History does not repeat itself, but it can rhyme. 2/1 - 2/4

Again, I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet. I'm going to list 3 exciting things that happened each day this week thus far. Stellar.

Monday:
1. We had ethics and leadership first period. It was awesome and intriuging as usual. We were divided into two different civilizations with distinct characteristics and were instructed to act like our various groups and try to work together. I was a Henxor. The others were the Alanians. The whole simulation was about how groups interact with each other, like in invasions and wars etc. It was very interesting. I'm starting to think that every Monday we will have an interesting and fun simulation to introduce our case study for the week.
2. I also got my first practice APUSH essay back. I got a pretty good grade on it which is weird because normally that is not the case. Maybe being in DC will cause me to get better grades? Hmm, but that sure would be nice. I also might now be taking the AP exam. I've got so many things to figure out now haa.
3. All in all, Monday's are rough. It's just a regular school day and we have to get up way too early for my liking.

Tuesday:
1. Tuesday is a pretty lame day too. It's just a regular day. We don't have special classes or anything. First we have school meeting, then I have a free, and then APUSH, Lunch, Spanish, CoGoPo, PreCalc, and English. During my free, I walked down to the Verizon Store on L Street with Megan and Aaron. As most of you probably know, my phone hasn't been working for the past few weeks, so I'm finally getting it taken care of. Verizon is shipping me a brand new phone and it should arrive any day now.
2. We also had a PreCalc test. It was an epic fail for everyone. We have been moving too fast, but thankfully Maylen cut down the course, so now we are moving at a much more managable pace.  This week we are starting trig. Good thing I've already learned all of this.
3. It snowed again on Tuesday night, so we decided to have a spontaneous snow ball fight. The little things like that make me absolutely love being here! Everyone is so fun and full of life which makes this experience all the more enjoyable.

Wednesday:
1. Every wednesday, we have Ethics and Leadership all day long. Generally we go out to visit various think tanks and converse with important people in DC. This week we travelled to The Center for the Study for the Presidency where we talked with Dr. David Abshire, a Special Counselor to President Reagan and the U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 1983-1987.  After briefly meeting with Mr. Abshire, we met with Mr. Egil "Bud" Krogh, one of the Plumbers who was imprisoned for President Nixon's Watergate Scandal. He made a presentation about integrity in the government. His presentation was very eye opening; he showed that he wanted to better his life after he made so many mistakes.

2. Also on Wednesday, we were introduced to another part of SEGL's lunch program, which is the ability to eat out 2-3 days a week. We are each given $5 to spend at 4 restaurants around DuPont where SEGL students have a special discount. I didn't go to one of those restaurants, instead I went to Saigon Bistro with Kya, Jorge, Winson, Teddy, Tracy, Will, and Everett.  The food was good, but it took a while to make, so we were a little bit late getting back to school. Oh well. But I'm really excited for these lunch time opportunities to explore DC.
3. An important part of SEGL is the leadership component. Wednesday afternoon we discovered what type of leaders we are. First we were split into groups by whether we made gut decisions or decisions through reasoning. Next we were split into groups by whether we were the first to talk in the group or the last.  After we were divided into groups, we were given the task of designing the perfect day. Each group presented their perfect day and then Noah explained the leadership type of each group. There are the Drivers, the Analysts, the Expressives, and the Supportives. I was a mix of Supportive and Expressive.

Thursday:
1. Thursdays are generally pretty chill days. The only exciting part is Arabic class. Today we learned more about general Arabic phrases and a lot more about writing. Today we learned how to say and write hajj. You write it like this: الحج.  I'm really horrible at writing and speaking Arabic. I think it's going to be one of those languages that I will never get the hang of.
2. I finally got mail! Today, I got two letters, one from Ellie and one from Emily. Thanks girls! Soo everyone send me mail. Please send all mail to the address listed on my facebook. :)
3. Another exciting part of today has been the power outage at the Residential building. So needless to say, I am STILL at the school. It hasn't been a very productive night since there is really nowhere quiet to study. We are leaving to go back to our cold and powerless dorm in 20 minutes. Yay!

This week has been pretty awesome. It's going by so quickly though. I wish it would just slow down.