Fish Out of Floridian Water

Nearly Done

2010-08-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

The past 10 weeks passed at such breakneck speed, all of this still feels like new. Yet at the same time, I feel like I’ve become seasoned D.C. worker bee—waking early every morning, taking the VRE and Metro to work every day, getting something from John at Pedro and Vinny’s Fresh Burrito’s (Gimme the Goose!) every now and then for lunch, catching the train back and doing it all again the next day.

John, THE burrito guy. It’s always a treat at 15th and K at lunchtime.

Now, things are winding down. Yesterday was commencement, where we recognized how far we’ve come on this brief but dense journey. When I put together my portfolio, I realized how much I’ve done at work, with so many nice clips at my disposal when looking for that next internship or possibly a job. I actually accomplished most of my individual development plan goals. I have a lot to show for my time spent here.

I went to my final class last night at the AP building, another place I’m going to miss seeing every week. We had fantastic discussions about journalism and ethics, and we got to watch some classic movies (Ace in the Hole, All the President’s Men, Absences of Malice,) and examine the ethical issues raised in each one, whether they represent the best or worst of journalism. We got to see some more recent films (State of Play, Shattered Glass) that show there still plenty of ethical dilemmas facing today’s reporters and editors. My classmates brought interesting insight to the table every week, something I appreciate a lot. I’m going to miss the my pleasant Monday evening movie and conversation.

So the finish line is in sight, but I’m still a few days away. This isn’t goodbye yet.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

2010-08-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

Washington, D.C., gets a lot of good shows.

If you’re a music fan and plan on spending 2-4 months in the District, you’re going to have plenty of local and national acts play every week. It’s been hard for me to make it out to any shows this summer, given issues of time, energy and budget. But there was one I wasn’t going to miss, hell or high water.

The Black Keys played DAR Constitution Hall last Monday night, and I got to go with a good friend of mine from high school that’s interning with NPR this summer. We had a grand ol’ time, playing catch up and seeing the Keys, who were very, very loud. It was my first Black Keys show, and I was please like I thought I’d be. Their songs “Chop and Change” sounded the best, with the organ ringing out perfectly to mesh with the bass, Patrick Carney’s perfectly paced drums, and minimal guitar from Dan Auerbach.

Great shows. Just another reason a couple months in D.C. is a must.

Museum Hoppin’ 2

2010-08-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

The Smithsonian exploration just keeps rolling. There are so many museums and exhibits to see, that it’s hard to fit it all in……and there isn’t much time left. But Amanda and I were determined to do what we could.

Before we checked out the American History Museum, we walked by the White House.

I’ve heard people say when they first see the White House, they feel a little underwhelmed. They say the expected it to be bigger. The first time I saw it (which wasn’t in this instance, but when I was out gathering quotes for a story on my second day at work), I pretty much got what I expected. It’s still pretty cool.

We did a brief visit to the American History Museum, stopping Julia Child’s kitchen, very old violins and some Apollo Theater relics.

Julia Child’s Kitchen

An outfit Celia Cruz once wore

Lucille, B.B. King’s legendary guitar

Museum Hoppin' 1

2010-08-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

So what’s the obvious thing to do during a hot summer in Washington, D.C.?

The Smithsonian museums are air conditioned, free and huge. The weekend of the 10^thand 11^th, we went to see a few, and we realized just how much time you can spend in just one.

Take for instance the National Portrait Gallery. With as much as any of us have seen these images in our history textbooks or on the Internet, it’s still nothing like standing in front of the real thing.

Andrew Jackson

Abraham Lincoln

Richard Milhous Nixon

Ronald Reagan

Portraiture is something of lost art, I feel. So much can be done with a painted portrait or even a photograph. The portrait gallery takes you back to when paint and canvas was all people had to preserve their appearance. Some other notable portraits included: Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass, among many others.

The building also house part of the American Art Museum. I was particularly struck by these two paintings that depicted a wild North American landscape.

They just seemed wondrous, almost otherworldly. That’s at least for me, who has yet to see much of the natural beauty this continent has to offer.

More museum adventure soon.

