Playing Tourist

For by birthday I decided that I wanted to go to DC. I live right next door to these incredible monuments, yet I have not actually taken the time to play tourist.

So for my birthday, I became a DC tourist :) Here was my day:

First, my main destination was the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln is my favorite historical President, but we had to pass by the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial to get there. Here are the pictures:

We then went to the Vietnam Memorial:

The White House:

We took the Metro back to the Smithsonian Metro Station, giving the perfect view of the Capital:

The National Museum of American History:

This is the actual Greensboro Lunch Counter

Look, They already have Obama!!

And home in time for dinner and cake:

Tents for Darfur

Yesterday I went into DC just to get some lunch and walk around. I was lucky enough to come across "Tents for Darfur" on the National Mall. The pictures are worth a thousand words.
You could never imagine the damage the Sudanese Government is causing on the African population in Sudan. I have been studying the situation in Darfur in my class on Genocide at UMW. I am going to insert a section of a paper I recently wrote, it is just a brief overview of the current situation. Hopefully it will give those of you who don't already know, a little more information:

Darfur is a region in Sudan in which genocide is taking place. The government of Sudan, members of the Sudanese military, and government armed and supported Janjuaweed militias are systematically attempting to end the lives of these “African” civilians as a whole. At this point nearly all villages in Darfur have been destroyed. Men, women, and children that have not been killed are living in camps. It is estimated that over 2 million people are living in these camps, however they are not safe. These people are dying of malnutrition, lack of water, their water sources are being poisoned, woman and children are in constant fear of being raped, and disease is common. Despite attempts at humanitarian assistance, it is limited. There is a chokehold on humanitarian aid, going from harassment to murders of volunteers. There is an overall sense of insecurity in these camps. Darfur is at a standstill and without help; innocent lives will continue to be lost.