The first thing I found out as soon as I exited Washington Dulles airport is it’s not much warmer in the capital than it is in St Francis. My dreams of seeing flourishing cherry trees seemed naive at the moment. That Monday was rainy and windy, but the plans were not to be violated.

First, I went to the Newseum – a 250,000-square-foot museum of news, which is located on America’s Main Street between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, – that offers visitors an unforgettable experience that features five centuries of news history with hands-on exhibits. What I was mostly impressed by, however, were not up-to-date technologies, but a number of photographs expanding through all width of the wall and up to the ceiling of journalists who died because of the dangerous job they had. Freedom of speech had not come easily, and nowadays we tend to forget about it. Fortunately, the Jefferson Memorial and the George Mason Memorial made my heavy thoughts fade away due to their nice architectural design and significant parts of American history they represent.

In the evening I learned a little bit more about Washington city: it’s not very big in size, so it’s not strange to be able to get to, for example, the state of Virginia, in a short time. So did our group – oh, yes, I’d been sharing my adventure with a 100 person group of foreign exchange students from all over the globe, – and we dined in Alexandria, Virginia.

Next day was unbearably intense: we visited so many places. Perhaps, a week is not enough for getting to know this city.

The morning began as we went to the U.S. Department of State with a purpose of getting to know more about America’s foreign affairs and asking questions on following development of relations between countries we represented and the U.S.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History couple hours afterwards proved that it’s the world’s largest museum complex: an entire day wouldn’t be enough to see  the exhibits, and I still had to get to the Lincoln Memorial and Hello Dolly performance at Ford’s Theatre that impressed me equally.

All Wednesday I spent on Capitol Hill, meeting with members/staff of the Senate, watching the committee hearing, visiting the library of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Capitol itself. To be honest, hearings were what I enjoyed the least, as on an ordinary day it’s not really an intense process. I wish I was there just a week later to watch a scandal Supreme Court’s hearing on gay rights. But still – I got to talk about politics all day long and see branches of government in a work process, so I definitely have nothing to complain about. Besides, I saw  the White House right before sundown – it was gorgeous in the rays of the dying sun.

Thursday became the most memorable day of the week for me, as I got to meet the CEO of C-Span, Brian Lamb. He is an extremely charismatic person, ungenerously comparing Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, who he both interviewed. I was about to cry when we started to discuss journalism.

“For being a good journalist writing is on the second place, and curiosity – on the first.” said Mr. Lamb.

Lamb is a true professional, who, moreover, loves what he does, and perhaps why he’s achieved success.

Friday made me burst into tears. I’m not much of a sensitive person, but the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum made me shiver… It’s an unforgettable experience; the building where Ann Frank’s diary stops being just a story and comes into life, shocking you. You see walls full of family pictures, and of all these thousands of people nearly a dozen stayed alive after Holocaust.

There are certain exhibits one would prefer not to watch, ever: videos demonstrating how wrecked bodies were found; the room where you’re able to hear the memories of those sent to concentration caps. Pain, sense of loss, and shame felt for humans who let genocide happen won’t let go for a long time.

Washington is a place where politics and history are not sciences any longer, but something real, – something that has an impact on every single person’s existence, something you can touch to and analyze how they work.