Today began very early as we left for the Mall at 4 am, packed to the brim with snacks and such to get us through the inauguration.  Yes, let me repeat that, 4 am.  Five of us sat/stood on the Mall grass, about 400 yards front he Capitol, for a full 6 hours before the festivities truly began.  It was an absolute sea of people that stretched all the way from the foot of the Capitol building to, eventually, the Lincoln Memorial.  We were packed together rather closely, but I still had enough room to move around a little bit.  The toughest part was trying to keep sane until 10 am when the concert from Sunday was replayed on the big screen in front of us.  From our vantage point we really couldn’t see much of anything going on at the Capitol, but one of the big screens was very close to us.  The festivities seemed to drag on quite considerably, but that is the nature of the beast.  The crowd was quite joyful at seeing Bush move out of office and Obama taking over.  Emotions were very easy to see, as not a single person held back.  I could feel the hope of a country rise up as he took the oath of office, even though he stumbled through some of it, and I knew from that point on that I would remember it forever.  His speech could possibly be up there as one of the greatest ever.  He said exactly what needed to be said, but did not put too much pressure on himself.  It was the perfect exclamation point to the whole weekend.

Getting away from the Mall and the inauguration was a whole different story.  We became engulfed in the massive waves of people that were trying to do the same as us.  Many times we were standing absolutely still in a crowd trying to get through.  We had to run through gardens and other green space of buildings, often not touching pavement for blocks because of the people.  At one point, I was truly scared for my life, as an ambulance tried to get down a street we were traveling on.  Everyone was pushed to one side while it moved down the street.  I wasn’t able to move at all with people crammed around me.  Once we made it over the bridge into Virginia everything got easier and much less congested.  The whole scene seemed like it was out of disaster movie, with everyone hustling to get out of the city.  Every time I looked back at Washington I half expected to see it in flames, or something like that.  After all of that I got back to the hotel at about 3 pm.  My inauguration ceremony lasted only 11 hours, not bad.

Today was the slowest day of all, which is probably a good thing considering the inauguration is tomorrow.  It started later than usual, and did not pick up much at all.  We did hit the National Air & Space Museum for a little while, by braving the massive amounts of people on the metro and inside the museum.  This museum is one of my favorites but with the huge number of people packed inside it took away from the ambience, power, and respect that the exhibits are supposed to incur.  The night is pretty quiet, as we are all getting ready for an early morning tomorrow for the inauguration.

Today was much like a typical Sunday at Bonas.  I slept in till about 10 am, and really did not do much more.  We went out to Capital City Brewery for lunch again, and then thinking about going to the concert on the Mall.  That plan fell through and I just decided to wade through the sea of people on the Metro back to the hotel room.  There I watched some of the concert on tv, but wasn’t able to make it all the way through.  Today was a day that didn’t contain much in the way of substance: eat, sleep, eat, and sleep.

Today was the first day that the group had no morning seminar or real schedule to stick to, besides making it to the Newseum.  Speaking of the Newseum, it was a very good museum with many great exhibits and artifacts.  The 9/11 exhibit was so powerfully emotional on so many different levels, especially the actual piece of antenna from one of the towers.  The newpapers from over the centuries was the most interesting to me as I had the chance to witness history first hand through the press.  The Newseum overall did an excellent job in shedding light on the role the media and press plays in politics and how big it actually is.  Next, was the Holocaust Museum, which was truly awe inspiring, not always for “good” reasons.  It was overall a somber, emotional, and sobering exhibit and museum to walk through.  The permanent exhibit almost tears the life right out of you as you pass through.  If I had more time, and there was less of a crowd, I could spend days in it to look through all the artifacts and such.  The many pictures, personal belongings, and other “memorabilia” just struck me straight to the core.  The night ended on a light note, as a reenactment of Washington crossing the Delaware made it to Dr. Brickman’s hotel room door.  General Sorokes led his crew on a desperate mission on a ramshackle craft (my air mattress).

The media theme continued today with another news anchor, Sam Donaldson.  He, like many of the others, was long-winded, but discussed how the real power of the government comes from within the legislative branch, not the executive.  Following him was a panel of former congressman and senators.  They were also extremely long-winded but did give some insight into the workings of the legislative branch.  Afterwards we headed to the Smithsonian museums.  The two that we visited were the National Museum of American History and Natural History.  For me it was extremely interesting and exciting even though I had been to both only a few years earlier.  It only reaffirmed my love of history and that I would like to possibly work there later in my life.  The night ended with a bang, as a certain lavatorial object decided that its time had come to an end.  May it rest in peace and to those that it has affected my heart goes out to them.

