After jumping through hoops for the past four days to try and get Internet set up in our apartment, we finally got it working!! So I will catch you up on the past few days. (If you don't care about what was happening in class, just scroll down to the last paragraph where I talk about finding Tex-Mex in Washington, D.C.) Happy reading!

On Wednesday, the 14th I got here with my parents. We spent a few days exploring Alexandria and a little of D.C. Then Saturday came around, and it was time for the class to meet. We had dinner at Mai Thai, which was actually really good! I hadn't ever had Thai food, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it really impressed me.

Then on Sunday we went to the CBS studios and got to meet our school's namesake, Bob Schieffer (a.k.a. "Uncle Bob"). We watched the "Face the Nation" broadcast from the control room, and got to see the chaotic life of a live TV show. There were multiple guests, but the main two were former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. I don't have much time to talk at length about the show itself, but it was really interesting to see the show from the production side of it. There is so much that goes into producing just one hour of television. After the broadcast, we got to meet Bob, his wife and some of the staff. We also got to take the standard Schieffer School in Washington picture with "Uncle Bob."

On Monday we went to the U.S. Capitol building and met with District 12 (Fort Worth's district) Representative Kay Granger's chief of staff. One of her employees took us around on a private tour of the Capitol. You don't realize how much you walk on that tour until you look from the street to see the amount of ground it covers! After our talk with Rep. Granger, we spoke with Senator John Cornyn's press secretary. We did not have much of a tour of the building, but we got to see a little more of D.C.

Today, Tuesday, we got to visit the offices of POLITICO and Public Strategies Washington. We got to have a discussion with three head editors at POLITICO, including the assistant managing editor and senior web producer. It was a great experience to talk to so many people who know so much and are so invested in the nation's politics. It is talking to people like these that renew my faith in journalism. It reminds me that there are journalists out there who are in this profession for the right reason and like doing what they do. Then at Public Strategies Washington we got to see how a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., operates. It was quite interesting to see what they do because I had no idea going into it what a lobbying firm really did. All I knew was the term "lobbying firm."

As for non-class related happenings. I went to dinner with the girls, except for Mariah, who decided to go work out. We found a Mexican food (Tex-Mex) restaurant called Austin Grill. As you might infer from the name, it was Texas themed. We really branched out there! My judge for a Tex-Mex restaurant is its cheese enchiladas. As far as Tex-Mex goes in D.C., it wasn't too bad. To me, though, being born and raised in Texas, it didn't quite hit my standard. Don't get me wrong, it was still very good. It just wasn't Larry's Mexican Restaurant quality! They did have some pretty good chips and salsa and frozen strawberry margaritas, though. They were especially good when we were sitting at our table by the window watching the rain fall, just waiting it out and waiting for our check.