Reflections

2010-07-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Everything is going really fast. As fast as the Metro I ride every day, as fast as the hurried suits that rush by on the escalators (and I’m really becoming one of them). I like to slow down and take things in slowly, you know, like Ferris Bueller says we should do from time to time. So to heed his wise advice, I’m going to dial it down a bit and reflect.

The thrill of being a reporter comes from the uncertainty, the lack of a plan. Every day, it’s something new. I’ve written about the World Cup, the Silver Docs Festival, D.C.‘s extreme heat and several local personalities. I’ve written briefs, question-and-answer segments, a cover story and several daily stories. And let me tell you, it’s a joy to go to work in the morning and be treated like anyone else who works there. Grunt work doesn’t really exist in the newsroom….it’s all hands on deck. It makes nine-to-five an adventure every day.

My days in D.C. haven’t come without its kinks, though. The commute has begun to wear me down. It’s more of a source of stress since late June because of the increased pace of everything—more work, more TWC assignments, more attempts at squeezing fun in between it all. At first, the commute was easy to get used to…….then I started getting home more exhausted by the end of the days, and sometimes quite late. But I think I’m learning to handle it well, as I did with other challenges in the beginning of the summer.

Being a commuter student is much more difficult lifestyle for a TWC summer, but it was worth it for me. I wanted to be here, despite financial difficulties I’ve encountered over the past 7 months. I must say, the generosity of my host family, who’s putting us up in Manassas, is HUGE. I couldn’t have been here without them. So for anyone really wanting to experience this who but is worried about really making it happen, where there’s a will there’s a way. Believe it. And the commuting isn’t that bad. It’s just an adjustment.

I saw some museums last weekend, so another update will come soon. After a picture-less post, I will make it up to you. Stay tuned.

Fourth

2010-07-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

I had never been in D.C. before this summer, so when Independence Day rolled around, there was no question about where I would be for the festivities.

The National Mall was quite hot, as it has been lately, but there were plenty of organizations camped around who were nice enough to offer free water. The Hare Krishnas even offer a free meal, which I couldn’t pass up. They make some yummy vegan food; back home, they offer very cheap and delicious lunches on campus every weekday.

The Krishna followers were joyous on the Fourth, singing and dancing and welcoming all. It was a familiar sound, the chant. On a day focused on our nation’s freedom, I loved seeing such a pleasant display of diversity.

Most exciting of all, of course, was the beautiful fireworks display. I tried to capture it without the benefit of a tripod, which made things a little difficult, but I got at least a few shots.

Adventure B

2010-07-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 18th, I witnessed the man-beast that is Stephen Strasburg, live in Nationals Park.

Night at the Ballpark from Joey Flechas on Vimeo.

The guy is unbelievable. He made batters look like children. The Nats just need to learn how to just hit the baseball, because Strasburg has already single-handedly lifted their pitching to whole other level. It was marvelous, even if the Nats lost. It was cheap, too, thanks to The Washington Center’s nice discount.

Hanging with George.

Definitely a good time had by all.

I realize I haven’t talked too much about what I’ve been eating, which has been marvelous considering the wealth of good eatin’ there is around here. Let’s fix that.

Although my lunches are always ham/turkey sandwiches and honey-wheat pretzel twists, Amanda and I have dined quite nicely in the District, without even spending too much. On Mondays, we usually have Washington Center programming, panels, speeches and such, which mean I don’t go in for work since they need interns for full days. Amanda works till about noon, so I go into the city with her and find a nice spot to sit and catch up on homework until we meet again for lunch.

Now, I hadn’t realized the scope of this cupcake-craze that’s gripped America until I saw that there is some serious competition between D.C. cupcakeries. I haven’t tried any other than Hello Cupcake, just off Dupont Circle, but many have told me they are the best. I sure enjoyed it. A little organic milk to wash it down, and we were in sweets heaven.

Unfortunately, we think we found the worst Chinese place we’ve ever experienced, but I won’t get into names. To be fair, we decided we might have ordered the worst item on the menu, so we should try it again……….later. Nearby, though, was a fabulous basement pizza parlor, where you get these big, quarter-pie slices for a pretty decent price. Tasted good, too.

