DC Adventures Day 2 (2.12.13)

I woke up feeling like a dump truck had run over my face. Stuffed up, snotty, swollen face, coughing, sneezing, hacking - basically the definition of sexy. I was supposed to meet Leslie in the office at 11 in order to fill out my paperwork. I'll be honest - I wasn't looking forward to it - I felt like death. We had also heard back from Thompson Markward Hall saying that they didn't have any available rooms but sent me a list of suggestions of other places I could stay temporarily. I started looking them up and started to feel even more sick. They were mostly hostels that would require me to share a room with at least 3 other girls (others were upwards of 9 other girls), and the rest were bed and breakfasts that might as well have been a million dollars a night. I'm not opposed to sharing a room per se, however, with the sickness swirling in my head I knew I'd probably end up murdered the first night simply because I would keep everyone else awake. To top it off, I got a call from WISH (Washington Intern Student Housing), letting me know that they wouldn't have a room available until March 15th, and it would be about $800 to stay through the end of March. SIXTEEN DAYS! That's like, $200 a night! Riggght.

And then something amazing happened. Leslie called me to let me know that Thompson Markward Hall (TMH) had received a cancellation and could take me that day. I called and talked to Precyous and we set up my check-in for 12p, and Leslie offered to come pick me up and drop me off, which gave me an extra, much needed hour to get ready. A double blessing if I've ever seen one. I took some Sudafed and a hot shower, dried my hair, and was ready to go...and then I checked their website. TMH accepts checks, cash, or money orders. Guess what I had NONE of?? Checks, cash, or money orders. So I called my dad, freaking out. He told me that I should be able to go into a bank and get a cash advance, but that if that didn't work to just pay for another night in the hotel. This calmed me down significantly, because the last thing I wanted was to have to move all of my stuff, share a room with murderously tired women, all while being sick.

Leslie picked me up, ran me to Bank of America, and I GOT THE CASH ADVANCE, NO PROBLEM. Phew!

As soon as I got to TMH I knew I was going to love it. The building is set back from the street, and doesn't even look like an apartment building. You have to be buzzed in through the front and no men or booze are allowed. Well, men are allowed in the lobby area, but not upstairs in the rooms or downstairs in the basement. This means I don't have to worry about any odd sounds from next door or any drunk girls knocking on my door at all hours of the night. I met Precyous, filled out my paperwork, paid, and followed her to the elevator. And let me just say that when I saw the elevator, it was all I could do to not yell out in excitement. It's an old building which means an old elevator. I have to pull open the door AND the fence thingy in order to get in. I can't tell you how many times already that I've stood either in front of the door or behind it inside waiting for it to open. It makes me giggle everytime.

I dropped my stuff off in the room, and hopped back in the car with Leslie. We decided that I would start on Wednesday, and that the paperwork could wait until then. She ran me to the nearest CVS so I could get a hair dryer and a straightener. Well, the CVS was in a shady area, and had neither. I grabbed some snacks and drinks, and made my way back to TMH. I'm pretty sure it was 2 miles away, but I made it, all by myself - like a big girl. Boom.

Let me tell you a little bit about my room at TMH. My door is second closest to the end on the "first" floor (1 floor above the lobby), and it's ORANGE. Go Rockwall. :) My room is 5x18...yes, 5x18. I have a twin sized bed, a nighstand with a lamp, a desk and 2 chairs, and a big dresser with a mirror. It was all set up terribly, so I fixed it, first thing. I got my stuff out of the vacuum bags (my body pillow popped right up!) and decided I needed to go to Target to get some stuff I wasn't able to pack. I figured out the route to take on the metro and headed out.

I got to Union Station just fine. But let me tell you something. That Union Station? It's huge! I couldn't find the metro, I tried buying a bus ticket (on accident - luckily it wouldn't take my card), and finally decided to slip into Jamba Juice and get something to eat. After doing that, I meandered around until I remembered that the metro is UNDERground which meant I should probably go DOWNstairs. So I did. And lo and behold - I found a sign that said <--- METRO.

I bought a 7 day pass, scanned my card, and then spent 15 min on my phone, trying to figure out where the heck I needed to be. It took me awhile, but I finally caught on, and boarded my first DC subway on the Red line. I figured out where I needed to transfer to get to the Green and made the transfer seamlessly. When I got off the subway, the escalator I needed to go up was SUPER tall, and NOT RUNNING. I made the mistake about a third of the way up to start jogging. As I reached the top my legs started to give out and I caught my boot on the very last step - the one that was only an inch or so high. Luckily, no one saw me (at least I don't THINK anyone did).

Target was Target, except it's two stories, so they have a CART ESCALATOR!! You push your cart onto it and it goes up right beside you! I was terrified to try it but after waiting (unsuccessfully) for somebody else to go, I just went for it and it went smoothly. I didn't want to be out too late, so I wrapped up my trip and ending up forgetting a lot of things. Luckily, my parents are going to send me a care package to help with things I need that didn't fit in my bags or things I forgot at Target. I ended up combining my purchases into one huge bag (filled almost to the top) and headed for the subway...and they had switched the escalators. This time, I had to go DOWN the massive escalator that wasn't working. Yeesh.

I made it to Union Station, found my way out, and started heading home...in the wrong direction. Figured that out, and carried on...with this massive bag. About halfway home I came up to a group of about 15 secret service officers waiting to unload their person from a big suv. They eyed me and my big Target bag of goodness only knows what, so I just looked straight ahead and walked right through them. I figured it would be pretty funny if I got taken down by the SS on my second day, but alas, nothing so entertaining.

I got back to TMH, got my stuff to my room, totally drenched and my entire upper body red from overexerting myself for so many miles. I organized the new stuff into the room, including Febreezing the whole place because the room has some old funky smell. I have to do it every time I come in because it never seems to take. I got the same Febreeze smell in a car thing you either hook on your visor or put in the air vents. I decided to put this on the a/c vent to the room but the a/c vent isn't working currently, so we'll see how that goes.

I watched some Bones, talked to Nom and KNicole, and PASSED OUT. I woke up around 4:30, ventured to the bathrooms for the first time - they were actually pretty nice - and yes, they're communal. Got some water, took some more Sudafed, and went back to sleep!