Day 4, Mon

Today I got to sleep in a little bit, which was amazing. I felt incredible! Then, we slowly headed to Marvin Gaye Park for Martin Luther King Day of Service. The project was to clean up this park in a poor part of DC. It was organized by the Root project, which is a service program that sponsored the project. It was really cool to see all the progress everyone made! Unfortunately, we arrived a little bit late, and could only work for about an hour, but it was still fun. Once we were finished we headed to the Mandarin, then to our home, Starbucks, to have a meeting about the Inauguration. While nervously sipping my latte, John announced that we had acquired four inaugural tickets, enough for three reporters and a chaperone. After hearing first choices, he announced the tickets would go to (drum roll please) CHUCK, MARY AND ME!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! Isaac would take us to David's hotel room, where we would spend the night. We had absolutely nothing, and of course today was the day that I forgot my phone and gloves. Smart, smart me. Wow, that was an amazing day!

Day 3, part 2--- Citronelle

Wow, I just had the most amazing meal of my life!!!! Citronelle is one of the USA's most high-end restaurants, and definitely the most high-end in DC. We arrived, and it looked like a hotel! While being escorted downstairs, I saw a placard that read, "Jackets required for men." I think it was then that I really realized how fancy this restaurant actually was and how incredibly lucky I was to be eating there. We were seated next to a glowing blue wall (not kidding, not hallucinating), and then a guy with a cup hanging on a string came and talked about the menu, which is quite confusing. Apparently the chef Michel Richard likes to keep people asking questions, which is cool, I guess, but a little confusing for people who don't have the greatest memory because they are sleep deprived. I ordered lobster pasta as an appetizer, steak as a main course, and creme brule as dessert. It was a flat price for the menu, which would explain my fancy decisions. It was sooo good! We didn't get back till midnight, but it was worth it!

Day 3, part 1-- the concert---once again sorry about out of orderness

Today was the We Are One concert, and it was a zoo! We got up very early in order to get there when the gates opened (eight o'clock). We followed the masses onto the grass on either sides of the Washington Monument reflecting pool. After establishing camp, we tried all ways of entertainment in order to keep ourselves busy for the next six hours of waiting for t he concert to even start. We were pretty comfortable until suddenly everyone started running forward, and we were forced to do so too, which sucked because for the next hour till the concert, I was crammed between tall people, unable to see anything. I mean, what is the point of another few feet forward; its not that great. I was really freaked out because I thought I heard a gun, and we were running for a phsycho person, which wasn't true. Woops. When it started, I couldn't see but didn't care, because it was AMAZING! And even though no one cared, I saw Rosario Dawson, who played Mimi in Rent, which is like the smallest piece of cheese ever! Oh, by the way Chuck made up this thing where instead of stayed good, she says small piece of cheese, and for bad she says large piece of cheese. It's kinda catchy. After the concert, we made our way to the Mandarin Oriental to get ready to go to Citronelle.... (to be continued in separate post.)

Freezing, Screaming, and a Hug from Bono!--- day 2--- sorry it is out of order

I just had to the most amazing day of 2009! I woke up after an okay night sleep, ate a bite, then headed to Starbucks for internet. I needed it to research George Stevens Jr. who is the producer of We Are One, a concert for the president. I’ll talk about that later though, lets talk about my food. I ate a yummy doughnut and another decaf latte. Yummy!

         Okay, so we took the metro to Foggy Bottom, which I thought was Froggy Bottom, so I always had a frog butt in my mind. Haha. Then, we walked in the very cold to Lincoln Memorial, where we were gently greeted by a fence and security. After a few street interviews, my grandpa John Field was able to come give us our press passes, which was a great fortune. The first rehearsal that we were there for was John Mellancamp who sang “Pink Houses”. We watched it from the control room, which is basically a bunch of monitors on a wall and a director shouting camera angles at my grandpa, the Technical Director. After, we broke for lunch and ate mac and cheese and a mini burrito, and drank sprite. Yum!

