Sarajevo speaks to the reception.

SPS students at RFK.

Max and Matt talk up the upcoming game.

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.

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.