Arlington Cemetary, homeless lady, and Archives

Today was really cool but also full of stories.

1. I went to Arlington Cemetery (pictures on facebook) and I got to see the tomb of the unknown soldier....which was really cool. The view at that point was beautiful and it was nice to see the guard on duty because it was just so respectful. Then I made my way up to the area where they had nurses and then the Battle of the Buldge....I don't know if that is the correct spelling....anywho then I saw JFK's grave and Jackie. That was really cool. And in general the cemetery was lovely and it was nice to be in an area that didn't smell like a city and had nice clean oxygen.

2. I decided that I wanted to go to the National Archives and see the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. But I was pretty worn out from powerwalking around Arlington Cemetary. So I went to the Archives metro stop and thought that it would be a good idea to stop at the street vendor and get a pretzel with mustard. I was having a craving anyway. So I got my pretzel and water and wanted to eat it sitting down but didn't want to lose my bearings by going too far away and getting lost. I decided to just eat there on the park bench. Well....there was this asian homeless lady that was sitting on the bench across from me drinking a coke and she kept laughing. Like....hysterically laughing. And of course I didn't know why and also....this was like where all of the skater kids decided to meet and practice. So there was all the skater kid noise plus this homeless woman laughing and a trillion people walking around me. It was a very strange feeling. But I looked over to the bench next to her and there was a homeless woman sleeping and she looked kind of rough. And it made me think again....how do people get to this point? and is it reversable? but I continued to eat my food and trying not to stare at the woman laughing...she was really intriguing though. The thought occurred to me....why did she waste money buying a coke? It would have cost at least a dollar to get that and she seemed not able to reason that purchase. But you know.....maybe she really loves coke? Then I looked closer and realized that she was not actually drinking coke at all...the can was empty and she was only pretending to drink it. That made the whole situation more bizarre. Anywho. I felt like I was losing my mind and that I can see how possibly the only way to cope is to leave reality completely.

3. After that I went and got in line for about an hour and a half to see the famous documents. That was super cool to see the originals but they are looking really faded and won't last much longer.

Thats all for now!

Megan