It is now over.  We are all packing up and getting ready to head home.  Yesterday was a truly memorable day, one that those of us who got it see it in person will probably talk about for years (maybe decades) to come. 

Yesterday morning I was on the Metro at about 6 AM and headed toward Union Station to meet Dean Stahl and his family when they arrived at 8:15 AM.  Once their train arrived we took off at a fairly fast clip toward The Mall.  Unfortunately we veryquickly ran into a non-moving crowd of people.  As we inched through the crowd I was amazed at the attitude of those standing shoulder to shoulder in the freezing cold.  Rather than get aggravated and annoyed (even though we were aggravated and annoyed) people just kept moving and hoping for the best. 

We finally managed to extricate ourselves from that crowd and zigzagged through the streets of Washington to get to the far end of The Mall.  Our mission was to get to the Washington Monument where we knew we could watch on one of the many jumbotrons erected for the occasion.  We finally achieved our destination at about 11:30 AM, just in time for the ceremony to begin. 

I will start by saying that never did I believe that I would see an African-American elected president in my lifetime and I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be in Washington when he was actually sworn in.  The crowd was absolutely amazing, and the silence surprising as the crowd listened to President Obama’s inaugural address.  You could actually feel the hope and acceptance of his message by the crowd as he spoke.  I have watched  many of Obama’s speeches on television but it is amazing to actually be there in person and hear him speak (even if you are a mile back in the crowd of almost 2 million people).

As with the We Are One concert, it is one thing for this many people to move into a confined area over a course of many hours, but moving out of that area was an entirely different thing.  We were able to keep moving (for the most part), and people were still remaining orderly and joyful so the experience was not anywhere near as bad as it could have been.  As a matterof fact, it was reported on the news this morning that there were NO arrests at all yesterday in D.C. 

We began our journey back to Union Station so the Stahl’s could catch their train.  We finally parted ways in Chinatown where I decided to pick up some last minute gifts for people back home before I headed to the Metro.  By the time I arrived at the Metro the crowds had thinned out and I was actually able to get a seat and enjoy my final ride back to the hotel. 

One final thought:  I would like to thank and commend the students who came on this trip.  You have been a great group and I really enjoyed working with you.  I’m glad you had the opportunity to take part in this historic moment and I’m sure we will have lots to talk about when we get back to Bonas.  Have a safe trip home.

I am back on the road to Olean in about an hour and hoping to make it home in time for the basketball game tonight – time to get back to the real world.

I chose not to join the crazy students leaving at 3 AM this morning for the trek to the Capitol.  I am on my way out the door in just a few minutes but thought I would do a quick post.  According to CNN a few minutes ago there are already hundreds of thousands of people on The National Mall.  I’ll post later but for now I am off for a walk in the dark to the Metro.

Yesterday was the official start of the inauguration celebrations.  Quite a few of us decided to attend the “We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial.  I did not leave the hotel until about 10 AM but still managed to get fairly close to the front.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of real tall people up front which made it impossible for me to see anything so I moved back to watch on the Jumbotrons.  This seemed to be a good idea until the Jumbotrons went dark and everyone became concerned that they would be left with nothing but audio.  Thankfully the issue was resolved and we were able to see everything that was going on on the stage.

The estimates are that there were between 500,000 to 700,000 people at the concert.  I was on the left side looking toward the Lincoln Memorial and, surprisingly, it did not appear to be that crowded.  As long as you were not right up at the front you could move around without too much difficulty. 

Leaving the concert was another story.  It took approximately 4-5 hours for the crowd to gather, but everyone was leaving at the same time.  It was a sea of people for as far as you could see.  I finally made it to the Metro and managed to get on the train but it was so crowded I couldn’t get to the door when my stop arrived and had to ride a little further, get off, get on another train and go back to the Rosslyn stop.

I was going to add some more pictures here but apparently I am having technical difficulties with the internet connection at the hotel (once again!).

Today is a down day – off to D.C. to pick up those last gifts for people back home and then a quiet evening preparing for an early morning tomorrow.

Yesterday started at 9 AM when we met in the lobby of the hotel for our trek to the Newseum, something I had been looking forward to for the past week.  I had a chance to tour the Newseum last summer and I couldn’t wait to get back.  It was bitterly cold (although not as cold as Olean according to the Weather Channel) so we had to make a quick pitstop at Starbucks before we entered the museum.

Saturday Morning at Starbucks

The Newseum was not a disappointment.  The students seemed to enjoy it (and the protest that erupted while we were there).  As someone who is old enough to remember “history” many of the exhibits are particularly interesting.  The Berlin Wall exhibit is fantastic.

Piece of The Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

The exhibit of the current day’s headlines also hit home as national and international papers reported on New York and the plane landing in the Hudson River.

The view from the 6th floor terrace was amazing, providing a nice background for another picture!!

6th floor terrace of the Newseum

The 9/11 exhbit is phenomenal.  While the exhibit primarily focuses on photos and headlines, the antennae from the top of the World Trade Center is the definite centerpiece of the exhibit.

The exhibit of Pulitizer Prize winning photographs was another interesting part of the museum – maybe, once again, because I remember so many of these occurrences.

