Week 4, part three - the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and Banana bread!

I have no photos of the Supreme Court, because it is currently undergoing major restoration and surrounded by scaffolding. It's a beautiful neo-classical building covered in engravings and references to ancient culture. It was actually constructed in the 1930s, as for a long time the Supreme Court was without a building of its own. The East side of the buildings has a design which reflects the eastern law-giving tradition, with figures including Moses, Confucius and Solon. I really liked that. Other significant features include allegorical presentations of Justice (a blind-folded woman holding a set of scales) America (as a young woman), Commerce, Law and Wisdom.

The Supreme Court is the Judicial branch of the U.S government. It interprets all laws, tries cases affecting entire states, and foreign representatives. It also reviews the decisions and procedures of lower courts.

Other facts learnt today;

•  Princeton was founded in 1746 and known as the "College of New Jersey". I know this through looking at the college in which all of the old judges went to.
• The phrase "Equal Justice under the Law" was made up by the architects of the Supreme Court building because the letters fitted the space allocated! It doesn't have any great historical/ Biblical precedence.
• The first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court was Sandra Day O'Connor, who came originally from rural Texas, in a house that had neither indoor plumbing nor electricity. She says that this taught her the value of hard work. I think the exhibit on her life was one of the most intriguing parts of the Supreme Court.

Close-up of the Rotunda in the Capitol Building. 13 dancing women (representing the original colonies) and George Washington (seated, with a lavender robe) ascent to Heaven.

Our tour of the Captiol took us all around the Legalislative branch of the U.S government. The Capitol is responsible for making law, approving Presidential appointments, treaties made by the Whitehouse (the Executive branch of the government) and raising public money. The Capitol also overseas the expenditure of public money, trials Federal officers, and declares war.

In the Rotunda (the dome structure) I got to see John Gadsby Chapman's painting The baptism of Pocahontas (1840)*. However, there were so many people, and our tour group moved through so quickly, that I only got a very blurry photo. I'm still happy I saw it though, I saw in on Wikipedia (Googling "Pocahontas" after visiting the National Museum of the American Indian) a few days ago and was intrigued.

*Link to picture; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baptism_of_Pocahontas.jpg

Close-up of painting (although it looks like an engraving!) around the rim of the Rotunda

 Just on a side note, before we could enter the Capitol for our tour, there was a security incident of some sort, and everyone got moved from outside the Visitor's centre to the plaza in front of the Capitol building, whilst police, firefighters and men with dogs closed in. In the end, it was just someone's luggage which had been left, probably accidently. It's a reminder of the security risk that is a constant presence here. Our tour guide, who was an older woman, told us (at the end of the tour) about her day at work on the 11th of September, 2001.

She told us about how much more comprehensive the original tours of the Capitol were (e.g. visitors used to be allowed along the underground tunnels). She then told us about running for her life out of the East door of the Capitol with 7 members of the British parliament behind her. Her expression as she recounted turning around for what she thought was "one last look at the United States Capitol", and seeing the emotions of the rest of our tour group, it reminded me of how much 9/11 really has changed the mindset of the U.S forever.

Banana bread = success!

On a lighter note, my Banana bread did not fail despite use of "baking powder" (whatever that is) instead of Baking Soda. Nor did the fact that I used Balsamic vinegar instead of, I don't know, Malt vinegar, or whatever the normal type of vinegar is. Or, the fact that I was using a recipe which used "cups" as a valid unit of measurement. I switched between the BBC's recipe (not a stereotypical "Britain abroad" thing at all...) and some stuff I found on the back of the flour packet which was in the cupboard.

The loaf tin that I discovered in Safeway worked well! In short, the fact that anything I bake turned out edible is little short of a miracle. Hence the bananabread deserved a mention in a post alongside the US Capitol & Supreme Court.

Vocabulary learnt;

"s'mores" - a traditional nighttime campire treat, made up of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sanwiched between two pieces of a cracker. My American workmates could not believe that I hadn't had one before, until I reminded them that in England, people don't usually have the opportunity to sit out on their driveways at night, toasting marshmallows.

President [Card game]. The aim of the game is to become "President", by getting rid of your hand of cards before the other players. To get rid of cards, you can put down pairs, and cards that are the same suit or number as the previous card laid down by another player. When someone puts down a "double" (two cards of the same number) the next person has to miss their turn. You have to put down a number higher than the previous card on the table. Hence, lower cards are a nuisance and are usually played first. Being left with two 2's is bad, I can't remember why. The best part of this game is the fact that the winner becomes "President", the next person to finish is "Vice President", after them is the "First Lady" and then "Constituent". The person who comes last has to give their two best cards to the President in the next round!

When asked if we had this card game in England, I replied that the answer was obviously no, as we don't have a President, and casually enquired whether the Americans in the room knew how to play the card game "Kings". They did not.