         After lunch, we froze to watch Bruce Springsteen perform “The Rising”, and it was so good! OH, and while he was walking to the stage we got a “Yes we can” from him, yay! After, he did a song with Pete Seeger and sang “This Land is Made for You and Me.” WOW, it was soooo amazing! I absolutely loved it! But, the best was yet to come when we watched U2 perform. OMIGOD, talk about a life time experience! I loved every minute of it, every word. It was gently snowing to emphasize the effect as well. To top it off, we yelled “Bono, yes we can!”, and he said “Yes we could,” and then we told him to say it into the mic, and he did that too!, And, after the show we expected to maybe get one more “Yes we can,” and he totally surprised us by coming up and giving Christan and I hug and picture opportunity. OH MY GOD! IT WAS AMAZING! Well, I’m gonna leave it at that. TTYL!!

 

 

Day 5, Tues- sorry my other blogs will be up soon--- computer complications

Today, being the actual Inauguration, was insane. After sleeping at David's hotel room sofa bed, which is incredibly comfortable compared to a church stage and sleeping bag, Wakobo (Isaac) woke us up at freaking five in the morning and stumbled in to multiple layers and wobbled out o the street. After a mile walk in the freezing weather, we finally arrived at the mob, and it was MASSIVE!!!!! I have never seen so many people. We finally landed in line, and then waited in line for two hours, just to get in the gate. I swear I think I actually fell asleep standing up and leaning on Chuck and Maria, and when awake, I could barely keep my eyes open! 

It started to get really insane when someone passed out and someone else broke down the barricade... no joke. We scrambled to stay together (monkey backpacks xD) then waited in another line to get all the way in, and finally landed by a tree and played penguin catapult on my iPhone. Once again, someone broke something and the whole group moved forward... bad choice. We were stuck at the bottom of a hill stuck between a woman who would not stop talking the entire time and a tall guy who refused to move over a step to clear a path for us to see. funnnnnnn. Although I was staring at rude tall guy's back for three hours, Obama's speech was incredible! I couldn't believe I was there! Once it was over, we meandered to the reflecting pool, which was frozen over and walkable. It was really fun for about five minutes, until it started to crack, then we ran to the side in fear. Once again there was an insane amount of people, and we crawled (not literally) back to the Mandarin, where I am now writing my blog. TTYL. GO OBAMAAAA!!

Day 1

         After a near sleepless night, we woke up and half-heartily got ready for our day, completely unaware of what was yet to come. When we stepped out in to the sunshine, we were stunned by the mere 16 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so unbelievably, incredibly cold! Well, after a not-long-enough heated bus ride, we got the metro station. I had no idea how elaborate the system is! Kendall and Austin did an interview with a man who works there named Eugene. He had such a fascinating story! Watch the interview on the web when it gets up. Once we had fueled up on massive amounts of warm beverages and pastries, we went to the Union Station where we met with the Connolly’s, the family that runs big events at Union Station. It is amazing how big it is! There are hundreds of shops and restaurants, an Amtrak station, and a movie theater. Wow!

         Next, we took a guided tour of the Capitol. But, although a tad bit dorky, it was incredibly informative and interesting. I seemed to get more information than what I took in when I went in 5^th grade. Later, Harrison and I got some great street interviews. The highlight was an eighty-year-old woman who had voted in every election since women could vote. How amazing!

         Okay, my eyelids are drooping so I’m going to make this quick. We ate at Ben’s Chili Bowl, this awesome restaurant filled great people. I ate a bunch of fries and a yummy chili dog. Everyone did a huge congo line all the way through the restaurant, and a bunch of people clapped and yelled in a good way. It was soooo fun! It was funny how all the people here either call you honey or baby. I love it! We also got the whole restaurant to yell “Yes we can!” at the same time. What a great piece. Well, good night, and I will talk tomorrow.

One more full night of sleep left...

There is only one day left! I am having a full-blown excitement attack! Right now I am sitting in Domi's overheated room, listening to the conversations varying from Sophia and Eliana's giggle conversation to Chuck and Sophie's surprising silence. I am only beginning to understand how much work this trip is going to be and how OUTSTANDINGLY COLD it is going to be. Well, we haven't even left yet so I'm going keep it short and kinda sweet! Bye!