Week One - John Friel

 

Week one in DC as promised has been at full speed.We disembarked the plane and hit the ground running. First of all we met our new host families the fear and anxieties where soon put to rest when I realized how great our family actually was. Sunday started off with a BBQ the pool was absolutely amazing and the food was great too.

 

Our next day we started our leadership curriculum and began to think about our plans for the summer and the expectations we have. We then went for a nice meal and a quiet pint that night. Tuesday started off with a tour of the Library of Congress. This was such a treat as we where able to see articles which are often not accessible to the public, such as Freud's prescription for the Wolf Man and President Kennedy's handwritten letters.

 

Wednesday we met the WIP Board and had the pleasure of listening to guest speakers such as Prof. Meagher and Congressman Walsh speak on Irish America and Northern Ireland respectively. this was a great opportunity to hear such high calibre speakers talk about something which was such a passion to them and which was very interesting for us.

 

On Thursday we toured the Newseum which was fascinating and definitely one of DC's must sees. However Friday was D-day for myself as I and for other speakers had to give a speech at the Northern Ireland Bureau luncheon, it is fair to say that my nerves were wracked. However I hope and I think that I and my fellow speakers give an honest and genuine set of speeches that the audience enjoyed. We then got a private tour of Capitol Hill that afternoon which was again, amazing. We now look  forward to the arrival of SAWIP and some ultimate frisbee on the mall. As you can see we have hit the ground running but we all love D.C. and are relishing our time here.

 

John Friel Bio.