February in DC

During winter break, instead of lazing around for a week, I took an Immigration Policy Advocacy course in Washington D.C. This was the first time for me to visit the capital!

I was amazed at how much power is concentrated in such a small portion of the city. Literally only a few city blocks the US Treasury, US Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Labor, Education, and the list goes on, are all housed right next to each other! The World Bank is located across the street from the IMF (International Monetary Fund), which is only a short walk to the White House which is a short walk to the Washington Monument (see photo of me and friend with face plastered to the Monument below) and Abraham Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, then walk down past all the FREE-entry Smithsonian museums and you reach the Capital Building which is directly behind the US Supreme Courthouse!

The architecture and layout of the city was quite impressive. I wasn't impressed with the amount of homeless people sleeping in city parks and along businesses at night, especially with the strong presence of police in the predominately African-American part of town where I stayed. Class issues are clearly visible in the capital (DC) and in my opinion they are also clearly reflected throughout the country as a whole.

The bright side of the trip was to learn that Senators and House of Representatives are accessible in the capital! I was able to walk into Senator Patty Murray's office, and although she was away, I was able to speak to her staff for 30 minutes to ask questions about her stance on specific issues. Other classmates were able to walk into their Senator's office and sit right down with them! It's nice to know that many public officials do try to work for the people and make themselves available to their constituents as much as possible - especially at the legislative level! I took some pride in realizing the power that individuals (and especially organized people) can and do have in this country.


Once the course was finished, I took two days to visit as many museums as possible with my travel partner and classmate, Yuki. There is so much to see and explore, and did I mention it's all FREE?!! Then my friend and classmate, Yuki and I, slept most of the ten hours by train back to Brattleboro, Vermont to start new classes the very next day!



Although I don't think I would ever like to live in DC, I am grateful to have been able to visit and learn more about how my country is run, and how I, as a citizen, can effect change.

First trip to New York!

There have been many firsts this year.. going to grad school in Vermont, visiting a pumpkin festival in New Hampshire, and taking a short drive through Massachusetts, but one adventure that I wasn't sure I would actually have was a trip to the Big Apple! And although the idea of visiting the city was intimidating I did it, and this country girl actually enjoyed it!

Last week my fellow SIT (School for Int'l Training)friend Anne and I drove down in my Subaru outback wagon all the way to our hostel in East Harlem. Of course, we accidentally got off somewhere in Connecticut thinking we were near Manhattan, but that's normal for me when it comes to navigating ;)

Anne and I used our student discount to explore the city and all it has to offer! We went to see the hilarious Broadway show "The Producers" - highly recommended- as well as enjoyed the refinement of the Opera at the Metropolitan Opera House. Another destination was to stop by Carnegie Hall just to say I have been to the building - and to my great surprise, my former Orchestra Teacher, Mr. Wing and the Shorewood High School orchestra were posted for upcoming performances!!! To think if I was.... well, a lot younger... and still in high school I too could be performing at Carnegie Hall! Wow, what a surprise!

Another highlight was touring through the United Nations building. Being on "international territory", and not on US soil, the UN has its own stamps and postal system. I didn't take advantage of this service, but I found it quite interesting! (In the photo taken by the UN you can see my good friend and travel partner, Anne.) On the way out of the UN we also ran into a fellow SIT student who was applying for a job there... what an amazing place to work!

One place we all know that is difficult to visit, but necessary in understanding this country and much of the world as we know it today, was "Ground Zero" or the remains of the World Trade Center. The towers fell almost six years ago, but to my surprise there were still chunks of warped steel and concrete blocks scattered throughout the area.


As you can see construction has started on building the foundations for the new Freedom Tower and Liberty park. I was shocked to see that literally two blocks of central Manhattan were decimated! In many ways it felt like walking on sacred ground, similar to the feeling I had when walking around Hiroshima's Peace Park. There are really no words to describe the awe that surround my emotions. All I can say with pure confidence is that we need to bring PEACE!!


I'll start by eating some chocolate to put me in the mood...




As you can see my short two days in New York were filled with eye-opening excursions. Did we have any other random adventures? I felt like a true local being stuck on the broken-down subway at 2am. On our last day in Harlem before heading back to Vermont, Anne was mistaken for an artist because it's crazy to think anyone would take their "Vacation on Malcolm X Boulevevard?!", but we did!

The city was much friendlier than I anticipated... so many people asked us if we needed help finding our destination as we pulled out a map. When I bought a hot dog in Times Square the vendor handed me a free water with a smile. My rough and tough image of New York was shattered, but then again, I was only there for a few short days. Perhaps that was just right to enjoy what the city had to offer without being overwhelmed.

Thank you New York!
Until we meet again!