keep forgetting about that. Oh well! I'm in Europe! Woo!

How to Live in Washington DC

true story. For those of you currently living in Washington DC or thinking about living in DC in the future this is pretty much what life is like :)
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/how-to-live-in-washington-dc/

Spring is in the air

The weather is finally getting nice in DC, and I could not be happier.  I live by a zoo so it is safe to say that is my new hangout spot.  I absolutely adore the neighborhood I live in.

Last week was an intense week.  We have been doing a lot of press lately so last week I had to enter in all of our media forms into our database.  In addition, I had to create an action kit for birth control.  An action kit is something we make for chapter leaders so that they can make better events.  So it was my job to create action events, which includes everything from making a script for talking to legislators to sample tweets.

I am going to New York City this weekend to meet up with some friends from Illinois.  I've never been so I am super excited.  I also love the fact that it costs me less than $20 roundtrip.  How crazy!

Hope all is well with everyone else! Peace, love, CLP

Spring Time Receptions

Hello friends. I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful spring weather as much as I am :) Although, I'm not sure how warm it is out in the Midwest, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Today, in DC, I walked out of my apartment wearing sandals. My feet are finally free from the confines of winter boots and closed toed shoes!

As DC starts to warm up I am warming up to DC as well. I think I can say I actually really like it here, and am exploring so much more trying to conquer at least one museum a week. As Helen wrote in her post, this past weekend was the Crime and Punishment Museum, which was awesome. We'll see what next weekend has in store. One of my coworkers (are they my coworkers if I'm interning?) was so excited that I'm exploring DC he suggested several places to go that are kind of under the radar.

I guess if I am going to make a post to our CLP Residency blog I should maybe talk about my residency for a bit. Well it is going awesomely. One of my favorite interns left last week :( to take a job as a paralegal at a law firm). But that means that I have a ton more work, which is great (except for at this very moment, which is why I'm writing this blog post). So I've been doing a bit of research (a little bit) and schmoozing a lot with our participants at fancy receptions (okay maybe just one fancy reception). That's pretty much it, nothing too crazy or exciting, mostly doing PowerPoints and summaries... Not like I'm in Turkey or anything *cough not jealous or anything *cough

You betchya.

Work has been pretty bad ass, not gunna lie. I started getting involved in some more intern projects, and that made all the difference. I could go on forever, and I've been writing it down in another file that I can share after the internship, but I don't think I'll be posting it on Google anytime soon.

I believe I have gained about 10 pounds, but with pride and immense happiness. My friend from home came to see me, and we explored DC, meaning we ate our weight in deliciousness. You HAVE to go to Bonaparte in Georgetown, a  creperie with either vegetarian, cheesy or sweet crepes. I thought I was going to start crying when I tried my carmalized peach crepe with raspberry sauce drizzle, a scoop of sorbet, covered in pistachios. It was gorgeously presented, and! I almost forgot! The coffee! Oh my gosh! Unbelievable. French press, and I'm usually not to fond of coffee--I got used to it out of habit and sleepless nights before exams--but this was a hell of an exception.


Afterwards: cupcakes. I wasn't too fond of cupcakes either--let's be honest they're usually disgusting. However, Sprinkle's red velvet with cream-cheese mixed frosting was exceptional. The fig flavored, chocolate cupcake with balsamic vinegar (yes) drizzle as well as the vegan, gluten free cupcake (yes) were eye-crossingly good.

Walked in DC during the night: glorious.
My friend, Jenny and I went to the Crime and Punishment museum: creepy and fascinating. 
Saw Game Change: frightening.
DC weather: perfect.

Hope all is well! Waiting for the cherry blossoms to come out!

Hello my friends,


How is everyone? I'm feeling pretty under the weather. For those of you not in Chicago, the weather here has been crazy, and it's making me sick! Nevertheless, it has been beautiful out, so I'll stop complaining. Last week was crazy in the office. Loyola had their Spring Break, so there were barely any volunteers in, and me and my two supervisors had to pick up the slack. I would have 5 clients a day, back to back, but it was actually pretty cool because it made the day go by fast. CRAZINESS: so we have this client who first came in a few weeks ago very stressed because she needed to move out of her apartment. She believes that people there are trying to kill her and that there is all types of witch craft going on. My supervisors spoke with our directors to come up with a work plan to give to her, and basically explaining that we cannot work with her, and refer her to a more supportive organization. She missed her scheduled meeting, so my supervisors thought that she wasn't going to come back. OH BUT SHE DID COME BACK! They sat down with her and explained everything calmly and nicely, but she completely spazzed out. She told my supervisor Matt that she thinks he is one of the men from her apartment who is trying to kill her, then she jumped from the table and screamed literally to the top of her lungs. Keep in mind, we had clients in the waiting area. I was two seconds away from calling the police, but she left on her own. Yea, pretty intense. Also, on Friday me and my two supervisors went out to lunch, and it was pretty cool hanging out with them and getting out of the office for awhile. Well, I hope this week goes by as fast as last week does. I am counting down the days until graduation!


Bye guys :]

Bad Romance Video: women's Sufferage

You all should watch it, it's really well done and pretty badass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYQhRCs9IHM

All you want to know about procurement

So work has been busy lately, but right now my supervisor is meeting with someone else and I'm in between projects, so I thought why not blog, since I neglected to do so by Sunday.

Anyways, last week I did a lot of preparation for this month's seminar on procurement, which started Monday and goes on for all of March. I also helped paint the office on Friday with all of my fellow co-workers. It was a party haha. But really  it was actually a lot of fun and some good bonding time.

So far this week I had lunch with our delegation and talked procurement in relation to the Ministry of Education in Mozambique and engineer materials in Nigeria. It was great meeting so many people from Africa, although for many, the beautiful 50 degree weather in DC was still a bit freezing. I have also been working on an assortment of projects developing a slide on culture and negotiations for a future seminar.

Overall, things are going great at the ILI and my time is spent more or less efficiently, definitely an upgrade from the first slow month of my internship. I am also beginning to learn the multiple tasks each person is working on in the office, which impresses me more and more every day.

Also, for those in DC check out the Suprasensorial exhibit at the Hirshhorn museum on the Mall. It was amazing!
 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2012/02/treat-your-senses-to-hirshhorns-new-suprasensorial-exhibition/