Highlights from DC

Just for a quick rewind, I was chosen as one of 12 freshmen to go to the Georgetown main campus in DC over Spring Break.  Our group was very diverse including people from:  Sudan, Afghanistan, Somolia, Bosnia, Qatar, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and the US.

DAY 1

“DC, Here we come!”—Nada and I on the bus heading to the airport.

Top 5 Ways to Survive 14 Hours in the Air (and make everyone on your plane hate you at the same time):

Please Note:  I do not personally partake in any of these pastimes. 

5:  Find people who are using the complimentary eye-covering, sleep things.  Inconspicuously poke and prod them then stand back and watch as they fumble around drowsily trying to get the eye-thing off.  When they look up at you with beady, red eyes say, “Oh, I’m sorry.  I though you were my uncle” (especially if it is a woman).

4:  Go to the food and bathroom area where the flight attendants hang out and pretend to be doing your “In-flight Exercises”.  Shake, rattle, and roll making each exercise RIDICULOUS!  Block the bathroom doors if possible. 

3:  Traverse the plane several times seeing how many people you know—when you find someone you know, be obnoxiously excited to see them.  This is particularly entertaining if they are only a vague acquaintance.  If they are sleeping, be sure to wake them up just to say “hi”!

2:  “earthquakes”—shake the seat in front of you while yelling “earthquake”.  Repeat at various points throughout the flight, particularly if the said person appears to be sleeping.

1:  Go visit your chaperones in First Class—the appropriate time to make this visit is of course at the exact moment dinner is being served.  By timing this correctly, one simultaneously gets to . . .

A)    make the flight attendants move their little carts to the side of the aisle (something they hate almost as much as smiling)

B)   squish one’s rear end up against the person who just “had to have the aisle seat” in order to squeeze past the aforementioned cart.

C)   Bother one’s chaperones at precisely the moment when they’re trying to enjoy a nice bottle of Merlot.

So you get the point.  It was an interesting and exhausting 14 hours.  We arrived in DC at 7pm.  As you can imagine, getting through immigration and customs with a bunch of Arabs is no easy task.  Almost everyone in our group was stopped at customs—some for up to 2 hours!!!  Fortunately, my friends were with me when I got to customs.  We all handed him our passports, and he asked me if these people were with me.  I said, “Yes” and he just said, “welcome home” and didn’t stop any of them.  So we chilled in the airport while waiting for the rest of our group.  Of course, that was an interesting sight—5 Arabs and 1 white girl just plopped down in the middle of the airport.  People kept looking at us strangely as if we were terrorists or something.

DAY 2

A few much-needed hours of sleep later, we were up once again.  We set out for our true indoctrination into Hoya-ism—the Georgetown vs. Louisville Basketball Game!

We went all-out Hoya and painted our faces:

Nalani, one of the coolest Student Affairs people ever, didn't stop screaming the entire game.  I think she set a record or something...

The score was tied with 40 seconds left, and Georgetown’s star player hit an incredible 3-pointer leading Georgetown to victory!  Who-hoo!!!

DAY 3

The next day was our “monuments and museums” day. 

We visited the Holocaust Museum, which was very well done.  Then we walked around, and Dalal and I headed to the National Art Gallery. 

They had some INCREDIBLE art!!!  Being the art nerd that I am, I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots…

Randomly, there was this huge flower and fountain thing in the middle of the Gallery…Dalal LOVED it!

Later that evening, we set out to see the presidential monuments.  Apparently, the new “fashionable” thing to do is to see the monuments at night.  Hypothetically this would be really fun.  However, the temperature felt like about 0 degrees…

DAY 4

The next morning we headed to Georgetown University—the coolest University EVER!!!

Even the buildings are cool…

We spent the day attending sample classes and meeting with students and organization leaders to discuss connections with the Qatar campus.

DAY 5

Next Morning:  we were off to the capital…  We toured the capitol and met with a Congressman.  This fellow was deceivingly a “Republican” although his policy views were strongly un-Republican in my opinion.  Of course, what would you expect from a “moderate”… Ugh!

Later that evening, we passed out food to homeless men in one of DC’s less affluent areas as part of Georgetown’s Hoya Hope Project.  The goal of the evening was not only to pass out food, but also to talk to the men.  The guy I talked to characterized me as “a pale-faced, white girl”.  My friends were in hysterics when he said this because they LOVE giving me a hard time about how white I am!

DAY 6

We went to the Pentagon and met with the General who is the Director for the War on Terror.  She and her staff were interested to hear Arab perspectives on the situation in the Middle East.  Obviously, my perspectives weren’t Arab, but I was able to chime in with views from an American who knows Arabs and lives in an Arab society…

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take cameras into the Pentagon, so no pictures from this day.  =(  After this meeting, we met with CIA and State Department Agents.  Then, it was off to Vienna, Virginia for me.  I got to visit with Aunt Glenda, Uncle Stuart, Nate, and Ian for the evening.  Aunt Glenda made a great dinner, and Nate entertained me with several selections from his ever-growing piano repertoire.

DAY 7

After a short meeting with the Dean of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service to discuss the Qatar campus, we headed to Tyson’s Corner and SHOPPED, SHOPPED, SHOPPED!!!

DAY 8

We did some more last minute shopping, hung out, and made one last-minute run to CVS.  One of the most amazing things about the trip was CVS.  Seriously, folks, we went to CVS EVERY EVENING of the trip!!!  CVS is one of those places where you can always find something you need.  In fact, even if you don’t need anything, you are guaranteed to walk out with at least a new package of lip balm or gum—it’s just THAT tempting!

Anyway, if you cannot imagine how the plane ride was passed, please refer to the above list…  =)  Fortunately, it was only 12 hours this time thanks to the winds.  Arriving home again, I climbed into bed for a few hours before dragging myself up for my 8am Arabic class—that’s devotion, people!

We had some very fun, Worldview Academy guests all week, so I was busy just balancing school and guests!  Then, of course, Easter snuck up on us before I could even get a decent night’s sleep.  We had our usual Easter party and ate enough food/candy to hold us over to next Easter.  In fact, as I lay here on my bed typing this blog, my stomach and the pile of chocolate wrappers next to me are having a competition to see who can climb higher.  Currently, my stomach is in the lead, but it’s a tight race, and the wrapper pile might make a last minute pass.  I’ll leave you with that rather disturbing image.  =)