My First Few Days

Well let me start off by saying that I have never experienced anything close to what I have experienced in DC these last five days. It is entirely incomparable. The closest I could get is comparing DC to Disneyland except everywhere you would normally see a Mickey Mouse picture you instead see an Obama picture, statue or display. Everyone here is fired up and ready to go. I was traveling back from the big inaugural concert they held on the National Mall, which I will cover in more detail below, I had to pack tight into the subway like a sardine. Usually when you stuff a large amount of people in a very small space people get cranky. Not this week! Everyone is loving on each other, talking to each other, and for sure there are a ton of smiles on every one's face. The city has such electricity in the air and I am definitely caught up in the vibrant current.

I was privileged enough to attend the concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. The list of celebrities and performances included Denzel Washington, Bruce Springsteen, Laura Linney, Martin Luther King III, Mary J. Blige, Steve Carell, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bon Jovi, Bettye LaVette, Tom Hanks, James Taylor, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, Marisa Tomei, John Mellencamp, Queen Latifah, Josh Groban, Heather Headley, George Lopez, Kal Penn, will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, Tiger Woods, Jack Black, Rosario Dawson, Garth Brooks, Ashley Judd, Forest Whitaker, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Shakira, Samuel L. Jackson, U2, Beyonce, and of course Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and the First Family. It was a phenomenal experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have posted pictures of the event on my facebook if you would like to see where I was and what I saw.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2073959&l=c0dda&id=56904304

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2073960&l=829f7&id=56904304

I can remember more that four years ago my mom, dad and I sitting around the kitchen table watching the then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama deliver his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. My parents and I knew we had witnessed something special that day but I never thought I would be able to be present when this self-proclaimed skinny man with a funny name would ascend to the highest office in the land.

My trip to DC has not even completed its first week and already I have felt so blessed to be here at this time, at this moment in history. This time will be a time that we speak to our children and grandchildren about. I urge all of you to put aside your political affiliation and just bask in the incredible achievement for progress. This is momentous to say the very least and I cannot express how humbled I feel to be allowed to be so close to the action.

As many of you close to me know that this year has been a difficult one for me. It has been full of challenges and struggles but I truly believe that I am a better man for it. I too am trying to bask in my progress instead of turning to negativity and self pity. I want to thank everyone that has somehow helped me in my time of need or reached out to me when I needed a friend. Rest assured I am happy and I feel now more than any other point in my 20 years of life that I am a blessed and privileged man. I feel as though wants me where I am now and I am content in that notion. Especially when it just so happens that he wants me in that nation's capitol during the most positive, significant historical event of my lifetime. But onlu do I feel that he wants me "here" in the geographical sense but also at this impasse in my life as well. I have and desire the chance to grow in my faith and in my relationships. My chance is here and my time is now to do just that.

I promise in my next enrty I will discuss more about the people I have met in my program, how my courses are going, new friends I have made, how I am dealing with the "harsh" weather and maybe even how I am doing being a vegitarian during the week for at least until Feb. 15. I dont know what has been more difficult, the near 0 degree weather or forging meat during the week. And of course I will talk about my day at the inauguration ceremony. Until then please comment on my blog and feel free to call me or text me anytime. Thank you friends.