Viraj's Blog

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It links your facebook events/friends' birthdays to gcal. I'm in love.

I’ve never been an extremely independent person- at least, not where it counts. I’ve never been to see a movie alone or eaten by myself at a restaurant. I understand that these are normal social constraints- we have been taught that these sorts of activities are to be done with other people, or else we are our own “normalness” is questionable. As someone who constantly tries to question social norms and constraints, I never bothered to think why this one still holds so much power over me. There’s so much that I’ve wanted to do, but I held back because there wasn’t anybody else interested in going with me.

I guess on some psychological level, it makes sense. After all, if nobody else wants to do something I have an initial interest in, then me wanting to do it is “abnormal”.

I’m not saying this is rational- I know it’s not…this is an attempt to map why I feel so hesitant to do things alone.

This past semester, I met someone who, in one sentence, helped me to alter my inhibitions. “Viraj, it’s just a lecture”. I had expressed to him what I said above- that I didn’t like going to events alone, but putting it that way (perhaps condescendingly- it was a gtalk conversation), made me realize exactly that- it is just a lecture, a movie, a meal. Who cares if people judge me? I’m not going to see them again and nobody is going to stop talking to me because I had the “audacity” to go to something alone.

Of course, I haven’t completely changed my habits. These natural inhibitions still exist. I wrote in my last blog entry about attending an Afghan Children’s Songbook book signing/concert at the National Gallery of Art yesterday. The event was to celebrate the opening of their new exhibit which features artwork from the National Museum in Kabul. I sat, ready to leave, in my apartment (alone) for a while…debating if I actually wanted to go or not. But then I finally asked myself- why? Why is it that I don’t want to go? I had been so excited the night before, but the idea of going to a museum alone to attend the opening celebrations of an exhibit almost had me hiding alone in my apartment- it was almost embarrassing.

As you might have guessed, I did end up going to the event- and it was pretty awesome. An author compiled, translated, and put into a book a collection of Afghani children’s songs, in the original languages (Farsi, Pashto, etc.) as well as an English translation. He also made an instrumental cd for the children to sing along to. I saw Shamim Jawad, the wife of the Afghanistani Ambassador to the United States, as well as Louise Pascale, a woman who had served in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan speak, followed by a choir of kids (aged 4-11, probably) perform some of the songs. It was pretty amazing to be at an event like this, and to see the support the event received (the auditorium was full) from not only the local Afghanistani community, but from the Washington D.C. community as a whole. I was a little sad- I didn’t know that earlier in the day there had been a lecture and a film screening about modern-day Afghanistani cultures…something I definitely would have enjoyed too. Stupid Washington Post.

I also learned that the National Gallery of Art has a movie series that runs on the weekend, too. If I can, I’m going to try making it out to a few of them. Most of the weekend ones are Russian, plus a couple of Spanish films and a showing of Julius Caesar. They’re all from the early 30s to the mid 40s- and a few of them are silent, too. I didn’t really look around the museum a whole lot yesterday…it was really crowded and I’d rather go when there aren’t tons of children running around screaming. I'm going to head back next weekend to look at the actual exhibit.

So, ultimately, I guess the point of this is to say that, while it was forced, I took a big leap by doing something completely on my own and it totally paid off. I had a great time, experienced something new, and it opened up new doors and opportunities for things to do.

Happy Memorial Day, friends :)

Oh, p.s.- I watched Dan In Real Life last night- it was good and you should watch it too.

First- Happy 21st Birthday, Mr. Thompson!

Hello, friends! I know it’s only been a week, but I decided to write a quick update on what I've been doing so far. Most of this is just mundane details- if you're looking for an intellectually stimulated entry, you'll be sorely disappointed :p

I am having a fabulous time in D.C.! Here’s some of the stuff I’ve been up to:

I arrived last Saturday night- Tina (my friend I am living with for the summer) picked me up from the airport and we came back to the apartment building- Tina was actually moving in that very day, so I got to meet a couple of her friends that were helping her move in, too. Vivian (who goes to UofI) and Doug (my supervisor at my OCA internship)

Oh, an aside:
The internship I’m doing here is through an Asian American political lobbying grouped, called the Organization of Chinese Americans.

(but Viraj, you’re not Chinese!)

Don’t worry- I haven’t had an intense identity crisis- the internship is for anyone who is Asian American J. Through OCA, I am placed either at a government agency, NGO, or a nonprofit, depending on my own preference. My top choice was to be placed at the Washington, D.C. Bureau of the NAACP- which I was lucky enough to get!!

I don’t have my camera yet, but I’ll post pictures of the apartment soon. It’s beautiful! It’s in an area just outside DC- I live two blocks away from the Metro (Subway) stop, and the mall, grocery store, and everything else I could ever need is a short walk away.

We spent the first few days shopping and such, and then I started my first week of work!

