Speak Up!

It’s going to be really hard to try to top last week’s post, but I’ll try my best. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the sunny weather, I know I am!  If you can believe it, it’s going to be 70 degrees outside today!  Not even you Southern Californians can say that it will get this warm in your area today, so I will definitely enjoy the warmth however long it lasts.

Last week was somewhat slower than recent weeks.  I did, however, get a chance to visit the Library of Congress for the first time so that I could access their database for my research paper for USD.  The main reading room was one of the most beautiful rooms that I had ever seen.  Part of my fascination with the LoC was just because I was not expecting the building and rooms to be more than just a plain, functional building.  It was very difficult to get any work done in that room for the first 15 minutes just because I was in amazement by how beautiful the building looked. I loved it so much I took a picture of it with my cell phone and immediately uploaded it onto my Facebook, which is something I don’t normally do. 

When I look up at my study area this is what I see inside the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress.  So beautiful!

This past week, I visited Georgetown for the first time.  I had always heard about how beautiful Georgetown was to walk around, but I never had the chance to see it in person.  For those that ever come visit Washington, DC, it’s a great place to just hang out, or perhaps to take your significant other out for a romantic evening on the town.

This apple turnover that I had at Georgetown was so delicious that I had to put this up.  Once spring comes around, I'll have more pictures up of Georgetown once the photo ops present themselves.

Although last week was somewhat slow, this week has started off pretty strong.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a talk at the Cosmos Club on the implications of American national security strategy reform under the Obama administration with the Honorable Kathleen Hicks, who is the current Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces.  Among the people who attended were high ranking officials from the UK to Japan to Algeria to Israel.  What I enjoyed most about this discussion was that it was not a diplomatic discussion in which officials would just exchange pleasantries and get around the topic questions without ever saying anything substantive.  The moderator for the discussion made it absolutely clear that he expected everyone to NOT be politically correct so that they can feel comfortable to say whatever is on their minds. This rule in these formal discussions is commonly referred to as the Chatham House Rule.  This is one of many of these discussions that I’ve been to since my time here in DC, and to be perfectly honest, not as many people spoke up they did at some of the others that I’ve attended.  In all fairness, though, the setting and environment was very formal, and I know that if I were one of the participants in this discussion, I would feel less inclined to just spout off on whatever crosses my mind about the topic.

The outside of the exclusive Cosmos Club

Hope everyone is doing well, and I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you next week.  Until then, take care and hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Peace!

My Trip to Norfolk, VA

Right now, you’re probably looking at the title of this blog post and thinking to yourself “Norfolk?  Really, Cameron?  What is so special about Norfolk?  You could have talked about anything else in the world and it would have been at least twice as interesting.”  Au contraire.  This was in fact one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life. It didn’t feel like much of a business trip to be honest, but rather more like a vacation.

We left DC at around 7:30 am on Wednesday morning by bus to Norfolk, and it took us about three hours to get there with one rest stop.  I was tired the entire morning, and to be honest, I had the same feeling about this trip as you probably did when you read this blog post, “Norfolk?  Really?”  But that sentiment went away quickly, especially because the group of military officials that we accompanied was such a great group to spend time with. Of course, I enjoy working with the other interns and staff members at NESA.  We stopped for lunch at a nice Spanish restaurant called “Bodega Tapas”, and the food was absolutely delicious.

One of the perks about going to one of these trips through the NESA Center is that the trips are all-expense paid, and this includes the meals, which are typically very gourmet.  We went to the US Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Headquarters in Norfolk for a briefing on what USJFCOM does and the role that it plays in the transparency of the United States Department of Defense.  What amazed me more than anything is that despite the complex chain of command and all of the different sub-departments that make up our national defense, our national defense system is so strong and transparent.  Now of course, there will always be discrepancies here and there, but by and large the image that USJFCOM presented was that those in the higher rankings of the Army, Navy, and Marines are all on the same page as far as foreign strategic policy goes.  Of course, I understood in theory that the US has the strongest national defense in the world, but I never really had much of a sense of how strong it was beyond statistics and all of that I’ve read in newspapers and magazine articles.  After this briefing, we checked into our hotel rooms quickly before attending dinner.  It was a beautiful hotel room; I had two queen beds and a big-screen HDTV all to myself.  Needless to say I really felt like a VIP!  After we quickly changed our clothes and unpacked, we went down to the Grand Ballroom for the Friendship Dinner, where the participants of the seminar as well as some of the USJFCOM speakers came together to have dinner and chat about life, politics, and anything else that can come up in informal conversations.

Is this a nice hotel, or is this a nice hotel?!