Week 4, part two - Mount Vernon and a watermelon

 

Big butterfly, I'm certain that this is the same type of butterfly that was on the island which we kayaked to.

 Quite a few of us had wanted to see the country estate and farm that the first President of the United States, George Washington, had lived in and retired to. Washington built up his estate his entire life, extending the "mansion" and overseeing all of the arrangements to the land himself. Despite his military and political achievements, he considered himself first and foremostly a farmer. He reminds me of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (Roman statesman, Consul and Dictator, 519-430BC) in that way. We travelled by Metro to Huntingdon and then by bus, past Alexandria and into Fairfax County. This was relatively easy to do, coming from D.C the transport links are ideal for day trips out of town.

The bus journey was long because we didn't get on a direct bus, but instead spent 45 minutes touring through residential estates, and seemingly picking up elderly people and their shopping at every stop...we learnt our lesson for the return journey!

Casual tropical flower...oh and the other day at Arlington, I saw a chipmunk. Forgot to mention that, but it was great, for some reason I forgot that they had them here!

To be honest, I found the whole experience completely commercialised, and it annoyed me that they used an inventory of Martha Washington's possessions to show that she "was an enthusiastic shopper" and therefore to justify selling George Washington themed Christmas decorations, even in July. Only in America.

 

We all found the introductory "orientation" film to be ridiculous too. It contained barely any factual knowledge and instead focused on the "love story" between Martha and George Washington, regardless of the fact that in reality, most 18th c. marriages, especially 2nd marriages (Martha had been married before) were pursued for financial stability. 

Gardens! I saw a humming bird! (Far too fast to photograph)

 Regardless, seeing the way that the grounds had been preserved, and inside the house itself (the dining room was pained an extremely bright, emerald green colour, apparently historically reconstructed - Washington thought that it was the colour least likely to fade). The key to the Bastille was hanging in the passageway, sent by the Marquis de Lafayette, as a gift, for he considered Washington as like a father to him.

View of the Potomac from the back porch...

 This is pretty much the same view as George and his wife Martha Washington would have seen when they sat on their back porch in 1799...

Something that did affect me was the memorial to all of the slaves and free African-Americans who worked and died on the estate. In unmarked graves, and with a stone which was only erected in the 1980s, the lives of over a hundred people are quietly acknowledged. Since the physical location of their bodies is unknown, never precisely marked, and only recorded by chance by a 19th century visitor, there is a tangible sense of "loss". These people are still missing. Worse, was the lack of people who bothered to look around this site, compared to the tomb of Washington, where a wreath is laid daily, and which was crowded with visitors. Saying that, I'm not massively keen on the idea of people photographing people's caskets either. Maybe it's just me.

The "Mansion". 80% of the exterior is original, it's actually made of wood, "rusticated" to look like stone and brickwork, but it's hollow to knock.

 

A chance meeting. Whilst I was in my apartment (on the 2nd floor) I noticed that it had began to rain, heavily. Having been caught in several similar showers recently I looked out of the window and saw two people trying to shelter under a flimsy tree on the sidewalk. Remembering that the house I'm staying in has quite a large porch area, I ran downstairs, opened the front door and called the two women up. They were Chinese, and I soon realised that the older of the two didn't understand English, and this was sooner confirmed by the younger of the two, who revealed herself to be the other one's daughter. During a 5 minute conversation, under the porch (whilst one of my flatmates walked past, confused) I find out that;

 

a) they had been to see the most recent Nats game (baseball)

b) the daughter had moved to the U.S from China after highschool, to study, and had since worked in New York City as an exhibition designer. She is in D.C to work with the Smithsonians

c) She now lives just a few streets from here, but prefers NYC*

 

*She didn't actually say this, but this is the impression I got, especially as she mentioned about how exciting NYC is, and didn't say much about D.C. She's trying to find a job so that she can move back to NYC.

 

The GIANT 1/2 watermelon I found at Eastern Market. I'm going to miss the local fruit & vegetables. Some of the stalls at the market are run by the Amish community.

That piece of watermelon was only $3. Bargain. I also got a nutella & banana crepe...

 

Vocabulary learnt;

 

"called out", to be "called out" - to be caught out, or deliberately made an example of. For example, if someone isn't paying attention during a lesson, and the teacher chooses them to answer a question. Or, if something lies/ exaggerates something, and is found out.

 

"go-to" - this can refer to any item or object which is the most commonly used or which someone uses without having to think about it, such as a food, bag, facial expression, etc. Your 'go-to x' is the 'x' that you will resort to most commonly when you don't have the inclination/time to come up with something more original, or else that you will just go to automatically. pretty much any situation.   e.g., If you're in a rush, you grab your go-to bag.

 

Vocabulary taught to Americans;

 

"blag" - they have the word "bluff", meaning a similar thing, but hadn't heard of our word before!

