Day 5 - March on Georgetown (12-03-08)

As strange as it may sound, there is no centralized Ministry of Culture in the United States. There are separate institutions, which take care of the development of the education system. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is the agency responsible for various programs in the humanities. In the official conference room of the agency, which made us feel, as if we were spending time in the Harvard Club, we talked to several prominent members of the NEH staff. The recent projects of the NEH include the curriculum for the history and art teachers, “Picturing America”. On the examples of various works of art or craftwork, the children can learn how the American identity has been visually expressed throughout the history. NEH offers numerous opportunities in the Division of Research Programs to support young creative teachers. Go to http://www.edsitement.neh.gov to learn more about the numerous subjects researched by the NEH.

The NEH is located in the Old Post Office Building. Only George Washington Monument is higher than the tower of the Old Post Office, so, basically, you can’t get any higher, since the Monument is closed for tourists. We all agreed that Washington D.C. is as beautiful from the bird’s eye view, as from squirrel’s (if you’ve been to D.C., you know what we mean). After our unsuccessful attempts to undercover some secret actions inside of the FBI building with our camera zooms, we continued exploring the mall-character of the Post Office Building, eating sandwiches, buying gifts and counting the steps to the restrooms.

But even the most brilliant students of the American Studies gave up on counting the steps to Georgetown, when they saw the White House, which we passed once again to catch the better view, than the last time, by the traumatic impression of our first day trip (rain plus wind plus cold plus outside equals trauma). Having taken all the possible “one-day-I’m-gonna-live-in-that-house”-face pictures, we started marching. We marched and marched and marched and marched and marched. Then we marched a little more and reached Georgetown (by the end of March).

Georgetown is a neighborhood named after… No, there will be no surprises: after George Washington (one of the things you should know about D.C. is that if something is named after someone, he really was someone). Much could be told about Georgetown, but three things are especially significant: it is the location of the Georgetown University Campus, it is full of tiny pre-civil war buildings located on hilly roads, and it is the contemporary hipster neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Georgetown University Library is pretty indescribable. Its endless resources (name it – they have it) are available to everyone, who has a picture ID. On the one hand the library holds copies of Thomas More’s “Utopia” and a copy of Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer” annotated by the author. On the other hand, the library staff will be helpful with assisting you researching for university papers. Nicholas Sheetz, the manuscript librarian at the Georgetown University, was our host at the archives and at the quite impressive old university library. He also invited us to “Tombs” a “typical university hangout” at Georgetown University.

One must say, there are not many shops around the Mall, although the name would suggest the opposite. Commercial activities are generally unwished in the city center, since its image should be as symbolic and serious as possible. Eager to spend our dollars in a really American way, hungry for bargains, cheap jeans and other gotta-haves, we headed for M-Street, the shopping area of Georgetown. We just did it: we had it our way because we’re worth it. And we were loving it.