Touring the Nation's Capital!

We started the morning by riding the bus from our hotel into D.C. On the bus ride we got our first glimpse of the Washington Monument!  We met our tour guide, Cathleen, and our first stop was the Korean War Memorial.  When you're there, it feels like a really powerful place.  The faces in the wall were so cool.  Then we went to the Vietnam War Memorial. We saw the soldiers, we learned some history, we took some pictures, and we saw the names of all the soldiers who died in the war.

Then we went to the famous Lincoln Memorial!  It's really big.  That must mean he was a good president.

It's also the place where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous " I Have a Dream" speech, and we could stand on the same spot where he spoke.

The next memorial was for Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President.  You can see the White House from there!  Then we went to the FDR Memorial, which was huge! We saw his wife, Eleanor, and his dog.  We took photos with the dog and with some of the statues.

The last monument we saw today was for Martin Luther King, Jr.  It was really big, and it's good to remember him because he did a lot for the U.S. and for African-Americans.

On our way to lunch, we passed the Pentagon, which is really big!  It's the headquarters of the American military.  For lunch, we stopped at a big mall, where we also got to go shopping for new clothes and for souvenirs for our host families and our natural families.

After lunch, we went to Mount Vernon, which was George Washington's house and estate.  We couldn't take pictures inside the mansion, but we could take pictures of a model house outside.  We watched a movie about his life.  It was a huge place!  You can also see his grave there.  We also ate dinner there.

                                         
Now we're back at the hotel and we have time to hang out with our friends.  We are trying to make the most of our time before we leave!  I'm so glad I got to travel with Belo and meet all these new people :o)

- Alejandra, Mexico