05.01.05 Washington
DC
We were in DC for the newly elected congressman honorable
Jim Costa’s inauguration. It was a huge
family happening with some 120 family and friends coming from the San Joaquin Valley to partake in the events. They were all housed in the Hyatt Regency walking
distance to the Capitol, which could be seen from the hotel.
The main events were a tour of the capitol, a visit to the
Portuguese embassy and the inauguration itself.
We drove down to Washington DC on January 2nd in a private bus that came
to pick us up at the residence in Mountain
Lakes and conveniently dropped
us off at the hotel. It was a luxury bus
and very comfortable and there was a table to play cards at and couches to sit in
or to take naps (see below). The children
did not take naps however, and that night when we had a late dinner at the only
Portuguese restaurant in Washington
DC (all 120 of us) all three were
so wiped out that they were falling asleep on the table. Saskia even told me that ‘she was not going to
last much longer’ a first and a clear indication of just how tired they were. (It seems that they have had a tougher time
adjusting to the time change this trip than on previous occasions. Saskia fell asleep in the middle of parties
several times (see below)).
The next morning the bus took most of the crew to the
different war monuments on the mall (Korean War, Second World War and Vietnam
War) as well as the Lincoln Memorial. Unless
one was an Ethiopian long distance runner it was impossible to see all four monuments
in the time alotted, however. Lukas and I
saw only the Korean and Second World war memorials, and R and the girls saw the Vietnam memorial as well—which is
the most moving. There were several
veterans in the group (Korean war mostly), which made it especially meaningful.
After the monuments on the mall we left for Arlington, to the national cemetery, where
JFK is buried and where the tomb of the unknown soldier is. There too, we had not enough time to see
everything so we just went to the JFK site.
It is up on a hill and one has to walk through endless rows of white
gravestones, it is an awesome and solemn experience even on a lovely day such
as it was. JFK’s grave is a simple stone
and a flame. He shares the gravesite
with his wife and two stillborn children.
When you turn around and look down the hill, there is a direct line from
his grave to the Lincolm Memorial (I like the way Washington
DC is laid out, it reminds me of Paris) and there are some
granite panels arranged in a half circle in which segments of JFK’s inaugural
address are hewn. All of them are very
moving and I was particularly struck by the last one in which he says that on
earth we are responsible for doing God’s work.
That afternoon the whole “Team Costa” (this is what it said
on our lapel buttons) took pictures on the steps of the Capitol, but I felt I
could not make the children go without a nap, so I took them back to the hotel
for a swim and a nap. Meanwhile Roberta accompanied
Jim to a reception for all the new members of congress at the White House. He was allowed to bring his spouse but as he
does not have one he was kind enough to take her and give her the opportunity
to see the white house and meet a host of famous and powerful people. Of course, when they met people the natural
assumption would be that she was his wife (albeit much younger), and to get out
of that slight awkwardness Jim made a little joke saying that the five days
notice he had had for the event had been insufficient to find a wife, therefore
he had brought his niece. After so many
introductions, this line got a little old.
R got to meet the president and his wife. He asked where she lived and when she said Tokyo, he exclaimed that
“That’s where my buddy Koizumi lives!
How is he doing?” (she did not know). Laura asked her whether she was learning
Japanese (yes). She also got to meet the
vice president, Dick Cheney. He looked
like gnome, without a neck, very short and fat.
She then met Karl Rove (together these men are better known as the axis
of evil), also known as “Bush’s brain” and mastermind of the last presidential campaign(s). Immediately after shaking his—reportedly sweaty—palm,
as she turned away her high heel slipped on the very shiny parket floor and she
fell down, one leg in front one leg behind in a kind of split, except less
elegant. The secret service immediately came
to help her up (“Are you alright Ma’am?”).
R usually leaves an impression on people, I am sure they will remember
her. She also had her picture taken with
the president and his wife. Posing next
to G.W she felt an urge to put her hand around him but, thankfully, she
resisted. All in all it was quite an
experience.
That night we (all 120 of us) went to the embassador of Portugal in
several buses. We were a bit late as it
had been hard to wake up the children after our naps (I was having similar
difficulties to be honest). The
embassador’s residence is a spectacular home furnished with beautiful
Portuguese furniture and signature Portuguese tiles on the walls. With Jim’s election, there are now 4 US
congressmen of Portuguese descent in the house of representatives (all from CA;
two republicans, two democrats). All
were invited to the party with their entourage and the 5 rooms on the ground
floor were filled with people. There
were the obligatory speeches in which the usual points were made. I wonder whether Jim will be able to afford a
speech writer now that he is a congressman; it could not hurt. Of course the president is proof that one
does not need to be a good speaker in order to be a successful politician. On the other hand, the quotes from JKF’s
inaugural address show how inspired speeches can stir people for generations.