Week 4, part one, outdoor movies and bright yellow schoolbuses

The "Screen on the Green"

Earlier in the week me and two other interns went to the National Mall, in order to watch an outdoor screening of E.T. This was a completely new, yet great experience. There's just so much atmosphere with outdoor performances, you can hear people talking, sirens, and all of the usual activity of the Capitol. You can have the cinema-sized screen without the cramped seats. The right temperature, without the noise of air conditioning or heating. The best thing was that during particularly dramatic/happy/sad moments people would cheer and clap together. At one point, during the credits, people from the back began spontaneously dancing, and this spread in a Mexican-wave type movement until everyone was up & moving!

I finally got a picture of one! (Georgia!) This is the culmination of every American highschool film that I have ever seen. Even in the summer, most kids seem to attend some kind of summer school or camp, to either catch up or get ahead.

Today, there was a power cut at work, and we got to leave after lunch! I should add that I do actually really enjoy my work, at the moment I'm just doing the initial reading to create a homeschool curriculum based on the WW2 Homefront. However, having a power cut meant that we got to eat cake, make shadow puppets with our hands and torches, and then head to the pub (where I had a coke, on account of being 19...) to say goodbye to one of the interns who has been at the museum for months now. I think it's fair to say that we're all going to miss his renditions of Disney songs and epic movie conversations in the lunchroom!

We've been very spoilt at work recently, considering our supervisor brought in Dunkin' Donuts the day the Royal baby was born, and on thursday there was a 21st birthday in our department, so, courtesy of the girl's "mom", we had a "birthday buffet"! It's been a good week!

Week 3, part seven, National Archives

National Archives

On the weekend I was able to see the National Archives, with the U.S Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they had a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta! Rooted in Anglo-Saxon law and written in Latin (though not the samw Latin studied today) Magna Carta means "Great Charter", for anyone (including David Cameron) who didn't know! It was originally signed in 1215 by King John, at Runnymede. It was designed to try and appease the King's Barons, and promises fairer rights for widows, inheritance, and most importantly, ensures trial by jury and justice regardless of status. This was the foundation for much of the later U.S documents, yet (after waiting by the deserted Magna Carta display for half an hour) I discovered something else of note; 75% of Americans had no idea what it was. Alternatively, I can't prove that more than 25% of British people would know what the Magna Carta is...

Best comment - "Ooh the Magna Carta, isn't that one of the amendments to the Constitution?"

I mean, it's not like British people know what the Declaration of Independence is, or the Constitution? Oh wait, we do. To be fair, there was one American father who insisted that his children saw the Magna Carta and read that display before getting in line to see the three U.S documents (the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights). The U.S documents were kept in a shrine-like area, surrounded by guards, marble and paintings. There was a strange, almost religious reverence surrounding these documents. The Magna Carta, by contrast, is in a side-area with no queues (not that Americans know what that means!) but has a great exhibition around it!

Interesting things;

1. Regarding the U.S Constitution - Benjamin Franklin has neater handwriting than George Washington. I couldn't make out much of the document, only the signatures and the capitalised words FREE and INDEPENDENT. Maybe they're all that's important.
2. The American founding fathers wrote in a handwriting known as "English roundhand" - ironic!

The Archives also have collections of Presidential correspondence, recordings and photos of the U.S Presidents when they were children! I think too many people, including Americans, overlook the Archives as a worthwhile attraction. It has rotating modern exhibits, including 1970s American photography, and if you're a U.S citizen you can look up your family history using their records. This is what my Indian American (known in Britain as "Native American") friend intends to do, to look into her tribe's past.

I left a message in the guestbook, saying that the Archives would always hold special interest for British as well as American visitors, and thanking them for doing such a good job on the Magna Carta display.

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Week 3, part six, the National Museum of Natural History

The saddest-looking stuffed animal I have ever seen...

I've finally visited the National museum of Natural History! I have to say, one of the things that impressed me the most was that I left my sun cream and insect spray on a pillar outside the building (to comply with security regulations) and came back to get them 2 1/2 hours later, and they were still there! Ok, I had found a pretty stealthy place for them, but even so, that made me happy. I did enjoy the museum too, by the way.

However, a couple of things were noticeable;

1. Some adults with children were unable to recognise even (what I'd always thought) some of the world's most well-known animals. For example, I watched a woman tell her children that a ring-tailed lemur was "a big squirrel"
2. Some people, of all ages, but especially young people, simply took photos of things on display, without even reading any of the surrounding information. They then went on to photograph other things. That made me sad.
3. The most popular exhibit was a gallery of diamonds and gemstones, "all that glistens..." (saying that, I did get to see some of Marie Antoinette's earring, though it's the Diamond Necklace Affair that really went down in history)
4. The way to avoid crowds was to take the stairs. There were no Americans on the stairs, only non-English speaking tourists. So that was stereotypical.

From the 2nd floor balcony...reminds me of the film "Night at the Museum"!