The next day was what blew me away the most.  It started with a briefing at the Air Combat Command, which, to quote the website, is “the primary force provider of combat airpower to America’s warfighting commands”.  Immediately afterwards, we stood 10 feet from an F-22 Raptor fighter jet and got professional pictures taken with them!  This is not your ordinary fighter jet, it is currently the crème de la crème of all fighter jets that are being flown as of right now.  Unfortunately I do not have the picture with me, but the moment I receive it, I’ll put it up on the next blog post.  Afterwards, we had another excellent lunch at Air Combat Command with the speakers and the military officials that were participating in the seminar.  Once we filled up on lunch, we headed over to the Norfolk Naval Base and toured the USS Truman, one of the largest aircraft carriers on the base.   There we received an insider tour of the ship, including a tour of the flight deck and the area where all of the flights coming in and out of the carrier are managed.  In fact, we got to go through the “Captain’s Passageway”, where apparently only official business could be carried out in order to pass through it! I’ve attached many pictures below to show you what I got a chance to see in person.

 The view from the flight deck of the USS Truman

 Inside the Flight Deck 

The Captain's Chair Inside the Flight Deck 

It's okay, captain, I'll take it from here. 

 We got to walk through this passageway!

Standing on one of the runways aboard the USS Truman 

Friday, to be perfectly honest, was the least interesting of the three days.  We went to Yorktown to witness the battlefields that held the American Revolutionary War, and the battlefields were just that, a field where a battle took place.  Other than a couple canons and the Yorktown Victory Statue, there wasn’t all that much to see, but it was nice to get a refresher course on 18th century American history.  Afterwards, we headed to the Prime Outlet Malls in Williamsburg, VA.  The saddest part, however, was when we had to say goodbye to the participants because they were all heading home the next day.  It was especially sad because we had all grown very close after spending so much time with each other.  I definitely will never forget them and the experiences that we’ve all had together.

 

In front of the Yorktown Victory Statue 

I’m not sure what’s in store for next week, but rest assured it will definitely be exciting, so until my next post, take care and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week.  Peace!!

Out & About

What’s up world! Hope all is well with you and that wherever you are, you’re staying nice and warm. And for those living in Southern California, Arizona, or Hawaii right now, I envy you.

Finally, after 5 feet of snow that caused DC to shut down for several days, life has moved on! The snowstorms are finally over, I went back to work for the first time in 11 days on Tuesday, and most importantly, I got to leave my apartment! So naturally this past week was a lot more interesting than the previous. I had quite a busy Friday night last week. I first met up with other members of the International Affairs Program in The Washington Center and watched an Israeli documentary called “Promises”, a movie about seven Israeli and Palestinian children that manage to form a friendship against all odds. This movie puts the grotesque politics of both parties aside and focuses the entire movie on the thought process of the kids, what initially runs through their minds when they find out that they’re meeting, how they interact with each other when they meet, and how they feel after forming that relationship. It was a really touching story. Here's the trailer of the documentary for anyone interested in seeing it; I highly recommend it.



Immediately afterwards, I walked to my cousin’s apartment where I picked him up and then met up with some of my friends at a lounge/bookstore called “Busboys and Poets” where they were hosting a poetry slam, a place for poets to showcase their poems so that they can compete for a spot on the local poetry slam team. Now this was the second poetry slam that I had ever attended, with the first one being in San Diego, and quite frankly, I was less than pleased. There were some good poets, but for the most part, the poets that I heard in San Diego were much better, which surprised me because I thought this would be better than anything on the West Coast. At any rate, it was still a very fun and eventful night regardless.

Here I am anxiously waiting to buy my ticket for the poetry slam!

Yes, you are seeing this correctly. I am sitting on the stage of the poetry slam. They leave seats up on stage for the people that show up late and can’t find a seat in the seating area.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to help give some of the military officials from the South Asian region at our most recent seminar at NESA a tour of Washington DC. We visited some of the main sites around the city, like the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the White House. Unfortunately I cannot show you the pictures of me with some of the officials that I toured, but at the very least I can at least show you the pictures of where I visited. It had been a very long time since I had visited (I think I was 5 or so). The Lincoln Memorial was absolutely beautiful. Not only was the architecture of the building and the quite a sight to see, the view overlooking the entire capital from the memorial was also wonderful. Had we not needed to leave so soon, I probably would have sat on the footsteps of that memorial for a while. I’ll also be going back in the springtime to take more pictures.

In front of the White House

Standing right in the middle of Lafayette Square

In front of the Washington Monument

In front of the World War II Memorial

Inside the Lincoln Memorial

Outside the Lincoln Memorial

Well it’s been quite an eventful week. Next week, I’m going to visit Norfolk and Suffolk, VA and get a chance to see an F-22 Raptor fighter jet in person! Until then, take care, and hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Peace!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

What up world!  For those of you reading, hopefully you’re reading this post in a place with better weather than where I’ve been for the past week.  Although considering how many feet of snow DC has gotten in the last 6 days, that probably would not be saying much.   
  
