It's been another amazing week in D.C. I've been to the Vietnam Memorial in the rain, played in the snow, and went to the Museum of the American Indian.
Thank was actually one of the best places I've been to. The museum is an amazing structure first of all. The design is really symbolic. The main doors open east and have symbols of the sun on them. The structure was designed by Native architects and surrounded by plants that are representative of the cardinal directions. There are direction stones placed at each of the points of the compass all around the building along with the plants and environments.
The ceiling is amazing. Unfortunately, the walkway that spirals around the structure doesn't go all the way up, but that would probably make this a ridiculously large museum. I still love the ceiling though. It's beautiful.
And I got to see a relatively unusual sight. There are prisms on a certain window that shine in a certain way when the sun shines through them at a certain time of year.
It made rainbows on the floor, wall, and windows. I was really surprised, and pleased that I was able to see it.
I think the trip was made even more interesting for me because I was able to talk to our tour guide after the tour was finished. He is a Native American who is from Bolivia. He was truly amazing. He told us about how, as a child, he went to school and was punished whenever he spoke in his own Native language instead of in Spanish like he was taught in school.
I also got to talk with him about his views and what he knew about how Natives are treated outside and inside the United States. I will definitely try to put some of what he talked about in my final product!
Also, I got caught in the thaw. I was having a reading day at home and I decided I needed to get out and take a walk. Hence, getting caught in my first experience with everything trying to drip on you. (That's a little different than Tucson!)
I went to the Circus, Barnum and Bailey, Ringling Brothers, the Greatest Show on Earth, at the Verizon Center with Holly, Jason, and Jane last night. As we were walking up the sidewalk to the door, there were protesters from PETA outside, handing out flyers and holding up banners. There was even some woman talking out of a loudspeaker.
I apologize in advance if this seems a little political, but I hope no one gets too bored (or offended).
The woman was saying that "Animals are systematically abused every single day."
She then proceeded to talk about how the viewers should think about what they're doing, and how the animals are abused for life to provide the audience two hours of entertainment.
Now, at the moment we were all outside of the Verizon Center, I was just a little peeved. And, it wasn't because they were doing something to me.
I realize that, looking back at the evening. At circuses, and carnivals, and things like that, there's always a certain vibe. And, a big part of it is the excitement of the little kids. I agree that children should be aware of the world around them and how things really work, but I do not agree with the way they were doing it.
I think that animal rights are important. Animals have thoughts and feelings, even if it may be only at the most basic level in some cases. I'm currently living with two cats and a dog, who are all super cute and sweet in their own way. I have three dogs at home, and love tigers, and elephants.
But I know that humans are systematically abused every single day.
Does anybody want to talk about Syria, or Ukraine?
What about the children who are kidnapped, in this country, every single day?
It just bothers me, just a little, that organizations like PETA attack the people around them for being ignorant of animal suffering, for eating meat, when people die every single day, because they don't have enough food, because they don't have enough, or even any, clean water, or medical care, or shelter, or a safe place to come back to every night where they know they won't still be snatched away from their families.
I guess this is part of the societal trauma I see. There is so much of the human abuses, human injustices, that we don't even see it anymore. People are tired, and it is so easy to stop seeing, to tune it all out.
And I feel bad for the animals, but there's no easy answer if you try to decide between engaging in a far away land, in a mission that will cost lives, that has little to do with us, or fighting bureaucracy and saving animals at home.
There are really no easy answers. Who suffers from a trauma? I guess I'll find out. It's my job now to be the one to help come up with theories, not just to read about them.
And it's supposed to snow again on Tuesday. Interesting...
Today's song is Muse - Exogenesis Symphony Part III (Redemption). I quite like it. Enjoy!
Ciao!
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