January 17th, 2009

Today was…interesting. I left about 9:30AM and met a few other students on my flight who were also attending the University Presidential Inaugural Conference. One girl, Julia, is from Montana, Kevin is from California, and Kate, a girl from the U who I haven’t ever met before. All were really smart and friendly – we were having an intellectual conversation about anarchy and communism about an hour into the flight.

Delta thankfully has TV available during their flights, so I took advantage and watched the Obama Express train on CNN. Obama has modeled his train trip after Lincoln’s trip to his inauguration, during which he made over 100 speeches in 70 cities over 12 days. Obama’s trip is only two days and he’s only making a couple of speeches, but as I watched how he took the time to walk out into crowds and shake hands, speak about ordinary people and call them heroes, and stand out on the back of the train in the freezing cold to wave to people standing along the tracks, I felt so blessed to be able to experience history this week.

On another interesting note, Governor Huntsman sat a few rows ahead of me, and Spike Lee, a famous director, was sitting in first class.

When we landed, I was reminded about how much I love D.C. It is such a beautiful place even in the bitter cold. From the plane we could see the Washington Monument; the Potomac had huge ice chunks floating in it and I wondered how on earth the founding fathers survived without central heating.

I got safely to the baggage claim and immediately experienced a sense of déjà-vu. It wasn’t until after I had been shuffled onto a bus and been told to be quiet to listen to instructions that I figured out what it was: I felt like I was on high school field trip. Oh well, right? I am counting on having a good experience and I know that I play a big part in how much I enjoy this. I’ve already made some friends and I’m obviously in the company of future leaders.

There are about 5,000 people enrolled in the University Presidential Inaugural Conference, spread out in about 6 hotels across D.C. I am staying in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, the main hub of activities – thank heavens. The participants staying at other hotels either have to be shuttled in or walk.

My roommate, Jackie, is from Minnesota and was a McCain supporter so she isn’t too gung-ho about the inauguration… I held myself back from saying anything too snide. ☺

We had a mediocre dinner (I didn’t have a chance to get lunch so at that point I needed something substantial – which the dinner wasn’t) and then listened to a speech from Luke Russert, NBC correspondent and son of the late Tim Russert. He spoke on how youth have begun to change the face of politics and our role in the recent election. Then he talked about his own experiences and advised us to get involved and champion a cause, no matter what it is – whether we are black or white, homosexual or heterosexual, man or woman. I really enjoyed it.

My room is pretty nice and I have my own bed, so hopefully I can get a good night’s sleep. Well, as good a night’s sleep as I can get when I have to wake up at 4:30AM.

See you soon for the next installment of Caitlin’s Inaugural Adventure.