Internship Journal #16

Hello, to all…I would like to tell you all about my surroundings in my room. I am staying at the Hawthorn Suites and am in an efficiency apartment. I have a desk, and a lounge chair, as well as a kitchen (no oven), but it has a dishwasher…I have a king size bed and a flat screen television. The room also includes a DVD player and two closets. My room is on the fifth floor, front side…located within close proximity of the hotel is some sort of fire station. Fire trucks and such are traveling this road on a regular basis and the sirens blare as they go down the road. I did not however hear the sirens as much this past week…Charlie was here and I had my best friend to chat with, the sirens faded into the background. Charlie arrived on Saturday morning and we were very happy to see one another. Having someone that loves me, is wonderful. I was thankful this week for having the one I love next to me, as we experienced some marvelous things together. Charlie’s favorite thing was going to the Capitol. The Staff Assistant in our office is a spectacular tour guide and I asked him if Charlie and I could go on his tour on Monday afternoon. Since the House was on Thanksgiving break, the office was very slow and I hoped we would have plenty of time to get the upgraded tour. We did…our guide told us all the interesting stories. One of the tales was about Andrew Jackson beating with his cane the man who attempted to assassinate him in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Our guide led us into the Speaker’s Lobby…this is where the word lobbyist came from, people advocating for a bill would stand outside the floor of the House of Representatives (in the lobby) and speak with the members on behalf of their bill. We were then taken onto the floor of the chamber. I could not believe that Charlie and I were sitting together on the floor of the chamber of the House of Representatives, our guide let us know that the seats we were sitting in were reserved for the Justices of the Supreme Court, during the State of the Union Address. The tour was spectacular…seeing Charlie’s reaction when he saw the painting on the top of the Rotunda, I placed my hand on his back, because I knew he would lean back too far…he did. He so admired the artisanship of the carpenters and painters and the masons who built this wondrous Capitol. We went to the Lincoln Memorial in the evening and it was a perfect night. The leaves on the trees were burnt red and orange, the grass was green and the reflection pool was beginning to reflect the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. The men in the Korean War Memorial had just been lit and the soldiers looked as if they were returning from a difficult fight. Seeing Lincoln in the twilight was extremely inspiring. Seeing Charlie being moved by this memorial was a wonderful sight as well. We spent so much time walking and talking…it was over in just a moment and he was on a plane home. I now have less than two weeks until I return to my home. I am thankful for this experience, but I am looking forward to returning home to my husband and friends and mentors and dogs and fish and Jaymi…

Thomas Jefferson,

“I tremble for our Country, when I reflect that God is just.”

Until next time, Eliza