Inauguration 2009 Festivities: We Are One Concert

wow! this is going to be such a crazy weekend! authorities have been reporting that millions of people are planning on being in the DC area for this Inauguration and it definitely has shown! our neighborhood is full of people walking, biking, trying to find parking. it is so great to see people out and about, even though it is 19 degrees outside! (I am never hating complaining about a Fresno winter. walking to work in 12 degree weather is no fun! I'm never complaining again.)

to kick off the weekend of festivities before Obama's swearing in ceremony, there was a huge free concert on the "stage" of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall today to celebrate Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and the other amazing achievements of social justice advocates.

my view from the closest street before security check points:


the "stage" of the Lincoln:


the "We Are One" concert featured musical artists and actors singing songs and reading historical passages. I dashed as quickly as I could from church to get over to the Mall. I wasn't able to get through the security check point to be in the section closest to the Lincoln Memorial, but there were large, jumbo-tron screens set-up along the Mall towards the Washington Monument that projected the concert. my housemate Annabeth and I had difficultly finding a place to view the screen because we are so short! it is at moments like that where I wish I was a few inches taller to be able to see over people!



Denzel Washington opened the concert with a reading on the theme "We Are One."


Bruce Springsteen sang his newly famous song "The Rising."


Mary J. Blige sang an uhMAEzing version of "Lean On Me." people around us were singing, dancing, and clapping in celebration! such life and love to share!


even Steve Carrel was a presenter! it was really hard to take him seriously, taking about the Civil Rights movement when my brain kept hearing Michael Scott!


U2 was a big highlight of the concert. the crowd was so energized during their song.


the screens showed Obama rockin' out a couple times and it made everyone laugh seeing him nod his head to the music.


one of the best performances, that I wasn't able to get a picture of, was Stevie Wonder, Usher, and Shakira singing "Higher Ground." Stevie is definitely someone that I want to see in concert.

an uhMAEzing two hour concert all celebrating the hopes and dreams of the American people and the next administration! so exciting!


trying to take a metro train back from the concert would have been a nightmare. instead of walked home, not too far, around 3 miles. on the way, conveniently, I stopped by the White House. my life is so different this year and I hope to learn about from 2009!

1st week in DC and 1st day of preschool!

this week has flown by so fast! I am glad to report I feel more settled, more familiar with my new house and job, but it still doesn't feel like I am living in DC. it still feels like I will be going home from this vacation soon. how about going home in one year?!

today was the first day of school!
here is the traditional "first day of school" picture my Mom requested!



these last four work days I have been getting our preschool classroom ready, getting acquainted with the school's operation and staff. (we played a mean game of softball at a staff retreat Tuesday! it brought back memories of the staff v. campers traditional game at Keola!) today I made five new friends, five cute little Hispanic girls whose mother's are enrolled in Mary's Center's English/computer classes. we had two great sessions together, playing with blocks, coloring different shapes, and taking a walk to the park! I am slowly learning how to communicated with these non-English speaking. I relied most on smiles, bright eyes, and willing hands to try to lessen the language gap. and these girls were so dear to me! at times they thought it funny when I was doing something completely different from their request. I frequently found myself laughing at our miscommunication. I so desperately wanted to be able to help right away. I pray that this situation won't be frustrating over time. overall, I feel that this job will bring so much fun to my life this year. I will definitely have many stories and pictures of all of my new preschool friends!

here are some pictures of my classroom!













as you can see, the room is overloaded with color and activities! I feel that this year will bring back my preschool days of coloring, make-believe, and silly songs. and what a year that will be! so fun!

I am working my magic as an artful teacher. (which is quite out of my element as I definitely did not have many, if any, art projects as a math major!) I made this game to help the kids recognize shapes and colors.



thanks for taking the tour of my classroom!