American University - Talon / Aucola Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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Believe It If You Need It ' ' WELCOME TO HAVANNA, SAID THE PILOT There I was stepping off the Metroliner, making my way through the crumbling parthenon of Union Station in Washington, D.C. towards daylight. And there I stood, jaw on the floor, an al- most spiritual rush ascending my spine. I didn ' t know if I was in love or totally repulsed by the gleaming white structure which greeted me. That building I had often seen on postcards and posters, in magazines and in god- only-knows how many textbooks, books. IVIy emotions were soon to be shattered. Hailing a cab in the swarming traffic, I was on my way up the then unfamiliar Mas- sachusetts Avenue amid a sea of cars and busses, crashing and honking, and masses of wooden pilings from Metro construction. The harsh city noises ended my reverie abruptly. Long blocks of government office buildings and commercial department stores barely let me glimpse the top of the Washington Monument. The cab crawled slowly through two tunnels and advanced on one of the Captial City ' s famous (in- famous?) traffic circles that seems to represent the city itself. Then, almost as suddenly as they erupted, things quieted down. Almost hushed. This was em- bassy row. Over a bridge and flashes of Rock Creek Park. Past a statue of Winston Churchill (maybe that V really did stand for peace once). So many sights I can ' t absorb them all. Then up a hill, down one and up another with the cabbie ' s foot glued to the floor. Madly around yet an- other crazy circle which ends in a screeching halt. No accident, amazingly, this must be it. That will be five bucks. I gave the guy six and told him to keep it, grabbed my suitcase and jumped out. There I stood, starry-eyed, somehow I felt I had been here before.