Welcome to Washington, D.C.

My adventures as a Marshall Scholar began with an early trip to the airport, flying out of Lewiston, Idaho. I had to fly out of Idaho because I had just spent the last three weeks living with my parents in Joseph, Oregon, for which Idaho is the closest airport. We spent the night before I flew out at a campground in Washington, before driving over the border early in the morning. Saying goodbye to the parents was very difficult, but we handled it as best as we could and I was off for Washington, D.C.

I landed at Washington around 4pm and met up with another Marshall Scholar from Oregon, Jacob White, and we split a cab together to D.C. I had not been to D.C. since my trip there at the end of the 8^th grade, where we also went to New York. Our hotel was near Dupont circle, about a 10 minute walk from the White House and 15 minutes from the Washington Monument. The hotel was beautiful, and a frequent spot where foreign guests of the British embassy stay.

My hotel room, a room with two beds, though this photo does not show the other.

After a quick rest and an hour of college football (the Ducks were playing), I went down to the lobby to meet the other 7 Marshall Scholars that arrived a day early from the west coast. The group was fantastic, a number of amazing people, and we quickly were ushered into cabs to leave for an Indian restaurant, a type of food very common in the United Kingdom. Dinner was a great three-course tour of Indian food, with excellent spicy curry. At dinner I had a chance to talk with a former Marshall living in Switzerland, who helps organize the annual Marshall Thanksgiving dinner at Oxford. I also talked with the head of the Association for Marshall Scholars, the alumni group organizing Marshall Scholars past and present in the United States.

After dinner, six of the Marshalls and me walked around Washington, D.C. for an hour or two talking and enjoying a (happily) cool evening in D.C. before heading to sleep. Although I knew I had a big day tomorrow, it did not start until 2:30pm, so we could sleep in as late as we wanted. Jacob and I opted to get up as early as possible the next day and enjoy as much as we could of D.C.!