This morning we went to Ford's theatre, which was an educational and moving opportunity. I learned a lot that I did not know before. There is now a museum below the theatre itself and there is so much information, I couldn't even read it all. After we were in there awhile we went upstairs to the theatre and got to sit in it as a man told us the history and facts behind the assassination and events. It was really mind-blowing to be in the same theatre where this event that had such an impact on history took place. I learned so much that I didn't know before. Apparently, the original plan had been to kidnap Lincoln not kill him. But when the war was virtually over they decided assassination would make a bigger impact. John Wilkes Booth had a team of people supporting and working with him and they were not only targeting President Lincoln but also were planning to assassinate the Vice President, General Ulysses S. Grant, and the Secretary of State. However, the rest of the attempts were thwarted. Lincoln was shot in his presidential booth at the theatre and carried across the street, dying 9 hours later. It was very sobering and saddening to hear about. I wonder what the world would be like if Lincoln had lived longer. What an experience indeed.
After the theatre, we popped into a gift shop across the street but I didn't find anything.
Right about here is where my life took an abrupt flip. We went to Hard Rock Cafe, a famous cafe in D.C. that many famous artists and people have performed or eaten at. There was memorabilia everywhere and it was really cool. We sat down and were looking through our menus trying to decided what to eat.
Then I got a notification on my phone and glanced at it. I began to receive texts and messages from my friends, messages like: "I didn't know the last time I saw you would be the last time I saw you," and "Gabriella, Southern is closing!" I found a text from the University itself stating that it had made the decision to close its doors following Spring Break. It was believed this would be the best course of action in light of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to spread. For a moment I was in shock, I hadn't thought this would happen to me, it seemed too extreme. I told Sami and we left the table I was very upset and I talked with her for a long time. I called my mom, and my boyfriend, and my best friend, telling them what was going on and how sad and scared I was. There was lots of crying involved.
It's hard, thinking about all the things that will now never happen that I was looking forward too. And even more so, most of my friends have to leave before I am getting back so I won't be able to say goodbye to them. I have no idea when I'll see them again. On the bus ride to Mt. Vernon, I was on the phone with several friends from my school talking about it all and how sad we all were. It was really hard. And it was even harder not being there with everyone while all this happening.
Mt Vernon was beautiful.
Definitely one of my favorite places on the trip. We again had a tour guide speaking in English while an interpreter signed in ASL alongside. I really enjoyed the interpreter at this site. She was very animated and cohesive over the content. I think it has been very interesting to see the way that our different interpreters have interpreted throughout this week. Each person's personality contributes to how they sign and their knowledge of sign aids to what signs they use and it's very interesting to see how that affects the interpretation process.
I learned a lot about Washington that I did not know before. An interesting fact about the architecture on the site, it is constructed of wood but they used a finishing method to create an appearance like a stone. First, they carved the wood to look similar to blocks of stone from the front and after having painted it, while still wet, they threw sand on it to give it a gritty appearance.
The estate has been preserved by the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association over the years and they show the house and the state as it appeared in 1799, the year that Washington died. Mt. Vernon is such a beautiful place, and so peaceful. I feel that I could spend all day wandering the grounds and looking at the beautiful plants and views without getting tired.
As I said, I loved it there, but I had a hard time staying focused and continually was caught up by my emotions pertaining to what was going on at school. Leaving me unable to fully concentrate on, and fully enjoy Mt. Vernon as much as I wanted too. But despite that obstacle, it was still wonderful.
We ate in the dorms tonight as we did not want to intrude on one of the student's final nights together before they have to go home. We worked on packing too. Sam and JG put on the Hamilton soundtrack to jam too. We all love it but I was blown away because they can sign along really well to the majority of the songs, it was crazy amazing. I felt like I had my own personal musical production happening right in our hotel room. I loved it. So that was fun.
