Week Three: I LOVE BASEBALL!!!!

This past weekend I went to the BBQ Battle that Washington D.C. hosts every summer around this time of year. There was BBQ everywhere, but it was a little different from what I was led to believe. From all of the material I read up on, it seemed as though I had to pay $10 to get in and then I would be able to get all the free BBQ that I wanted. Well, that was a little misleading. You have to pay $10 to get in, and then you have to pay anywhere from $5-$15 for food. There were a few free samples, and at the one tent that had an assortment of free samples there was a 1 hour wait to get to the front. At the end of the day, it was all worth it, especially since out original $10 went to the Washington D.C. Boys & Girls Club.

Aaron, Keona, Debbie, and Me waiting in line for BBQ :(

On Sunday, we went to the Nationals game. Baseball is one of my favorite sports and I was happy that the Texas Rangers were in town. Even though I am not really a Rangers fan, I went to support them (my baseball team is the Chicago Cubs, thanks to my dad!). It was an exciting game because there were several homeruns and we got to see the fireworks go off several times. I think the best part of the entire game was when they had the “Presidents” race. A group of past-presidential characters with oversized heads ran from center field to the first base bag, Abraham Lincoln and the Rangers both won!

Washington Nationals Park...did you know this is the first year of the ballpark?

I told you they were big heads!

This week with the TWC BIT (Business and Information Technology) program, we went to the Newseum. All I can say is WOW. There were so many interesting pieces of media in many different galleries to be seen and heard. There were heart wrenching Pulitzer Prize photographs that made me tear up, and there was an exciting “travel through history” 4-D movie that was not to be missed. The great thing about this trip was that we didn't have to pay because we went with TWC! Most museums and such have free admissions, but the Newseum charges $20 to get in. I thought that twenty dollars was kind of expensive, but once I went through all the galleries, and saw a piece of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 tower, I realized that the $20 is totally worth it.

The Berlin Wall...so much history and warfare associated with this concrete.

I know that I have not given much advice about coming to D.C. yet, but I will work on that. Here is my first “food-for-thought”: Do not come to the TWC or Washington D.C. if you are not going to participate in the city life and socialize with other TWC students. The internships here are wonderful, but why would one want to spend all that money to come to a new city only to work and stay in the apartment all day? As you may notice, I LOVE to sightsee, and luckily there are so many different personalities here that you will find at least five different people who will have a common interest with you and will share in the fun (i.e. concerts, jazz clubs, Broadway shows, book clubs, movies under the stars, etc.).