Winter Wonderland

Saturday morning I woke up to snow. The row houses that I could see from my window were lightly trimmed with snow. The ground, that was previously made of bricks, asphalt and cement were now blanketed in white powder.

This was a beautiful scene, especially since I had never seen it fall before. This is also my first time ever living in a city covered in snow.

But my roommates and other friends were going to Georgetown, so we had to bundle up and walk to Union Station so we can catch the Circulator bus to take us directly to our location.

These pics are from our walk to the station:






Waiting at Union Station:



Inside shopping center at Georgetown:






But my second impression of the snow isn't too good. It's pretty and and it sparkles. But then it gets so difficult to walk and I get scared of slipping and falling right on my face.

So hopefully the snow melts before Tuesday comes around and we have to walk to our internship sites.

Library of Congress

This past week I visited the Library of Congress. I was able to get my researcher's card, an ID that gives me special permissions.

I went to a couple of exhibits. The first one was called Creating the United States. This showcased some of the founding documents, well at least some copies of the original documents.

The second was Thomas Jefferson's library. Several hundred books were enclosed in glass cases, from a variety of topics ranging from architecture to language.

And lastly the third exhibit I visited was called Herblock, after the famous editorial cartoonist Herbert Block. I enjoyed his work, especially the one that he did on censorship and Ronald Reagan.

Take a look at some pics:

I met Abe

Last Sunday, Leah and I decided we didn't want to sit around in our apartments. We didn't want to let a potentially great experience pass us by. So we decided to hop on the Metro and pay a visit to President Abraham Lincoln.

This was probably the only monument that I was excited to see. A few days ago I had visited other monuments but they didn't really suit my fancy. But America's 16th president did!

Here's some pics:

Walking to the memorial.





There he is:

Georgetown Cupcake

I apologize for not updating as often as I should.

But here's the deal: I've been busy with interviews for my internship and I think I many have one now. I won't say anything until I'm certain, but for now let's say it's a really great newspaper.

Changing topics...My friends and I were on an adventure to find some delicious cupcakes. We were headed to Georgetown Cupcake.



This was a really hip and modern cupcake joint with a logo and interior design. Plus, the place is always packed. And indeed when we arrived the line was super long.



This is what I ended up buying:



It's a red velvet cupcake with a little candy heart on top. It was the most delicious red velvet sweet I've had and the frosting was really good too.



What's really cool about this place is that they one free cupcake per person each day! The person, however, needs to know which one it is...and you do that by becoming a fan of Georgetown Cupcake on Facebook to get a peek of their secret menu.

Anytime you're in D.C., take a trip to this cupcakery.

Sunday-Tuesday Wrap Up

Oh, the places I've been...so far.

I thank God for granting me this opportunity, there are many places I've been that I don't think I would ever imagine going. And then there are those other places that I have yet to go visit.

Sunday:

I walked to church in the pouring rain! I was with a big group of girls, from both the ASP and WJC program. We had our umbrellas, coats and boats. I was missing my gloves and I needed them so much because it was so cold. This was the first time I felt the major change of weather, from Calif. to D.C.

The church we went to was called the National Community Church. The church was several sites and the one we went to was located under a coffee joint. The pastor and his message was recorded and projected onto a screen, which was new to me. But it was a good experience overall.

After the service I did not want to go out. It was cold and rainy. But my group had to finish our scavenger hunt. So we had to go to the Senate Building and look for Dianne Feinstein's office door building. But since it was a weekend, the office was cold.

Monday: We had our first official class. We discussed memo's from the New York Times and their techniques to better their readership and their profession. After that, we played a game that dealt with culture. It was to prepare us for our service projects.

And after, we wen't on a monument tour. We went to go see the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial, but we also passed by the Washington Memorial.


Here's some pics:











And then today we left to do some volunteering. I went to Cornerstone Christian elementary school-middle school (pre k - 8th). I didn't have any interaction with sutdents, which I really wanted. I just installed Microsoft office on some computers and inputed books into a website.

See you later everyone...

love.

Today's Adventures

Today I woke up early to make a trip to Target and get some things I needed especially since I couldn't bring a lot from California. So to get there my friend Amy and I walked to the Eastern Market Metro station and then switched to a different line to get to Target.

This Target is on two floors and even has an escaltor for the carts. I had never seen this before and it was crazy cool! I bought about 70 dollars worth of stuff at Target. I even bought a 2 liter Coke bottle and it was so hard to carry back home. This was bad because I had a plastic bag. And Washington, D.C. is now charging 5 cents per plastic bag. I tried buying canvas/reusable bag but Target didn't have any more.

So after that my WJC group and I had to finish our scavenger hunt. We had to go to three more places. The first we went to was the Pope John Paul II cultural center. It took us a long time to get here even though we cut through The Catholic University of America.

One of the exhibits was a big collection of nativity sets. Here are some I thought were cool:



This one is from Mexico:



This one is from Poland:



Here's one that just looked really pretty:



And the grand finale is one from the Vatican:



After this place we headed over to the Gravelly Point Park. This is where airplanes fly by really close to people. It's because the Reagan airport is a few yards away. I don't have any pictures of this because it was really dark and I was super tired. But it was cool to see a plane so close. :)

This is a picture of the Capitol at night. It's really inspiring to be here:

I'm here now!

Ok so I have now been in D.C. for about 7 hours. It is really different here and not that cold, right now. I've met 2 of my roommates (and their parents) and they seem really nice.

I had lunch at Tunicliff's Tavern with Terry Mattingly, the director of the program and some of the WJC participants. I sat next to Alaina P. and she comes from Azusa. Interestingly there are about five Californians in this program. Cool! Other people like me who flew from coast to coast.

I was having internet problems but the IT guy helped me out. :) So I will hopefully be blogging as much as I can. I was getting pretty desperate that I didn't have internet connection! nooo!!

Then Alaina, her roommate Malia, and I went on an adventure. We tried to go to Target, but ended up at Union Station instead. (Well you're supposed to go to Union Station to hop on the Metro to get to Target). We had to come back early to make it on time for orientation so we postponed our trip. We just didn't want to be late. Right now, I am waiting for the orientation to start. Here are some pictures of the day so far:


This is Union Station. It is so big and beautiful!

Snow!!!

Under the arches at Union Station.

Cool staircase inside Union Station.

And one last one:


Historic architecture and great use of color!

Alright folks, that's all for now.

love.

Tomorrow at This Time...

I will (hopefully) be on board and ready to start my adventure to D.C. It will be cold over there. I won't be able to enjoy the nice, warm Riverside weather. That's all I can really think about. I might freeze over there, but I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity God has granted me. I ask for your prayers for a safe trip and arrival. I will miss all of you here in Riverside, my Mom and family, my friends, my supportive professors (Mary Ann and Karen) and co-workers in the Financial Aid office. But let's see where this leads me...

Love.