As well as the objects on display, there was also a wildlife photography exhibition. The winning photo was of a gorilla with her baby, reading a book with a photo of a gorilla in it. Meta. I think the reason it may have won may be that to us as humans, the gorilla "reading" and appreciating its own image, with its baby by its side, just seems so human and therefore familiar.

Smithsonian castle building from the National Mall

Most interesting facts learnt;

• distinctive earbones are what set mammals apart from other animal kingdoms, as well as being covered in fur, giving birth to live young, and being fed by a mother that produces milk
• (especially for my sister's interest, this is for you Georgia!) - the most common species of wild rabbit was introduced into Australia, from Europe, in 1858
• 50 million years ago, the Artic was not cold, but forestland. Admittedly, 50 million years is a long time, but I guess I've never really thought about either of the polar regions just not being cold...
• Corundum (a crystalline form of Aluminium Oxide) forms gems, which are known as rubies if they are red in colour - but all other colours are known as sapphires!
• Polar bears evolved from brown bears who became stranded on a glacier off the coast of Alaska. Their fur had to change to match their new surroundings.
• After a meteorite slammed into Earth and killed the dinosaurs, 70% of all animal species died. Mammals now had the advantage as they were smaller, and had primarily lived underground. Being warm blooded, mammals could survive the fluctuations in climate which occurred immediately after the meteor and subsequent dusty darkness. Gradually mammals evolved to become bigger, and more dominant.

Week 3, part five, Watergate, kayaking and giant insects on the loose!

Here's something they have in the U.S that we don't have (as much) in the U.K. Giant insects. I found this one under a sofa cushion, and named him Houdini.

This is just a bench that amuses me whenever I walk past it. How did it come to be so slanted?! Is it a piece of post-modern art?

 

I ended up walking past the Watergate hotel complex whilst I was in the Foggy Bottom area of town the other day. All of my GCSE history memories flooded back! I find it odd that people still live there, and that apartments and the hotel continue to this day. I guess they probably benefit from its notoriety.

 

The highlight of the weekend was kayaking across the Potomac river. A group of us rented the kayaks (which had 2 people per boat, where as I always thought that canoes had multiple people, and kayaks were singular?) and paddled around for a bit, looking at the waterfront from the water. We were able to see the bridge that we had walked over to get to Georgetown (the place with the famous cupcakes!) a few weeks ago. In the other direction we got some greta views of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument. The trees in the middle of the image are on a small, sandy island, which we landed on to eat lunch! The island had these large, black, white & yellow butterflies which no one was able to photograph. I loved the fact that it forms a mini-beach in the middle of what is otherwise a thoroughly metropolitan city. This is visible in the photo with the high-rise buildings in the background.

*In case anyone was wondering, there is just as much, if not more coverage of the Royal baby in the U.S than in the UK. CNN, Fox and every other news channel have been updating on this story all day, even contrasting the use of C-sections and epidurals in England and America in a special programme. There is hardly any regional or even national news, which is amazing for a nation the size of the States.  If you're one of those people who dislikes coverage of these events in the UK, think how much worse it is in the U.S.A, for whom the British Royal family is irrelevant - otherwise what was the purpose of the prided War & subsequent Declaration of Independence?

Week 3, part four

Definitely the biggest sporting venue I've ever been in.

On friday I went to my first baseball game. I didn't really know how baseball worked (as someone in my house sarcastically pointed out, "it's not cricket you know!") but a group of us British interns were accompanied by some Americans and a Canadian, so all was well!

One of the most striking (just realised that that's a pun!) things about the game was the show that surrounded the sport. The National Anthem preceded play and music was played as the players walked out and warmed up. Phrases like "GREAT HIT" and "STRIKE!!" kept flashing onto large, omnipresent screens. Even as the game was played, t-shirts were thrown into the crowd by mascots, food was given away by official sponsors, and there was even a mascot race around the pitch!

Constant images, adverts and information updates!

It was deemed perfectly acceptable to leave your seat to buy food, which people did frequently. Food could be ordered by mobile phone, using the stadium's wi-fi. That fascinated me. I should clarify, the game we saw was the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the Washington D.C Nationals. This was considered quite a big game by people who know about these things, many more of my housemates wanted tickets for this game, but they were sold out by the time they tried to book.

The Sharknado!

Baseball is all about entertainment. Whenever the crowd was too quiet, a "noisemeter" would flash up, and encourage people to cheer louder. People also joined in with a "dance break" which happened during the middle of the Innings. The fans who were dressed the wildest were also given free merchandise.

The mascots were the founding fathers, accompanied by a sharknado, as in, from the Sharknado film I mentioned in a previous post. Seeing the Sharknado come out was a personal highlight. The game lasted for 3 hours, but I didn't actually leave my seat (beforehand I acquired a box with a hotdog and nachos...although according to the Americans we were with, popcorn and peanuts are traditional baseball match food). Now I actually know what the "strikes" and those running people mean! Well, vaguely...

