Now that I'm actually exiled...

Without much further ado, here is my highly anticipated first blog post since getting into Washington, D.C.

First off, Reagan National is quite an impressive airport.  It was nice and bright and cheerful, and the first store the exit hallway leads you to is aptly named "America!" and has any American themed item you could wish for.  I had to check my ginormous bag, and fortunately it was already on the bag return conveyor belt by the time I got there.  So I'm thinking... wow, this is great, everything's going exactly as planned.

Then I get to my taxi.  There was a line to a get a taxi and a nice man pointed me the the correct taxi, and the taxi driver seemed nice enough and we had a nice rapport about country music.  I was telling about how little I knew about it, he was telling me how shocked he was that I was from Texas and somehow I didn't like it.  Things took a turn for the worse when we get to my end point, GWU, and he told me I owed him $26 for a fifteen minute cab ride.  While I knew others had only paid $15 for a similar cab ride and that that price was way too much, I paid it anyway because... I really don't know why.  So, I learned my first lesson here in DC, which is to never trust a taxi driver.  Ever.

I check in with the GWU Summer Housing people, and I'm told where my building and room will be during my six-week stay.  I get to my building, and it is by far the nicest dorm room I have ever stayed in.  There are two bedrooms within each suite, each housing two residents. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, so no more communal bathrooms for me!

I ended up later that afternoon walking around campus and I found a sign pointing to the White House, and so    I made a short trek there.  I waved to the Obamas when I got there, and the President himself told me how happy he was that I was in DC working to make a better nation for all Americans.  Did this actually happen?  With me being the sole source of information from my journeys, I guess you'll just have to trust me.

Anyway... I start my job next week as the newly appointed Green Jobs Czar for the Obama Administration.  I got a great referral from the Wesley Foundation on how well I did as Green Czar during the last retreat, and I am really looking forward to walking in the same footsteps of my predecessor, Van Jones.  So if anyone has ideas about how to create green jobs, just remember that the Obama Administration is always open to outside thought, especially ideology that is in direct conflict with their own.  I'll keep everyone posted on how this job works out.

-Jeremy