Washington, D.C.: February 2009

To kick off last week (Tuesday), I was walking home from work thinking about work and school when out of nowhere comes Vice President Biden's motorcade. The funny part about it is you would think that if the second most powerful man in the world was roaming the streets that secret service would try to keep a low profile. However, this is never the case. If the vice president or the president are roaming through the streets, they want the whole world to know. I was probably about 3 blocks away from my apartment when about 10 patrol cars came through the intersecion with their lights and sirens going off. Then right behind them were about 5 black cars with their flashing lights going off as well. Then behind them was the decoy motorcade and the vice president's motorcade...and then of course behind the vice president was about 5 or 6 more cars (both patrol cars and black cars with their lights and sirens going off). It was like a freakin parade. I tried to take a couple of pictures, but because of the lighting and the fact that the motorcade was going about 25-30mph, they both came out really blury. Oh well.

On Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to attend a briefing on Global Warming and the current situation in the world. Nothing Al Gore hasn't already informed us about, but it was still interesting none-the-less. Later,I briefly attended a hearing on the issues with the 8 Banks that were being questioned by the members in the house. Since my congresswoman is on the Finance Committee, she was one of the members on the panel. It was pretty cool to be able to see the member I work for sit up there and question the executives of the banks (like Bank of America). It made my job seem more realistic. Later that night, my parents and my neice, Marisa, flew into DC to visit me. They could not have come at a better time. For some odd reason, the weather was as perfect as you could probably get it in DC in the middle of February. That day I believe the high was 70 degrees. Anyway, that night, after work, I jumped on the train and took it over to their hotel (which was right by the Pentagon and had a view of the National Mall!) We ended up having dinner at Chevy's because that was as close to a Mexican restaurant we were going to get in order to watch the USA/Mexico soccer game...a game I don't really want to talk about...

The next morning, I had requested off because I wanted to go around DC and celebrate Lincoln's Bicentennial. I didn't realize my family was already going to be in town when I had requested it off, so it worked out perfect. I took the fam around DC in 8 hours! That's unheard of! We started off the day at the Arlington Cemetery where we saw JFK's and Robert Kennedy's burrial sites. We then worked our way over to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and the Korean Memorial. Then from there we headed to the National Archives Museum where we saw the official Emancipation Proclamation, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and several other very important documents. Then we headed over to the Library of Congress where we saw original documents and belongings of Abraham Lincoln at his dedicated exhibit...But the only reason I really wanted to go to it was to see Lincoln's Bible (from 1861). This Bible is very valuable becuase it was only used twice. The first time was for Lincoln's 1861 Inaugural Ceremony, and the second time was 4 weeks ago today when Obama used it at his Inauguration. By the time we finished at the Library of Congress, it was 5:30, and I needed to be back at my building for class at 6:00.

The next morning, my family came to my office for a tour of the capitol that I conducted for them. I took them through all the high lights of the historic building and even took them to see the house and senate floors...both were in session (due to the votes on the final stimulus package). After the tour, we left DC and headed over to Philadelphia. We got there around dinner time, so we headed over to Hard Rock Cafe (which was right accross the street from our hotel). Since my neice had recieved the good news that she made the CA Jacobs Girls Soccer Team, I told our server to do something special for her. So we got her a chocolate brownie sundae and had them make the announcment in the middle of the restaurant. Although she was a little embarrassed, I wanted to make sure she was acknowledged for her accomplishment :).

The next morning, we headed out to the streets to check out the city. Naturally, the first stop was the Liberty Bell. Seeing the bell in person and knowing its significance was a pretty powerful moment. The infamous crack was no more than 3 feet away from me. Then we walked over to Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed...another very powerful moment. I couldn't help but imagine George Washington sitting at the head chair (the rising sun) and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison going at it in trying to compromise on these documents. After leaving the hall, we went over to the art gallery where the movie Rocky was filmed. So naturally, my neice and I ran up the steps while singing the Rocky theme song..."da-da-da...da-da-da...da-da-da...da-da-da". Then we got to the top, through our hands up in the air and yelled out "Yo Adrian!" - Very original, I know. I'm sure we are the only ones who had ever done it. Before leaving for New York that afternoon, the fam and I stopped by a corner whole in the wall for some Philly Cheese Steaks (or in my case, a Philly Steak...no cheese). This whole in the wall was the birth place of the Philly Cheese Steak...so I knew I was gettin the real deal. They were actually pretty good...sort of like a sister sandwhich to the carne asada torta...except without all the spices and horchata.