I had the great privilege and pleasure to sit in on a session of the Senate of the United States.  It was one of the most exciting, compared to a normal business day, days to watch their proceedings.  Both Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton gave their farewell speeches as they moved on to the offices of Vice-President and Secretary of State.  In addition, I was able to witness the swearing in of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama.   Besides these very special events, I was also able to look down upon many other major senators; such as John McCain, John Kerry, and Chuck Schumer.  This moment was awe inspiring and nearly majestic, to witness the place where the most powerful governing body in the United States and the world.

Today’s program was filled with many postumous and well known speakers and presenters.  It started off with the current, for a few more days, press secretary Dana Perrino.  It was nice to hear from someone inside the Bush White House, but it felt very tough to trust and fully respect during her interview in front of us.  He was very insightful and intelligent concerning her position and was very willing to share some tricks of the press trade.  However, she seemed extremely condisending and talked down to many of the students who asked her questions that opposed the Bush Administration’s positions.  The breaking point was the 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and how we have no idea on the situation as if we don’t remember it at all.  In addition, she seemed very defensive and overbearing against any question/person with an opposing view.  The calls that were made during the show were nearly completely to the conservative side and were just there to reaffirm their love for President Bush.

Changing subjects, next was television network legend Ted Koppel.  While quite uninspiring and unentertaining, he was exactly as I expected, very professional as if still on the air.  Clarence Page was the complete opposite and really saved the morning seminar waking most from the deep slumbers (reaccurring theme), with very topical and well timed humour.  For our site visit we traveled to the Algerian Embassy.  This was by far the best visit we’ve had yet.  Ambassador Abdallah Baali  was very corjial and willing to answer and questions we asked.  Also, his presence gave a new perspective on America’s perception around the world, especially in the Arab world, even though they are considered friendly.

For the third official day of our stay in Washington D.C. we had the great opportunity and privladge to have our group and questions aired live on C-SPAN.  The first show “Washington Journal” was quite informative and entertaining.  The only problem that I had was the people who called into the show.  The questions/comments were quite unintelligent and long-winded.  The panelists were very informative and outstanding and to keep the audience in the show and involved. The next two interviewees, Carol and Tom Wheeler, who assisted in the Obama campaign in Iowa, seemed very unprepaired for the session but did answer the questions in a very insightful manner.  They also were able to shed much light onto the inside of a campaign process in the early months of a presidential campaign.  It was quite exciting to know that, even though I was not, our group and seminar sessions were being televised on television, to millions of people around the nation and possibly the world.

After the morning seminar sessions, we met with the NDN, New Democrat Network, in the afternoon.  Simon Rosenburg, the head of the organization, was quite intelligent but did not offer any new information that we had not heard before during this program.  He basically attacked the Republican Party in a very backhanded way concerning race and ethnicity.  His talk seemed very “uneeded” and almost useless compared to many other think-tanks that we will be attending or attended.

Day number 2 began the same as number 1, but the lectures were much different.  They began with a bang, as Special Agent David J. O’Connor of the Secret Service.  His stories and clarifications offered great and previously unheard of, at least to me, behind the scenes insight into what the Secret Service is like.  Also, what goes into the planning of the inauguration and the festivities that go along with it.  The questions asked of the special agent were quite disappointing and immature.  Next, was Marc Pachter of the National Portrait Gallery.  His talk on the image of the president and its impact seemed very interesting, but had the ability to put much of the audience to sleep.  The lack of excitement in his presentation severly disappointed me, as his field is very interesting to me as I move on looking for a career.  Last of the three, was Common Ground with Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel.   They were by far the best of the day, and saved us from our half slumbers.  Their message of bipartisanship  was extremely refreshing and what Obama is trying to accomplish, and what is needed in our country today.

The meeting with NORML was quite eye-opening.  The staff and administrators there broke away somewhat from the typical stereotypes, but the office did not.  The director gave great information about marijuana and its decriminalization.  His point was extremely poignant, but coming from him it did lose some credibility.  If the same information came froma more neutral person on the subject, it would be more powerful and easier to digest.

Today the real fun began, as well as the real work/activities.  It began early enough and ended later than all of us needed.  Once we were all settled in the auditorium, after the name tag fiasco, all 750 participants were treated to the usual welcoming lecturing in order for the entire program to run smoothly.  After this we were exposed to two very experienced and enthusiastic speakers, Steve Bell of Ball State and Dana Bash of CNN, concerning the media and how it fits into the political arena.  This caught my attention greatly; as I watched the coverage of this past election, I soon realized the huge impact that the media played on the opinions of the public and the perceptions of the candidates.  Dana Bash covered John McCain personally during the election campaign and offered great behind the scenes insight, and gave many very interesting stories.  One question that I would have liked to ask her was; what was the most interesting conversation she had with a congressman on Capitol Hill?