In our meeting tonight our chaperones told us that our tour of the Capitol, Supreme Court and Library of Congress had been canceled. It was a bummer as I would have loved to have been able to see those places, at least once, Especially the Library. I love books. But I totally understand why it was canceled and I know there's nothing the chaperones can do. We'll just have to change some plans around and it'll still be a good day tomorrow. Besides, our cruise isn't canceled (yet)!
There was a Bible study on campus tonight that we were invited to be a part of and a small group of us attended. It was really amazing to get to experience fellow Christians coming together to worship and in a different language than the one I am accustomed too. The Name of the group is "Bison Christian Fellowship." They were so welcoming us, which was especially kind since it would be their last time meeting together for a long. They played several worship songs at the beginning, lyric videos off youtube, they had it really loud so that the vibrations could be felt and a girl went up front and signed along with the lyrics. It was really neat. I did my best to follow her signs although it was a bit confusing and there were a bunch I didn't know. Tonight instead of a normal meeting they instead had students talk about how they were feeling regarding Corona and the school closing. Because I had found out today my university is closing as well I felt able to relate to the topic and emotions of the students a lot. Everyone is sad, scared, worried, uncertain, and has lots of feelings. But it was really great because the man leading it gave us so much encouragement. He talked about how we as Christians have our faith in Jesus to sustain us. We know he is with us and we won't lose him, no matter what is happening in the world around us. He talked about how, through our fear, we must continue to trust God. He gave us a challenge, there at Gallaudet, the students have a community, and that's something really hard to leave behind. You find people you connect with, everyone knows your language, its a place of support. Many students are going home where they will no longer have that, so, he challenged us to take that support and community we've experienced at school and take it back to our home towns and create a new community for the people there. I thought that was so wise and also really applicable to my situation as well. The whole meeting was just full of things I really needed to hear and be there for. I think it helped me a lot, remembering that God is in control and we don't have to be afraid, we can trust him, and he's gonna take care of us.
While at the Bible study I got to witness the love and care of all these students for each other, There was a man who is deaf-blind attending as well as a man with low-vision. They were also live-streaming the study, so, at one point when one of the students was sharing his thoughts, there were three other people repeating what he was signing. First, the man who was leading the meeting was repeating for the live stream to see, a man beside the man with low vision was repeating it closer so he could see, and a woman next to the man who was deaf-blind was repeating it while he had his hands on hers so that he could understand too. So there were four different people signing the same thing in rapid succession of each other. It was a really neat thing to see and experience. I love how willing to help each other everyone is here, it really reflects Jesus' love.
I talked to my dad tonight about school and we developed a plan to try and get me and all my things going back. I also talked to another of my friends from school and my boyfriend. It was all hard and I just felt so sad. I could feel the fear creeping in and I know how contagious that can be but it's so hard to keep it out. Gotta trust God through it all.
It was quite a day. I didn't wake up thinking the day would go at all like it did. I know I'll never forget this day or exactly what was going on when I found out about school or how I felt in those moments. It's etched in my brain forever. It was a very emotional day as well. I don't know how the days ahead will be, but I just want to try and stay focused on the rest of my trip and try and enjoy it as much as I can because this has been and is such an amazing opportunity and experience and I don't want to lose any of it.
Notes:
1. Something I realized thinking back is that I did not know the voices of the people on the trip with me. Although I had an idea of what they may sound like, based off of the noises made while singing and the way they act, I really didn't know. Later in our meetings and such, hearing everyone talk, it was very interesting to hear their voices. I have heard before that you develop a slightly different personality for each language you speak, I never understood how this could happen before, but now I do. The mannerisms, slang, and expressions change slightly depending on your language, because not everything directly translates. Although I am sure this difference was more drastic to me as a beginner, I really noticed it even in myself. Although I was getting to know these people, in a way, I was getting to know a different side of them because their first, and primary, language is English. That is the language in which we have developed who we are. In ASL we are still learning how to express and translate that over.
Looking forward to our last day tomorrow, although sad it's the last day:(
Gabriella
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