#usipp

so, here we go!

National Landmark I saw white house a lot on news, i saw George Washington memorial on Red alert retaliation (a game), and i saw Lincoln Memorial on a movie (guess what?). Now, i see them with my own eyes and i know that's real! So happy! George Washington Memorial was approximately more than 500 feet tall. It gave perfect portrayal of who Washington is. From the outer side, you see that the memorial was just a tall plain tower without any decoration. It's said that George Washington was too, a simple man without extravagant clothing yet charismatic . But inside the tower, there' s complexity and so was George Washington. Great things was on his mind as he was respected and acknowledged as the leader of the young nation at that time. He also was the only president choosen unanimously for Presidency, not only once, but twice! We also went to Jefferson Memorial. Inside the Memorial, he was standing tall facing the white house. He was a great man, as he separated the church and the state. Not that he's not religious, infact he is, he just wanted to see a nation that doesn't get conquer by a certain religion or group because it will resembled the Britian time when conquering US. I learn a lot seeing these great leadershi figures. This program really helps me to become a better leader in the future. Handi

Gonna be missing New York Today we learn about how immigrants had lived their live in the early America. They've only had a small space to work and to live as a family at the same time. This visit makes me realize that not only you should work hard, you also need to keep your family as a whole. Even the poor imigrant that had lived with less prosperity could care a lot about their family and very unselfish. I also feel sad about how sweat shops still emerging in this modern era. We also visit the Indonesian Consulate to introduce our program and fortunately they have baso! We also did shaman dance here (i was at the back row thanks to emmy :D). Today, my cuisine checklist is near complete as i ate McDonald's apple pies, a chili dog, steak, and a bison burger! I still need to search fpr halal corndog now! The trip to NY has been amazing. A very short one, but incredibly so critical. We met great people and we hope DC will provide even more! Handi

Hello New York! Today we're in New York! We got up early at 5 in the morning and went to New York by bus. When i first saw the city from the bus, it was a great scenery. Tall buildings everywhere, the traffic, and of course the fast walking people. We're in the city now. First, we went to meet Daisy Khan to know more about the Cordova Project. Their goal is to establish American Muslim Identity. They also the one who started the project of making community center near the 9/11 site which was very controversial. People who rejected the idea didn't know that the community was already there for around 28 years. What they want to dowas just moving 2 blocks from the original site. We also met Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, which was a very influential person for me, who had been living in different environment ranging from UK,US,Egypt, and Malaysia. He told us that to be what he is know, he had a tough journey learning about religion and coexisting with other religion. That experience bring him to where he is know, to try to establish a muslim society. It was great meeting people whose life experience become their resolution for life. Handi

Philadelphia Visit! I absolutely love phili! Learning a lot of American history and the fact that it was designed as a Republic really blow my mind! After the lecture about American political system, learning about its history in the museum was enlightening. I focused much on the fact that how taxing without representation became the reason that US fight for independence. We went to the liberty bell and at night we got the ghost of phili town tour. The travel guide was telling us story about Lia the guardian of Washington park, Benjamin Franklin lurking around in the first national library, and a lot of ghost house tour. It was historical yet entertaining. A great way to discover the old town of phili. HandiHandiu

DETROIT TOUR! We started our day with farming activity. We volunteered to work wit Earth Work, one of the community that provide foods for Detroit society, up until 2 hours. It was fun even the temperature was a bit cold for me. We ate lunch also in this place, but before that, a member of Detroit city council. She explained to us what's happening in Detroit right now. For me personally, I expect something big, industrial, wealthy city. I saw the industrial part but I also saw a lot of empty houses even though the design was fabolous. She also address the issue of immigrants in Detroit, on how they concentrated in several area and grow there. The Hispanic and Iraqi population was surprisingly growing and establish their own area. Next destination : Belle Isle and Heidelberg Project Belle isle is my favorite place in US up until now. It was sooooo beautiful! I wish Indonesia has this kind of park or open space that can be used for the whole society. Interestingly, it was somehow empty there. Maybe our visiting time was off or maybe it is empty. They said that it's crowded here at Saturday night. Nevertheless, it was easily the most beautiful thing I saw in US. We also see the ambassador bridge, the Erie and Detroit river. Heidelberg project (I was wondering if it got any connection with Heidelburg Germany) was also a thing of beauty. They collected scarp and unusable items to build art. That was awesome. It was also ironic seeing someone burned down the artistic houseses here for any reason. Last Stop : Detroit City Tour I saw the Mexican city, Dear born (Muslim society), and Delray (one of the most neglected area). Overall, I was shocked with what I see in Delray. Industrial project overwhelmed the residents, swalowing their existance one by one until people move from the area. Not all of the resident can easily move themselves out from the neighborhood because of economic reason and at the same time, none of them want to inhale industrial waste or to eat poisened fish they catch in the river. Because the population was small, the city govt doesn't actually do anything to advocate them. I wish they could come up with the best solution for all the society. Handi I also ate my first Mexican dinner! Awesome!