Dear D.C.,

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd catch myself up since this sort of like an internet diary.
Where to begin.....

My view about D.C. so far:

I think I would like D.C. a lot better if I had people to go out with that I connected with or at least liked to do the same things I like to do. Not saying that the other interns I've met here and hung out with aren't cool or anything. But we are all so different, that I haven't found someone I feel I connect with out here. So, therefore, the majority of people I am around (when not at work-because those cats are great) are materialistic, money-seeking, elitists. It seems like people are really concerned with money out here, and I don't really care for it. There seems to be a lot of cool places in D.C., but I'm not going to go to a bar by myself to meet people..creepy.

Saying that, I'm doing a lot of activities on my own. I also hangout by myself at the apartment, which is all more than fine with me. If I get alone time, I'm all for it. When you live with so many people, it's hard to find alone time. I've been going to farmers markets or taking walks and finding cafe's to sit and read in. I sometimes go to random movie screenings around the city , which is great. I think I'm starting to develop social anxiety though. When I get around too many people, I get really nervous. I didn't used to have it so bad or have attacks where I feel like I'm having a heart-attack, but..eh, what are you going to do?

I think it has to do with being in a period in my life where I don't really know what I want to do with myself and I feel like I've got some big decisions ahead of me. I thought after I graduated, I would teach English abroad. Then I thought that I would join the Peace Corps, because I thought I wanted to work for a non-profit someday. Now, all I want to do is take a year off to paint and play around with music. I really enjoying mixing music, so I thought I should go to music engineering school.

I figure I should choose something that I really enjoy and that I won't mind doing for the next 40 years...what I really want is to never work in an office, work a 9-5 job, or have a job I hate, but have to work to support myself. I don't really want to join the work force. I just want to work on my hobbies...maybe I'm saying this now because I'm feeling burnt out and drained. I need to be re-energized.

Cool people I've met since last time:

So, I went to another meeting on the hill about the progress being made with such diseases like HIV/AIDS in the world. The ambassador to the U.S. from the African Union was there as well as the chief of health from UNICEF. He gave a wonderful presentation and afterwards I went to talk to him. He spoke for a few minutes and when I mentioned where I worked, he was very familiar with my organization. He actually spoke at our conference last year. Then a few other men from UNICEF introduced themselves and they all gave me their business cards. It was so neat to meet the chief of health from UNICEF! They are a great organization and they were praising my organization for the work we do to make sure programs like PEPFAR get funded so that they may continue the work they are doing around the world.

I also met a big TB-HIV activist named Lucy. She survived Tuberculosis while having HIV. Many others are not so lucky. TB is the leading cause of death for persons who have HIV. If they have XDR-TB, extensive drug resistant TB, it is basically a death sentence for persons who have HIV. Tuberculosis is so curable and it is horrifying how many people are dying each year from it (1.7 million). It would cost around $20.00 to treat one person with TB and who are HIV+. It is possible to save their lives. But many people don't have access to the treatment or can't afford the medication. We shouldn't have to live in a world, with so many affluent nations, where people can't get medical treatment if they need it.

Right now, my organization is pushing Congress and pushing our grassroots to put pressure on our reps and senators to push the Lantos-Hyde bill to the floor. This would re-approve PEPFAR, and PEPFAR will continue to positively affect millions of lives around the world. There are problems with PEPFAR of course, especially when it comes to the ideology of it, but all in all, millions and millions of dollars with go to helping individuals living with HIV/AIDS and also teach preventative actions so that other may avoid getting infected with HIV/AIDS. Did you know if a man gets circumsized, his chances of spreading HIV/AIDS goes down like 50%? That's nuts, but you have to take into account the different cultures in Africa. All the countries are so different, so programs need to be adapted to the countries needs....So the chances of men getting circumsized? I don't know, but I would hope they would to protect others from getting infected

I'm going on a tangent. I should write in this blog more often so the ones I do write aren't so long.

In conclusion, I'm in a funk and have been really cranky lately. But, I've been listening to a lot of Trent Reznor, so that helps...