Week of Craziness

This week has been such a crazy week.

Monday, we went with some people from the ward (our Family Home Evening group) to the Georgetown basketball game vs. no. 7 Louisville. Georgetown lost...but it was a really fun game. It did make me miss BYU basketball though! It was incredible to be in such a large arena, yet the energy just wasn't the same. Oh, my computer completely crashed too. Ugh.

Amber and Carolyn on the Metro

Meggie, Colleen, Kristen, and Amber Georgetown Basketball

Tuesday, we went to institute and Wednesday we attended the Denyce Graves concert at the Kennedy Center. She is an alum of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and offered free tickets to the teachers. Meggie, Kristen, and I were each given an extra ticket for a date, so naturally, we took our roommates. It was really fun. The highlight of the evening was to see our students' show choir perform. They were INCREDIBLE. Seriously. I wish we could have taken pictures. I felt like a little parent watching my kids perform. They are so talented.

Friday night, we went to a Spanish restaurant and then to an 80s dance party. The dance party was totally decked out in all these 80s movie and band posters. There were mullets, leggings (which unfortunately seem to be here to stay), and holy clothing. Goo. Afterwards, Carolyn, Kristen, Ryan and I sat in the car and had a really good conversation. It was exactly what I needed. Then we watched an episode of The Office at Tori's and ate ice cream. 80s dance party, ice cream, the office, good friends...what more does one need in life?

Kristen, Ryan, Meggie, Amber, Wendy, Carolyn, Evan, and all of our friends in the background

Saturday morning, way too early, we ventured to the Capitol. I organized a tour and reserved tickets so my students could come. We have just started studying the Legislative Branch and the process a bill goes through to become law. Don't worry, I even showed "I'm Just a Bill" for all you School House Rock fans. Last class period we studied the process a bill must take from the congress people, to the committees, to the Senate or House, to the President (with all the presidents options of veto, pocket veto, or signing into legislation). I then assigned them to sides and made them debate whether or not Washington DC should receive full representation in the House. For those of you who are not aware, Washington, DC, does not have representation in the House or Senate. They have a nonvoting representative in the House. Eleanor Homes Norton is able to vote in committees (to pick which bills can come to the floor) but she is not able to vote. It wasn't until the 23rd Amendment that Washingtonians were able to vote. The 23rd Amendment increased the number of electors in the Electoral College to 538 allowing 3 to represent the District (100 (Senate)+ 435 (House)+ 3(DC)). With this said, they can vote for president, but they don't have any representation in the Senate (because they aren't a state) and in the House (voting anyways). Well that is what we have been debating in class. It's been fun to have the students actually reference their Constitution. They are pretty heated in their debates. Referencing that representatives only represent states and even debating that a person is a person no matter where they lived (even comparing the lack of representation as demeaning and comparing it to slavery...). I wish everyone could sit in my class for a day. It is so entertaining.

A few of my students

Anyways, back to the subject. Though my students are from DC, most haven't been to many of the sites. I reserved tickets and told the students that I would love to have them join me to tour the Capitol, while also recognizing that many of them have prior engagements (practices, auditions, tryouts, etc.) Probably 75% offered interest but they were all so disappointed that they had so many things going on. I expected 3 or so to show up...but 13 did. It was great! So, together with my roommates, we toured the Capitol. When I asked them what they learned, they said that they had already learned most of the stuff already in class--which of course made my day. They listened!!! I felt like a proud parent. They are such good kids. And beautiful too. Take a look.

The Capitol

This is where George Washington was to be buried, but his will stated he wanted to be buried with Martha at Mt. Vernon. It is also the center of DC.The first location of the Supreme Court in the CapitolOur dear friend, Brigham YoungToday, after church, we went to the Holocaust Museum. I had been there as a 7th grade student, but I didn't remember it too well. I can't believe people question the existence of the Holocaust taking place. There is so much tangible evidence.

Outside the Holocaust Museum