Weekly Reflections

“More time for reflections” never seems to come. A week has flown by… busy with socialization, tourization, and wrapping this up around here. Holly was here Thursday-Tuesday and Katie as here from Sunday-Thursday (this afternoon). It was so awesome to have them each here and I am reminded of how blessed I was to build such close relationships at Asbury that I did not leave them behind when I walked down the aisle in a tent and tassel. Both H & KT are atypical tourists (Holly having done the typical tourist thing and KT not being museumish) so we experimented with other activites..nice for me since I’ve done the typical thing a few times now.

Saturday, Holly and I slept in and then went to the Library of Congress and researched the day away. She is one of very few people who would understand that is my idea of “playing.” It was great fun… Finding random facts like how Washington, D.C. got its name and reading volumes of letters by the founding fathers. Finally the library kicked us out, so we tried a Lebanese restaurant, which wasreally good…and stayed there talking until they kicked us out as well and we migrated to Starbucks.

Sunday, Katie came in morning and was tired so she napped while Holly and I went exploring in Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood around. We found the oldest still-standing house in D.C. (1766) but didn’t see a tour guide etc so we just wandered in and explored until someone came in and was shocked to see we’d “broken in”… I guess it wasn’t open for touring that day, but he let us finish wandering anyway before he kicked us out. That was really cool to see just cause its so old… We then wandered through some old churches and checked out the Ukrainian embassy (Holly’s “ancestry” is Ukrainian)… then we all three went out for Sushi and Asian food with Holly’s aunt and uncle who live around here and work for the State dept. That was fun…getting to know them a little etc.. Then Holly, Katie, and I went clubbing… well, kinda. My church here rents out the largest club in DC (right on the river)once a month to do a candlelight all-worship service…so we went to that which was really good and refreshing.

Monday, Holly and I went very early to the Supreme Court and got in line at 7am to try and get into a case that was about a Federal law on freedom of religion. There was also a case with a woman who’s three daughter’s were murdered by her husband and she’s suing the police for not enforcing a restraining order against him… and, as you might know, all the lawyers and petitioners give a press conferece on the steps of the court after the oral arguments, so I went over and hear their presentations afterwards which was interesting…I felt like a reporter since I was standing right next to the lady and could have asked questions too if I could have come up with any but I didn’t. I didn’t agree with her case anyway, cause it would be a nightmare if any police could be sued over any crime committed by someone against whom there is a restraining order. The Religious freedom case was a very complicated case, and in the 4 hours we waited to get in and read the briefs for the case, our opinions flip-flopped a lot. Then we were told we would only get to see 3 minutes of the case, but at the last minute an opening for “permanent” seats came up and we were able to grab them and stay the rest of the case. It was really neat because it was Chief Justice Rehnquist’s first day back since he announced he had cancer. All the justices were present, therefore, and they all actively participated in the questioning…if you could call it that, since it was so aggressive! I could never argue a case in front of the Supreme Court—it’s incredibly intimidating. Even walking into that courtroom…I get this feeling that I might get struck by lightening if I whisper too loud. It’s incredibly weighty in there. The case was so intense, every time a justice asked a question or one of the lawyers presented an answer, I found myself switching back and forth. I’m just glad I didn’t have to make a judgment because it was not a black and white answer! I was also present on the day of what may have been a historical first…a lady vomiting inside the Supreme Court room. Just an observer who got sick…Bizarre but no lightening strike. Anyways, the case was fascinating, and then we watched their statements afterwards as well but still didn’t come up with any questions the justices hadn’t already asked. The lawyers were absolute messes, absolutely quaking… and I can’t say I blame them! After that kind of aggressive questioning by some of the most powerful people in the nation… I couldn’t put two words together either! Oh, randomly speaking of camera and near-fame encounters, I have a new friend. His name is Ahmed and he’s the head of the largest muslim-american organization in the US so I have no idea how he ended up “taking to me” so quickly…it had to do with some communication we had while I was working on something for the State dept, but now we’re on a first name basis and he keeps calling to ask me random questions about the State Dept—and he didn’t realize I’m an intern of course… anyways, it was funny cause he was on O’Reilly one night after we “chatted” and the next day I ran into him at a conference and he was telling me about all this hate mail he got after going on O’Reilly. Kinda strange friend to make…nice guy so its too bad he’s sold out to a false religion… of course, the organization is very Western and American, it’s Muslim but purposely has no relations overseas with Muslim nations so as to be super careful not to associate with terrorist funding and come under suspicion here in the US…cause then they would have no influence. Just thought I’d mention that randomly. Some of the people I know at Heritage are on O’Reilly and other news shows a lot so I just watch those shows differently now…if that makes sense. Anyways… To continue with my week’s events… after that case, Holly, Katie, and I ate lunch and went to the American History Smithsonian so they could see the Price of Freedom exhibit. I haven’t really gotten tired of it yet…it’s always good to reflect again. So..then we went to the Library of Congress and read until it closed at 9:30pm. That was fun again…and when KT and I tired of reading, we analyzed the ceiling and decorations of the main reading room, which are endlessly breathtaking…so then we went to get a Mexican dinner (I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time eating this week!) and headed home.

Tuesday, I went to Heritage in the morning and Holly came along to meet with the intern coordinator to explore Heritage’s internship opportunities further. I finished up a few projects, and then met the girls for lunch (at a Peruvian restaurant…I hadn’t tried before…I got cerviche and it was good!! The only disappointment was no ricoto relleno or queso helado)… Then Holly departed for her drive home to New York, and Kt and I ended up spending the afternoon talking and then went on a moonlight monument tour, seeing the Jefferson monument, Korean war memorial, WWII memorial, Lincoln Monument, and the White House. Finally, we came back to the house and ate frozen dinners here (fast and cheap =)…

Wednesday was my first day to sleep in all week, and I was exhausted and slept late, got up and did some laundry…it was a VERY dreary rainy day so we avoided long walks… ate Indian for lunch—yum—and went to Ford’s Theatre were Lincoln was shot, saw the museum there, and then toured the house across the street where he actually died. Then we headed to Union Station, and hung out and shopped ( we found the only store that interested either of us was the book store so we spent some time there) and then went and watched Hitch at 5:30p.. Katie hadn’t seen it before and I was happy to see it a second time cause it is definitely a hilarious classic. Afterwards, we came back to the house—stopping to get Cold Stone ice cream to go—and I cooked spaghetti for dinner so we ate here (avoiding the rain) and tried to get reading and work done later last night.

Thursday, this morning I did more laundry and cleaning/organizing and then we grabbed lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen before coming back to get Kt’s stuff and heading to the airport. I dropped her off, and came back… “trying” to get some stuff done but I see it is after 6pm and I have not been very successful. I’m going into Heritage tomorrow morning…

Well, that’s the chronology of my week. Fascinating, I’m sure =) It’s been good to be busy so I haven’t thought too much about where I’m not…the State dept. Deborah had her baby Saturday, as I predicted, so I was excited both to have called it right and because I had told her that while I was praying for the baby I had felt like “Saturday was the day” so it was kinda cool I was right for that reason as well. Healthy and beautiful baby. I’m very happy for her and her husband and I think God is really working in their lives right now to bring them to Him.

While its still strange to think I’ll never be back at the State Dept (that I know of) I still have a sense of completion and wholeness concerning my season there. It fit so perfectly for so many reasons. Well, on to other tasks.