It just like a dream...

I still feel my life is just like a dream. Honestly. I never imagine that I can be in Uncle Sam country right now. Moreover, it happened when I and other exchange students went to Washington, DC to visit historical places in United States of America. It was one of wonderful journey I've ever had in my life.

We started our journey on October. 12th with two cars from North Carolina. It needed for about 5 hours to arrive in Washington, DC. There were 10 exchange students included me at that time. Miriam & Justine (Germany), Tasmiha (Bangladesh), Jenalli (China), Laurie (Brazil), Shah (Pakistan), Ana (Spain), Elizabeth (Ghana) and Silje (Norway). We went with my Local Coordinator (Julie Taylor), Amber Johnson and Kate (Julie's daughter). We departed from Julie's house for about 08.00 a.m. That morning was so cold, and it would be colder when we were in DC. I sat in Amber's car with Tasmiha, Ana, Silje, Shah and Elizabeth. We were so excited until we danced and sang inside the car. How crazy we were! Until suddenly the cops stop our cars. He made everybody scared. He talked to Amber and Julie and said that they drove too fast and close. It happened in Virginia. Amber kept close to Julie's car because she didn't want we got separated. Moreover, they haven't been in DC before. The funniest sentence form the cops is "if Julie jump to the beach, will you jump to the beach also?". It sounds as funny question. Lol

We arrived at Washington, DC by 1.30 p.m. Then, we continued our journey on the Metro Train. Wow, it was the first time for me to know Metro physically in front of my eyes. I felt like a dream. We spent for about 30 minutes on the Metro. Finally, we arrived at downtown Washington. Subhanallah! The town views were so wonderful. I kept admiring every high building with old styles and every clean road.Perfect! The weather was so cold. Although I wore my coat, but I still felt the air entered my deepest breathe. Then we checked in to the Harrington Hotel and dropped our stuffs.Oh, unfortunately we missed Capitol tour because we came late to the hotel. It would not distract our journey, though. We were still happy...

Then, we walked along Washington and went to the Washington Monument. The monument was so high. When I saw the monument, I remembered Monas (National Monument) in Indonesia. Squirrel were everywhere. It was awesome. Again, I felt like a dream. I said to Julie "I still can't believe I can be here right now. Everything is just like a dream". Suddenly, I remembered the title of Athok's story "The Miracle of Journey". We continued our journey by visiting Lincoln Memorial Park. And we went back to the hotel at night.

In the early morning, all of us went to the White House. Subhanallah! Everything is just like a dream. I used to watch White House only from TV or Internet. But now, I could see it directly in front of my eyes. Although we could walk around the garden only, but I still felt grateful. Thank Ya Allah for opportunities You've given to me. Then. we walked to the Smithsonian Museum (Air and Space). Many people visited that place because it was weekend. After that, we had dinner in Hard Rock Cafe. I never imagine before, because Hard Rock Cafe is famous with its expensive prices in Indonesia. I danced with Kate and Julie in Hard Rock Cafe. We had so much fun there. :)

At the last day of our stay in Washington, DC, we visited The Smithsonian Museum (National Art). The place was so huge. I was attracted on one sculpture. It was about women who uses veil. Overall, I saw many wonderful arts created by all artists around the world. For about 12.00, we were ready to go back to North Carolina. We arrived at NC for about at 07.00 p.m. I never forget this journey with some exchange students from NC :D