Needless to say, I have been staying very busy at school so far even without soccer. I completed my first week of my weekly workout schedule from Meredith and was very sore after each of those days. Very pleased.
This Saturday we woke up early to go on a service trip. It was the MLK National Day of Service so the soccer team got together and went on a trip together. We went to an elementary school in DC and some of us worked on building book shelves, pairing murals, and making sandwiches for a food shelter. I got stuck with making sandwiches and I don't ever want to see another cream cheese and jelly sandwich. I can't tell you how many we made and to say the least, they did not look appetizing after the first hundred. The exciting part of it was after finishing our project, we got to meet President Barack Obama and Michelle. Turns out they were there doing community service as well and they talked to us for a while after. It's funny because everyone was wondering why there were so many cops and high tech security with metal detectors etc. and turns out it was cause of the President. Some of the guys got the shake his hand, but I didn't get close enough but it was still really cool. Here's a pic from my point of view:
After getting back on campus, I had to go pick up my recruit from coach. He is from nearby Virginia and this was his first collegiate visit. He had just turned 17, but coach said he was legit and really, really wants him. The kid (Johnny) was also looking at CNU and Scranton. Those are some top notch schools and we really wanted him. So we watched the CUA women's and men's basketball games for a while, and hung out with the guys. We played 5v5 with all of the soccer guys and recruits after the games and that was actually a lot of fun. For once, I didn't get hurt playing basketball, and it was actually a lot of fun. Then we all went out to Mike Brennan's apartment for a small party. All the girls were like, "Oooh Zimm, who's the hot recruit?!" Haha he was getting the ladies on his first visit. Then we came back to the room and crashed. We ended up having five people sleep in one dorm room. Me, my roommate, his two friends that were visiting, and the recruit. It was packed. I wasn't the best night of sleep for anyone. In the morning I took the recruit back to coach and he left in the morning. He said he had a blast so I hope he'll come here. He was a cool guy.
Sunday was somewhat of a relaxing day including church and a little bit of sleep. Later that evening my suite mates and I watched the football playoff game with about six other people. We moved the couch from the common room into the suite and had a viewing party. We watched Ted after the game, and it was even funnier the second time. It's so ridiculous but we laughed a good bit. Who would ever think about making a movie with a teddy bear as the star character... Definitely not me.
So once it got pretty late, me and my buds decided that we were just going to pull an all-nighter so that we could make it to the Presidential Inauguration early Monday morning. We made it til about 2:30 am and then we crashed. I only slept for an hour and then we got up at 3:30 am and headed off on the metro into the city. We got to the public entrance gate to the National Mall at 4:45 am. It was freezing, we were extremely tired, and we were surrounded by tons of other people. Haha it was definitely an experience. We packed about 8 PB and J sandwiches for all of our group of 11 people and they were gone after like two hours. We ended up waiting about 4 hours for the gates to open in the freezing cold. Haha we made the best of the experience and it wasn't even all that bad. So once we entered all of the security (4 metal detectors for thousands of people...) we found a spot on the National Mall to watch the Inauguration. It was around 9:30 so we then waiting there for another two hours. The whole time on our feet cause there is nowhere to sit. Haha we played some card games and tried to stay warm. Then around 11 am the announcements of everyone entering their seats started and eventually the entire program began. I can't even describe fully what it was like to be there, but it was honestly amazing. One of the coolest experiences I've had. Being surrounded by literally a million Americans all there to await the future of our country. SO neat. After the whole thing it was such a long walk to get out of the parade route and mall area with so many other people. We finally found a place to eat and by that time, 2:30 pm, we definitely needed food for having basically nothing all day. Some of us were falling asleep eating. Eventually we got on the metro and made it back to campus. I instantly crashed in my bed and slept. When I woke up I didn't even know where I was or if it was morning or night, but it was around 7 pm. I ate dinner and did some homework and then went to bed at 11. A very exhausting day, but so worth it. This is just one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I get to do, just because I go to school in DC. Yeah, I'm sure there are a lot of cool things that you can do in all schools around the country, but only at CUA have I been able to meet the President, and then go to his Innauguration all in one weekend. This school is awesome. I wish I could describe it better, but I'm just not the best writer haha and there is so much more that I can't even put into words.
Today has been somewhat of a drag. Woke up to 20 degree weather and Weather Channel said it felt like 7 degrees. I can't stand the cold. So I've been cold and tired all day, and I still have one more class til 5:30 and then I have to workout. Gotta get through it. So in a nutshell, that's about what my weekend has consisted of. It's one I will remember for a long time, and glad I had the chance to experience stuff like this. A cold week ahead, but I'm gonna make the best of it! Here's a couple videos/pics that I've taken along the way. Enjoy!
Hope everyone else had a nice MLK Day/Weekend,
-TZ
