Washington D.C.

Hey y’all! Like I said in the last post, I haven’t been able to post much or do much here at Schloss Wittgenstein because not only was the internet down, but we’ve been doing so much stuff constantly. However, it’s been great. I’m writing this over a couple of days, pretty much whenever we get some time in the evening.

However, I really wanted to address the two amazing days in DC. 

It was a blast! Exhausting, but worth it.

I drove to DC with my parents after a marathon thank you note writing session. 

I was really surprised by how well we all handled it. There wasn’t any crying and I felt extremely calm. I still do. I think it helped that we both knew I was leaving anyway; either to Germany or to college. I’m also happy and grateful that the last week I spent in the States was one of the best ones that I had with my parents in quite a long time. I’m looking forward to coming back; but not enough to turn away such an amazing experience.

Enough reflection! You want to here the interesting things, like what I am doing with my life. The first day we didn’t do much outside schmoozing for four hours and some sessions. Friday, however, we got up bright and early with the sun to go downtown.

First stop was the White House. I don’t have any pictures because it was a bit of a let down, and I don’t remember if we were allowed to take them anyways. It was really cool to go through security because it was the first time I ‘used’ my passport. The house was just that, a house. The coolest part for me was seeing all of the paintings and portraits of the past presidents. I am a huge fan of Mrs. Bush’s painting. Both the Bush paintings were well done, but hers just looked classy. I think she outclassed Jackie Kennedy actually, but I had a hard time seeing her portrait since it was far away. Another cool part was that a White House aide or someone came out with little gifts for us, a ‘signed’ photograph from/of Obama and a letter. Plus she took our picture. That definitely doesn’t happen to every tour group.

Next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty pretty pictures, but not a whole lot else for a jaded Virginian like me.

Jefferson Memorial from the MLK Memorial

Then we headed to lunch at the Pentagon City Mall; just a really big mall to me. Then the Holocaust Museum. It was moving, but for some reason the Richmond Museum affected me a bit more. Maybe it was because we were on a time crunch and really rushing through everything. I don’t know, but don’t get me wrong, it was still rough.

Next came the Department of State. The room we were in. O my goodness. It was a huge diplomatic room with official microphones and all. I was so awed. The speakers were interesting but I was so tired I had to fight to stay awake. It did make me consider writing off the diplomatic core. We’ll see where my life takes me. It is so hard to make predictions, especially with Germany and all the experiences that I will have.

The plane ride was wonderful and it felt so short! The following 24 hours weren’t so short. I think the final total was 36 straight hours awake? It was a lot.