by Will Wallace
Wednesday 9th April 2014
We're starting to adjust to the time zone and consumption
of blueberry muffins at breakfast! We promptly left to return to Capitol Hill -
this time to visit the Supreme Court, the place where nine justices determine
whether the laws passed by Congress and decisions made by state courts and
legislatures are compatible with the US Constitution. On our way to the Court,
we passed a large group of lobbyists - members of the Alzheimer's Association -
who were entering the congressional offices for matters of business.
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| Watching the Nationals score a Grand Slam |
Wednesday 9th April 2014
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| US Supreme Court |
The Supreme Court contained a great deal of information
about the history, architecture and development of the Court, with some
interesting attention paid to the historic decisions made by the Court, both
regressive and progressive. I made a quick stop at the gift shop, buying two
volumes of presidential inauguration speeches, from Washington to Obama. Little
did I know that whilst I perused the shelves, the rest of the group moved up to
the courtroom for a talk by a Court official. Thankfully, I made it up in time
for the bulk of his spiel.
Dr Galliver had managed to get in touch with some chums
at Georgetown University, the oldest Roman Catholic and Jesuit institution in
the States, and so we walked to a nearby bus station. When we finally found the
correct station (which, initially, we didn't), we were on our way!
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| Georgetown University |
We arrived in the centre of the historic part of DC, and
split up to grab lunch. After walking for ten minutes without finding anything
particularly exciting, we resorted to a Johnny Rockets - which meant more
heart-damaging burgers, as we had found at a Union Station on Day Two.
After waiting a short while at the university's
reception, we were led into a room for a presentation about the university and
the opportunities it provided. Funnily enough, they didn't mention the cost of
their fees, which it turns out stands at around $62,000 - and to think we
complain about £9,000 per year! We were taken on a tour of the campus by one of
the current alumni. We were particularly struck by his closing words to the
tour, which is that "If you're doing something you love, you won't work a
day in your life!". A bit cheesey, and I've heard it before, but
nonetheless an important lesson.
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| Nationals Park - baseball stadium |
We ventured back to the hostel, and this included a
rather bizarre encounter with a group of rowdy American twelve-year olds... It
was then time to head for the baseball stadium, which meant a trip on the
Metro. True to form, I managed to lose the Metro ticket that had been issued
when we arrived! The train was heaving with Washington Nationals fans, heading
for the game. We only just managed to squeeze on.
The atmosphere at the stadium was incredible. Despite my
detestation towards Americans - for their exceptionalist patriotism and
annoying accents - I found it very difficult not to be drawn into the buzz of
the game. Supper consisted of the 'Dollar Dogs' available at the stadium. Most
of us had bought merchandise, including foam fingers and baseball caps. Just
before we left, the Nationals scored a Grand Slam, which sent all of us to our
feet in manic excitement!
The train back was pretty crowded but we managed to get
back to the hostel in one piece. The match was the perfect end to a great day,
and we'll sleep well tonight! Off to Arlington Cemetery tomorrow.
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