After our near midnight arrival at Reagan International and a rather circuitous route from our Metro stop to our hotel, we met up with the night manager of the L'Enfants Plaza who greeted us with a charming "Baruch Haba'im" (welcome) and "Laila Tov" (good night). Turns out he was an Ethiopian Jew who had come to D.C. via Israel. Our Thursday came to an end with all fifteen students sleeping comfortably and soundly...until our 8:15 wake up call this morning (for those of you keeping track at home, that's 5:15 Portland-time). Our Friday started with a fantastic tour of the Capitol courtesy of David Wu's office. The group was one of the very first to go through the new Visitor's Center which just opened on Wednesday. We sat in the gallery of the House of Representatives, gawked at the Rotunda, and whispered in the Whisper Room, but most of all we felt the power of The Hill. What an incredible way to start our lobbying journey! A walk down The Mall took us past the museums and up toward Ford's Theater where we found the Hard Rock Cafe and lunch. The group then split with some students touring the National Archives and the others enjoying a beautiful, but cold, walk to the White House, the Washington Monument, and a quick look at the American History Museum. Back at the hotel, we prepared for Shabbat by resting a bit before we met up with the 360 other high schoolers for dinner, a service, and a moving presentation by the National Coalition for Homelessness. It's just past midnight and Ben, Rayna, and Elana are sitting in the hallway (a perfect location for blogging) ensuring students are where they need to be and heading toward sleep as tomorrow is guaranteed to be another exciting and busy day.
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