Let's Go To The Capitol

Today, I pulled a miracle waking up early on a Saturday at 7:00AM. Some will say that I am crazy waking up that early, especially on a Saturday, but I did it because today we were going to Washington DC. Since we were scheduled to leave at 8:00AM, I had to rush myself a bit so that I could get breakfast and pack some snacks for the ride. The ride was long, but went by along a lot faster with the help of two movies: The Book Of Eli and Big Fish.

What Does This Mean?

We arrived at The National Mall at 11:45AM and were given until 3:00PM to explore. There was so much to see and since I this was the first time I have visited Washington DC, I didn’t know where to start. Luckily, it wasn’t the same story with Mariko, who has visited before. She guided us around The National Mall, where we went through a sculpture garden. The sculptures were very interesting, some were a bit stranger than others, but they were equally filled with depth. After the garden, we moved onto the National Museum of the American Indian. It felt great to escape the heat and enter the nicely air conditioned museum. I loved the layout of the museum because instantly there were artifacts of various tribes, including a totem pole, clothing, and canoes built from animal hide. As some of my cohort went to the cafeteria to chow down on food that reflected the regions of the US, I explored as much as I possibly could, reading all the little details about each display. I found it very cool that the natives used nearly everything they possibly could, and putting almost nothing to waste. We then went up to an exhibit that talked about the different tribes. I loved sitting down and listening to a screen that displayed stories of the various tribes.

Making Faces Infront of Museum of American Indian

Shoe Display Near Entrance

Talked About Gender And Age Roles In Native Culture

After the Museum, we walked over to the Capitol. Unfortunately, we were unable to go inside, but still being that close to the Capitol made me feel special. The building was very beautiful and I loved the architecture. If only we could have gone inside, I would have been in complete happiness. Then as I turned around, I am hit with the most gorgeous view of The National Mall, seeing all the museums, the Washington Monument, and a little bit of the Lincoln Memorial. The clock started to tick closer to 3:00PM, so we decided to back to the buses. As we walked back, I got ice cream and water from an ice cream truck, it was expense, but it got the job done by making me forget about the heat.

The Capitol

The View From The Capitol

Our next stop was Georgetown. Cameron and I started to feel hungry, so we went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered burritos. I was disappointed with the place because I asked for their spiciest salsa, which they gave me, but to me was not even close to being something spicy. I felt homesick as I was eating, missing all the foods I loved. We decided to go to some stores. At first we were just hoping on buying something, but then it turned out that we just wanted to get out of the heat. Instead of getting ice cream, we got frozen yogurt, which was equally as satisfying. Then as it was time to go back to the meeting point, the weather started going nuts. I was raining, yet at the same time it was really sunny. It gave me a weird feeling about whether or not I should have put on my sweater. At one point, I looked up and there were literally no clouds above us, yet it still was raining on us.

After having all the energy drained out, I got a chance to relax on the bus ride back.  On the bus ride, I talked with people about their experiences’ at the different museums, which made me think. I will return to DC in the future and I will see it all, especially the inside of the Capitol. For now, I just can’t wait for tomorrow’s trip to King of Prussia Mall!