I think I may have a better understanding of the baseball "hype" in the U.S now. It's completely absorbing if you allow yourself to get caught up in the party-like atmosphere. Maybe there's still hope for me as an enthusiastic sports spectator, just not in England...

Week 3, part three, Work

Front of the Navy Yard museum

I realised I haven't said much about what I do during the week, when I'm not sight-seeing.

I work in the Navy museum's Education Department, which gives tours, home-school lessons, and summer camps, as well as hosting school visits. I work with a team of American interns who are all college students and History "majors" (History is the primary focus of their studies), some come from as far away as Los Angeles, California, but most are local, from Virginia, Arlington and Maryland. We write up lesson plans, using books and the museum's existing curriculum, we make up folders for the students and we set up experiments and equipment for the activities in lessons!

The last week saw the beginning of the first of the summer camps, based around the construction of an underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle). Each day has a lesson (focusing on Naval history, e.g. how an underwater ROV uncovered the Titanic, or a reel of American satellite film during the Cold War) an activity (e.g. making "submarines" out of water bottles, coins and tape) and then the students work in groups to make their robots, with us assisting them.

The students, who range from about 9 to 15 years old, are sometimes accompanied by parents and relatives, sometimes not. A few of the "moms and dads" help out with the circuit boards because they're engineers or they have experience with electronics. Despite the fact that I haven't held a soldering iron in over 5 years, nor have I ever used a drill, I've really enjoyed helping each group with their project! It's incredible how much even the youngest students are capable of, watching them finally get to race their under water vehicles in a horse-trough was very rewarding!

Barry! Display ship (retired Destroyer) docked outside the museum.

A pretty unique surrounding to work in...

Army personnel regularly turn up just to see what's going on, or to look around the museum. Sometimes they observe lessons, or help out. Live music streams every morning as I walk past the Marine Barracks, I think it's a marching band which accompanies the raising of the flag or something.

2 Awkward moments whilst running the camp this week;

1. A 10 year old boy is playing on one of the guns in the museum, shooting at an imaginary enemy. "Who are you shooting at?" I ask, "the British of course!"he replies...
2. Some of the younger children seem to have trouble understanding my accent. One boy watched me give a safety demonstration only to ask at the end; "what are googles?". Now I say "safety glasses". In addition, it took about 5 minutes to clarify what the word "soldering" meant, because in the U.S it's pronounced "SAW-DER-RING". Also, petri dishes are pronounced "PEE-TREE" dishes. This is just like the "pipe-ettes" episode.

Week 3, part two

WW2 memorial

We decided to tour the memorials by night, when the temperature was cooler and the crowds smaller. Despite the influx of biting insects, seeing the Washington monuments by night was a great way to see the city lit up, and in a more tranquil setting than during the day.

WW2 memorial/ Washington monument

The WW2 monument is incredible, it has a pool, fountains, a pillar for every U.S State and territory. Two sides completed with columns and wreaths, representing the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. One the floor, symbols like the American eagle, the Latin, E pluribus unum ("Out of many, one") decorate the tiled floor.

WW1 monument

Lincoln memorial exterior



Lincoln memorial interior

The monuments that struck me the most were either World War Two, or the Lincoln Memorial, which conjured up odd memories of both Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, and Forrest Gump, in equal measure. To me American history genuinely appears as a combination of moments which determined the course of the modern world, and famous parodies mocking such moments which are almost as famous. As someone here reminded me, the entertainment industry is America’s biggest export, and so they make a point of doing it well.

We also visited the Korean, Vietnam, WW1, and Albert Einstein memorials.

Vocabulary learnt;

Panhandling - begging

Week 3, part one

Yet another view of the Capitol

This week's "field trip" for us British interns of the Navy museum was the United States Botanic Garden on Capitol Hill.

It was like Kew gardens, but in Washington D.C. So basically, Kew gardens, with a view of the Capitol Building in the background, and no temperature or humidity difference between the green houses and the outside. In fact, I’m pretty sure we discovered that some of the greenhouses were actually less sticky than walking around outside…

Botanical Gardens

Washington D.C: where greenhouses are less humid than your own office/ apartment.

Titan Arum, one of the largest flower species in the world, over 6 foot

This flower blooms very rarely, it even has a webcam on it constantly, to monitor its progress. Anyway, the day after we go to the gardens, it begins to blossom. Typical. Although, it is nicknamed the "corpse" plant, and it is supposed to smell "like roadkill on a hot day" so missing that may have been a blessing in disguise!

Tropical!

 

See, just like Kew Gardens/ a greenhouse, with the Capitol in the background

After the Botanic gardens we were going to go to get a tour around the Capitol, but they wanted to throw away my bag. More specifically, their security arrangements demanded that all food, drink, bug spray, sun tan lotion etc. be discarded, and as that was practically everything I had on me, I decided it wasn't worth it and went to the Air & Space museum instead.  

 

Planes!

