Day 1: Bethesda MD

Hey all from Bethesda MD! It is not that late but I am exhausted after a long day of travel. It began early this morning around 5:30 when I woke up and got to the MLB (Modern Language Building) around 6:10 AM. We left around 6:40 am and it was a sleepy first part of the journey. The first word of the day was "First" but we had a different bus driver to take us safely into the state of Ohio. I had a long discussion with Phil Viges how Ohio isn't part of the US because they are the only state which does not have a rectangular flag. ( It could have been sleepless rambling, but who knows). We watched two movies on the bus "Tropic Thunder" and "Airplane!". Both were great movies (when I was not sleeping). We arrived in Bethesda at Walt Whitman High School around 5:20 or so and met our host families. I am staying with Miles Kaufmann and it is a lot of fun so far. Our hosts are wonderful and their son is in the choir at Walt Whitman High. The father, Dave is a huge Boston Red Sox fan as a result of growing up in the Boston area.... Big kudos from me. Anyway, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow including 2 concerts (a short performance and a concert in the evening) as well as time at the National Mall in Washington DC... Really looking forward to that... for now, so long.

~Bags
(Erik Bagaglia)