Saturday, June 24th
Washington, DC

After late wake up and continental breakfast we all put our tourist hats on invaded the Smithsonian museum system on the national mall for about 4 hours. The students were pretty much on their own. Honestly, I think a about a third of them went to the National Archives, saw the big documents, and then parked themselves at the fountain. They put their feet in the water and soaked the humid Washington summer day. I can’t say I blamed them either. They are all responsible kids and have worked their tails off and deserve some time to just chill. The rest of them picked the museum of the choice and spent the entire time there, most picked the American History Museum. Being the dork that I am, I spent the bilk of time at the new National Museum of the American Indian. The building itself and its architecture itself was incredible but the inside was a bit disappointing. I would have liked to see more cultural history and religious traditions. There was a great del modern Indian art, which was good but I was looking for other things. Of course it occurs to me that American Indians probably know a bit more about what to put in their museum than this German, Polish, Irish, Catholic from Memphis vie Erie, Pa. Just a thought.

After some laundry tutorials and a few naps the SPS crew reassembled for dinner on the town. We all broke into groups of about 5 to 7 plus a chaperone or to and sampled the culinary cornucopia that is DC. The choices were Mongolian BBQ, Ethiopian, Thai, and Mexican. My posse went Mexican to a place called Guapo’s, just up Wisconsin Ave. We had planned to walk but since the weather was not cooperating, are you sensing a theme here, I drove one of the Albans mini buses. Literally, I drove the short bus. LOL (If you don’t know what this means ask someone under 25 years of age.)
It like my days working at Youth Villages minus breaking up fights or having to pack shackles for the juvie hall run. No one died nor was there any property damage, although the Bosnian girls stated emphatically that they didn’t want a Mr. Steph “tour”, getting lost, see earlier blogs. It is great to get complimented on “my” student’s behavior when all I have basically done is stay out of their way. We discussed politics and college. I basically told them to do the opposite of everything I did both of my sophomore years. The Bosnia girls talked about life in Sarajevo. They had the rest ago the group mesmerized. They talked about the genocide in Srebrenica and in living in post war Sarajevo. They both talk lovingly of their hometown and they have come to this program to help things get better in their country. It was great to be just a fly on the wall as the kids asked probing but thoughtful questions and the girls frankly laid out the strengths and weakness of the country. I was moved the concern and acumen of these young people. Here is story of what one of the alumni of the program did after a similar conversation. You must read it. (Story 1) (Story 2) I met Katherine when she came to help us at registration this year and she is very unassuming. When I asked what gave her the energy to do all she did she simply said, “I did not know about Rwanda till someone told me, so it my job responsibly to tell other people what I know now AND do something about it.