July 15th
12:00 midnight
July 15, 2003

Wow, this day has really been amazing! I should have written this earlier when I remembered it all, but here goes. Ok, so I woke up, kind of drowsy, and then went to take a shower in the fairly gross showers. Those showers make me feel completely greasy for some odd reason, and my hair just would not dry after I got out! It literally wouldn’t dry whatsoever. So I had to stick it back. Then breakfast, then we met at the busses to go into DC! On the way I saw a few different museums, and the capitol, and the Washington Memorial. I wanted to see EVERYTHING from that point on. Then we started walking from the busses to the House offices, and that’s where I knew that my feet would not be a pretty sight by the end of the day.

The Oregon crew had a meeting with Senator Ron Wyden at 10:30 and so therefore missed the morning speakers. We missed a few key ones like a newscaster, but it worked out. We got lost on our way to the Senator, but finally got there. He met with us for a bit, answered some of our questions about “No Child Left Behind”, his priorities, and his basic inability to do anything about the Oregon Education System. And that made complete sense since the federal government is only obligated to pay 10% of the total education cost.

Next came the lunch issue. We went down into the Senate Cafeteria and got many choices. It was fairly expensive, but really good food. I got a “chicken rotisserie”, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and some diet coke. I think I’m becoming addicted to coke again. (Stop the habit now). We then decided to venture down into the Library of Congress. That thing is absolutely huge! It was definitely intense. We went in, went through the security guards, up the stairs, found out WE WEREN’T ALLOWED TO SEE THE BOOKS!!!, and then went to one of the mini museums inside. It’s crazy! You can’t go into the actual book library unless you’re out of high school or on a tour. I wanted to see the books! But the mini museum was pretty cool, and so was the bookshop downstairs. The decorations inside were amazing as well….so many references to authors and the likes.

Then we went back to the House offices, and I left my key in security and so I lost that for a bit. The speakers I got to listen to were pretty amazing. There was a Libertarian named Ron Paul who was just dead on on most everything. He was exciting to listen to. The rest were Democrats and pretty liberal and this included an African American way too involved in the whole affirmative action mess. One guy wanted to pull out of the UN.

Then came our visit to the Capitol, and we had to walk all the way around (due to our wrong sense of direction) in my terribly uncomfortable shoes. The line was too long to wait for the gallery, so Elise and I left and went back to get some food then went to the park to eat. The Capitol was absolutely gorgeous as well. I definitely want to be elected to public office or something of that manner and live in DC and work in either the Capitol or a senate/rep office. At 5:30 we had a “Congressional Reception” for many people to meet their reps and senators (but most didn’t show up). Oregon was lucky to get one due to my roommate’s connections. The brownies and shish-ka-bobs were good though. That was that for the day, and then I finally got to take those stupid shoes off!

I grabbed some pizza in the cafeteria (for the 3rd day in a row) and went down to the library to have some quiet and do some research. It was really good stuff. I love the Constitution! Constitutional Law just really amazes me. Well it’s currently 12:15 and time to get to bed in order to wake up on time tomorrow morning!

I’m either on adrenaline or still stuck on jet lag.

the first full day of Georgetown
July 14th, 2003
11:45 PM

I have just finished my first day at Georgetown! It has been absolutely amazing so far. This morning we basically had more orientation where we learned more about the speakers program, and some other random stuff. Finally the Senators and Representatives have become real. I finally see what they do, who they are without ever having seen the Capitol. It’s all around, and it’s obvious. I used to think that the Senate was more important than the House, but truthfully they are equal. Sure, the Senate has greater odds, but everything has to be passed through both houses. And that’s what democracy is all about. Not the fame, but the progress. I’m going to meet my Senator, Mr. Ron Wyden, tomorrow at 10:30, and then I’ll be able to listen to more speakers after that. This place is really liberal though. The RAs, the profs, so many people.

I had my first Constitutional Law class today, and it was absolutely amazing as well. My professor really knows his stuff, and you can tell that he loves it. I learned so much in today alone. I love the Constitution! It doesn’t matter whether I’m liberal, conservative, or independent as long as I’m for the Constitution. Wow, this is amazing. On Sunday we get all day to do absolutely anything we want. Ahh! There’s so much stuff out there to do! I’m definitely going to the Vietnam Memorial, and the Smithsonian, and the Lincoln Memorial. Oh boy. I will be a Representative for Texas for 4 years.

July 13th on the plane
July 13, 2003

Well right now I’m on a plane heading towards St. Louis, and then on to Washington Dulles Airport. This has been a really interesting week. And probably the longest week I’ve really ever experienced. I think I saw both Scott and Kayla every single day this week. It’s really been a lot of fun, and very insightful. It’s nice to feel waned. I know I shouldn’t have read a lot of Kayla’s emails, but it’s really helped me to get to know Scott better and know that it’s okay to like him. Oh man, he looked really good when I saw him right before I left. It was such an awkward goodbye…Kimberly and Kayla wouldn’t stop pressuring me. I’m a very closed person, and that really didn’t help. I just wish his grades were better… There’s something about him. Lord, I know you’ll bring someone absolutely amazing into my life and I will know when that guy comes along. But please bring me someone like Scott. Someone who’s culturally aware. Scott and I would have so much fun together doing the random stuff that both of us like. I hope the whole dancing thing works out. It would have been a lot of fun to do the ballroom dancing thing, but we can do swing, salsa, and many others. And my house would work really well.

Lord, take this Georgetown experience and make it absolutely amazing. I want to give it to you. And help me to be patient with everyone there. It’s my first time in Washington DC! I hope it’s like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. That would be amazing. I want to grow in you. I hope I get lots of letters! Wouldn’t it be amazing to meet people and then still keep in contact with them. And I cannot lose Moen! That pen really is special to Scott.