The White House

We recently went on a White House tour, which was pretty awesome.  It was really strange actually being there.  We saw more on the tour than I thought we would, but of course not as much as I would have liked.  The rooms we actually went into during the tour were the Red Room, Blue Room, Green Room, East Hall, and the State Dining Room. 

Red Room

Blue Room

Green Room

East Room

State Dining Room

We peaked into several other rooms, including a library.  Most of the tour was focused on the furniture, portraits, and historical uses of the rooms.  I have to say though, one of the best parts of the tour was being able to leave through the front door of the White House.  It would have been neat to actually see the president, but I guess we can’t ask for too much.



Pentagon

I went on a tour of the Pentagon today.  Unfortunately, we were allowed to bring very little into the building, so I was not allowed to have my camera.  Therefore, there are no fun pictures.  The building is a lot bigger than you think it is.  Our guide gave us a few statistics that put it somewhat in perspective for me.  The Pentagon has more floor space than the Empire State Building, even though the Pentagon has seven floors while the Empire State Building has 102.  The height of the Empire State Building is roughly the same as the length of the Pentagon at its widest point.  So, to clarify, the Pentagon is substantial in size.  We visited the portion of the building struck by Flight 77, which was sad and eerie.  We went to the memorial within the building and then to the larger memorial located outside of the building.

After our tour, we talked to a Colonel who was working in the Pentagon on 9/11.  His office was located 50 yards down from the point of impact.  I have never had a conversation with someone who was not just present during the attacks on 9/11, but also involved in the discussions afterword.  He also discussed his involvement in Iraq, which was very interesting.

Sorry for no pictures.  Hopefully I'll have some fun ones from this weekend.

The Russian Bazaar

Today, I went to St. John the Baptist’s Annual Russian Bazaar.  In essence, it was a small cultural event at the Russian Orthodox Church to celebrate Russian culture through music, food, and booths selling crafts, jewelry, books, and music.  I love Russian culture, so I was very excited when I heard about it.

To eat, I had stroganoff (a beef dish with mushrooms and onions), begos (or bigos – sausage and cabbage), teftel’ki (or tefteli – Russian meatballs), kasha (buckwheat), and a cucumber salad.  To drink I had kvas (a drink with very low alcohol content) and I also had a Baltika (a Russian beer).  After that, I had several Russian style desserts.  Everything was delicious, and it was a nice change from my steady diet of bagels and pasta.

After I ate, I enjoyed some live music.  Several musicians performed renditions of Russian folk songs.  While they played, several people would dance.  It was a lot of fun.

After that, I perused the various stands selling crafts and other items.  As I was looking at some Russian poetry, the man next to me said “I wrote that, you know.”  I look up and see an older man wearing an ushanka staring back at me.  The man, Valentin Fetisoff, and I continued to talk, and he told me about how he got his first album recorded.  He not only writes poems, but also romantic songs.  I bought a CD and listened to it when I got home.  I am really glad I met him because I probably wouldn’t have bought a CD if I didn’t hear the compelling story behind it.  It was also nice just to talk to him; he was a really nice guy.

I also bought this for myself, because I love them:

I had only heard about the bazaar last night and I almost didn’t go today.  I’m really glad I did though.  The food was awesome, the music was great, and it was just a great environment.  It had a very “local” feel to it, which is something you don’t get very often in DC.

The Zoo!

I promised pictures of cute animals, so here they are.  From the National Zoo in DC.

Anchors Aweigh!

I apologize for the delay in-between posts.  The past week ten days have been busy!

I got an internship at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy!  I have been working there for about a week now, and it has been a very interesting experience.  The museum is located on the Navy Yard in southern DC.  Until I can get a semi-permanent pass, I have to register every day at the visitor’s office.  It is strange working in an environment where members of the military at every level are bustling about.  I am interning under the curator, Dr. Furgol.  I started my first day with a tour of the museum, and adjacent buildings. Most interesting was seeing “behind the scenes” of the museum, where the displays are constructed and stored.  It was an aspect of a museum that I had never experienced, and one that most people don’t really take into consideration when visiting.

