We arrived in DC around 11 AM Thursday morning and checked in, settled in, took our laptops and waited in the lobby for everyone else to arrive. Getting to greet everyone felt like a reunion even though we all just saw each other on Tuesday at school. The excitement was a good tone to start the trip. After everyone arrived, I went to swim, which was GREAT. I did several laps and then floated around; it was the first time in weeks my back hasn’t hurt. At 7:00 the group of 70 kids and parents gathered in our conference room for dinner and announcements. The students quickly dispersed after dinner but the grown-ups lingered for awhile. It is so refreshing to have grown-up talk after spending all day every day teaching adolescents. (Love ‘em, but it’s nice to talk to adults.)
Friday morning was our Capitol building tour. The tour was supposed to start at 9:40, so we got on the Metro at 8:15. Part of my responsibilities as a group leader is to make sure my group understands the Metro. William led the way down to the platform while I waited for my group to pass, reminding everyone to stand on the right side of the escalator so the commuters could rush down the left. Getting 24 people unfamiliar with the Metro system to stay together and then get on the right train is a little like herding cats. After the first stop, we somehow ended up with a couple people from another of our school’s group. How they ended up with us, we don’t know. However, all 70 people made it without major incident to the front of the Capitol. Then the fun really began. Joy, our intrepid leader, set off to try to find where we were supposed to be. We knew we were supposed to enter through the new visitor center, but there is absolutely no signage anywhere indicating the entrance. Turns out, it’s after a twisty sidewalk on the backside of the Capitol, down some stairs, still with no signs. Then we went through security: no food, no drinks, no liquids of any kind, and no pointy objects. Many people had packed water and snacks for the entire day and had to throw them away, some had antibacterial spray, and William had to chuck his money clip because it has a blade. After getting everyone through security, we had to go down another flight of steps, and then Joy and William got in line to check in and get our tour going. Time: 9:43. Tour: cancelled. The boy at the front desk offered our group 8 tickets for the 1:30 tour to make up for it. Fortunately, a supervisor came over and told us we could get in the 10:10 and distributed our stickers for it. Except for the part where they didn’t give us enough so Joy couldn’t go on the tour, the supervisor handled it well. But seriously, why would the cancel a tour of 70 people? Surely there is a better system of handling groups that have been in the building for 30 minutes, just not able to get downstairs to check in. Either that or they could put some flippin’ signs up so tour groups will actually know how to get to the visitor center without having to wander around the perimeter of the place. At about 10:40, our tour finally started. After being handled fairly incompetently by the visitor center staff, a couple workers had the audacity to bark at us to hurry up and get into the movie room that starts the tour. Really? We have to stand there for an hour because you are inefficient and incompetent, and then you’re going to yell at us? Yeah, no. The movie was interesting, at least. Then we went into another big room to stand in another line, where some of our group got shunted off to join some other people, and most of us got in another line, where a random Japanese couple was somehow among our number. Our tour guide, Ron, was fantastic. He made up for the annoyance of the morning. He was enthusiastic, extremely knowledgeable, and addressed the students directly instead of the adults, which I appreciated. He explained the apotheosis of Washing, the painting in the rotunda, pointing out the Greek gods and goddesses imparting wisdom to the US leaders. He told us all about the painting and statues, where they came from, and the controversies around what statue and of whom went where in the building. He demonstrated the whisper room, which even though I’ve heard it several times, never gets old. Although the tour was short, it was super informative. Then we ate lunch in the new café, and it was delicious, albeit overpriced.
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