Delays, DC and Rain

Good bye NYC
Lllllllloooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg day Saturday. We ended our Gilder Lehrman program about 11 am Saturday. We checked out of the dorms and headed to our homes, vacations, or for some of us….nowhere. My ride to the Newark, NJ airport was supposed to arrive at 2 pm. Had I known we were going to end so early, I would have tried to find an earlier flight. As it is, my flight was not until 6:45. The ride didn’t show up until 3 pm. It was a hot day on the sunny side of the street in NYC. The shuttle had very little a/c and the driver was scary. I think all of us on the shuttle were to creeped out to say anything.

Upon arriving at the airport, I quickly got rid of the 46.5 pound bag and headed to security. There, I was told I was at the wrong terminal. Good thing I had time to kill. Once I was in the right place, the board lit up that the Norfolk flight would be delayed until 7:45. Great. At 7:15, the plane shows up…with a flat tire. So, now we are delayed until 9 pm. I got home about 10:45…washed three loads of clothes and packed them in the bag to leave in the morning. I went to bed about 2:30 am…ridiculous.

My mom said she didn’t know who Gilder Lehrman was, so here is the deal. Gilder Lehrman is actually two people who have a foundation that collects historical documents. They have thousands. These documents are available to teachers and students. There are Gilder Lehrman schools and grants. I have been very fortunate to have been awarded two summer seminars by GLI…the Gilded Age (in NYC) and the Great Depression and WWII (at Stanford). These are TOP notch programs. They have award winning professors teaching the classes. It is a great honor to have these opportunities. You can only apply for these programs every two years.

Saturday, I was up and driving to DC by 9 am. The traffic was smooth sailing into the city. Leaving the city it looked like a parking lot. I arrived at George Washington University at 1:30, but they wouldn’t let me register at the dorm until 3. So, I tried to navigate the city. Silly me. One should not drive the wrong way on a one way street.

At 3 pm, we were given our room assignments. New dorm +, private bath + (sort of)…I think I share with the person next door, but I haven’t seen them yet…maybe there isn’t one.

We met at the Decatur House. It is in Lafayette Square behind the White House. The topic of this week is Race and Place in DC. I’ll give you the details as they happen. The opening session was really great. Most of the people have been to other seminars like this. BTW, this one is put on by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I am doing two of the seminars this summer.

While we were having dinner, it started POURING. It was sunny when I walked the 12 blocks here. I didn’t bring an umbrella….I was a soppy puppy by the time I got back. The dorm next door had a fire alarm go off and all the residents were standing out in the rain. Police had blocked off the streets. I took a hot shower and I’m going to catch up on some sleep now.

PS I have no internet in the dorm, so I’m going to get friendly with Starbucks occasionally. See you when the coffee is hot.