Breakfast has been a real treat at Au Bon Pain, which serves these delicious breakfast sandwiches (my favorite: broccoli, egg and swiss), along with great bagels and cinnamon buns. Their peach iced tea is very tasty and refreshing, too.

Down off Dupont Circle, D.C. Café serves fantastic Greek food. I had a delicious chicken gyro with some of their homemade lemonade, which was some of the best I’ve had in a long time. Perfect for a hot day, of which there have been several so far this summer.

There are plenty of other places to try before our time here is up, so I’ll report back with more later.

Adventure 1

2010-06-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

Work hard, but always play just a little harder. It’s time to play little catch up on the fun times so far.

The daily grind can be awfully tiresome, but the allure of the weekend can gives me a second wind when I need one. The past few weekends, we’ve braved the unforgiving heat to venture out to Dupont Circle for a packed public viewing of the England v. USA game (feels like ages ago now they’ve been knocked out, doesn’t it?), gone to a pair of baseball games, visited some monuments and gone dancing.

The Washington Center held a lovely picnic for us on the 12^th in Arlington, where we got to chow down some grub and bond over the jitters we had over the first few weeks. The Media and Communication Program had us run around getting interviews from people talking about why they enjoyed their internships and D.C., where many folks were too shy to go on camera. Some, though, loved the chance to wax poetic about their internships. One girl even said she loved cataloging for the Library of Congress. Hey, if it makes you happy, then power to ya.

The Soccer in the Circle was a sweltering mess in the best possible way. Hundreds of people crowded Dupont Circle to get a view of one of two screens showing the match, a tedious affair that ended in a tie that left everyone satisfied yet wanting more. The thick heat in the middle was something I hadn’t felt since sometime last year—I loved it, in a way. Then I remembered I came here for something new and I’d prefer to revel in the Swamp again in August, not now.

Amanda and I made a mad dash for Vienna to pick up the car (as commuters, our weekend trips require us to drive to the Vienna/Fairfax Metro station) so we could drive up to Baltimore to catch a game between the Orioles and the Mets. My buddy Elizabeth, a fellow J-school student back at UF who’s from Baltimore, had some extra tickets to the game, so we couldn’t pass 'em up.

A view from our fabulous seats in Orioles Park at Camden Yards

Amanda, Elizabeth and her sister

The three of us after a great night at the ballpark

Baseball is not my favorite sport (football, all the way), but there’s nothing like being in the ballpark for the America’s Pastime with an ice-cold beer and a hot dog. We were able to catch up and have a great time, despite the usual Orioles loss.

Sunday, we took a brief trip to the Newseum, since we had free admission through the InternsRock promotion (a sweet deal TWC and MTV put together to get ALL D.C. interns discounts at different place all over D.C.). The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs exhibit just swallows you in; it’s such a vivid experience to travel through some of the most important events in history one still frame at a time. That’s just one of many groovy exhibits the Newseum offers. I highly recommend it to any journalism buffs.

On the way back to the Metro station, we got to walk through the 2010 Capital Pride Festival. D.C. is a diverse place, no doubt, and the beauty of it lies in the expression of all of its diverse people. To see people being unafraid of who they were, freely and openly proud of their identities, was a real treat.

With a quick glance back on the way out, I saw this image.

Only five days later Amanda and I would find ourselves back in a ballpark, only this time, we were in the company of a local hero.

Stay tuned.

Routine

2010-06-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

The rest of the museums were a great escape from a hot and rainy day. The art displayed at The Fondo Del Sol Visual Arts Center spoke to the core or me; with so much Latin American expression, I felt tuned into to my Colombian heritage. A group of South American musicians were playing cumbia music in the front room, the kind of music I grew up listening to when my mother blasted it around the house. In D.C., a big city with such a distinct identity forged from patriotism mixed with strains of international consciousness, a Florida boy who hadn’t eaten a Cuban sandwich or black beans and yellow rice in weeks felt at home in a hot row house with a little cumbia band.

The Textile Museum had a vibrant atmosphere as kids created designs with different fabrics and materials. Musicians played outside, and plenty of stations had hands on demonstrations.

