Students listen intently to Dr. Fauci of the NIH.

Dr. Fauci speak with students at the Albans lower school library.
The Grand reception room at the Department of State.

A painting of the Capital building in DC in 1844. A bit more rural then.

Department of State reception room.

Department of State reception room.

Friday, July 7th
Washington, DC

The morning was a coat and tie appointment. We started our day with a visit to the United States Department of State. The visit started with a great deal of security and a lot of mixed signals between those who job it is to work at State and those whose job it is to guard the people who work at State. The initial security screening although lengthy went smoothly. Every time our group is visiting another building like state we have to submit the names and social security numbers of everyone who is going to be at the visit. Then that list must be the same as the actual people who show up n the appointed day. Sounds relatively easy right, wrong. Invariable the person taking that list gives that list to someone else who clears the names, no background checks, I think. Then they submit it to another person, and that person to another…, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have bureaucracy!!!! We had a short tour of the reception rooms that State department uses and their various décors. They were quite nice. I felt the best part was the view from the balcony/patios off of these rooms. They had spectacular views of DC on this sunny and clear day we were experiencing.

Later after the tour was finished we had to exit the hallway we were on to lobby right next to it to have to re-enter the same hallway a bit further down. Well some time in the three feet we traveled we apparently became a security risk. Even though we were going from being escorted by a tour guide who volunteers there to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Karen Hughes’ top assistant. The security guards would not let us go through the assigned door, to where we were just from. It was comical and serious give and take from the security guards and the undersecretary’s assistant. There was some glares, stares, and sarcasm. Finally they had to have the head of security go up to the office. They then let us pass and told us to hurry up because we were “late” to our appointment. No quite frankly I allow that my experience being an 8th grade history teacher and basketball coach at an all girl’s school may leave some gaps in my knowledge of national security protocol. Everyone had their reasons for what they were doing but it was quite comical. It did however shorten our Q and A time with he Under Secretary’s office. She has been a foreign service Officer for over twenty years and has served primarily in Middle East countries. She spoke of the State Department’s roles in the areas and possible careers at the Department of State the students may be interested in.

After returning to Albans and grabbing some lunch the students heard Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases. The NIAID is a large component of the National Institute for Health. Dr. Fauci was on the forefront of identifying, categorizing, and on fact naming the HIV virus AIDS. He has an interesting background. Dr. Fauci has the rare combination of a doctor, scientist, and someone who can communicate with a wide variety of people with varying degrees of topic knowledge. The students were quite taken by his presentation. I know that my knowledge of the HIV and AIDS has increased expeditiously, (what is virtually nothing to the umpteenth power?)

The students then went to the Organization of American States. The OAS acts basically like the UN for the countries in the Americas. The US Ambassador to the OAS, John Maisto. I was off this night so I did not have to go. The rest of the students’ itinerary was a visit to the Old Post Office and to its food court for dinner. The students were then scheduled to hang out and do some shopping at Union Station. They were then heading to watch the Marine Corp Band evening parade at 8th and I Street in DC.

I on the other hand went on jog thru Georgetown. The weather has been unseasonable mild these last few days so it was a very pleasant run around the Potomac. I then replenished fluids with a couple of beers at Old Glory. They advertise BBQ but as the BBQ elitist I passed. In evening I went over to Bill and Amanda’s house to just hang out. I ended up cooking some dinner and we just sat around shot the breeze. The menu was Chicken Breasts stuffed with goat cheese, greek olives and roasted red peepers. We grilled up some fresh veggies from Amanda’s garden. It was a very impromptu, relaxing affair. A welcome respite from chaperoning.