Washington DC

Hello! I have been in Washington D.C. for the last two days doing a pre-departure orientation for my trip to Poland. Yesterday, we spend the whole day at the Polish embassy, which is beautiful. It was built in the early 1900s and is still housed in the same building as original establishment. We had presentations on Polish culture and a brief history of U.S./Polish relations. They served us a lunch of Polish foods as well. I ate mostly bread! You know me..picky eater! Lots of meats in every dish.

Today, we visited the Catholic University of America, which is absolutely beautiful. They are one of the largest Catholic universities and they are pontificated, which means they are authorized by the Vatican to provide Catholic education in the United States. They are the only US Catholic university to hold that honor. Its a small school in terms of student body in comparison with larger American universities. Their student body total, including graduate and undergraduate students, is around 7200 students. You do not have to be Catholic to attend and they do offer more than just Catholic theology/religion courses. They also have a strong study abroad program with ties to many schools worldwide, including Poland.

We also visited the Basilica of the Shrine of Immaculate Conception in D.C. The architecture and mosiacs in this building is amazing. Its definitely worth a visit if you come to D.C. There are different chapels for many countries around the world.

We had some free time after our orientation was done so three other women and I went to the Holocaust Museum here in D.C. It was a thought provoking and wonderful experience. I highly recommend coming here to see the museum. You walk through the museum in a chronological tour from the beginning of Hitler's rise to power all the way to the end of the war. The images and memorabilia are amazing. I went through the whole museum and I know I did not see everything there was to see. I think any person who can manage to visit should because it is important to "Never forget" as the slogan says. I am looking forward to visiting Auschwitz Birkenau and seeing some of the real belongings that were only photographed at the museum.

I have met some wonderful people here already and I am excited to share my trip with them. I miss Colton, my family, and my friends immensely but having nice people around makes the trip more bearable. I know I will have great experiences while in Poland and I am so grateful for this opportunity. I do know that I will be so excited to get back to the U.S. and marry Colton!

I leave for Poland tomorrow! Until next time, blessings!