We touched his hand!!! Never washing it again!!! But don't worry, I have.
Oh ya one more thing, there is NO zoom on those. It was definitely the highlight of my DC trip so far, and I have a feeling it might be the highlight of the WHOLE trip. It was amazing. I called my parents, sister, friends from home, and even my Gramma. Good times with Obama.
I guess I could explain how this all happened. One of the other interns at TWC is working at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which puts on a Legislative Conference every year. Bush attended for the past three years (I think three anyways), and we found out just a few days before this year’s that Obama was coming! The intern was able to convince her bosses to let students in for free, and she pretty much was the sweet connection that the rest of us had. She had the inside scoop of Obama’s speech time…but it all ended up being really intense. At first we were told we could attend his speech, and then we were told no because it would be too full, and then at 930 am (as I was literally turning on my computer at the embassy), the other intern calls me and says “he’s speaking at 945 and you can come! HURRY!!” So, basically, Joe (another intern at the embassy) and I were running down Pennsylvania Avenue to get there and….here’s the best part….literally one block over we could see Obama’s convoy driving. It was pretty much like we were racing them and it was really funny; but we were so focused on getting there we couldn’t even laugh at ourselves. We ran into the hotel and they were already taking down the metal detectors because everyone was already seated, but thankfully they checked us really quickly and we snuck in the last door right before the guy came on to introduce him. SO intense I can’t even believe it happened. I really didn’t even catch the first part of his speech because I was so starstruck, but what I did catch was great. He was talking about education and his plan for the US. He even threw in a few jokes (that were actually funny) and spent so much time shaking everyone’s hands. It was a once in a lifetime experience I have no doubt, and a DC moment I definitely will NOT be forgetting.
We also got to attend the rest of the conference, which included sessions on the environment, immigration, education, and health care. Because it was put on by the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, all of the sessions were geared toward Hispanic business leaders, but were relevant for everyone. There were a lot of things discussed, the most interesting I found to be was the immigration session focused on the Employment Verification program. It’s basically this system, kind of like a debit card, where employees have a card that is used by employers to see if they are eligible to work. It sounds like a good system, in theory, but there are so many mistakes in the databases used that the problems are endless.One of the speakers was a US citizen who got a job with the House of Representatives, and couldn’t get cleared because of her card due to a mistake in the database. She had such a terrible time getting papers completed and going through the process, even with all the resources she had literally right at her fingertips at the House. Basically, if you compare this to what a legal immigrant worker would have to go through due to a mistake, it would be amazingly difficult and such a process. Anyways, bottom line, even though I know the speakers were obviously leaning to one side of the argument, I agree and think its not a good idea. I’m gonna keep looking into it though because it’s a really interesting topic….could be just me though, not sure.
Also for the conference another intern and I were able to sit in on a lobbying meeting in a Senator’s office. It was with two Hispanic businessmen from Michigan and a legislative aide to their senator, Senator Levin. We just kind of sat there and observed how the lobbying process works as the businessmen discussed with the aide the things they are worried about in Michigan, and what they think should be done. Lots of it was focused on the failing auto industry and its effects on the smaller suppliers, and all smaller businesses in the area (Hispanic and not). It was really interesting, and they had some great ideas. Also, it was in the Russell Senate building which was beautiful!
There’s been a lot of other stuff going on lately, but I really just wanted to get my OBAMA story out there. It was just THAT amazing! I’ll update on the rest of the happenings soon…..so until then,
Paz!
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