overcast.

The weather this morning could not have been better if I had dreamt it. There is something special about a cool, overcast, and dizzily day that can’t be replicated.  Days like this stir up all my desires for a relaxing afternoon stroll on the shores of Utah Lake, lightly bundled in my best fall attire. The evening would conclude with a night at a local coffee house sipping on a cup of steamed cinnamon milk and enjoying the company. Days like this remind me of my home state of Washington, meandering around Seattle’s streets care free. The hug of the low hanging clouds seems to warm you with its embrace just as much as it blocks the sun and shoots down cold breezes. On some days like this, I even opt out of a head covering to let the rain refresh me head to toe. Though many people would disagree, this kind of a day possesses some mysterious spark that brightens it more than any sunshine or surf ever could. 

Baltimore

While in D.C. this summer, I woke up one morning with a urge to explore something new. I see the city every day of the week, so I quickly formulated a list of nearby day trip options. When the options were weighed and compared - Baltimore was the winner. Just a short 40 min drive away and the big city was already in view. In the first five minutes, we could already tell Baltimore would be a cheaper city than D.C. as the parking was 5$ for an entire day rather than 15$ for the first 30 min. in D.C. The vertical height and variation of the buildings first caught my attention when we left the parking lot. Washington has wider streets and a law stating that all buildings can only be up to 20 feet taller than the street they reside on which makes for a very flat skyline. Eventually we made our way downtown to the Inner Harbor to find that the city was much nicer and cleaner than I ever expected it to be.I definitely fell in love with the harbor and reassured my self in how much I love coastal cities compared to the land-locked ones I have always lived in. By the end of the day, I did not want to leave back for my small apartment just north of the nation's capitol but promised myself I would return to the city someday. 

First Thing's First

Early this summer, or rather late spring to be exact, I got on a red-eye flight Delta Airlines plane at the Salt Lake City International Airport and ended up in Washington D.C. ten hours later. D.C.would become my home for the next 14 weeks and coming from small town Provo, Utah to one of the most prominent cities in the world did not come without its culture shock.

Just to name a few, everything cost an arm and a leg to buy, the air seemed to suffocate you in its warm wet humid grasp, the diversity of people made up for Utah’s lack thereof 100 times over.

The goal of the trip was to learn about my field of study through an internship, but in the long run I took just as much home with me about life, culture, and the world around me. What I gained from living in the city was a priceless learning and growing experience in the best setting you could ask for.