DC days 2 & 3

This weekend, our assignment was to complete a scavenger hunt throughout Washington, D.C. to familiarize ourselves with both the culture and history of the area. It was so exciting to explore various parts of D.C. with the other TWC interns. We completed this all yesterday so that today we could go to the national Holocaust museum

Our first stop yesterday on our scavenger hunt was downtown Columbia Heights. While there, our assignment was to take a picture in front of the Columbia Heights metro station, located in downtown Columbia Heights. After completing our first assignment, we ventured around the Columbia Heights area. This area had a great amount of commercialized developments. One street corner alone housed a Target, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and CVS Pharmacy. The buildings were all in the process of newly being renovated as well. In this neighborhood it appeared to be more like a suburb than a large city.

Our next stop was the U Street Corridor, where the African American Civil War Memorial is located. The U St. Corridor area once rivaled Harlem as a mecca for African Americans. This is shown through the great amount of influence that the African American culture has had on the area. One of the famous landmarks is Ben's Chili Bowl, which obviously captured the African American culture. We are planning on returning there on Friday for there 50th anniversary, which Bill Cosby plans on attending as well!

After that, we headed over to Chinatown. Our assignment was to take a picture with Chinatown's 90-foot high Friendship Arch. Once we accomplished that task we had a wonderful time exploring the culture of the area. The signs of the stores were displayed in both English and Chinese.

Our next stop was to Capitol Hill. After going to the required location of the Folger Shakespeare Library, we walked to the National Mall. There was a huge pro-life protest of about 30,000 people going on at the steps of the Capitol Building. It was incredible to actually see a protest of that size, even if it was something I do not believe it.

We then stopped at Dupont Circle, where we took a picture in front of the Dupont Memorial Fountain. This area felt like Central Park in Manhattan. It was very relaxing and filled with picnickers and joggers and people just wanting to escape the city for a short while.

The final stop on our scavenger hunt yesterday was Georgetown. We needed to stop at the home JFK occupied. It was completely gorgeous, as were all of the other homes we saw. They were all brick and old and classic looking and just lovely.

Today, we went to the National Holocaust Museum. No matter how many times you can see pictures and hear stories, it never makes it easier. This four level museum was completely unbelievable. From the shoes of the prisoners to the beds in the concentration camps to the children's section, it was just unimaginable. My heart hurt being there. After leaving I was just completely speechless. As terrible to see such things as it was, I am very glad that I went. For me it was important to see what other Jews had to go through and the faith that they had to keep. This place was just incredible.

This weekend I got to see all different places in DC, some which I knew of and others that I did not, and it was great to see them all.