For me, the morning started early. I am notoriously bad at dealing with jetlag, so one week after we first came, I am happy to be able to say I slept all the way until 5 AM. This morning I didn't even try to stay in bed longer, so I went to the breakfast area and found out that they do, in fact, serve breakfast at 5 AM...
To a crowd of almost exclusively construction workers and game hunters. So that was fun.
Then there was a bit of panic as everyone packed their suitcases, trying to find space for new purchases among dirty clothing before Ms. Lawrence came at 8:15 to check. Many of us (myself included) had not thought ahead and didn't leave extra space in our luggage. When Ms. Lawrence did come around, the amount of clothing designated to be left behind shocked her. Thankfully the clothing was saved by Ildar, who brought a suitcase big enough for all of us. Props to Ildar, whom we teased in Almaty for having a suitcase big enough to smuggle three small children in. We were wrong. You were right. Thanks for letting me borrow your shirt.
And then we were off! Off to the National Museum of American History, which we found underwhelming. The exhibition to space ratio is really skewed. There will be lots of space for small amounts of objects. I am from DC, so I understand that this ratio is purposefully skewed to accommodate the masses of tourists that come from like April to September, but to first-timers in the off-tourist season, I'm sure it does seem lame.
From there we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very well done. Everything was presented in a . . . very personal way. There was no censorship of information, of photos, of stories. At the beginning they ask everyone to take a card from a stack of cards. On the inside is the name, photo, and story of someone who died in the Holocaust. It felt like we were traveling through the exhibits with ghosts in our pockets. In one room, photos from a shtetl (jewish community) filled the walls from floor to ceiling. That entire community was exterminated in the Holocaust. The Nazis killed so many people, ruined so many lives. The whole experience was eye-opening and sobering.
After the museum we walked over to the Washington Monument. It was very windy. We enjoyed the view. We enjoyed lunch almost as much.
To a crowd of almost exclusively construction workers and game hunters. So that was fun.
Then there was a bit of panic as everyone packed their suitcases, trying to find space for new purchases among dirty clothing before Ms. Lawrence came at 8:15 to check. Many of us (myself included) had not thought ahead and didn't leave extra space in our luggage. When Ms. Lawrence did come around, the amount of clothing designated to be left behind shocked her. Thankfully the clothing was saved by Ildar, who brought a suitcase big enough for all of us. Props to Ildar, whom we teased in Almaty for having a suitcase big enough to smuggle three small children in. We were wrong. You were right. Thanks for letting me borrow your shirt.
And then we were off! Off to the National Museum of American History, which we found underwhelming. The exhibition to space ratio is really skewed. There will be lots of space for small amounts of objects. I am from DC, so I understand that this ratio is purposefully skewed to accommodate the masses of tourists that come from like April to September, but to first-timers in the off-tourist season, I'm sure it does seem lame.
From there we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very well done. Everything was presented in a . . . very personal way. There was no censorship of information, of photos, of stories. At the beginning they ask everyone to take a card from a stack of cards. On the inside is the name, photo, and story of someone who died in the Holocaust. It felt like we were traveling through the exhibits with ghosts in our pockets. In one room, photos from a shtetl (jewish community) filled the walls from floor to ceiling. That entire community was exterminated in the Holocaust. The Nazis killed so many people, ruined so many lives. The whole experience was eye-opening and sobering.
After the museum we walked over to the Washington Monument. It was very windy. We enjoyed the view. We enjoyed lunch almost as much.
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