The past couple days!

Whoa! The last few days have flown by in a complete blur. I am starting to realize that I am going to have to blog at least once every other day to keep track of all of my experiences and findings. First of all, Monday I got to sleep in before heading to the gym with Karen. After our workout I made one final trip to Costco where I then came back and we joined the other girls to go to the National Museum of Natural History. We had the opportunity to see the Hope Diamond, animals, and many other exciting things! I would have to say my favorite part was the diamond collection. :) We then walked up around the Washington Monument to see it lit up at night. It was breathtaking! Once we got as close as possible to that amazing monument, we began to realize how cold we were and quickly headed home for the night.

Picture 1 (Beautiful and huge Sapphires) Picture 2 (The Hope Diamond) Picture 3 (Crown given as a gift by Napoleon) Picture 4 (Main Display in Museum) Picture 5 (Washington Monument by Night)
Tuesday, January 3rd
Tuesday was our day to get fingerprinted and accepted into the DC Public Schools System. We went up to the official building around 10:30 and by about 2 pm we finally got home. But it was worth it because now we can begin teaching! I am so excited! We then had our first meeting with our coordinator at 3 and this is where we had an in-depth introduction into what we are going to experience while teaching. After this meeting was over we all were pretty worn out from our day and so the rest of the evening was spent either getting ready for bed (or the other girls went to the gym). :)

Wednesday, January 4th
Wednesday was my day to visit my future school. I am going to be teaching at Miner Elementary. I am teaching 2nd grade with Ms. Miner. I only had a brief introduction but I can hardly wait to teach. She seems extremely helpful and nice and the students were adorable. This is going to be such a great learning experience! After we had a tour of the school, we then headed to Duke Ellington High School of the Arts and had the opportunity to tour this school. I felt like I was on the set of Step Up! :) We then got to take a quick stop at the DC Cupcakes and had some of the most amazing cupcakes I've had in a while! They were delicious! I tried the red velvet and the Toasted Marshmallow. I prefer the Red Velvet for future references :). Our last stop was to School Without Walls and then we were able to head home. We then had another seminar to summarize what we experienced and then last night I made some delicious Chicken Parmesan for dinner and my roommates and I watched "Northanger Abbey" before heading to bed.

Thursday, January 5th
Today, I woke up at my leisure while the other students went on a tour to Wilson High School (I didn't need to go), after eating breakfast, cleaning, and getting all dressed up, we went to meet the group at Union Station for lunch (we didn't get lost under my directions) Yay! Stephanie and I were walking around Union Station looking for the perfect place to eat when a nice man gave us a sample of the most amazing sandwich I've had in DC! haha It was a chicken salad sandwich on this type of pita bread and when the man said that we would get free Gelato with our sandwich, I couldn't resist! I then had Chocolate Hazelnut gelato with my amazing sandwich and was ready to tour the Library of Congress. Our group headed over and after a brief meeting from our coordinator we went on a guided tour of the amazing library. I loved all of the symbolism and structures that can be found in this historic building. I couldn't stop taking pictures and I will only post a few of my favorites. After our touring, we then headed back home (again not getting lost), I think I am starting to figure out this metro thing. Once I got home I quickly came downstairs to blog! I couldn't wait anymore! I am going to get better about blogging so that I can provide some of the amazing details that I may pass over in my haste. Tonight we all need to get to bed early in order to be to our schools by 8 tomorrow morning for our first observations. I am so excited to begin! Ready or not, here I come! :)

Picture 1 &3 (Quotes in Library of Congress) Picture 2 (They were taking down Christmas) Picture 4 (Stephanie and I in the library)