Anyway, after we grabbed a quick bite to eat, we hit the road again - but this time to New York. Since we drove, we had to pass through New Jersey and go through the Lincoln Tunnel. (It was only about a 2 hour drive from Philly). There it was, the Big Apple. I had been there before, but having my neice with me, who had never been, made the experience more exciting. We got to our hotel, changed, and hit the streets of New York City. Since it was Valentines Day, we knew everything was going to be hard to get into. But we tried anyway. I really wanted my neice to experience a Broadway play while we were in the city, so my dad and I roamed the streets and made several phone calls to see what was availbale...mean while my mom and Marisa were waiting in the lottery ticket line at the Broadway hit: Wicked. Since there was no gauarantee in getting those tickets, I didn't want to leave it up to chance. But after about an hour of searching, it was evident that nothing was available. So we met back up with my mom and Marisa to figure out a plan B. At this point, there were nearly 300 people standing outside the theater waiting to see if they won any tickets. I decided to put my name in the drawing last minute just for the hell of it. I had nothing to lose. Finally around 6:00pm, the staff announced that only 26 tickets were available for the sold out show, and that only 13 people were going to get a chance to win a pair of tickets. Well, believe it or not,my neice was one of the lucky winners. She scored 2 premium tickets. These tickets had the value of $300 a piece. But since they were through a lottery system, she got them for $26 each. Rediculous, I know! So not only did she win premium seats, but they were front row! Talk about luck. Now since I am her favorite uncle, sorry guys, I was the lucky date. My parents roamed the streets and had dinner while they waited for the play to be over. My neice definitely got the experience I was hoping she would get.

The next morning, we hit the streets of New York and checked out all the hot spots. We went to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, we went to the Statue of Liberty, we stopped by Ground Zero and the New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street), and even had time to grab some New York Pizza, New York Cheesecake, and New York Hot Dogs. We tried to find Gray's Papaya from the movie Fools Rush In, but we couldn't find it. We stood on the corner of 42nd and 10th, but there was no Gray's Papaya anywhere...so we hit up the next best thing...Papaya Dog. Not exactly a landmark, but still doable none-the-less. On the way back home (DC) we made a stop in Jersey where I found a Cinnabun...I coudn't resist. So I washed all the crap I ate that day down with coke. Not exatly the ideal diet :). So you could imagine how I was feeling at this point...freakin great! I was in food heaven!

Once we got into DC, my parents dropped me off at my apartment and took a quick tour of the place...they wanted to see what their money was paying for :). Since they had to fly out early Monday morning, we decided to call it a night,said our goodbyes. Overall, the 5 day weekend was great. We were beat by Sunday night, but we did do a lot in the short amount of time we had together. Now all that's left for me to see is Boston. Well see if I'll make it out that way before I leave in a few weeks...

The Biden Motorcade

House Hearing (Where the House Drilled the Banks Involved in the Financial Crisis

John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy's Grave Sites at Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery

The Beast! (The Obama Motorcade - And Its Decoy)

The Obama White House Pose

Lincoln Memorial (200th Birthday)

Original Emancipation Proclamation at the National Archives Museum

The Declaration of Independence (Original Document)

The United States Constitution (Original Document)

Fords Theater: The Balcany Where Lincoln was Shot

The Room Where Lincoln Died - Accross the Street from Fords Theater

My parents, My Neice Marisa, and me with Congresswoman Jackie Speier

Hard Rock Cafe in Philly: The Moment My Neice was Embarrased

Liberty Bell

The Room Where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were Signed (Independence Hall)

Other Side of the Same Room

Center of the Room: The Chair in the Background is the Original Chair George Washington sat in

Independence Hall (Philadelphia)

The Rocky Statue

Philadelphia Skyline

How to Order a Philly Cheese Steak

My First Philly Steak

The Philly Cheese Steak Originator

Front Row at Broadway's: Wicked

The Official Unveiling of the Wicked Witch

The Good Witch and Bad Witch (Background: The House Dorthy Fell in Oz with)

In the Middle of Time Square After the Show

On the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building

The Statue of Liberty

On Liberty Island: New York City

I've titled this blog Presidents Week because that's essentially what it was! On Tuesday, instead of heading into work after class like I usually do, I took a detour to the hospital to finally get my knee checked out. Apparently everything is cool. I didn't break anything, nor did I sprain it - I strained it...whatever the hell that means. About $40 of bandage supplies later, everything seems to be good. Anyway, so due to me knee, I decided to take a cab to work on Wednesday morning. What an f-ing mistake! It took me about 20 minutes to flag one down; and then when I finally got one to pull over, some lady jumped in and jacked it! So instead of taking it easy, I found myself working the streets in trying to get a cab. At this point I'm already 20 minutes late to work. I finally got a cab...that I had to share with some other lady...go figure (just to add onto me already being late). So as we dropped the lady off, I looked to this tall building to the left of the street and noticed this huge bannard that said "Welcome Mr. President...Thank You Mr. President." Now I'm not gonna lie, it kind of made me laugh. It was the first and ONLY "Thank You Mr. President" sign I have seen in DC! (I'll spare the Bush-Bashing).

