Inauguration Day

After thinking about it for a little bit, I’ve decided that today can be explained by the different feelings I experienced at the  different phases of the day. Phase one: wake up at 3:40 AM – This is not worth it at all. Phase two: insane mob at the metro and 10 degree temperature- this is really not worth it right now. Phase three: battle to get street level and find the line: time is passing so this could be ok….Phase four: finding our gate learning we have to wait six hours- most certainly not worth it. OK I admit it was pretty negative up to that point, but whether I got used to the cold or started to wake-up, it got better from that point on. We got through the first point at about 6:30 or 7 so that was a little encouraging. From that point on the sun started to come up, giving off what little temperature increase came with it, and we were routed to the security check point then the standing area that we were allowed access to because of our tickets (Thanks again Jenn and Cara). It was rather interesting from this point on. We were standing right in front of the pool directly in front of the Capitol building, with a small gap for handicapped individuals. This gap did not last long, and around 9 AM people broke through the advanced  barrier (and by that I mean staked snow fence) that separated us from the section and the group slide up about 30 or 40 feet. We did not do it initially because it seemed very wrong to do, but when you have thousands of people pushing you forward, you don’t really have a choice. From there on out the time went by and it was time for the ceremonies to begin. It seemed fairly drawn-out, much as I expected until the swearing-in. President Obama’s speech lived up to everyones expectations. It showed the importance of change, diplomacy, and uniting the division that exists in our nation. He spoke clearly about the notion of terrorism, but also spoke about diplomacy and the importance of peace. I found it very moving and it left me with reassuring feelings and an even greater hope for an amazing four yours. Getting out of the city was a nightmare, people were everywhere, and it can be summed up to a 2 million person mosh-pit at times, but I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything, and I doubt 1,999,999 other people would disagree.

Through the warzone and back for Obama

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.

Yesterday wasn’t a bad day at all for me. I didn’t have very much in mind or planned, and wanted to leave it that way considering how Inauguration Day was looking to turn out. I got up early and waited for everyone else to get up and around. I decided to go down to the Congressional offices with Kara, Jen, Dan, Sarah and TJ. We walked around for a few hours and ended up going to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. That turned out to be pretty uneventful as most of the building was being roped off and there wasn’t much to look at. We ended up leaving and going to dinner at a jazz lounge/restaurant in the downtown area. There is so much anticipation for tomorrow its insane!!

5:40 AM Inauguration Day

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.

Air and Space

The Smithsonian is a HUGE museum. I dont think I realized the extent of how vast it is. they have 13 buildings. Each huge in itself. We had the chance to go to the Air and Space Museum today and in the past couple days we have gone to the American History and Natural History Museums. The Air and Space was Huge haveing tons of Airplanes hanging from the ceilings as well as Spaceships and the luner lander. The American History museum had a big section on lincoln and the American Wars which had allot of awesome stuff in it as well. My favorite however, was the Natural History Museum. It had the Dinosour bones, Mamal and Ocean sections and a sick 3D movie of underwater life that basically had me looking like a fool while others watched me try to touch the jellyfish. These museums have contributed a great deal to my DC experiance.

Day 9

Thank goodness not a lot to write about today as we have a 3:30am wake-up call!

We had a relaxing morning laying around the room and eating breakfast and left to go into the city around one o’clock. We got off the metro at the Capitol South station and made our way to the House offices to pick up Inaugural tickets. The line of people waiting wrapped around multi sides of the block. My roommate being a champ stood inline by herself and waited to pickup her tickets. The rest of us went to H&M. We met later at the Air and Space Museum and went to dinner. Nothing eventful happened and it was a lovely evening with everyone. 

The crowds have officially arrived in D.C. There are lines to get down on the metro platforms and no place to walk on the sidewalks. Tomorrow will be an interesting day as we are planning to go to the metro at 4;30am. Expecting massive crowds we have already decided to walk back from the Mall to our hotel. It is a six mile trek but we are figuring it will be easier than battling the crowds. I am very excited for tomorrow but I am slightly disappointed that I have ball tickets. I feel very lucky that I have the opportunity to attend the event but I will miss spending the last night with everyone.

Inaugural Concert

We had the opportunity to attend the Inaugural Concert. This was pretty much a big party to bring in the New presidency. Usually its a smaller with a couple big names showing up. This time was Epic. There were tons of bands and big named speakers such as Martin Luther King III, Densel Washington, George Lopez, U2, Garth Brooks, Beyonce and more. U2 was by far the best act as well as Garth Brooks. People were even climbing up trees to get a better view. Biden spoke some few words but the real excitement came when obama spoke. It was a very good speech and moved allot of people. As soon as it finished we made a mad dash for the exit because there was almost 1 million people there. Relaxed the rest of the day in the hotel.

       

Monday

     Today was Martin Luther King, Jr. day.   We were able to catch up on sleep this morning and order room service for breakfast.  We left the hotel around noon to pick up our Inauguration tickets at Congressman Higgin’s office.  The line to go in the building seemed never ending but Jenn was very patient and waited for hours while we went to the Air and Space Museum.  Thanks Jenn!  The museum was my least favorite of the Smithsonians, partially due to the massive crowd.  

    After the museum, we went to dinner with the whole group and made it back to our hotel early.  Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for this whole trip and are getting to bed early.  We plan on leaving the hotel at 4am…so goodnight!

Washington – Day 9

Tonight’s post is being written extra early, simply because Chelsea, myself, and Dee, our roommate, have a planned 3am wake-up call tomorrow. The Canadian Embassy is having an Inaugural tailgate party, and due to its proximity to the Capitol, we figured that it would be a great place to be a part of history.

This morning I headed off to Target to get a pair of gloves and a hat since I, being someone who would lose her head if it wasn’t attached to her head, left my gloves and hat at home. Of course, with my luck, Target was sold out. I went downstairs to Payless and Marshalls and unsurprisingly, both of those stores didn’t have any in stock. Almost giving up, on my way back to the hotel, I stopped at Macy’s and found some of the fuzziest gloves ever created.

In the afternoon, I headed over to Arlington Cemetery. It was so poignant to see the thousands of men and women who had died to protect our freedoms and the freedoms of others. My timing, for once, was perfect. I had made it up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just in time to see the changing of the guard. Such a moving experience is a great lead-in into the monumental events of tomorrow afternoon.

Presidential Inauguration Eve

After (trying) to sleep in, Mindy and I decide to venture out into the new madhouse of Washington, DC. First stop, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We entered into the cafeteria and bought a subtle lunch and searched for a seat. After, we fought our way through the crowd and had to turn our museum visit into a mission instead of a peaceful wandering. It was really cool to see the various animals and the evolution of the human being physically and culturally. I also saw the Hope Diamond after fighting through a resisting crowd to take a picture.

Then, we pretty much ran through the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with most of the Bonas group. Unfortunately, most of the space travel exhibits were closed for unknown reasons (the exhibits that I actually wanted to see).  The best thing that I saw was the Wright Brother’s first airplane flown in Kitty Hawk. I am so glad that I have been able to finally witness the extent of our great history. I can not believe this experience is almost over and that the greatly anticipated inauguration is in 12 hours. I am sooo excited to see our country finally switch gears towards hope, especially when we need it the most. We will be leaving at 4 AM sharp to try to secure a close spot!