The Air & Space museum is one of the biggest in the world. Walking past security, and into the museum itself, felt like walking into an airport terminal, a feeling magnified by the height of the ceiling and glass walls.

 

How hot air balloons should be...

 

Although the Air & Space museum is one of the most popular attractions under the Smithsonian banner, I have to admit that I'm not that mad on air and space travel. 4 well-spent hours later though, I have been somehwhat converted. Ok, so 1/2 an hour of the total time was spent going through security (a school of Chinese children arrived just prior to me...) but the rest of the time I was busy admiring aerial exhibits and poking bits of rock, supposedly from the moon (I mean, it could have been fake, and I wouldn't have be able to tell - who would?)

Most fascinating things learnt;

• The Aral sea is shrinking
• "Planet" comes from the Greek word "planetes", meaning "wanderer"
• Io (a moon of Jupiter's) is the only object in this solar system, other than Earth, that shows signs of current volcanic activity
• Telescopes are actually time machines, because we are seeing things that happened days/ months ago by the time light reaches us on Earth
• The "Big Bang" was an explosion OF the universe, as it expanded, not an explosion into some finite "space"
• If cars could drive straight up, vertically, "space" is only 1 hour away
• The distance, by car, between Washington D.C and New York City is how high above Earth the International Space Station is
• Barrage Balloons were hung over Buckingham palace during WW2 to prevent German bombers from getting too close

Seeing the drawings of the Wright brothers reminded me of the sketches from Da Vinci's notebook, which I studied last term. Perhaps the most arresting thing I saw was a display screen of the U.S air control, with the pathways of different flights, and their directions, appearing as coloured lines which zig-zag across the States. In the bottom left-hand corner was a timer, with the hour and date. The footage for 9/11, after about 10am, shows an ominously dark screen, as the lights representing flights, the colours and the lines, disappear one by one.

Week 2, part six

 

The next day I visited the Whitehouse, because you can’t come to D.C and not try (“try” being the operative word considering the security cordons) to see the Whitehouse. I did succeed, to an extent, though the zoom feature of my camera was put to good use. A more interesting story is that when I was walking to the Whitehouse I went to a McDonalds kiosk to get some chips (“fries”) because the last time I tried to go into an actual McDonalds restaurant here it was surrounded by police, and I was later told that inner-city McDonalds is best avoided as it attracts criminals who prey on tourists, not to mention concerns over food hygiene. Rest assure, I did safely acquire my (by this time) much desired chips but only after this exchange;

 Server; “May I take your order Ma’am?”

Me; “Yes, thank you, I’ll have some small fries please”

Server; looks confused, “you want fries?”

Me; “Yes please”.

Server; “what size?”

Me; “small”

Server, to another member of staff; “Can I get some regular fries please!”

Me; “and can I please have some tomato sauce too”

*server hands me 7, that’s right, S-E-V-E-N sachets of ketchup”

 So, either they misunderstood my accent, or there is no such thing (as I have long suspected) as a small portion of anything in the U.S. By the way, the chips I was served, whether they were officially “small” or “regular” were the size of “large fries” back in the U.K.

Later, I ended up in Dupont Circle, with some Americans (roommates of another British intern) in Starbucks. This is ironic due to the cultural context of the Dupont Circle area of the city. Traditionally, Dupont Circle was the “anti-establishment” part of Washington D.C, filled with vintage shops and gay bars and “alternative” fashion. Now, like the rest of D.C, there resides a Starbucks within sight of the Metro stop (fantastic strategy for attracting the commuters, sick of heat and humidity!) and on the one hand I thought this was a sad product of mass marketing and globalisation, but on the other hand I just really, really, wanted a cold drink.

Words I/ we (the other British interns) have taught the American interns:

-“Jubilee” (obviously they have no need for this one!)

- “Keen”, apparently this word doesn’t exist here, though they now know what it means. A whole intern house full of Americans have gone on to adopt the word and use it in virtually any phrase, just so they can shout “KEEN” at each other in mock-British accents and rhyme it with the word “queen”.

Week 2, part five

Visiting Arlington National Cemetery was a strange experience. We don’t have any cemeteries so vast in England. The atmosphere was a mixture of sobriety and pomp. The graves of the Kennedys are simple, with plain wooden crosses and plaques, but somehow they are all the more powerful that way. J.F Kennedy’s eternal flame (a constantly burning torch in his memory) is surrounded by some of his most famous quotes. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is accompanied by a guard of honour, which march along an elevated white marble strip, armed and in uniform, and change position frequently, in a ceremony which everyone is required to stand for. I read on a sign, which I had to check twice, that over 2,000 men are buried in a mass civil war grave. All of this takes place in a setting of hills, streams and greenery, offset by Grecian style monuments. The view from the cemetery overlooks the entirety of D.C, because of the low-rise style of the District of Columbia’s buildings. The Pentagon is also visible on the right hand side, and is the next Metro stop on that line.

