Washington D.C.

I am finally getting around to posting what I wrote a week ago!
Well, as you know I have been preparing to present some research at the American Public Health Association conference in D.C. I have been here in D.C. since Saturday, and am leaving in just a few hours to return home. This trip has been a fantastic, educational, and interesting opportunity. I arrived Saturday afternoon, and after resolving a minor hotel problem (!) I saw some of the city with Erin, the professor I work for. She showed me how the Metro works here, and we went to a mall/subway station with a hall of restaurants, and we had dinner at a cute 1950's style diner. The next morning we found a church meeting fairly close that we could ride the metro to, and interestingly enough, it was probably the only ward in the whole area that I would have recognized someone in! My parents of my friend and roommate my freshman year were in that ward. So ironic- what a small world. We also attended the opening session for the conference, and heard from a couple of fairly high profile people in public health. I will write more about those later. We went to Arlington National Cemetery, which was an amazing experience. I had no idea how large it was, how many graves and memorials. It was incredibly reverent, and everyone was very respectful. I was really impacted by all the graves, representing lives given in service of our country. I had really never thought of it in terms like that. That same spirit was prevalent at the Tomb of the Unknowns, where I saw the changing of the guard, and was really touched by the guards' dedication and respect for the Tomb. I was thinking that if every person in the U.S. had a chance as a kid or at some point to go see some of the places like this, we would have a stronger sense of national pride and patriotism, and gratitude as a people. Of course I know that won't happen, so I think those things are important to teach in other ways.
On Monday morning, bright and early, we presented one of our research project findings in a round table format. The way a round table presentation works is a room has 9 or 10 tables with presenters, and people come in and rotate around. We gave three 30-minute presentations. Our table was always one of the most crowded! Although we felt strongly about what we were researching, it was somewhat gratifying to hear from listeners that they thought our research was important.
Tuesday we did our poster presentation, talking about the results of the other part of our study. This was in an exhibit hall with people walking around to see the posters they are interested in. Again, we had a lot of interest in and questions about our study. I think it went well. I will post a little later on some of the things I learned at the conference and what our study was about etc.
One of the last things we did before the trip was over was we went to the Visitor's Center at the Washington D.C. Temple. They close early, so we weren't able to go inside, but we saw the outside and had a nice visit with the sister missionaries at the visitor's center. I thought that was a good way to end the trip.

Washington, D.C. pictures