DC Life
#1 Washington Redskins Fan: Lily
Let's start with the weather - it's crazy here! I love the thunderstorms. There was one storm with flashing lightning that made 3am look like daytime. That same storm also caused a power outage at our apartment for a few hours. And on my first day of work, I walked to the metro station (10 blocks away) in a downpour and was so wet by the time I reached the metro, it felt like I had jumped in a pool. Other than the thunderstorms, it's been 90-95 degrees every day except 1-2 days (DC just set a new record for most 90+ degree days in a year). Luckily our apartment and schools where we work have a/c.
Trev and I are both a few weeks into our jobs. Trev works with 3-year-olds and has a really cool co-teacher. She invited us to a movie night in the park in Virginia a few weeks ago. Trev also does after school care with 4th & 5th graders. He works 10.5 -12 hour days - I don't know how he does it!My job is just as challenging and enlightening as I had hoped for. I'm a dedicated aide for an autistic student in the 3rd grade. While I do help my student with one-on-one tutoring throughout the day, I spend a lot of time doing various errands for the principal/dean, assisting with classroom management, and helping other teachers. The students are surprisingly violent. They do not fear authority and most of them do not want to be in school. I broke up over 20 fist fights in the first two weeks. It's interesting watching the teachers and administration implement different tools and programs to turnaround this school. The first two weeks were very frustrating for the teachers, so we'll see how it goes.
D.C. Adventures:
We took the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument at 8:30pm after one of my soccer games on the National Mall. The visibility was great and it was fun to see all of the buildings lit up. On the elevator ride down we got to see some of the original stairs to the top of the monument (the guide said that they may open the stairs up to the public again in the Spring).
We toured the Washington Nationals ballpark.
We got to see different suites, the president's club, a broadcast booth, the indoor batting cages, and the Nationals' locker room. We even got to walk on the field and throw a pitch from the Nationals' bullpen (Trev and I were the only ones to throw strikes). There were a lot of images and placards about the history of baseball, in particular, the National's (formerly the Senators, Twins, and Rangers) baseball team. What's Next?
As you can tell by the image at the top of this blog (Lily in her new Redskins outfit) we are excited for football season to start! Go Redskins and Chargers!
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