10/31/2018 0 Comments Day 4: History and AlumsExactly six bread loaves into this breakout trip, we can say for sure that we are so deeply grateful to get to be a part of this experience. While we’re not even halfway through meeting community partners, we have already gotten to experience so much of a city that we’ve never really gotten to see. So much of today has been spent discovering DC and getting to be a part of some small portion of our nation’s history. We began our morning by visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It was a monumental experience to get to immerse ourselves in history that is not taught to the extent that much of the rest of our history is. We were struck not only by how much we didn’t know but by how much we knew and decontextualized. To encompass the whole experience of African Americans, the museum drew our attention to connections that had never truly settled in our minds before. It’s hard to imagine America today without the contributions of the brave men and women who fought for equality over hundreds of years especially when there was no change to win. After grappling with the fundamental paradoxes of freedom and oppression explored by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, several of us wanted to go visit the National Archives which is most famous for housing the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. As we stared at a sum total of six pages that define so much of what comprises the American ethos, we were struck by the diverse array of people who surrounded us. It’s remarkable that people from all over felt drawn like we did to experience some small part of our cultural values made tangible in faded ink. We hope to go back to the national archives to explore even more and hopefully spend a lot more time getting to experience everything the National Archives has to offer. Next on our fast-forward tour of all the most famous DC landmarks, we swiftly moved on to see the White House. As the wind made it almost impossible to hear each other, we marveled at the beauty of our Capitol and our nation’s most famous government housing. The White House and the Washington Memorial With the sun setting on the Washington Monument and the White House, we began our walk to the metro to meet with several Princeton alumni over pizza. We’ve found in the few times we’ve gotten to meet alumni that the most fun part is the connection over shared experiences and the promise of shared experiences yet to come. Group picture at We the Pizza after dinner with the alums We loved getting to hear their thoughts on our Breakout trip, what excites them about their current lives, and what they loved and miss about Princeton. It has been an undeniable theme these past few days that what binds us together, our common history, our shared loves, our undeniable fate, draw us together more than the tensions that pull us apart. As we meet new people and explore topics and ideas so far from our everyday existence, the backdrop of DC, a world that looks to make clean black and white statements and easy dividing lines out of complicated issues becomes more and more salient. It is in this city that we’ve only just begun the process of immersing ourselves in the world of end-of-life care. The capitol building at night
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