Things are really about to start!

It is finally sinking in that school is about to start. Maybe that's because I endured NINE HOURS of orientation over the last few days. It was everything you would expect from an orientation - meaning that there were awkward "get-to-know-you games", presentations from various members of the GMU community, and lots of information that can easily be learned by glancing at the website or reading any of the information they send out in the mail. Even so, it was nice to actually be there, meeting people and seeing the facility.

It was also kind of intimidating! There are students from the Balkans, various African countries, Canada, Switzerland, and probably some other places too. And it seemed like everyone had a really interesting story. From Israeli university graduates to former ICC interns or UN employees, I felt like almost everyone had already done these exciting and impressive things! No wonder I almost didn't get in... Nevertheless, I have already made note of the few people who seem even less prepared than I am, and that makes me feel a little better :)

As a reward for spending two days at orientation, I decided to spend Saturday at the National Zoo. It was sad that my camera ran out of batteries half-way through the day, but I still saw tons of interesting animals and took some pictures. Here are some of the highlights:


I <3 pandas! The ones at the zoo were particularly lazy, but they were still pretty cute.


I think the zoo may have received a large donation of Golden Lion Tamarins, or else they are admirable breeders, because there were like eight exhibits of these monkeys. Also, although I didn't have any nightmares about them (see spider story below), I think they were the scariest animal at the zoo. I have never before felt afraid of monkeys, but these little guys had creepy humanlike, shrunken faces and they raced around their cages in such a way that you just knew they would be impossible to catch with your hands. And in the exhibits where several were together, I couldn't help but think that if they ganged up on you, you would not stand a chance.


I know this isn't a good picture, but it's a sloth in a box! Adorable! This is an example of a nice monkey. (Although I'm actually not sure if sloths are monkeys at all...)


A Komodo Dragon! I actually don't care about it either way, but I think it is kind of exotic.


I'm not even kidding, this spider was one of the few animals that was NOT CAGED. There were two spiders that I saw, each of them pretty big (maybe two fingers together) and they shared a corner exhibit that was full of webs and plants. There was NO GLASS. Seriously, I had my camera only inches away from this thing. I can't figure out how the zoo knows that the spiders won't take off! I acted brave, getting all close and everything, but then I went home and had a nightmare about that spider! I dreamed that somehow the zoo spider's eggs (and there were thousands of eggs in there) got on my clothes and I took them home where they hatched and my room was overrun with HUGE spiders! It was very scary.