Thursday, September 19, 2013

Nicholas Cage and the Constitution

Living in Washington, D.C. for a semester is especially interesting for me because unlike many people, I have not spent that much time here. The last time I visited this city was for my eighth grade class trip - just a couple years back, but who's counting? Whenever I would tell people over the summer that I was spending the next semester "domestic abroad" they would laugh and say how great it will be because D.C. is a really great city. I would agree but in my mind I would think about how the only thing I remember is that it was a very well manicured and well kept city.

Little did I know that I was about to spend the semester in one of the most lively and exciting cities in the world. Coming from New York City, I thought nothing could surprise me, but learned I was wrong within the first few days. Every single day, there is another exciting activity or festival or concert taking place, all within the small border of the Beltway. What's more, it's not really a city as much of a community, all bound together by this common goal of making our country a better place in one way or another.

The differences between my understanding of the city as a fourteen-year-old and my understanding today came to fruition on Wednesday after our seminar when we went to visit the National Archives. I remember walking through the small yet majestic hall with images of Nicholas Cage in National Treasure racing through my mind. However, on Wednesday I strolled past the documents framed in marble and gold and couldn't help but feel proud of where I was. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't think about that scene in National Treasure where he manages to convince Diane Kruger that the replica of the Constitution that he bought in the gift shop is the real thing, but this time it just seemed a little bit funnier.

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