Panoramic view of D.C from the house of General Lee, preserved at the cemetry

 More darkly, Arlington National Cemetery is also a story of revenge. The cemetery was established on the family estate of General Robert E. Lee, leader of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. This was so that even if the Confederate defeated the Union, General Lee would never be able to return home without being confronted daily by the graves of those who had died during the conflict, and the guilt that that would bring.

Looking back towards the Lincoln Memorial

 

Perhaps it is because the cemetery looks over the Washington monument, the Capitol building, the Lincoln memorial, but the place really extrudes an aura of being in the middle of history, rather than belonging firmly in the past. Even today hundreds flock to walk the well-trodden paths of the cemetery, to watch the guard changing and bells chiming over the hills. I couldn’t help but think that, on September the 11^th 2001, the plane which was driven into the Pentagon would have been visible to anyone standing towards the summit of the cemetery, by the graves of the Kennedys for example.

View of the Jefferson Memorial from the cemetry

Week 2, part four

I've visited some amazing places over the last couple of days. Me and the other interns at the Navy musuem are lucky in the fact that we are genuinely finished by 4pm everyday and so can spend the evenings in town, enjoying the weather (which has improved dramatically in the last few days, and today hit 100 F/ 38 degrees Celsius.) In addition, the British interns spend Mondays doing fieldtrips around D.C, organised by the museum. Quite a few of the American interns also come with us, because they don't necessarily live near D.C, and to be honest, even if I was at home, and in London, there's always something to be seen!

One of my favourite parts of the American National history museum was the exhibitions on the Civil Right movement, from the Emancipation Proclaimation (1863) until the Civil Rights Act (1964). I studied the U.S Civil Rights movement at school (from the 1950s) and so it's great to be able to come here and see some phyiscal items of Martin Luther King Jr.'s, e.g a pocket watch he had engraved for a friend, frozen in time.  There are also highly sensitive items too, like shards of stained glass from the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama, 1963) which killed four African American girls whilst they were in Sunday school.

On a more light-hearted note, there was also a cabinet full of contemporary objects, titled The Making of Modern America which contained items such as Elphaba's costume (2003) from the Broadway musical Wicked. I know my sister at least will appreciate this!

The exhibit on "The First Lady" was also interesting, because the concept of the First Lady/ Family etc. is not hereditary, nor is it an official position, yet it still has an incredible impact on the American mindset. A dress of Michelle Obama's was on display in the centre of the exhibit alongside 18th C. Chinaware belonging to Abigail Adams (wife of the 2nd President), it's like a celebrity cult, continuing to the modern day. Before the title "First Lady" was settled on, the juxtaposition "republican queen" was considered!

National museum of the American Indian

Another fanatastic museum is that of the American Indian. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was because I knew so little to begin with, shamefully my knowledge of Native Americans was formerly limited to information gleamed from Disney's Pocahontas. Now however I feel much better informed having read about initial interaction between English colonists and Native Americans in Jamestown (Virginia) 1607, all the way up to the present-day customs of American Indians, like the "Day of the Dead"(1st-2nd November) which became All Saints'/ Souls' day under Christianity.

3 things that stood out to me from this museum;

1. The museum itself was established in a 1989 Act of Congress, to promote awareness of the history of American Indians, and their place in modern American society
2. Everything in the Quecha (an American Indian tribe) is divided into Paña and Iloq'e. Paña is dark, masculine and present, where as Iloq'e is light, feminine and associated with the things of the past. Neither concept much concerns the future, as time was seen very differently (see below).
3. From the Maidu Creation story, notice the blurring and continuity between the past and present which makes their perception of their own history so intriguing;

"Turtle dove down, was gone for;
 four days,
four years,
four hundred years.
Time isn't that important."

// "over-time chaos returned,
Returns.
And the lessons proved true,
Are true."

Week 2, part three

 

The above photo was taken a while ago. Since then it has been raining for days, monsoon-style. A few nights ago everyone's phones began to ring simultaneously, which was weird. It turned out to be an emergency weather alert, which continued from 3am until 6am (overriding "silent" and "meeting" settings) saying that several inches of rain were due in a very concerntrated region of the city.

 

 Thunder and lightning storms continued for hours, and although everyone told me it was nothing to worry about, I kept getting up and watching the pavements flood. The thunder was loud enough to wake me up, and the lightning illuminated the entire room, with the blinds closed. The good news is, there were no serious floods, just a lot of rain, unusual for this time of year.

 

Currently the weather varies between overcast and sunny intervals. The humidity is the main problem though, it hovers between 80-90%, meaning that the air feels heavy, and nothing dries, because water doesn't evaporate without a lot of effort (e.g. using a hairdryer to dry wet towels...). Seeing as Washington D.C was built on a swamp, the climare here is oddly tropical.