An impressive drape made by local children

At the Textile Museum from Joey Flechas on Vimeo.

Amanda learns how to spin string

Overall, a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Now, we’ve settled into a routine – a long commute each morning, where I can catch up on homework or sleep. Sleep tends to win that one. Each morning flies by in no time. By the time I’m hacking away at the day’s story (or stories), making phone calls and taking notes, I look up and we’re already at lunch time.
The afternoon, as expected, feels a little longer. I enjoy the internship, so I can’t say that I’m staring at the clock and itching for quitting time. No no, sometimes I wish there was more time to get more done. That’s newspaper life – simply not enough hours in a day.

I’m very happy with life at the paper. I have a new intern buddy sitting next to me now, so we can share our daily observations (both of us being D.C. first-timers), discuss the news and what we’re working on and help each other out when we’re unsure. The staff reporters have been very sweet, too. They are always eager to help a youngling out, which ends up giving the office a real family atmosphere, like we’re in this together. It’s a pleasure to be there every day.

That’s all besides the clips I’ve been able to pick up so far. Getting published is always a thrill, but getting published in D.C., where hundreds of thousands of locals will read your byline and your story, is the biggest thrill yet.

After work, it’s a mad dash for Union Station to make the the Virginia Rail Express to Manassas, where dinner and a warm bed await. It’s hard to fit in the fun adventures during the week, so the weekends are ripe for the picking.

Next time, we go pickin’.

Hustle.

2010-06-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

If I had to capture the essence of being out and about in Washington, D.C. in one word, it’d be hustle. People are moving fast all the time, thousands of professionals riding the Metro and grabbing quick bites to eat before and after work, tourists cramming every Kodak moment into their always-too-short-of-a-stay, and thousands of wide-eyed interns experiencing the city for the very first time.

I’m one of those kids with the wide eyes.

Being a laid-back, beach-bum Florida boy, I’ve definitely had to adjust to the speed of this place. The reason I’ve opted for this sudden change of pace is because I am now a student in The Washington Center’s Media and Communication Program and an intern with The Washington Examiner. For the next 10 weeks, I’ll be writing for the paper, taking an ethics class and taking advantage of every moment I have in this overwhelming place. It’s going to be a fun ride.

I hope to provide a unique look at a summer spent in D.C. After talking to enough of my fellow interns, I can tell most people opt for TWC housing, so I know I’m coming at this from a rather uncommon perspective—as a commuter student traveling from Manassas, VA, every day. I am lucky to be staying with a wonderful host family for my girlfriend (a fellow TWC intern) and me. It’s going to be a D.C. adventure, but I’m going to be able to get a taste of the areas right outside of the city, too. The whole metropolitan area seems to have so much to offer; I can only hope I will get to see all or most of it.

As for my first week here, I’ve been consumed with getting settled in and learning the basics: riding the Metro (and in my case, the Virginia Rail Express, too) escalator etiquette (stand on the right, walk on the left) and planning a whole lot. With a program so involved and a city so rich, keeping a written schedule is imperative.

My first chance to wander around came during Sunday’s Museum Walk Weekend, where several museums in the Dupont Circle and Kalorama neighborhoods offer free admission to all. Although lingering clouds led to a lingering storm, the rain couldn’t keep me down too long. I managed to see some fantastic artwork at the Phillips Collection, including a Renoir I never thought I’d see in its original form.

It was a real treat to see Luncheon of the Boating Party, one of my favorite paintings.

Each museum had a unique personality, as they were all old majestic homes from the days when D.C. when was younger. You could feel the age of the structures while walking through them. Some museums hosted artwork, while others provided the history of the building itself. Anderson House, for instance, was the headquarters for the Society of the Cincinnati, the country’s oldest patriotic organization. It was an impressive place, with grand meeting rooms, dining rooms and hallways. Tapestries hung on many walls, and murals were around every corner.

My girlfriend, Amanda, particularly enjoyed a long hallway over looking walled garden that had old maps hanging on the walls.

I’ll have a little bit more on the museums next time, including some video. For now, adios!