Saturday, July 8th
Washington, DC to Charlottesville, VA (And Back)

We left the confines of the District for a day trip to Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello and to the University of Virginia. It was a relaxing trip and it was good for the students and the staff to get off the Close for the day. Monticello sits atop a mountain that has a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside. One can easily see why he chose the site for his home. Jefferson’s life was amazing. He was a prolific reader and writer. He designed the entire the place himself. After the tour of the home and the grounds we had a picnic.

We then moved on to the University of Virginia. We had only a couple of hours at the UVA so we let the kids loose on the campus. I went to the campus bookstore for a while and then grabbed some ice cream. Charlottesville is a great little college town. I sat and read the Post on bench off of University Drive for the rest of the time till the students got back on the bus.

Later that evening the students went out to various locations near the Albans campus, some went to Georgetown others the Tenleytown area near American University. At this point the students are comfortable enough o move around on their own in areas close to campus. There is only so much trouble you can get into with two hours. Besides, they have been working tirelessly for the last three weeks and they need time to decompress and be regular teenagers. I genuinely enjoy the time I have to hang around the students. Their acumen is sharp, wit sarcastic, and they generally know when to be serious and when to cut loose.

Sunday, July 9th
Washington, DC

Today was a marvelous day. After a morning of various and sundry religious services the group broke into small groups again. I volunteered to chaperon the group to a Washington Nationals game. Their opponent was the favorite team of my childhood, the Sand Diego Padres. The game was exciting, as baseball gets, and many runs were scored. Despite being down the whole game, the Padres mounted a comeback in the later innings and overtook the Nats for a 10 to 9.

After the game we took the Metro back to Albans and prepared for the evening’s events. Tonight there was reception for the group who raised funds that enabled the two girls from Sarajevo to come to the program. As the end of the program is drawing to a close the students are putting all the elements of the program together for final projects. The reception was a final project in a round about way. A recent graduate from Albans and a current student at Harvard University who is of Bosnian descent spearheaded an effort to raise funds to bring two students form Bosnia to the School of Public Service. He had the help of fellow students at Harvard and current students from St. Albans. Family contacts were used in Bosnia to put together an application and interview process. The reception was designed to thank the people who either gave money or help raise the money and give them a chance to meet the two girls. The girls read the essays they used to get the scholarship and then made a speech about their experiences at the program. Their speeches were amazing. One girl spoke of the hope she felt in mankind due to an older German women who visited her family during the siege of Sarajevo who helped her father get eye surgery to repair his wounds he received in one of the rounds of shelling. The young girl spoke of her kindness and determination to help her family. The aspect of the her speech that was all together funny, sorrowful, and poignant, was of how the German women brought her a banana and because she had never seen one before tried to eat it, with the peel still on. The girls spoke brilliantly; especially considering it was not even their first language. They both mentioned that their public speaking course at SPS helped them a great deal. All of the other kids were there to support them. Here is the special things the students, not just the Bosnian ones, spoke to all of those in attendance and thanked them for helping bring their fellow students to the program. It was a wonderful evening of magnificent conversations.