History and His Story

Good evening everyone from a cloudy Arlington, VA! I hope that you all are having a good week. Also, I hope that everyone had a happy Easter! Anyway, here are a couple highlights from the past week.
Last Saturday, the 4th, I went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and spent most of my day there. There were a whole lot of things that I saw from different time periods. Among the items from the American Revolution, I saw George Washington's sword and Ben Franklin's cane. I also saw the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner". A couple pop culture references that I saw included Dorothy's slippers and the puppet of Count von Count. In the category of sport-related items, I saw a pair of Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and a pair of Apolo Ohno's speed skates. Based on the china and dresses that I saw in the First Ladies' Exhibit, it appears that a lot of things have changed over time, which on one hand isn't surprising, but for some reason I was expecting more consistency in china used at the White House. While I could write for ages about all the things I saw, I feel like that would make people bored. In other words, to find out what else is at the American History Museum, you will have to visit there yourself.
Sunday the 5th was Easter Sunday! The night before I prepared small Easter baskets for my roommates and left them on their bedside tables. (For the record, one of my roommates was spending time with her family while another was with her boyfriend, so no I did not sneak into their rooms while they were asleep in order to place the baskets.) I went to church early in order to see 7 people get baptized, of which most of them were children. The baptisms took place at the swimming pool of the hotel that the church is located. (This may be a bit reminiscent to Prepare people.) A couple pastors asked some of the kids if they were sure they wanted to be baptized right before they were baptized, which caused a bit of laughter. I thought that the Easter baptisms were well-timed, considering all of the symbolism involved in baptism and how Easter in some ways parallels baptism. After the baptisms was of course Easter service, which entailed joyous singing and hearing of the Resurrection and of when Jesus appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection. Unfortunately Easter was also the last service that my friend from church who is also originally from MN attended since she moved back to MN this week. Hopefully we shall see each other again once I return to MN. Unfortunately after Easter service, it was back to the apartment to do homework. Needless to say, this Easter felt off since it was the first time that I spent Easter separated from my family.
There is still so much to see and do, but so little time to do it as time is slipping away... Next week will have more tales of adventure. Enjoy your week everyone!