Weekend in CT

 After terrible traffic, I finally got to CT on Friday just after 1 AM. (I guess that's technically Saturday!)

After a late sleep in, we headed to Tokeneke for some sun, hot dogs, and swimming.

Later in the day, we went into the city. We spent a while in the Strand Bookstore, which was awesome!

It's a giant bookstore, like a warehouse, but get this -- the books are second hand!

It was really cool.

For dinner, we found this place called the Antique Garage, which was really cool. I had a delicious flatbread gorgonzola cheese pizza. And then coconut ice cream with chocolate-covered almonds for dessert.

On Sunday, we pottered and watched the CONCAF Gold Cup finals (the US beat Panama, btw.) Then it was a 5:15pm train to NYC to catch the bus back to DC!

Second round of Ben Franklin "A Day at State"

This is the room where we had the simulation!

Blurb about the three-week program from the website:

Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute

The Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute, a program of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, began in 2006 to commemorate the 300thanniversary of birth of Benjamin Franklin, the legendary American statesman and diplomat, whose career, interests, and studies took him across the Atlantic Ocean, bringing about better understanding between Americans and Europeans. As a diplomat and a printer, he used the power of diplomacy and the media to increase the exchange of information between Americans and the people of other countries.  The 2013 Summer Institute guides US and European participants to examine what we need to know about each other to communicate better and to face the many challenges of the 21st century together. The Institute also explores how young people interact with media, both as consumers and producers of information, and how the freedom of expression provides rights and imposes responsibilities on citizens.

The 2013 Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute is bringing together a group of diverse and intellectually curious students from Europe and the United States aged 16 to 18 to participate in an intensive four-week exchange program on the campus of Purdue University. We see the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute as an academically and intellectually rigorous, socially and culturally diverse, and practically valuable forum for European and American youth.The Institute will offer a combination of interactive classes, seminars, workshops, webinars, and teleconferences presented by prominent scholars and specialists in international relations, diplomacy, communication, media, civic education, and science.

The Secretary's Iftar

http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2013/07/25/celebrating-religious-freedom-secretary-states-iftar

Charlottesville, Virginia!

On Friday night, I went to a Harvard/Yale mixer on a rooftop in downtown DC. Below, you can see a picture of the Capitol and the DC skyline. It was actually really fun! Hot dogs, hamburgers, lots of desserts and drinks, and meeting new people. I stayed for almost three hours, then headed back to pack for Charlottesville!

On Saturday, I took the bus down to Charlottesville. Mia met me at the station. Below, you can see the sign they drew for me!

This ^^ is Ben. I fell head over heels for this guy. He's psychotically enthusiastic about absolutely everything. 

On Saturday afternoon, we walked around UVA and got froyo. Here are a few pictures of UVA: 

I got the behind-the-scenes tour, which included many of the private "pavilion" gardens.

Mia and I went shopping in Charlottesville, and found the most awesome toy store ever! I bought glow in the dark stars for my room and a little parachute man and miniature velociraptor for Chris.

On Saturday night, we all watched Silver Linings Playbook.

On Sunday, we had pancakes for breakfast. Then we got in the car to drive up to the mountains. We stopped to go peach picking and buy a quart of peach ice cream for the picnic.

When we got to the top of the mountain, it was beautiful.

We went swimming in the neighbor's pool and had a picnic.

Then the storm came rolling in though. 

Before we knew it, it was pouring and thundering and lightening! We didn't want to be stuck up there long enough for me to miss my bus, so we started to drive back down the mountain. It was a little scary until we got under good tree cover. We got back with some time to spare, so Mia and I watched another episode of Gilmore Girls.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I made it back to the city by 10pm.

Paddle Boating on the Potomac

GW has been doing construction on the dorm rooms while we're living in them! They came in the other day while I was at work to patch the areas that will need to be repainted. ^^

This is Chris, acting like a Dementor. He is the epitome of photogenic. ^^

We take tourism very seriously. ^^

View of the World War II memorial, with the Lincoln Memorial behind.

Holocaust Museum! We didn't get to see the permanent exhibits, but we saw the special exhibits. ^^

This is the "Children's Wall" at the Holocaust Museum. I really liked the exhibit on collaboration. It was very disturbing though.

Then we went paddle boating on the Potomac!

On Saturday night, we watched My Fair Lady. Chris had never seen it before. We've spent most of the time since quoting Rex Harrison's songs, especially "Let a Woman in Your Life!" ^^

After brunch on Sunday, we strolled by the White House and tried to spy on Barry :P 

Ben Franklin Program

The Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute for Youth  is a program funded by the U.S. State Department that focuses on leadership, international relations, social entrepreneurship, and civic engagement to prepare the Fellows for their role as engaged citizens. The Fellows are 16-18-year-old students who come from 35 different Western, Eastern European, and Eurasian countries, as well as numerous U.S. states.

We got T-shirts afterwards!

Hot and Sweaty Weekend

Saturday was laundry day. But I also spent a while exploring Georgetown.

There was an outdoor craft market that I visited. I chatted for a while with a man who was selling posters. His father had been a diplomat. He told me that the culture back then was pretty unhealthy-- lots and lots of alcoholism.

Phoebe, that's the cupcake place that they have the TV show about! Look at how long the line was! Remember it was close to 100 degrees outside...

On Sunday, Shelby and I visited the National Archives:

We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. No photos allowed, though. 

We also went for a walk in the White House gardens. Here's a picture of the many Egyptian protesters who are upset that Morsi has been ousted, because they argue he was fairly elected and therefore represents a democratic choice. 

Then I was off to meet Sonya for coffee. 

And here's the other new dress I got! It's a little bit short for work, but it's really comfortable, and I feel comfortable wearing it with ballet flats on days when no international visitor groups are coming.