Waking up before the break of dawn was, in all honesty, the second biggest hurdle I faced my first day before going to D.C, this only being surpassed by the goodbyes that my family and I exchanged before I went off to start my own adventure. After the tears and hugs, I felt an immense pride emulating from each of them as they waved to me from behind the cold and foggy window of the car.
Throughout the entirety of my journey to the airport, I felt my heartbeat in my ears and my mind was racing at the thought of having to find my way in a land of unknowns. However, what seemed to cull these feelings were the words of encouragement that my friends, family, and professors had given to me before having left home. After arriving to the airport I boarded my first flight to Fort Worth, Texas, and, after having landed, needed to wait for about an hour before my next flight to Washington D.C. It was here I decided that my time would be best spent riding the light rail around the entire airport until it was time to board, and it was also here that I was able to run into some of my fellow interns as we were getting onto the plane!
On the ride there I was fortunate enough to have sat next to a woman named Lurdes, who was very well versed on public health, and spoke with her the whole way about both D.C. and chronic diseases affecting the Latin population in the United States. After having landed in D.C., I parted ways with my newly made friend and joined up with some of the other interns as we walked to meet up with Patrick. It was from this point, one could say, that my D.C. story had officially begun!
Seeing Patrick in person was one of my favorite moments in D.C., as he was just as kind and helpful as he was online! While we waited to pick up our bags, more interns were arriving at the airport and it was so much fun being able to interact/talk with each of them. Learning everyone's stories, and their goals, made it feel like we were all interconnected through our aspirations.
There was also, however, a very funny mishap where the bus that was supposed to have picked us all up from the airport went to Baltimore instead of Reagan Airport! This gave all of us more time to talk with each other and learn more about everyone as individuals rather than just as students, so, all in all, it was more a good thing rather than bad. From the airport we were able to check into our hotel for the night, and, after eating, we visited the White House on our first day! Patrick was our expert tour guide through the streets of D.C., providing interesting facts about nearly every building. After our "photo op" in front of the White House we made our small journey back to the hotel where we all were able to get some rest, as we recharged for the week ahead.
