Peace Corps Update

Just a note for those that haven't heard...I got a letter in the mail yesterday saying that the next thing I hear from the Peace Corps will be my invitation (placement)! My teeth, blood, and legal stuff checked out. I expect to hear in May, though it could come in April. Eastern Europe is where I believe I will go, but we will know for sure soon!

Ben Franklin Parkway

This is a picture of the Ben Franklin Parkway, the art museum is at the end of it. They have Monet originals, as well as lots of furniture from different European and Asian cultures and time periods. I always like looking at the dinnerware too.

One of those pillars along the parkway states "One Country, One Constitution, One Destiny."

Indepdence Hall (Formerly State House)

Yes, there it is. I can't wait to watch National Treasure again! The liberty bell is in a separate visitor's center now.

This is looking out the second floor window, on to what used to be George Washington's house.

This is the room where it all happened, and that is George Washington's chair at the front of the room. There is a golden sun carved on the back of it. Franklin wrote that at times during the constitutional convention, he sometimes couldn't tell whether the sun was rising or setting. At the end, he could tell that it was indeed on the rise. I think this sentiment applies well to the U.S. Public Service Academy.

City of Brotherly Love Weekend

Before I left Pullman, a dear friend said "don't ride the China Town bus." So that is exactly what I did. I booked a ticket online ($15), showed up at 8 am Saturday morning on H Street. Two-and-a-half hours later I arrived in Philadelphia with a jolt to my confidence when I found the streets as easy to navigate as the map. I think I'm getting the hang of this city thing!

I spent the day touring Indepdence Park--something I've always wanted to do--and other historical spots. Some highlights you ask? Standing in what used to George Washington's kitchen, Ben Franklin's print shop, and that darn Liberty Bell (State House Bell). Contrary to popular belief, the bell did not ring on July 4, 1776.

I spent the evening with a friend from Kenya, a junior at Penn, which required me to conquer yet another underground train system (only missed my train once). I got a tour of the campus and met some cool people. That night I stayed in a hostel near the Delaware River. The woman who checked me in was from COLFAX, WASHINGTON. Who is FROM Colfax, really?? (For those that don't know, Colfax is the first semi-noticable town in about three hours when driving across the state to WSU. From there, you only have 15 miles left to go. The town of Colfax basically exists to collect on the speeding tickets given to anxious students trying to get back to campus.) Anyway, it was a fantastic hostel experience. A group of German and French Au Pairs greeted me with a big "Hi! Please say your not German! Everyone is German here!" but alas, I didn't even have to open my mouth before another spoke-up in her rich French accent, "Nah, She is American!" Right on.

The next morning I ate the best breakfast of my life. Not because the food was fabulous by any means, but because it only cost $4.10 (Coffee, Toast, Eggs, and Homefries) and I had an amazing conversation with the waitress from Serbia. This was one of those 1950s style diners with bar stools and bar stools as your seating options. A small TV set to CNN whispered in the corner. My Serbian waitress and I talked about technology, as it relates to her ability to keep in touch with her family, the Iron Curtain, and school. She is a student in Philly, but hopes to finish up in a couple more semesters and get back home. Then she sent me off with directions to the bus, that I ended up not taking, and said have a great trip back to DC. Meeting new people in very unexpected places is one of the most thrilling things of travel.

I spent the last day in Philly walking down the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Art Museum (Sunday is "pay what ever you want day"), wandering around the museum, checking out the Reading Terminal Market, and sipping a latte before my bus ride home.

The bus ride home is one of the many reasons people warn against the China Town bus. Think about the aroma of hard-boiled egg shells, fried foods, and B.O. But hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! Or, something like that, right?

Washington Square, Philly

Washington Square is one of those places I only knew existed because the blue sign directing tourists to points of interest told me it was over there. It sits diagonal to Indepedence Hall and is essentially a graveyard in the center of the city. Maybe graveyard is the wrong word, tomb? Underneath the square lay hundreds of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. Some were wounded in battle, but most of these died from Yellow Fever.

In the picture you can see the tomb of the unknown Revolutionary soldier below Gen. Washington. An eternal flame sits directly in front of him. Unknown soldiers fascinate me, their families must have known they died, but never had closure. Or, did this soldier have no one that cared about him? No comrade on the line that knew him and watched out for him? Hard to say I suppose...

A+ Weekend

Ms. Carly came to visit a couple weekends ago, busting out of Pullman for an early Spring Break. We had a fabulous weekend touring more restaurants from her list than monuments, roaming the market, and dancing the night away. Carly's friend Sam joined us for a couple evenings...look at those crazy Montanans!

Arlington National Cemetery

From the front gate to JFK's grave, the cemetery is packed with school groups, tourists, and foriegners taking pictures. But on the beautiful hillside over-looking the whole city, very few of these people walked the short distance west of JFK to pay respects to the justices of the Supreme Court. There are no eternal flames there, but we live with the decisions they made every day. People don't gather around their graves because they didn't make speeches at the Cow Palace. People probably don't gather their because they didn't spend months fundraising in order to run for public office. People don't gather their because so many can't even name the justices on the current court. Potter Stewart's gravestone simply says: "A good lawyer who did his best"

At the back of the cemetery, where most tourists don't make it, rests the nurses. It's very quiet back here. Just a short walk south-west of here are some fallen troops of the Confederacy. But as you leave the nurses and head towards the gate, the graves become more an more fresh. Some headstones just months old.


The tomb of the unknown soldiers overlooks the city, and is kept in constant compamy. However, these are not the only unknown soldiers on the grounds. Sailors and Marines who lost their lives on the battleship Maine also rest here.