Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I Am Surrounded By Crazy People

Good crazy, but crazy all the same. Every person I talk to is INCREDIBLY smart and has a cause or policy interest they care about so much that they amaze you with their level of knowledge every time they open their mouths. They are starting schools in India and Kenya, running for office, writing agricultural and economic policy and clocking more volunteer hours than is reasonably possible. Downright crazy, and I am one of them. Welcome to the Truman Summer Institute Class of 2008! (To know just how crazy we are, please see this amazing youtube video written, directed, and acted by my Truman class outlining the scholarship application process. Make sure you catch all the parts).

Summer Institute (SI) kicks off with a week of activities designed to give us a look into different public service options and to encourage us to get the most out of our summer of DC internships. These activities are meant to be thought provoking, insightful, deep and inspiring. So, of course, the first thing we do is go on a dinner cruise.

According to their website, the Odyssey Cruise Ship DC is "the only vessel designed specifically to travel beneath the Potomac's historic bridges." The dining area, where they serve you a ridiculously luscious four course meal) is completely enclosed in glass. You can (when it isn't raining) see the monuments slide by as you eat dinner and dance on the dance floor to the live band playing the Cha-Cha Slide and YMCA.

The majority of the patrons seemed to be couples celebrating their anniversaries. I don't think they found it at all amusing to have forty recent college grads being rowdy on the dance floor, interrupting their dinners. The band loved us because we actually cheered for them.

A good time was had by all.

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