The Final Day

Well, here I am at the end of my final full day in Washington DC! The time has certainly gone by far more quickly than I expected, and I am only just aware of what an awesome and wonderfully comprehensive experience this semester has been. Needless to say, there is no WAY that I am done writing about the Washington Seminar, and since I have plenty of pictures and stories still to post, you may continue to look forward to the updates as often as I have time when I return to life in Utah. After all, the longest journey is comprised of many journeys, is it not? And it would be a shame to overlook so many of the fantastic experiences that I've been too busy having here to write about them.

But since this IS the last post from DC, I want to officially thank everyone who read and supported me and sent thank you notes and commented on my blog up to this point - in a strange sort of way, I felt even more connected to y'all despite the increased distance! I hope you'll continue to keep in touch even when I'm back in (boring) Utah. Ok, ok, just kidding about the last part. Utah's not boring - or at least, it won't be once I get back ;)

Today was one of the fastest days I've seen go by. We had class at 9 am, and it was probably the shortest class we've ever had. There was nothing to do except go over what we had already been given instructions on at least three times in emails and previous class periods, and we took many group photos, and we clapped for our professor in the traditional BYU custom. Then we scattered to our rooms to clean. I had already done most of my packing, but decided to wait on the cleaning until the evening so I could do some sight-seeing.

I first walked to the Mall via the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, then visited the National Museum of American History to take another look at the Presidents' Exhibit (my favorite one). I wanted to see Abe Lincoln's hat, but about 100 other people had the same idea, and there were a lot of other places I wanted to visit too, so I skipped that, arguing to myself that seeing AL's coat at Ford's Theater was just as good. Then I went to the Smithsonian Castle and saw all the displays for the contest to design the soon-to-come African-American History Museum. I took pictures of my favorites, and the winning one. Stay tuned... or just Google it. Whatever. I went to the Freer Gallery next to get another look at Whistler's Peacock Room and try to take another photo, since I didn't like how my first one turned out. Turns out that when I got there, a lady was standing in front of the room to ensure that no one took any photos inside. Whups! Oh well - the room was still neat to see.

After this, I wandered for a bit through the Freer and Sackler museums, trying to find the best possible exit, and eventually made my way to the National Museum of Natural History, where I saw the Hope Diamond (and got pictures!) and wandered through some random exhibits. After all this, I walked home via Virginia Avenue, passing a sculpture in front of the Ellipse that I had wondered at for some time but never had approached until today. Turns out it's a WWI memorial. Pretty cool-looking. I'll post pictures later.

So I walked home, had noodles for dinner (and pancakes, courtesy of my Barlow roommates), and watched/listened to movies on my laptop while I cleaned my room. Valerie was gone by then - she's staying with her grandmother-in-law tonight, and will be back tomorrow morning to help me clean out the group freezer, and check out of our room at 9:00 am. I'm going to go to bed now (hopefully...although as you can probably tell, I'm WAY TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP), wake up early enough tomorrow to fold up my sheets and pack all the last-minute items, clean out the freezer, check out of the room, catch my SuperShuttle, and catch my flights. I can't WAIT to see my family again! Do you hear that, guys? I love you, I love you, I love you!

Ruthena