Coming to the end

Hello readers!

After days of excitement and busy schedules, I'm finally able to blog. Let me recap the past few days.

On Sunday the 19th the law student group found their way to D.C. After a trip to the hospital and (I'm guessing) plenty of rest breaks, the drivers arrived at our D.C. condo by 11pm. Having a little bit of an idea that the next days were going to be crazy and fun, we decided to call it a night. Our condo was two bedrooms and one and a half bath in the NE side of D.C. We were at a great location on the New York station on the red line (only one stop away from Union Station). The area has a history of being a bit rough, but because of its excellent location has become the new up and coming neighborhood.

On Monday, our group decided to part ways so all of us could explore the city. Randy Langford, his niece Kristen and I has a BLAST walking around town... and there was a lot of walking! We started out by walking the few miles to the capital. We walked around all sides of the capital and found our way to the Supreme Court. As law students (and Kristen who's an attorney in Laredo) we all looked at the Supreme Court with awe. Everyone we met along the way were incredibly nice and helpful. D.C. definitely welcomed us with open arms. After we visited the capital area we walked over to the Newseum. That place was the BEST museum I've ever been to! I'm a news junkie and loved every bit of it. A few of the exhibitions include the Pulitzer photo gallery, the 1st Amendment exhibit, and an entire section of the Berlin wall and watch tower, an the Great Books exhibit (which had original versions of the Magna Carta, The Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and many more priceless books). Of those my favorites were the Pulitzer Photos and the 1st Amendment gallery. The Pulitzer photos really prove that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, the pictures brought out tons of emotion. At night we went out for some food and to check out the local scene. We went to a bar called Hawk and Dove and to 18th Amendment, which are both on the SE side of D.C. Taxi's were easy to get, the crowds on Monday were well managed and we all had a great time.

Tuesday was a day to remember. Randy left the condo by 6:30am in hopes of getting a good spot and the rest of us made our way out by 8. We underestimated the crowd for sure, and as Liz mentioned in her post it took us several hours of confusion and detours till we made our way to the National Mall. For We entered the Mall near the WWII memorial, and saddly people were climbing all over the memorial in hopes of getting a better view. We all felt that was disrespectful to the monument and what it stands for, but the crowd became so daunting that I understood that people were finding space wherever they could. Trying to maneuver the crowds with a group of 7 was pretty difficult. To help find each other we had a poster that read "Texans for Obama" that we raised up so a lost team member could find us. That sign garnered lots of attention, applause and even people taking our photos! haha. Apparently, people didn't know that there were Texans for Obama!

We got to our spots and huddled to stay warm. It was difficult to see and hear what was happening but everyone in the crowd had a sense of cooperation that amazed me. D.C. did not prepare for the inauguration very well. Jumbotrons were few and far between and they were not as large as they should have been and speakers were not loud enough for the entire crowd to hear what was happening. As a shorty, I got a little frustrated when I couldn't see one of the jumbotrons but Nikki helped keep me in the loop by telling me what was happening on screen. When Obama was getting sworn in, the crowd hushed. You could probably hear a pin drop in that crowd of 2 million. I was very proud that all people were showing each other courtesy and kindness.

I thought the speech was fantastic. It was not over the top enthusiastic and it wasn't too grim either. It had a perfect tone for the hard times that many of us are feeling and it gave me a desire to do more to help move us all out of economic hardship. At the National Mall I realized how many people had come from not only all parts of the US but from all over the world. There were large groups of Germans and Austrians that were around us, and it was really heart warming to know that they wanted to be a part of this experience with us.

The way out of the National Mall was really difficult. Because all of the entrances were carefully controlled for security, there were lots of walls and fences that kept people from getting out quickly and efficiently. Instead millions tried to get out of a few small entrances, which led a lot to be frustrated and the the entire process taking over an hour. In the process of trying to get out, our group got separated. It took us hours to get home. I was one of the first to get back home and we got home by 4:30.. over four and a half hours after inauguration!

There were lots of crowds, lots of walking and LOTS of cold, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat!

I'll post some pictures soon!