If you remember last week, I talked about a “huge snowstorm” that came through DC.  That storm had accumulated about six inches of snow that took the entire Saturday, January 30, for it to fall.  Last Friday, DC got hit with 6 inches of snow in just two hours, and since then we were hit with another two and a half feet of snow last weekend and another foot and a half on Tuesday and Wednesday.   This is one of the worst storms Washington has had in about 90 years or so, and this whole week I’ve been thinking to myself, “why couldn’t I have brought the beautiful San Diego weather with me?!” Seven days have now passed since the last time the federal government has been open, and I’m really starting to get cabin fever over here!  However, with the sun being out as I’m typing this and no more snow expected until a light snowfall on Monday, I’m pretty confident that the federal government will finally open up for the first time in a week tomorrow.  I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed for that one. 

Here's a picture of me walking through the worst of the snowstorm on Friday night.  It was actually quite a fun experience to walk through the snowstorm!    

Despite all of this, I did have somewhat of an eventful weekend.  On Friday, I trekked through what I thought would be a brief snowstorm to my cousin’s apartment in the heart of DC by foot and Metro, and little did I know I would be stuck there for a while due to this “snowpocalypse”.  The next day, my cousin and I participated in the biggest snowball fight I have ever seen in Dupont Circle. It was reported that at least 1,000 people participated in this epic battle.  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, so I can’t provide you any footage of my own.  But in my defense, I didn’t know that we were going to this snowball fight until after we started walking for about a mile or so!  At any rate, I’m really sorry that I can’t provide some personal footage of this fight, but from this point on, I’m definitely carrying my camera with me everywhere I go!  At any rate, here is a video that someone else got from this fight.  I tried looking for a video with me in it, but was sadly unsuccessful.    

On Sunday, my cousin and I watched the Super Bowl with some of his friends and had the fortune of watching the Saints win.  I’m really happy for the city of New Orleans that they got that championship, especially since the city had gone through so much in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Since the Super Bowl, the last few days have been somewhat dull since I have been stuck in the confines of my apartment since I took that taxi back from my cousin’s apartment. 

A beautiful picture of the night sky immediately before kickoff of the Super Bowl  

Sorry for the brevity of this post, it’s just that not much has happened since it has snowed the past week!  By next week, I won’t be restricted to talking about snow and not working for several paragraphs, and I’ll have a lot more interesting events to talk about.  Until then, take care, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.  Peace! 

Week 2 - Always Learning Something New Every Day

What’s up, world! Hope everyone is doing well and has had a nice week thus far. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, and at this point the exciting, up-tempo pace of my life in Washington D.C. will not be slowing down any time soon. So with that said, here goes!

When I last wrote, I promised I’d mention to you a little bit about what the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, or NESA Center does. The NESA Center is a government-run strategic institute under the Department of Defense that was made for the purpose of facilitating dialogue with countries within the NESA region, which spans from as far west as Morocco to as far east as Bangladesh. This mission is ultimately achieved through a seminar that consists of a series of lectures put on by hired scholars and retired lieutenant colonels, with roundtable discussions following them. The geography of this region also suggests that the NESA Center helps build relationships with officials of states that have had very tense relations for decades, such as Arab states such as Syria and Lebanon with Israel, and India with Pakistan. On TV, it’s very easy to witness how difficult relations are between two countries from all of the painful war images and emotional rhetoric expressed by politicians and advocacy journalists alike. However, what does not get noticed is the willingness of officials from these countries, regardless of their rank, to establish closer relationships with others despite the political status quo, and this is what makes NESA Center more relevant in international politics than ever.

My internship at NESA does not just involve performing the typical administrative tasks of preparing folders, making coffee, and cleaning out some of the lecture rooms at the end of the day, but it’s also it’s also quite an academic experience because we get to sit in on most of the seminars that take place. For political science nerds like me, sitting in on these seminars are quite fascinating because they focus many different relevant topics, such as how the Department of Defense conducts strategy and the role of soft power and diplomacy in satisfying U.S. national interests. Of course, there are always those few seminars that require me to have an extra cup of coffee or four before entering the room, but by and large the lectures are very interesting. I also get a chance to interact with a lot of these officials that come in between seminars.

During these seminars, the NESA Center takes the participants from the NESA region to different sites around Washington D.C. and an out-of-state trip. For example, last week I had the opportunity to spend the day on Capitol Hill and walk into the same room that President Obama had given his State of the Union address the night before. It’s quite a fascinating experience to walk into the very same building that the President gave such a traditionally important speech the night before, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the President’s policies. However, as interesting as it was to learn about all of the symbolism from all of the artwork in the room, I was disappointed to see that the room was much smaller than it appears on TV! I guess the camera adds ten thousand square feet to rooms like the way it adds ten pounds to a person.

