Model UN - DC Trip

In early November, Elizabeth spent six days with her Model United Nations class in Washington, D.C., where they attended the National Model United Nations Conference for the Fall of 2-23 (NMUN DC).  Out of the conference, her class was kept very busy. After a six hour train ride, they immediately went to the Wilson Center for International Affairs, a think tank located in the heart of DC, where they met with representatives to discuss their work. After dinner, she went to see the monuments at night - specifically the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and WWII Memorial.

The next day, they went to the US Department of State, where they met with the desk officers of the countries her class was representing at the conference, Austria and Greece. They provided the students with background information on the topics set at the NMUNDC in order for the students to accurately represent their countries. After the State Department, her class sat for a briefing at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), discussion the workings of the IMF. They ended the day at the European Union Delegation to the United States, where officials discussed current events and their impacts on Greece and Austria. Before the conference began, the Greece team traveled to the Greek embassy, where they discussed their topics more in-depth with Greek representatives. They also had the rare opportunity to meet the Greek ambassador to the United States, Ekaterini Nassika.

The majority of the trip was spent at the conference, where Elizabeth represented the country of Greece in the Food and Agriculture Organization Committee, along with her co-delegate Nora. She was "in committee" for 18 hours over 1 1/2 days, where she led a large working group and successfully led a three-way group merger to create one of seven Draft Resolutions. Elizabeth and her co-delegates on the Greek team also won the highest award of the conference, Outstanding Delegation, for excellent diplomacy and cooperation. As there were over 1000 students at the NMUNDC, this was an incredible honor.

The MUN program at the University of New Haven is an incredibly prestigious class, well known across the country as the NMUN program to beat. Elizabeth was required to apply to the program and sit for an interview last spring. She spent multiple days throughout the summer and fall semester sitting for 12 hour zoom sessions and 4 hour class blocks in order to prepare for this conference. The conference itself was very competitive and, at times, cutthroat, so she was very pleased that all of their hard work paid off with numerous awards.

D.C. Odds and Ends

Some photos that didn't make any of our vacation posts....

Packing - other than our annual beach vacations, we've never taken a car trip.  Packing was a challenge, but given the weather variation, it was nice to have the extra space.

Emily really wanted to go to the Mint.  It opened at 9 am.  We showed up at 8 am to stand in line for tickets.  Apparently, other people showed up at 6 am for tickets so after about five minutes, we learned that the Mint was already sold out for the day.  Lucky for us, Emily got over her disappointment in about ten seconds.

Our only photo from Richmond, which is a shame.  The Omni was probably the nicest place we stayed the entire trip, but were were there less than 12 hours.  Here we are, ready to go, at 7am.  These girls always have smiles.

I spent the first few days of our vacation looking for anything that said "Virginia is for Lovers" because I knew that it would make my friend Janet laugh - 20+ year joke.  What luck when we found this enormous sign! 

Emily used some of her spending money to purchase a new lamb in Williamsburg. 

We saw these hard working horses one day in D.C. 

We checked out Madame Tussaud's wax museum but the sticker shock prevented us from doing more than posing with Marilyn.

The girls got sweatshirts for souvenirs as we left Washington, D.C.  

Junior Rangers

At both Jamestown and Yorktown, the girls took on the challenge of earning a junior ranger badge.  They had to work very hard at both national parks, completing puzzles, searching for clues, and going to out of the way places.  Yorktown, in particular, was exhausting as we had to go from the battlefields to the town and back again.  Lee and I were very proud of the girls for sticking it out and earning two new badges!

It poured at Jamestown, so they took shelter in the chapel and figured out various clues. 

Sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger. 

Learning about different pieces of military equipment at Yorktown. 

Getting sworn in as Junior Rangers at Yorktown. This Ranger was awesome, and spent a good ten minutes talking with the girls about conservation and preservation of national parklands.  They were impressed. 

Journaling

When we were planning our trip, I read that a great way to get kids involved in a historical trip was to provide them with journals and encourage them to write about their experiences.  They loved the idea and really took journaling to heart - we often had to stop so they could write things down.  Elizabeth's entries were extremely detailed, while Emily's journal often said simple (and hilarious things) like "The walk was long.  The flowers were beautiful."  I'm so glad we bought the journals for them, as they will always have them as keepsakes of our trip.

In the hotel in Arlington, first night of our trip. 

After visiting the Tomb of the Unknowns. 

At the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. 

At Mount Vernon. 

After touring the University of Virginia. 

After a day in Colonial Williamsburg. 

At Jamestown. 

At the Jefferson Memorial. 

At the MLK Memorial. 

At lunch, after Ford's Theatre.

Air & Space

The last museum we visited in Washington, D.C. was Air & Space.  It was both amazing and overwhelming.  There were tons of people there, as we went on a Saturday (so there were both locals and vacationers!) and I think that there was just far too much for the girls to take in and enjoy.  We decided to go to Air & Space last for strategic reasons (it was a block from our hotel and we had a late check out on our last day), but it ended up being an overall good decision because once we decided to leave, the girls were all for it (rather than being upset).  Regardless of their overall impression, it was still an amazing museum and we learned a lot.

The planes hanging from the ceiling were right out of a scene from Night at the Museum.

Elizabeth was a big fan of the Amelia Earhart exhibit.

Evening Walk

Our last night in D.C., we were all tired but I was feeling badly that we had not yet seen some of the monuments.  Emily and Lee decided to head back to the hotel while Elizabeth and I extended our sightseeing by another hour and a half.  We got an up close look at the Capitol building, the Supreme Court and several lesser known monuments.  Lee and Emily had a nice time relaxing back at the hotel while Elizabeth and I had a great time bonding, talking about exercise and burning off our dinner.

Using her iPod to take pictures.

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is impressive.  Here is Grant, on horseback, looking toward the Lincoln Memorial.

The Calvary Group, part of the Grant Memorial.

The Artillery Group, also part of the Grant Memorial.

View of the Grant Memorial, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial from the steps of the Capitol.  The Lincoln Memorial is two miles away.

Library of Congress

Backside of the Capitol.

United States Supreme Court

Elizabeth on the steps of the USSC.

James Garfield Memorial.  As you can see from prior photos, Emily is a bit obsessed with Garfield. She wrote a report about him for Presidents' Day this year.  Garfield also happens to be one of my favorite presidents, so I was determined to find his memorial before we left the Capitol area.