DC!!!

In case some didn't know, I spent Thursday night through Sunday afternoon in Washington, DC. It was a trip planned for the nursing club to basically see if any of us were interested in doing nursing in the army. I found it to be an absolutely amazing trip overall. Of course, when you are in the same room with three girls for about four days, you can get at each other's throats, but every one of us only snapped about one time a piece. I think I did well holding my composure in the midst of things. It's hard to take someone serious when they complain all the time. All I have to say is that one day, you will have an actual reason to complain, and I probably won't believe you.

Anywho! What did I do? Well, the first night there was solely unpacking a bit and sleeping. From Wednesday night to Friday morning, I got a total of six hours of sleep, so I was ridiculously tired. Friday morning we went to Walter Reed Hospital. This is a military hospital with a lot of important people, apparently. We didn't get to see any of these important people. We didn't even get to see any of the non-important people. The whole tour of the facility consisted of a history lesson. We visited Eisenhower's conference room in the hospital as well as his hospital room, and that part was a little bit cool, but the rest didn't keep my attention one bit. We had a couple of the military nurses talk to us in a conference room, but because of my whole six hours of sleep, I nodded off repeatedly. Even my nursing instructor said that if she sat down, she would have probably fallen asleep because she was so tired too. She chose to stand instead. I didn't really find it educational or too informative. I asked about doing army nursing if you have any medical problems. The reply I got was quite funny. I'm definitely paraphrasing here: "It depends on the issue at hand. For most medical problems, you can get a waiver. They are usually pretty understanding. For example, one time I had a kidney stone, and I got a waiver to keep working." Hahaha.

Anyways, after that we went and took a trip over to the Pentagon. I must say, it is not as amazing as I thought it would be. It's only cool from an aerial view. We were supposed to get a tour, but the security was upped and apparently a form hadn't been filled out, which was one of the most important parts. Needless to say, we didn't get to see the Pentagon. I wish I could have at least run into President-Elect Obama while in Washington. Disappointment number three right there. That night we went to the mall for a while to get food, and the day was done.

Saturday we went to the national mall. For any of those who thought the national mall was the biggest mall in America, as I did at first, you are incorrect. I don't know why it is called the national mall, but it refers to the really impressive part of DC that contains the museums, the Washington monument, the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, and I think the White House. So, I went to the Aerospace museum first and got some freeze-dried ice cream that the astronauts eat. It was interesting, but I don't think it would be my number one choice of dessert as an astronaut.

Next I went to the Holocaust museum. It was really interesting, but it took far too long to get through, about two to three hours, and there was too much reading to really enjoy it. Also with that museum, there was only one path you could take, and it was really crowded. The last museum we went to was the Natural History museum. I loved this museum. I got to see dinosaurs and every animal you could imagine. It was also the first time I had ever seen a beaver up close, and it became my new favorite animal, for sure. I also saw the Hope Diamond. It was really pretty, but I hate jewelry so it didn't impress me that much. That was really it for the Natural History museum.

Before we got into the third museum, we saw a line of protesters walking through the middle of everything from the Capitol building to the Washington monument. They were protesting against Proposition 8, which I agree with, so I found it fantastic to watch. I had never seen so many people and police for the same cause and it was truly a highlight of my trip. I say no to Proposition 8 and you should too... even if I don't live in California.

I got to see the Washington Monument up close too. It truly was spectacular. I swear that no one took in the beauty of Washington as much as I did. I appreciated every single aspect of it. It was beyond gorgeous. Everyone in the group I was with had already been to DC before and seen all the sites, so when I showed how impressed I was with all of it, they just shot me down. I don't think that seeing Washington once, or even twice, is enough to thoroughly enjoy it. Too bad they only wanted to see it all once.

That night we ate at a local mall again and went to bed. The next day it took a long time to get going, but once we did, we went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun. I loved the monkeys the most. The hippo was great too. I went straight for the beavers, but only one was out and he was too far away to get a decent picture. I'd like one as a pet if anyone ever was wondering what they could get me for any random occasion. After the zoo, we came back to the college. That ride seemed really short for seven hours. It seemed more like two because I fell into a really hard snoring sleep for a good portion of it. Our driver was pretty bad and veered off the road a couple times. He never went below about 80 miles per hour in the ROTC "rapist" van, as we liked to call it. I was afraid for my life, as was everyone else. Thank goodness I don't ever have to ride with him again.

That's really all. I had a good time and got to see things I had never seen before. I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat, as long as it was with my family instead of friends. I think it would be funner and much more appreciated. Anyways, it's time for my bed. Lungs are starting to hate me for the night so I need to get my meds done.