The air in Washington D.C. is filled with the smell of freshly fallen rain, the trees are covered in yellow and green leaves and the street is decorated with them as well. The water on the street glistens and it in the reflections are some of the most well known institutions in our nation. These thoughts ran through my mind because we spent Monday walking to the Koshland Science and Building Museums. School ended at nine so that we could go.
The Building Museum was about architecture, so the inside was absolutely stunning. The Koshland Museum was particularly fascinating because of their main exhibits. Part of it focused on global warming which is really appealing to me coming from an environmental school. The second part of it was about infectious diseases and they had a lot of information about HIV/AIDS. This really made me think about home because of the HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group that I’m in. It is a topic that fascinates me and I feel as though revisiting these facts reminds me of how excited I am to go back next semester and jump right into it. It was really nice to be able to have a day to go to these museums and have a break in the routine of just going to school every day. On Tuesday at school we had a guest speak who spoke to us about Eleanor Roosevelt and she was my favorite speaker so far. It was ironic that this woman came to speak to us about her because my soon to be humanities teacher, Angie, had sent me an email with a quote from her just a few days earlier. What I found striking about Mrs. Roosevelt was how she went about her passions; she was a woman who would get involved in things that not only interest her but work to accomplish a goal and was very successful.
On Friday we went to the Archives where we were educated about the process that bills go through as well as being able to see some actual bills and other important documents. We were able to go into a room that mostly only members of congress are allowed into and saw the handwriting of many of our founding fathers. The field trip concluded with one of their main exhibits, which was seeing the original constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Although a lot of the print was faded to the point where it was difficult to read, it was remarkable to be able to see these documents. That night we went to Chinatown for dinner and a movie. We saw Life As We Know It and ate at Fuddruckers. On Saturday we spent the morning at the National Mall where we had a seminar for the science fair. The project is to create a movie that takes place in 2060 and the science fair gave us ideas as to what will be happening in the future. As I was walking through I spotted some familiar faces at a booth across from where I was and realized that they were people that went to my school. I knew that some of my classmates were in town, but it was purely coincidental that I would run into them there. Even though I wasn’t particularly close to the people that were there I felt a connection and I was really happy to talk to people from home. After the science fair we went out for lunch at Union Station and after that we did a little shopping. Then we went back to the dorm and changed and then went to the American History Museum. There were a lot of exhibits on what we’ve been learning about in US History class and there were also other cool things like the inaugural gowns worn by the first ladies and the original red slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Then for dinner we went to the Hard Rock Café where I had the most amazing burger. Then we spent the rest of the night walking home at a very fast pace so we would definitely make curfew. I woke up early Sunday morning so that I could go with Amanda and her family to go to the top of the Washington Monument. At the top there were windows on all sides with a different perspective on the city on each one. On the floor below it there were just a few things on the history of the monument, and Amanda and I took a picture in front of one quote that I really liked. Then they dropped me off at the dorm where I spent the rest of the day doing laundry, watching church online and finishing my homework. This was a very eventful and fun week and I feel really lucky to be living in such an exciting city!
