#5-7: Weekends in Washington DC

#5: My neighborhood library-- there is nothing I love more in the world than little public neighborhood libraries, and we have a great one!

#6: Radical, fearless, and sanctified? My kind of church!

#7: Shadya, my adorable 4th roommate

#4: Union Station

#3: Green Light for 29

I have a gut feeling that 29 is going to be a good year...

#2: That's Right (You're Not From Texas)

This will (hopefully) be one of the least photographically interesting pictures I post. However, what is lacks in photographic excellence, it makes up in sentimental value. Tonight I went to see Lyle Lovett at Wolf Trap with a friend from way back in the days of middle and high school. Wolf Trap is a fab DC summer tradition-- you sit WAY out on a hill where you can barely see the stage, but you can bring picnic food and wine! And it doubles as a National Park, so it's a gorgeous place to sit and relax and enjoy the summer. But aside from the classic DC-ness of the night, watching Lyle, a classic Texas favorite, made me want to be dancing at Gruene Hall on a sweaty summer night decked out in cowboy boots and sipping a Shiner. The ironic part is neither my friend nor I fit into the Texas stereotype--we both left Texas about as soon as we could and have spent our adult lives rotating between the East Coast and sub-Saharan Africa. But I guess no matter what, and no matter how cliche it is, you can take the girls out of Texas, but you can't ever fully take Texas out of the girls...

#1: I Heart My 'Hood

365 Photos to 30

Today marks the first day of my final year in my twenties. While this is of somewhat dubious symbolism, somehow to me it seems significant. It also offers me a perfect opportunity to embark upon something I’ve been considering for awhile—the 365 pictures photo-a-day challenge. Basically it works out something like this—take at least one picture of something, anything, every single day for a year. And post them somewhere. I s’pose I could just keep them for myself, but somehow making it (somewhat) public helps me keep a little pressure on myself to actually do it. That said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions (and I’ve had good intentions regarding this blog before), so we’ll see how it actually goes.

But I’m excited—it fulfills a couple of goals:

One, I want to be a better photographer. And what’s the best way to become a better photographer? Take a lot of pictures. This will force me to do that.

Two, the more I move around from city to city, continent to continent, I’ve noticed an unfortunate trend—the more things are ridiculously different in my life, the more I just go with it and stop noticing things. This is probably good in terms of my ability to be flexible and roll with the punches, but it means I miss out on some interesting and beautiful stuff. So I’m hoping this will force me to open my eyes more and take in some things with fresh eyes.

And three, I’m hoping it will also spur my blogging. I really do love writing, and so often I don’t know what to write about or I get lazy. Hopefully posting a picture will make me write something about the photo. Maybe just a caption, and maybe something more substantial, but SOMETHING. And that’s the first step, right?

Now, for some logistics. I’ll likely be using three cameras most frequently. First, probably many of the photos will be taken with my crappy iPhone camera. These pictures won’t be of fantastic quality, but in terms of logistics, it just makes the most sense. I’ll also try to carry my point-and-shoot with me most of the time, so likely some photos will be taken with that. And hopefully I’ll also get some opportunities to use my big new fancy DSLR that my wonderful friend recently sold me. I’ve been meaning to play with it and experiment, so hopefully this will provide some opportunities for that.

I’m also planning to take a photography class at some point. In fact it’s my birthday present to myself. Unfortunately due to a busy travel schedule over the next few months, I’ll have to delay it until I have a little more free time. But I’m hoping that will happen something late Fall.

I will warn you that I may not post every day—my plan is to take photos every day, but just being realistic, it is likely that I may have to post several days worth of photos at a time on some occasion. I’m sure given my woeful record as a blogger, anyone still following this blog will give me some leeway on this one J. Anyway, here it is, the challenge is official. I hope you, dear reader (if you’re still out there) also get something out of this. Enjoy!

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

So, big news! But I'll warn you, it's exciting, sad, AND terrifying (though maybe more to me than you). Anyway, after 18 months of application process ups and downs, I’ve been offered and accepted a position as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development. More specifically, I'll be a Program Analysis and Project Development Officer (PDO) in the Development Leadership Initiative (DLI) program, which seeks to replenish the aging foreign service ranks with young, promising new leaders. Yes, you heard that correctly, I'm young and promising. Sort of. :)

Anyway, I’ll start training in Washington DC on June 7, 2010. I’m incredibly sad to leave my current job with Water For People after such a short period of time, but I’m convinced that this is the right career move for me at this time. When I complete my training, I'll have the opportunity to gain tenure in the foreign service, which trust me, is a pretty sweet gig. It allows me to give into my wanderlust and development-sector ADD, but with much more stability. I'm also incredibly disappointed to miss the World Cup in South Africa, which I was planning to attend with my dear friend Danielle, but I guess there will be more World Cups. Though not in SA. BOO! But careers are more important. Sort of. :)

And then there is the sadness associated with leaving Uganda, a place that has become my home for the last year and a half. And the place where some of best friends live. My eyes start watering even thinking about it, so that'll have to be a subject I'll need to tackle later. But it's sad. REALLY sad.

Anyway, as you might expect, this move opens a lot of doors and even more questions. Here’s what I DO know:

1) I’ll move back to DC sometime in early June and start training on June 7, 2010.

And here’s what I DON'T know (and now you’ll see where the terrifying descriptor comes in):

1) How long I’ll be in DC—as far as I can tell it could be between 2 months and 2 years. I suspect it will be on the longer side as I’ll have to do language training, but I really don’t know, nor do I know WHEN I’ll know.

2) Where I will be posted following my training. Basically I have no choice in the matter. I could be sent to Uganda or Pakistan or Guatemala, or really anywhere in between. My first post is decided by higher ups and I have little to no say over it. I think I will find out my post at the end of training, but I’ve heard that not everyone gets a post right away, so again… unclear. However, you can visit here (http://www.usaid.gov/locations/) to see all the possibilities. Your guess is as good as mine!

3) I don’t know what language I’ll be learning. As part as my training, and a requirement for tenure in the agency, I’ll be required to learn a language and pass a competency test. I’m going to push for French (it makes sense given my regional interest in sub-Saharan Africa), but I’m not sure I’ll have any say. So if they say “you’re learning Farsi,” Farsi it is. Again, your guess is as good as mine.

4) Where I will be living in DC. I’ll have to figure this out upon arrival, but my hope is that it’s cheap (ish), near the metro, and in the district. DC-ites, any advice or ideas are MORE THAN WELCOME!

So as you can see, there are many unanswered questions, which is terrifying. But the truth is it is also incredibly exciting, and just another contribution to this adventure we call life. So I'm trying to focus on that and not the unknowns. But no worries, I'll keep you all updated!