Week 1 in D.C.

BY MALIA ALLISON ​Walking down the National Mall Thursday morning, I was jetlagged and frustrated. I passed small tour groups and people speeding by the reflecting pool on Lyft scooters, but not the usual crowds of people that always occupy the Capitol. As I approached the Smithsonian Castle, I looked back towards the Capitol Building – only minutes from my cozy Capitol Hill neighborhood apartment. The building on the Hill watches over the museums in its shadow and with the help of the White House, closed those museum doors to everyone. I looked into the black doors of the National Museum of American History with signs apologizing for the inconvenience. Initially, I had not even thought about the impacts our current political state would have on my internship at the National Museum of American History. With my unlucky timing, the shutdown has impacted a January 7th start date for my internship. When the government will reopen, and my internship may start cannot be predicted. Furthermore, the top priorities for resolving the shutdown are not museums and national parks. Support for the shutdown remains, but it is hard to imagine that anyone looks upon the closure of our country’s most prized tourist attractions, research facilities, and parks as necessary to the issues being debated in the Capitol. In our current political state, the shutdown has had broad reaching impacts across the country from national parks and museums to over 800,000 workers furloughed or working without pay.[1] I find it hard to complain about my current situation when hundreds of thousands are going without pay or any other governmental aid. However, as my roommates, both senator’s interns, walk to work in the morning, while I stay in our apartment, it is difficult not to get a little frustrated. It is problematic to find things to do in a city built around a government when that government is shutdown, but I’m figuring it out as I go. I am grateful to have this opportunity even without the internship and hope to make the most of my experience no matter what happens in the government. If anyone has suggestions on things to do in DC, feel free to email me (mha1@stmarys-ca.edu) or Professor Songster.

[1] Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner, Brian Ries, and Amanda Wills, “The Government is STILL Shutdown,” CNN, January 11, 2019.