Update to Family and Friends

Hello family and friends!

I am writing you from my apartment in Washington DC! I am here for a 9-week internship program through my college, UC Santa Cruz. It's called the UCDC Program. Hundreds of kids from all different UC campuses live in this building with me, we all have different internships throughout the city.

I am interning with the California News Service, a freelance journalism project for college journalists, bringing a DC perspective to local California newspapers. I get to interview congresspeople and write stories and get them published in big papers! I just had my first story published on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle last Saturday! Here's the link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/23/MNAE1D3UPM.DTL

I also am taking a class on speechwriting once a week. So far we have met one of Obama's current speechwriters, toured the Politico headquarters, and chatted with one of Bush's old speechwriters. It is so fascinating to talk to these people!

For fun, I play pick-up ultimate frisbee twice a week on the National Mall (you can see pictures of that on my blog here). Someone I met there invited me to play on his team, so I go and play with the "Floppy Discs" whenever my schedule permits!

I emailed my new DC frisbee friends asking if anyone had a spare bike, and sure enough, someone gave me a free bike! So now I can get anywhere in the city in no time at all. It is a great biking city - wide sidewalks, very flat and lots to see! There's an awesome bike/jogging trail called Rock Creek Park. Don't worry, I bought a helmet!

It's easy to bike or walk to Trader Joes or Whole Foods and get my groceries for the week! I also love going to the Farmers Market on Sundays. My favorite dish to make is sweet potatoes and kale, cooked with coconut oil. Props to Auntie Jeni for teaching me!

Finally, I have a part-time job at a frozen yogurt store (Mr. Yogatos!) It is so much fun. We offer discounts for trivia questions (Name 4 countries with "E" as the only vowel!) or getting your forehead stamped (it says "Mr. Yogato stamped me) and I made up my own discount - harmonize with Amber and get 10% off!

As you can probably tell, I love DC. I am meeting lots of interesting people and making lots of great connections. I go to several museums per week. What's your favorite DC museum? I also visited a friend in Baltimore last weekend and plan on visiting a friend in New York this weekend.

If you want to see photos of my adventures, check out my photography blog, www.youngslug.blogspot.com.

Hope all is well,

Love!
Amberly Young