Because all of a sudden 50 degrees is really, really warm! My roommates and I literally cheered when we checked the weather and discovered that a balmy 50 was in store for today. I wore my Rainbows to class today, which made my southern California heart very happy. I definitely can't get used to this, though, because temperatures are plummeting again next week.
Most of my experiences here this first week have been absolutely amazing. I'm discovering that I really love the city, which is actually kind of surprising to me because I could actually see myself living here. The only other large city I've felt that way about is London. And surprisingly, I really don't miss driving that much. It might take longer to walk and take the metro everywhere, but I find the whole experience somewhat liberating. Even a three-mile walk to Whole Foods with my roommate Coco and then a three-mile trip back laden with groceries was enjoyable. In short, I love DC. Now if we could somehow transport Salt Creek, the Montage's beach and Newport on over here (complete with their lifeguard towers, of course) my life would be complete!
My scavenger hunt group has definitely had some interesting experiences over the last few days as well! As mentioned previously, before Obama was inaugurated he ate at a small place called Big Ben's Chili Bowl and all of the billions of tourists decided that their lives wouldn't be complete unless if they dined there before they left. My group was unfortunately presented with the daunting task of eating a meal there, and we went over to that district a couple of days before the inauguration only to discover that the line for Big Ben's was a block long ... and it's a sit-down place. Naturally, this wasn't going to work for us. We saw that the hours were from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., so in order to avoid a repeat of chaotic, Obama-crazy crowds, we decided to go back this past Wednesday ... at opening ... which involved leaving our building at 5:30 a.m. ... all to eat breakfast at Big Ben's Chili Bowl. This time we got in, and luckily there were breakfast options, so I wasn't forced to eat chili at 6 a.m.
Later that evening we tried to take the metro to another one of our stops, the Lincoln Memorial. But we all completely didn't notice when our stop came and went. So we stayed on. And stayed on some more. Finally one of us voiced that it was taking a really long time to get to Metro Center, and a couple told us that we were seven stops past it. We had definitely left the District of Columbia by this point, and we were pretty sure that we were in Pennsylvania. We made it to the Lincoln Memorial evenutally, but it was definitely a much longer trip than it should have been!
My favorite place that my group had to go to, though, was by far the Basilica. We all walked around it for quite a while admiring the ornate ceilings and walls and artwork. There were specific rooms for "The Mother of Africa" and "The Mother of China" and many other regions around the world, which I thought was especially neat. What appeared to be a worship service was going on, and as we walked by, we realized they were singing "Sanctuary," a song I have sung many times in church. About this time I started thinking about how utterly grand and ornate this huge cathedral was. I am personally an advocate for simpler churches, so that the majority of the funds can be used for outreach, whether in the community or internationally, but something really struck me about this cathedral. Looking at the high ceilings with gold lettering and carvings, I couldn't help but compare this building to the Temple in the Old Testament.
At that moment it hit me that the Basilica is an example of man reaching out to God and attempting to build something so beautiful and magnificent that it might reflect a fraction of His majesty and be worthy to worship Him in. As I stood in this building, feeling so small and insignificant next to its grandeur, I was struck with the truth that as amazing as the Basilica is, it cannot even be held next to God's beauty. Man attempted to reach the lowest level of God's magnificence, but this is a task that could never even come close to being acheived. Wow. Having such a concrete example of this was overwhelming to me. I took a seat at one of the many beautiful shrines and just prayed to God, reconciling some of the conflict I've been experiencing recently. All that I can say is that our God is so big, so beautiful, so gracious, and so loving. I know that His forgiveness can cover anything.
Most of my experiences here this first week have been absolutely amazing. I'm discovering that I really love the city, which is actually kind of surprising to me because I could actually see myself living here. The only other large city I've felt that way about is London. And surprisingly, I really don't miss driving that much. It might take longer to walk and take the metro everywhere, but I find the whole experience somewhat liberating. Even a three-mile walk to Whole Foods with my roommate Coco and then a three-mile trip back laden with groceries was enjoyable. In short, I love DC. Now if we could somehow transport Salt Creek, the Montage's beach and Newport on over here (complete with their lifeguard towers, of course) my life would be complete!
My scavenger hunt group has definitely had some interesting experiences over the last few days as well! As mentioned previously, before Obama was inaugurated he ate at a small place called Big Ben's Chili Bowl and all of the billions of tourists decided that their lives wouldn't be complete unless if they dined there before they left. My group was unfortunately presented with the daunting task of eating a meal there, and we went over to that district a couple of days before the inauguration only to discover that the line for Big Ben's was a block long ... and it's a sit-down place. Naturally, this wasn't going to work for us. We saw that the hours were from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., so in order to avoid a repeat of chaotic, Obama-crazy crowds, we decided to go back this past Wednesday ... at opening ... which involved leaving our building at 5:30 a.m. ... all to eat breakfast at Big Ben's Chili Bowl. This time we got in, and luckily there were breakfast options, so I wasn't forced to eat chili at 6 a.m.
Later that evening we tried to take the metro to another one of our stops, the Lincoln Memorial. But we all completely didn't notice when our stop came and went. So we stayed on. And stayed on some more. Finally one of us voiced that it was taking a really long time to get to Metro Center, and a couple told us that we were seven stops past it. We had definitely left the District of Columbia by this point, and we were pretty sure that we were in Pennsylvania. We made it to the Lincoln Memorial evenutally, but it was definitely a much longer trip than it should have been!
My favorite place that my group had to go to, though, was by far the Basilica. We all walked around it for quite a while admiring the ornate ceilings and walls and artwork. There were specific rooms for "The Mother of Africa" and "The Mother of China" and many other regions around the world, which I thought was especially neat. What appeared to be a worship service was going on, and as we walked by, we realized they were singing "Sanctuary," a song I have sung many times in church. About this time I started thinking about how utterly grand and ornate this huge cathedral was. I am personally an advocate for simpler churches, so that the majority of the funds can be used for outreach, whether in the community or internationally, but something really struck me about this cathedral. Looking at the high ceilings with gold lettering and carvings, I couldn't help but compare this building to the Temple in the Old Testament.
At that moment it hit me that the Basilica is an example of man reaching out to God and attempting to build something so beautiful and magnificent that it might reflect a fraction of His majesty and be worthy to worship Him in. As I stood in this building, feeling so small and insignificant next to its grandeur, I was struck with the truth that as amazing as the Basilica is, it cannot even be held next to God's beauty. Man attempted to reach the lowest level of God's magnificence, but this is a task that could never even come close to being acheived. Wow. Having such a concrete example of this was overwhelming to me. I took a seat at one of the many beautiful shrines and just prayed to God, reconciling some of the conflict I've been experiencing recently. All that I can say is that our God is so big, so beautiful, so gracious, and so loving. I know that His forgiveness can cover anything.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Standing in front of the door of Mark's Representative
Eating breakfast at Big Ben's Chili Bowl ... it was definitely too early!
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