Today when we woke up it was cloudy. We went down to breakfast and ate quickly. We then got on the buses and rode to the White House. By then it was pouring, so a ton of people put on their emergency ponchos. We stayed in front of the White House for about half an hour, taking pictures and talking to protestors. We then boarded the bus, dripping wet, and rode to the Holocaust Museum.

--Ann

 

At the Holocaust Museum, we quickly filed in through security, gathered as a group on the carpet, and were given small cards that were about someone’s life during the Holocaust. After reading the cards, we piled into three large elevators. We had three hours to explore the museum on our own. Three hours sounds like a long time but there was so much to read, I could have spent a whole day in there. The museum had a ton of text and pictures which really brought the entire experience to life. One of the most touching parts of the museum was a huge pile of shoes. These shoes were found from a small fraction of the people that were killed during the Holocaust.

--Laura

As we awoke today we found it to be a fairly typical day. We woke up, got ready, got our luggage and headed out for breakfast. It was slightly cloudy but we didn’t quite expect anything to be getting in our way here. We had breakfast in quite a cramped room with lots of other people and ended up packing the bus and leaving slightly late. We were bussed down to the White House and the ride there was almost completely silent, with everyone being asleep. As we got to the White House we sat around for about half an hour, got pictures and spoke with the protesters there. Soon after the White House we went to the World War II Memorial but we couldn’t quite get out because of the rain, so we waited a while and were dropped off at another memorial where we walked to the MLK site. Then we were taken to the Holocaust Museum which was an entirely new experience. As we entered and got through security, we were each given an identification card to read with a story of someone in the Holocaust. We then got put on elevators that were modeled after gas chambers and bussed up to the actual museum where the various exhibits were. Each exhibit was a new story, a new chapter of the world’s advancements that make us who we are today, the past is the artist and we’re a canvas.

--Tommy