After this, I was thrust into research.  I was told to find out as much about the reconnaissance balloon on the George Washington Parke Custis as I could.  It was nice to start a job where I didn’t have to go through some extensive training period.  I was also surprised to find how independent my position is.  I work, accomplish a task, and move on to do something else without someone hovering over me or monitoring my every move.  I am free to do the research in the way and at the pace I please, as long as I am getting the work done.  I spent the rest of the week and the beginning of this week researching several topics in early U.S. naval aviation before WWI.  Most recently, I am working on a scavenger hunt for one of the upcoming exhibits.  It will allow children and others the opportunity to engage in the museum in a different way, hopefully inspiring their interest.  All those education classes I took are paying off!

Railway Gun

USS Barry

Wednesdays are reserved through my program for various field trips and other activities in Washington D. C.  I, along with the other students in the Lutheran College Washington Semester, visited the Newseum.  It was great, and I highly recommend it if you are ever in DC for an extended period of time, or you are looking for something new to do.  I say this with the warning that it was a lot more emotionally jarring than I had anticipated.  The Katrina and 9/11 exhibits were especially upsetting.  The museum has a part of the radio antenna from one of the World Trade Centers, newspaper headlines from around the world, and objects a photographer had one him as he neared site as the first tower collapsed.  There was also a section with Pulitzer Prize winning photos, many of which depicted conflict and death.  Just a heads up.  There were actually a lot of school trips here though.  This makes me wonder how the exhibits affected them.  Despite how depressing some of the exhibits can be, I think they are important for us to remember and view in a new way, which the Newseum does very well.  The museum also had a portion of the Berlin Wall, the largest section on display outside of Germany, which was very interesting to me. 

Sorry there are not many pictures in this post, but I promise there will be fun pictures of animals in the next one :)



Veterans and the Pentagon

I could not be in Washington DC and not commemorate the 9th anniversary of 9/11. Well, I could have but I would have felt terrible about it.

This morning, I, with about fifteen others from the program, went to the Reagan National Airport to greet WWII veterans coming in from Phoenix. We did this through the Honor Flight program, a volunteer organization that flies WWII vets into DC to visit the WWII memorial. The program was set in motion in response to the decreasing number of surviving WWII vets. It was a very rewarding experience, and definitely something I want to do again. I actually plan on doing it again next weekend. As the vets get off the plane, they are greeted by groups of people applauding and cheering, thanking them for their service. Many of them were very touched by the welcome they received and many thanked us for coming to support them. I wish I could bring the amount of happiness and joy I saw in their eyes to people every day. Despite all the conflicts we have been in since then and the various issues plaguing our world today, I think it’s great that we are still honoring those who fought for us over 65 years ago.

This afternoon, a few of us visited the Pentagon Memorial. Although I have been to DC many times in the past few years, I had not been to this memorial before today. Although it would have been an emotional experience to visit on any day, it was exceptionally so today. It is very strange to think that it was almost a decade ago that the attacks occurred. It was also strange to think that some of the kids visiting the memorial were not alive when it happened.

Today was an extremely beautiful experience, although very emotional. It really put things in perspective, which is something I think we all need sometimes.

First Impressions

Greetings from Washington DC! I have been in the capital for a few days now, and I already have more than enough to talk about. I moved in Saturday into a penthouse apartment in the River Place complex in Rosslyn, VA. It is a really nice apartment, and is definitely much better than I expected before I arrived. It is equipped with two bedrooms (two roommates to a room), two bathrooms, a full stocked kitchen (stove, oven, fridge, toaster, microwave, dishwasher, pots, and utensils), computer, printer, washing machine, dryer, and ample living space topped off with a flat screen TV. The patio is huge and wraps around two sides of our apartment. It is a great place to come back to after a long day in the city.

Through part of our orientation on Monday, we took a tour of the capital. Our first stop was the National Cathedral, which is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in.

The construction of the cathedral took over 80 years, and was completed in 1990. It also houses the remains of President Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller. Coincidentally, Wilson is the only president whose remains reside within the borders of Washington DC.

From the Cathedral, we drove through Georgetown and past many of the embassies in DC. After lunch at Union Station, we visited the memorials on the National Mall.

The World War II Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The FDR Memorial

Overall, it was a beautiful day and a great introduction to the city. There is so much to see and do in DC, and so much of it is free to the public. Dean Joyner said that one of her favorite words is “free,” and “free” is something I plan on taking advantage of as much as I can while I’m here.