First week in Washington DC.

My fellow Fulbrighters

 I have never been to DC. To step foot into the US and start the first week of orientation at the capital of this great country is indeed a wonderful treat. More than the sights and sound of the city, is the wonderful people I have grown to enjoy - my fellow Fulbrighters from the other countries. It is always good to interact with people of similar passions and drive. They have grown to become a family, a community, a home away from home. I have learnt many things from them and from the speakers IIE has arranged for us doing this week of orientation. I will share a bit more in the later posts.

Washington DC is a great city of a great nation. But I think what makes a nation great is not just the great people the make up the nation, but also the values that undergirded the foundation of the nation. America has always stood for freedom, inclusiveness and opportunity. Great principles to create an environment where people can excel and be all that they can be.

The orientation week was packed to say the least. The only free day we had was on the 14th and that's the day after we landed.

I had time to walk around a little - getting my new phone number, a Smartrip card to get around town, and a zipcar card to rent a car should I need one. I also realised there's a Starbucks everywhere I went. The coffee is not that great, but I don't have much of a choice for now. We had a chance to do an evening city bus tour - which was great. Some of the sights are depicted here in this post. It was really cool to finally be at the Lincoln memorial and to read the Gettysburg address.  Its words cemented some of my beliefs about this nation, which I wrote above.