One Potato, Two Potato
Three Potato, Four!
Five Potato, Six Potato
Seven Potato, MORE!

That’s the rhyme that’s been stuck in my head the past few days.  Except that my version goes slightly differently.

One Motorcade, Two Motorcade,
Three Motorcade, Four!
Five Motorcade, Six Motorcade,
Seven Motorcade, MORE!

The nuclear summit took place here in D.C. the past few days.  Remember when I said that D.C. has a one track mind?  Well, this summit was literally all anyone could talk about.  Because everyone in the metropolitan area of D.C. has been affected by this summit in one way or another, story after story is being told about how the summit affected so-and-so.  Well here’s my story:

On one rainy Tuesday afternoon at the corner of 13th and H, I was abruptly stopped by a man in camo.  I needed to get on the Metro to go to my class, but he wasn’t letting anyone cross the street until the streets were “clear.” So I waited there between two temporary barricades and waited for the man in camo to let me cross. 

A few minutes pass.  I still haven’t crossed the street.  A few more minutes go by.  A motorcade goes through.  I still haven’t crossed the street.  A few more minutes go by.  Another motorcade goes through.  I still haven’t crossed the street. 

THREE more motorcades later I still haven’t crossed the street.  As a general rule of thumb, I try not to mess with huge guys in camo, but I finally asked the man if he would ever let us cross.  Answer: no.  Perfect.  Why he couldn’t have told me this earlier I don’t know.  After maneuvering my way around the rest of the city to open streets, I finally made it to my Metro stop.  So thank you to the diplomats at the summit for making me 5 minutes late to my class session.

Although, venting aside, I did see the president’s motorcade.  You ever seen a big black SUV?  Ever seen three of them driving behind each other on the highway?  Well, that was about what it was like – times 10 – with sirens.  But just knowing that Obama was somewhere squeezed in between the secret service guys made it way more exciting. 

On a different note, I had my public policy dialogue today.  This is the part of TWC experience where you talk to your senator or congressman (or in my case, his aide).  I met with the aid of Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.  The point of this meeting is to get to either ask questions of or suggest policies to your representative.  Since I’ve been focusing so much on energy for the Quebec Government Office, most of my questions revolved around the policy area of energy within the state of Georgia.  But despite my knowledge on the subject, I’m not about to presume that I know enough to suggest energy policy to a senator.  

Other than that, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  My semester with The Washington Center is quickly coming to an end, which means that I have more than enough work to do with the final portfolio, finishing up my independent study, and doing the last minute sight-seeing opportunities. 

This past weekend, Anne and our friend, Colleen, did some sightseeing of our own.  With the trees trying to hold their last blooms of the season, it was quite a sight to walk around the memorials and Arlington National Cemetery (I went back to see it without snow).  So the following are pictures of that.  Plus, I’ve added a few pictures from the silent drill team competition outside the Lincoln memorial.  You never know what you’ll run across when you’re on the Mall!

So please excuse the frequency of my posts these last few weeks (or the lack thereof), but there is so much to do in so little time!

Que sera sera.