The next day, Jan 4th was the inauguration itself. Since there are not that many seats for the
public in the House, only a few of the 120 guests could attend the actual
swearing in. Therefore a private
swearing in ceremony was held in the Rayburn building for eerybody that made
the journey. Tony Coelho, a former
member of congress from California
(also of Portuguese descent), presided and administered the oath and it was a surprisingly
moving event. Jim was flanked by his
mother and other family members and swore allegiance to the constitution with his
hand on his mother’s own bible that she held up for him while seated in her
wheelchair. It was a very proud moment
for the whole family. After the ceremony
Jim spoke again, quite long, so that when he was finally done we had to rush to
get over to the capitol in time.
Uncle Eric and I went with Nana and we had much difficulty
getting to the right place as all the elevators were filled to the brim with
congressman on their way to the House.
When we finally got to the third floor and found our place, it turned
out we had been rushing in vain, the House was not yet in session (and although
we did not know this, the swearing in ceremony was not to take place until much
later).
Our three children had been
invited to be with Uncle Jim on the floor of the house as this was allowed on
this special day. Of course, they were
dressed up for the occasion, Lukas wore a tie and a blue jacket that was much
too large, making him look like some miniature frat boy. It was he we were most worried about, but
congressman Cardosa (another Portuguese congressman from CA and seated next to
Jim (Do they have fixed places, or is it free seating?)) gave him his
blackberry mobile computer on which there is some kind of computer game, so from
then on Lukas sat quietly, head down, playing a game (from what he told us
afterwards, he will remember the swearing in ceremony as the time when he
played this new computer game on the blackberry and how hard it was to get to
‘the next level’). Up in the public
seating area, we did not have computers to entertain us, as we had to hand over
all our electronic devices before entering; indeed we were not even allowed a
drink of water. I sat for a while by
myself in my assigned seat (we had received a whole bunch of seats at the very
last minute, but almost none of the seats were together) then traded places
with Eric who was standing behind Nana’s wheelchair so he could sit. When the clerq finally called the house to
order (the members paid exceedingly little attention to this, however) causing
me to think that the swearing in ceremony was about to start it turned out that
the first order of business was to select the speaker of the house. Of course, it was a foregone conclusion that Hastert
would win as he was the only Republican candidate but all 435 members were
called upon one-by-one to cast their
vote nevertheless. The clerq would call
out the name of the representative, at which point the representative would rise
and shout the name of the candidate they supported (Hastert!), which was then
repeated with falling intonation (Hastert.) by the clerq. It was kind of a quaint process and it was
fun to hear Jim vote for the first time, but it was not exactly an efficient
way of voting (and one wonders if they vote like this, why insist on having the
public vote on computers without any paper record). The process took so long that somewhere in
the Ms Nana told me “Okay, I think we should go now.” As much as I agreed with her, I urged her to
hang in there for the swearing in ceremony and told her to take a nap and that
I would wake her for the ceremony, which she did. Finally the votes were counted (by four
different people) and Hastert was announced the winner. Pellosi (the minority leader and the
Democratic candidate running for speaker of the House) who came in second was
allowed to introduce Hastert. Although
her speech was reaching out across the aisle, she also took the chance to put
forth some of the democratic issues, and for this she received a roaring
applause from the left side of the House while the right side sat in
silence. When she was done she returned
to her seat where two of her five grandchildren were waited eagerly and immediately
became involved in reading to them from a big comic book. Then Hastert spoke and laid out the
conservative agenda for this coming year which was depressing as it is quite
clear that the republicans can do whatever they want with their majority. Once this conservative rant was over, it was
finally time to administer the oath to the other members of the house. All members (and my children as well) stood
up, raised their right hand listened to Hastert pronounce the oath and then said
in unison “I do”. That was it. It was done so matter of factly and with so
little circumstance that it took away from the momentous occasion this was for our
family. After all, to have a family
member (whose grandparents came to the US with “only the clothes on their
back” as Jim is fond of saying) who can debate and vote (and potentially write)
on the laws of the land is really quite awesome. Although the policies of the current
administration fill me with repugnance, this does not diminish the respect I
have for the incredibly thoughtful way the US government was designed by the
founding fathers; no doubt they were some of the smartest statesmen in the
history of mankind. And for us as a
family to have an opportunity to experience second hand the workings of our government
will no doubt enrich our lives greatly. For that we are most grateful to Jim who
worked so hard to get elected.
 
12:03:01 PM 
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