Washington, D.C.: Week Three: The Beginning of the Obama Administration

So It's the end of Day 7 of Barack Obama's Presidency. I still smile and shake my head in disbelief. I almost feel like the campaign is still on-going and that Barack is still a senator from the state of Illinois trying to deliver his message of hope and change to the American people. But when I turn on the tv and see him standing behind a podium with the presidential seal stamping his mark in history, it almost seems sureal. I must say, that I still hear those McCain/Palin supporters muttering their bs under their breath..."well now that he's president, let's hope he really delivers on his rhetoric." Give me a break people! The man climbed the steepest mountain known in American history, and yet you still have the nerve to question his abilities as president?! Go read a book! Anyway, on my to my adventures in week three...

This last week has actually calmed down quite a bit since the inauguration. As a matter of fact, I'm finally getting some sleep in! Going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 2:45am during the ceremonies, now that I look back on it, was rediculous! But obviously well worth it! The lack of food and sleep during that period finally caught up to me at the end of the week. I definitely wasn't feeling like myself. Some of you are probably wondering, "why the lack of food?" Well if you could imagine only a few hundred port-a-potties for hundreds of thousands of people...even millions, I didn't want to risk A) losing my spot in line, B)losing my kodak seat, and C)having to go to the restroom during the events. So fasting was honestly the only thing I could think of. I mean, I did have a 12oz bottle of water and a handful of gronalla bars to keep my stomach content at the events. So I wasn't starving or anything. But you could imagine the feasts I was having after the ceremonies were over!

Although I played it very low key this week, I still managed to take a stroll to the Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and of course...the White House. By the time we finished up at the Jefferson Memorial and walked down the mall, the sun was gone and these phenomenal landmarks lit up with lights. The amazing part about seeing them at night was that for whatever reason, you could see the details of each stone more clearly than in daylight. From the frozen water falls at the Roosevelt Memorial, to the engravings of Lincoln's Inaugural Speech, to the lit up American flag flaring over the White House, nothing seemed more right than where I was at that moment.

After checking out a few hot spots in Dupont Circle Saturday, I decided to make Sunday a day to relax and catch up on some rest. But tonight, things began to pick up again. The UCDC program held a guest speaker forum that featured the oh-so-popular Ralph Nader. Most people know him for screwing up the 2000 Election, others may know him for his dedicated work in the public sector...well not my generation anyway. I got there pretty early...actually I was the first one there. I had a front row, dead center seat for the lecture. But within minutes, the place overflowed. I would say about 200 or so attended. (A record for the UCDC Program). His 30 minute segment was interesting. Believe it or not, he's actally pretty funny. He kept the audience on their toes with his mildly dry, yet sarcastic sense of humor. At the end of his segment, I was the first to step up to the mic and ask Mr. Nader the first question of the night. I thought I took it pretty easy on him...considering the more vigorous questions that were directed towards him from the other students. I simply asked him: "You discussed several issues and potential solutions to those issues tonight. Now with the Obama Administration in office, do you plan on working side by side with President Obama during his first and hopefully second term in office? And if so, idealy, what on your agenda do you plan on emphasizing to him over the next few years?" As you could imagine, he side stepped the question a bit and stated (in a nutshell) that he has contacted Obama several times over the last couple of years, but has not heard back from him once. He also stated that he is always open to working with preisdents...ummm...Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but it was an answer none-the-less. I was able to get both his aoutograph and photo op at the end of the night. Although this last week was not as interseting as the week before, it is really hard to compare the two to begin with...