First, let me reflect on the night before. This was a totally new situation for me- I was in a city I had no true experience with, and I was going to commit myself to a job where I hadn’t interviewed or met anyone working at before! The only close experience I guess I’ve had is starting to work at CITES before school, or maybe living with someone random my freshman year. I was really nervous- I’m really lucky to have Tina here to help me so much/quell my fears/not make fun of me. Another person I'm really grateful to is none other than Mr. Harry Thompson III, who wrote me idiot-proof directions the night before. However, apparently I'm even beyond the level of "idiot" because...

My venture to work the next morning was a total disaster- I found the metro stop okay, but first I bought the wrong ticket (the attendant was kind enough to give me a free one-way ticket after I realized I had paid for an all-day pass I couldnt use until 9:30), and then I got lost when I got out of the Metro at McPherson square. Now, I don’t even know how I got lost- my building is literally right down the street. I felt like a freshman all over again :/

My first day of work at the NAACP was admittedly slow- everyone was out of the office except for Adam, the communications director. He had me fill out some paperwork, read some literature, and pick out a research project for the semester, and I was done by 1pm.

The Washington DC Bureau of the NAACP focuses on legislation- my job for the summer is basically to serve as a legislative assistant. I pick, from a list of topics, something to research and prepare a comprehensive binder which includes relevant articles, legislation, etc. as well as a report on what everything in the binder means, my own suggestions and interpretations, and whatever else will help the NAACP. Initially, I wanted to research “faith-based initiatives”, a term introduced by the Bush Administration. Basically, the government realized (rightfully so) that it wasn’t doing the philanthropic work it set out to do effectively, and that other groups, such as churches, temples, etc. were. Now, faith-based groups can apply for government funding to do the philanthropic work that the federal government has failed at, and they are doing the work (and doing it well). The NAACP doesn’t have a problem with these groups- what they have a problem with is that these groups (in order to preserve their own religious identity, and rightfully so) must inherently discriminate in their own hiring practices and the ways in which they use the money. For example, there was a teen group that used government money to fund their teen alcoholic recovery program- but part of the way they determined a “successful” case also included whether or not they left the facility fully converted to Christianity. Essentially, the NAACP has issue with the faith-based initiatives becoming institutionalized and government-funded discrimination.

The thought of this just blew me away...I had never thought about it and I was really excited to start working on the project.

Problem is, there isn’t any legislation in either the House or the Senate right now about these initiatives. I met the next day with Mr. Hilary Shelton, the head of the Bureau, who suggested I pick another topic.

First of all, let me just say that Mr. Shelton is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. He has worked with nonprofit organizations his whole life, talks to some of the most influential people in the world on a casual level (he got a call from Ted Kennedy the morning before his seizure, and he got a call personally from John McCain during our meeting), and yet still preserves the passion to talk to and advise each intern on a personal level- he blows my mind.

So, with the guidance of Mr. Shelton, I chose a topic that’s more relevant to the current state/session of Congress. My new research topic is on discrepancies within minority healthcare coverage in the United States. I’m really excited about this one too- one of my biggest fears is getting too caught up with the theory side of stuff- healthcare coverage is something that I hear a lot about but I’ve never really learned anything about. Most of all, its exciting to me that my work is going to directly affect the work that the NAACP does in regards to healthcare- I just find that incredibly humbling.

There will be 11 interns total at the NAACP this summer- I was the first to arrive. Another intern started on Wednesday, and I share an office with him. His name’s Joel, and he just finished his first year of law school at Ohio State. Sharing an office with him has been amazing- last Thursday we stopped working for an hour and had this amazing conversation about our own backgrounds and cultural questions. Joel’s a really open and honest person- I think we’re going to learn a lot from each other this summer. Oh, and his brother works for the Secret Service..isn’t that baller?

Outside of work, I’ve been able to do a little bit of sightseeing. I’ll save the reflections on that experience for later, but here’s the stuff I’ve been able to see:

The White House (from the outside- Tina arranged for the West Wing tour on June 14th!)
The Washington Monument
Chinatown (this is the weirdest Chinatown I’ve ever seen- I’ll talk about that later too)
The National Bureau of Engraving and Printing (we got to see money being made. It was overrated.)
Embassy Row (now one of my favorite places in the world- I’m going to go back and take lots of pictures when I get my camera. Sneha, if you’re reading this, am I allowed to just walk into an Indian embassy?)


I’m home alone this weekend- Tina flew back to Champaign. Today was slow- I just did some GRE prep and some reading. I printed a couple of new recipes out from our computer lab, walked over to the grocery store, made myself an awesome dinner, and then watched Baabul. I haven’t watched a hindi/had a good crying session in a while. It was perfect :)

And with that, goodnight, folks. I hope I have more than just mundane details to share for the next post. Tomorrow I’m going to the American Art Gallery for the opening celebrations of a new exhibit they’re doing featuring Afghan art. Whee!