Well maybe the room where the President gave his speech was smaller than I thought, but the size of the rotunda is definitely as large as advertised!

On Saturday, there was a huge snowstorm in and around the DC area. For someone like me who is from the west coast, the idea of snow and wearing boots, gloves and an overcoat is a pretty foreign concept for me. It was the first time I had seen snow in five years, and because of that, it was just fun to watch the snow fall. It was also a great excuse to stay indoors and just relax all day!

I wish I could take credit for taking this great picture, but this was actually done by my roommate and friend Tim Wyatt.

The next day, I visited the Washington National Cathedral and had the opportunity to attend the Holy Eucharist in the morning. Now, I do not consider myself a very religious person by any stretch of the imagination, but I do consider myself to be very spiritual and have a very complex belief system, and I can say with some certainty that the service that I attended definitely contributed to my spiritual growth. The service proved to be more of a message of loving God and one another rather than a stereotypical message of condemnation. There is so much insight that many different religions and philosophies can provide, but unfortunately, the fanatics and their beliefs are so sensationalized that many of the positive messages get overlooked. It was a wonderful sight to see religion being applied in such a positive light.

This is probably one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. It especially looked nice with all the snow on the rooftop!

I’m really looking forward to watching the Super Bowl this Sunday. Unfortunately, since my Oakland Raiders are not in it, it really doesn’t matter to me who wins. I’ll be happy just to see a competitive game. I’d obviously rather have my Raiders in the Super Bowl, but at this point, hell has a better chance of freezing over than the Raiders have a chance to win a Super Bowl anytime soon.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment on this page and I’ll do my best to address it next week. Until then, take care and hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week. Peace!

Week 1--So much to take in!

First off, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this blog!  I'm not writing so that I can publicly ramble on about my sentiments about being in DC, but rather so that you can get a chance to see what I'm doing in my internship and around DC in general, and that hopefully you will be interested in participating in an internship through The Washington Center.  Before I continue, I just want to say that this is my first time writing a blog and I really would like to know what you like about it--what you don’t like, what you think I should change about it, etc.  Like I mentioned, I want to make my experience interesting for you, so please, please, please write comments about it and be as candid as possible so that each post I make is better than the previous ones.  So without further ado, let me just give you a little information about myself for those that don’t know me.    

My name is Cameron Khodabakhsh, and I'm a sophomore at the University of San Diego.  I was born in Lakeland, Florida but was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I'm currently majoring in International Relations with a double minor in Economics and Spanish.  You may find this shocking, but my last name doesn't look quite as American as "Smith" or "Johnson".  My father is of Iranian descent and my mother is a second-generation American.  I have traveled to Iran several times and take great pride in the fact that I'm an Iranian-American. 

It's pretty remarkable how much I've done and learned these last six days.  I knew my life and the atmosphere of DC in general was going to be hectic, but for some reason that hadn't really hit me until I had arrived that it would get so crazy so quickly.  When I learned about all of the work I was going to do this semester, which consisted of a full-time internship plus all of the TWC assignments plus my class assignments plus my home institution assignments, I definitely felt overwhelmed at first, but had also realized that this semester will probably go by faster than any semester in college just because of how much time will fly when I get so busy.  

On Friday, I met all of the interns I would be working with as well as some of the people in the International Affairs Program.  Instead of the conventional morning orientation lecture, the program manager split us into small groups and sent us off on a scavenger hunt around two different Smithsonian exhibits, the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Here is the picture of our small group. This picture was taken after a long, but still exciting day on our feet.

My apartment is located in Alexandria, VA on the seventh floor.  The view is great, especially considering most of the apartments just get views of the neighboring apartment buildings!  (See picture below.)  It comes with so many different amenities which made packing much easier, such as a toaster, pots and pans, cutlery, beds, and a cable TV, and our TV has hi-definition channels!  Needless to say this will make watching the Super Bowl that much more enjoyable!  It also helps that my roommates Ryan, Jezer, and Tim are all really nice people as well.

 

You can see the capital from here!!!!

My internship is at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies under the National Defense University under the Department of Defense, or NESA for short (wordy, I know). As I continue to write this blog, I’ll write more about what exactly NESA is and what my job entails, but writing it all out in one sitting would bore you (and probably me) to death.  However, what I can tell you is how much I enjoy working with my other interns, Jim, Joelle, Ali, and Dan.  It’s always great when the people that you’re going to see and work with 40-50 hours a week are kind, intelligent, and helpful people, and so I’m very grateful for that.  

Next week, I’ll let you know about more of my internship responsibilities and how my class on US Foreign Policy in the 21st Century is going. I'll also post pictures of some of the places that I’m visiting in Washington DC.  Thanks again for reading this everyone, and I can’t stress this enough, anything you think I should add to future blog posts, please don’t hold back.  Take care, and hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.  

Peace!