That same day, I was given the opportunity to attend my first briefing. This briefing was hosted by Congressman Dennis Kucinich. It was about the current situation in Gaza and how we (the United States) needed to help the people of Gaza. Now, I'm no expert on this issue. I probably know just as much as the other CNN junkies - however, I know propaganda when I see it. Granted, he did bring with him two experts on the issue that brought a lot of credibility to the case. But there was no room for debate. As a matter of fact they even stated, and I quote: "It's not about whether or not the people of Gaza are terrorists, it's about whether or not we can help them." I'll leave that up to your own interpretation. Aside of the one sided briefing, it was interesting to be able to sit front row and only about 15 feet away from the Congressman.

Thursday must have been the most boring day I've had since I've arrived to DC. My office had absolutely nothing for me to do...so other than the walk and train ride to and from work, nothing really exciting happened that day.

On Friday, UCDC had our White House photo op set up that morning. UC San Diego had their time slot set for 8:30am (the first group). The day was perfect. A little cold, but definitely a perfect day for pictures. So the whole building was up relatively early trying to look their best, given that this picture was going into the school archives as "the group whe attended UCDC during Obama's Inauguration." So we all walked the 6 blocks from our building to the White House to find out that the props from the Inaugural Parade were still up and obstructing the front view of the White House. So naturally, the photo session was cancelled. Most of us were pretty pissed because the majority of us took time off work to make the designated time slot. After about 30 minutes, the photographer decided that the session will be held later in the quarter. A bunch of us hung around and took advantage of the opportunity to take some of our own group pictures..."Someone is taking damn picture!" Somehow the group shots turned into photo shoot. The guys all of sudden became GQ models while the ladies were taking all these crazy pictures. At some some point, someone grabbed my ass during the group shots. Apparently everyone was in the joke but me...cuz everyone started laughing when I reacted to it. Just before the picture was taken I blaintly stated, with a smile of course, "Can someone please let go of my ass." Anyway, not the classiest moment, but a moment none the less. To this day, I still don't know who did it. Bastards!

That night, I went to this Latin club right down the street from my building. There was a handful of us that went...only cuz most people couldn't put it down on the dance floor with salsa, merengue, bachata, regeton, and other Latin music like us...not that I'm braging or anything. The funny part about it is that I went into the club limping and walked out of there with an extra bounce to my step. Somehow the pain in my knee went away. I guess I just needed to bring some of that Latin back into me...since I've been without it since I left SD.

Saturday was my relaxing day. I just stayed home and watched TV all day. Pretty lame, I know. But having a day where I for once had nothing to do was pretty nice.

But on Sunday, I took a stoll down to the National Portrait Gallery - where the portraits of all former 43 presidents reside. I decided to walk there because it was like 60 degrees outside! Let me tell you, it was a nice change from the below freezing temps. The building was pretty nice. The room in which the presidential portraits were held was very classy. Unfortunately only 2 of the portraits were the authentic paintings. The rest were duplicates. But it was still intense to be able to walk from the George Washington portrait all the way to the George W. Bush portrait and see how far our country has come. Seeing these presidents face to face through art and attaching their role in history was incredible. By the time I got to former President George W. Bush's portrait, I couldn't help but think about the next presidential portrait...the portrait of the 44th president...President Barack Obama. That will be a site worth seeing. Now since Obama hasn't posed for his portrait yet, there isn't one of him up yet. But I did get a chance to see the now world famous painting of his "HOPE" poster. The original art work is in the same building. Being able to see the same art peice that became a staple of his campaign...a campaign that I worked on for so long...was amazing. In between seeing all of these paintings, I was also able to visit the room in which Abraham Lincoln had his first Inaugural Ball. (which oddly enough was in the same building).

With Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday coming up this week, there seems to be a lot going on DC. This bicentenial is a very big deal...especially with President Obama refering to him so much throughout his campaign and during his Inaugural week. I'll be sure to let you all know how the celebration goes and where I end up that day.

Until then, I have to get ready for the family. My parents and my neice, Marisa, will be flying in tomorrow from Dixon. They'll be here visiting until Monday morning. I believe Philadelphia and New York is in the agenda this weekend. Should be a good time. I'll keep you posted.