 

 

A lot of my posts have focused around cultural insights, thoughts, etc. I think I should talk a bit about other aspects of contemporary culture that I have witnessed. Me, some other interns, and their roomates decided to watch Sharknado a film so bad that it was good. Live sharks fall from the sky, tornados form in the Pacific (they form in the Atlantic in reality!) and people decide to leave houses (in which sharks clearly cannot enter) and enter streams where the sharks actually are. Oh, and sharks tend to live in salt water, not fresh water. The film negates science to show scenes of a woman in a bikini running along beaches, supposedly to outrun the sharks. Either way, the film was a great example of self-mocking modern American culture.

 

So this week I've seen the benefits of working on an active Naval base. Seeing people in official uniforms is cool, getting free ice cream (given out to everyone who works on the base "for morale") is even cooler. The best was listening to the cannon fire as part of the retirement ceremony for an Admiral. The number of cannon blasts (which made a booming noise that rebounded around the entire site) signifies the rank of the person retiring from service. It's something most civilians will never get to experience.

 

Interesting things I've learnt in the last few days;

1. In Washington D.C apartments cannot have more than 8 girls living in them without being inspected, due to concerns over illegal brothels. This explains the gender imbalance in all of the student/ intern housing here.

2. Americans call "crocodile clips" "alligator clips". I find this interesting because it's obviously the same concept as in England, with the teeth, but who adapted the concept first?

3. Squid is not Kosher because it doesn't have fins and scales. I guess this is obvious from the Old Testament, but I didn't put two and two together.

Week 2, part two

 

So after work one day I decided to go straight into town to see some art galleries that were supposed to be especially interesting, or at least, they seemed that way to me. Something I'm really liking about working in D.C is that as soon as work ends I can get to the Metro and be on the other side of town in a matter of minutes.

 

After spending most of the day inside there is nothing better than coming across a garden like this;

 

 

 

This was a courtyard in the middle of the Freer Gallery, and it impressed me as much as the art itself.

That being said, the art was well worth seeing, especially as entry is free (another amazing thing about D.C!) because the Freer Gallery (like the Sackler and National Gallery of African art) is part of the Smithsonian institution.

 

It's fantastic to be able to go from staring at paperwork in an office, to staring at an 8th century tomb-guardian statue (Chinese, Tang dynasty) in less than an hour. I also discovered that several Buddha statues were found to have originally had haloes, which were later removed. Interesting.

 

There was also contemporary Oriental art, like Xu Bing's Phoenix exhibit, linking Chinese folklore with modern socio-political issues (according to the description...) but I'm always more inclined to appreciate ancient manuscripts over contemporary art of any kind. I wonder if people throughout history have always preferred historic art to that of the present? Or if the majority of people have always liked older styles, and only a small minority looked beyond this to initiate some kind of artistic change.

 

I like looking at art that depicts something I already know the context of. The African art gallery had a great painting of the Battle of Adwa (in which the native Ethiopians defended themselves against the Italians, 1896) painted by an African artist. The great thing about that painting was the sense of nationalism - ironically a European idea exported via the colonies - that whilst the Italian soldiers all had the same faces and expressions, the Africans were portrayed as individuals. However, after writing this I think that perhaps as a European it might just be my own world-view (Weber's weltanschauung) that made me see the painting like that.

 

Smithsonian Castle Building (the main information centre for the museums & galleries)

Front garden

African National Gallery skylight
 

 Art is kind of like a visual display of history (among other things). One of my favourite things that I learnt from these galleries was the influence of the Graeco-Roman world on ancient Oriental art. Buddhist art was particularly influenced by Western style, depictions of the Buddha develop symmetrical features (a Western ideal, apparently), the robes of monks start to look more naturalistic and flowing, and even the portrayal of hair becomes more textured!

National sculpture garden (archives in background), note the shiny silver tree!

There was a room in one of the galleries called the Peacock Room. It was a display of a collection of Oriental objects, deliberately set up as it had been in Victorian London. The collection included a painting of a Western, English-looking woman in Oriental clothing, a kimono perhaps. The juxtaposition of East vs. West in that one painting, and the whole collection, mirrored the fact that the entire ensemble of objects had been translocated from London to Washington D.C. It reminded me of myself, and of this blog, and of my blog compared to my sister's.

I like this clock tower, looks European. I wonder if that's why I like it. Incongruous in central D.C.

 After walking around the galleries for a bit I went along the National Mall. What suprised me was the number of ordinary people doing ordinary things there. People walking dogs, families playing catch (with American-style baseball gloves) and whole teams training for various sports. It's weird to think of life going on as normal with the historic backdrop of the Capitol.

Chinatown entrance

 

Another part of the courtyard in the Freer gallery.

Vocabulary learnt;

"aluminum" - tinfoil. Learnt this after someone in the house came knocking to our kitchen, and unfortunately I answered the door, leading to 5 minutes of gesturing, confusion and eventual realisation. Didn't help that the person had a really deep, Southern accent (they're from Arkansas, I asked them).