Capitol City: DC

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Washington DC, the Disneyland for both historians and super-patriots! In all honesty, it is quite an event to come to DC after spending the past 3 years overseas. I was once told by a friend that I would not know my own culture until I have traveled and lived in another. This has turned out to be a very powerful statement. After being overseas for this long, I now know that I act and think like an American. Perhaps there are Americans that read this and ponder, "hmm, and just what do Americans act like?" My response: start from the top of this entry and begin reading again.

Now becoming aware, and in many ways proud, to be a self-recognized American, my first trip to DC had a certain flavor to it. Mix this with my teaching of history and government for the past 8 years, and I had a strange sense of coming home while walking through the numerous memorials and major buildings. I suppose it was a mixture of feelings really. One, a sense of being reminded of the principles and ideals that the country has worked towards (both good and bad). Second, also an emotion of affirming that yes, these places are in fact real. After talking and seeing these images so often, I began to think they only existed in books and pictures.

Often I make it a point to include some history about the place that I visit, but with the Memorials of Iwo Jima, Washington Monument, Lincoln's, Jefferson's, and the White House and so on, I think its best I keep it simple in this entry with a quick DC interesting point review. Back in 1790, it was decided to set aside an area to serve as the nation's capital, so DC was born. Further, DC is not a state, but exists under Federal control. Congress is allowed to overturn any local laws established, really adding irony to the capital in the land of freedom. Why is it called District of Columbia? Well, Columbia was actually more of a romantic name for America during this time. District of course implies distinct area. Washington was the president during this time, and he was the person that selected this plot of land in the first place for a capital. Adding all points together, you get Washington DC, America's capital.

As for the city itself, it's very clean and has perhaps the highest quality metro I have yet to see. The coverage is not as great as compared to New York or Paris, but still, the metro appears to be brought somewhere from our distant future. My advice is to really be prepared t walk a lot when walking through the Mall (the main block where all of the memorials and museums are located). Take your time, wear comfortable shoes and enjoy the good, yet expensive food available. There really is a lot to see, and setting aside a few days allows a person to reflect and think at the memorials, as opposed to taking a quick picture, and then walking to another place to then check off the list. Perhaps the work memorial should suggest a certain interaction when considering the people, ideas and sacrifices that one encounters within this area?

While I feel I could take a lot more space and time sharing my own thoughts and reflections at all of these famous American places, I will sum them up quickly: the country, though it has it's darker sides, also has a rich and proud tradition of people that have worked, bled and fought for ideas that have made a better life possible. I would suggest that while it is important to understand what has transpired to get us where we are, it is more important to understand where we should go from here. What has this all been for? That being said, I think it is best to let the monuments speak for themselves in the best they can of my amateur level pictures. Enjoy!

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Photos

My own view of the Vietnam memorial
I still have the same thought today as I had when I first saw this memorial, "There are so many names."

Famous speech point
From this view there have been many a great people and words! Steps of Lincoln Memorial.

Iwo Jima in the DC landscape
The Washington monument andother sites provide a telling background.

Indian Wars notation
One group's war for "Manifest Destiny" is another group's process of ethnic cleansing. As wth all history, recognizing perspectives is a path to knowing the truth.

Honoring Vets
At these mentioned areas of Rome, Tunisia and Southern Europe is where my Grandfather served in WW II.

Gettysburg Address
Perhaps one of the more famous American speeches

Comments

[Okmi Jo]

Hi Nate, when did you take a tour of DC? Me and my niece took a visit to DC in March of this year. We really enjoyed the trip very much and walked A LOT of course. The pool between the Washington memorial and the Lincoln memorial was under construction when we were there. We didn't get to see the cherry blossoms either but we can save that for the next trip. How long did you stay in DC? Okmi.

[gypsy_teacher]

Very nice!
Cool, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed DC as well, it's a fun place! Walking around the Mall was certainly different. I was there for around 4-5 days, and I just remember being overwhelmed by the history. Okay, best wishes for your next vacation!