1967 - James Meredith Shot During Freedom Walk Across Mississippi

1971 - Kent State Massacre

And, of course, there always has to be a little humor

First Amendment Rights

After lunch we all headed out in different directions – some went shopping, others to the Holocaust Museum and some just wanted to breathe deep and put their feet up.  I was off to Best Buy to try to find another battery for the camcorder.  The one I had only lasted about an hour and there is no way that was going to work out once we are out on The Mall today and Tuesday.  I also had to get a new cell phone as mine won’t hold a charge for more than a couple of hours.  That turned into an entire afternoon disaster as Sprint couldn’t seem to activate the new phone.  Finally, mission accomplished and I was on my way back to the hotel.

I was spending a very quiet evening in my room trying to program all my contacts into my new cell phone when there was a knock on my door.  General Sorokes (Adam) and his ragtag crew decided they needed to reenact the crossing of the “Poo”tomac outside my room.  I was laughing so hard I don’t think the video is even viewable! 

All in all, another good day.  The students were real troopers this week – attending every lecture and site visit with no complaints about the early starts and late end to the days.  We are all off for a day of fun at what will probably be billed as “The Concert of the Year” on The National Mall.  Some of the students left very early this morning so they could try to get as close to the stage (in front of the Lincoln Memorial) as possible.  Others (and me) decided that we were not all that interested in being right up front so we will be heading out shortly.

I would like to say that the video of the concert will be up on the blog tonight, but (to my continued dismay) the internet connection at the hotel is so slow that it is almost impossible to upload the videos.  It took over an hour to upload the short video I put up the other night.

I’m sure there will be all kinds of posts from the students tonight.  Check back to see their comments on the concert.

I finally managed to get another video uploaded on YouTube. 

All over the city you can see the preparations for the inauguration.

If our toilets continue to explode we can always use one of the 5,000 port-a-potties the city has lined up along The Mall

To the left you can see the metal structures that will hold the jumbotrons so everyone standing along The Mall can watch the inauguration

As the students will tell you all, we had an interesting final morning seminar.  Sam Donaldson from ABC News spoke this morning as well as a panel of former congressmen.  We then took off for the Museum of American History – my favorite Smithsonian museum.  We ate lunch at the museum (cafe just re-opened today) and then went off to see the various exhibits.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the museum has just reopened after an extensive and very long renovation.  It is definitely different – and maybe a little too modern now, but the exhibits were great.  As usual, it would take forever to go through the entire museum so I set off to see the presidential inauguration exhbits and the America at War exhibit. 

Of course, before we started I had to get another group picture.  Could someone please explain why when I point the camera or camcorder at these guys they want to turn the other way???  I know they are getting sick of me taking their picture, but…too bad.

Most of the group - Chelsea and Brent are missing

Stephen Colbert's photo

I had to include this because of the "George Bush Drive" sign that I used to see when I lived in Texas

It’s amazing what you find out by reading this blog.  Ryan – I didn’t know that your room was also involved in the sewage backup!  My toilet started “gurgling” at about 7:30 tonight.  Before maintenance could arrive black sewage (??) was spewing out of the toilet and the shower and floor drains.  Needless to say I began running around the room grabbing everything I could.  As I was moving everything out of the room I ran into Cara and Jenn (who were in the room next door).  They were in the same shape, except (as I am sure they will relate later) they had a lot of ruined clothes. 

I am finally settled in a new, much nicer, room and now trying to figure out where I can get something to eat since it is so late.  Cara and Jenn are still trying to sort things out. 

In between all the craziness I was actually able to get a video uploaded on YouTube so I will be posting that shortly.  Just had to vent for a second.  Other than the sewage, it was a really good day!

As the students have noted, yesterday was a mixed bag but concluded with a great performance by Mark Russell.  The students loved his Buffalo references and sense of humor. 

The Ambassador from Pakistan was also a hit.  While he discussed some extremely serious topics, he did so in a way that engaged the students. 

Today we are off to our final formal seminar.  This morning will listen to a panel discussion on The Congress and The Transition.  The panel members are former members of Congress.  Sam Donaldson from ABC News will also speak to the students for an hour.

I will get a bit of a late start this morning.  (getting on the Metro at 8 AM rather than 7 AM !) I’m being interviewd by Randy Bushover from WBEN radio (Buffalo) at 7:50 this morning.  Once that is finished I’ll rush to meet the students at the morning seminars.

This afternoon we are going to the National Museum of American History which just reopened this past fall after an extensive renovation.  This is one of my favorite Smithsonian museums so I’m pretty excited about getting to see it again. 

Tomorrow we are headed to the Newseum, one of the newest museums in D.C.  I had the opportunity to visit the Newseum this past July and I’m sure the students are going to love it.

We have now been here for 7 days and the students are tired.  We have been going non-stop 12-13 hours a day.  So far we have had few problems (except for Jenn’s sickness yesterday and Chelsea has a migraine this morning).  As some of them have noted, we have to leave the hotel by 7 AM to get to the seminar site and in many cases are not finished with our daily activities until 8 or 9 at night.  Tomorrow will actually be a “late” start as we don’t have to leave the hotel until 9 AM.  Needless to say, they are excited about being able to “sleep in.” 

His Excellency Ambassador Hussain Haqqani of Pakistan

At The Capitol

TJ Rosetti at The Capitol