Washington, the city where news happens
By Glenda Ortega
This is my first time to Washington, DC—the city where news happens. I have been in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Miami. And I can say that every city has its own personality.
Inside the U.S. Capitol
Every day, important decisions are made at the Capitol, Supreme Court and the White House, and journalists from all over the world are here covering those events. To me, as a journalist, it’s very exciting to be so close to those buildings.
I’m fascinated by the architecture of DC. Sometimes is like going back in time. Some of its buildings have Roman and Greek influences; some are inspired in the 19th century France or ancient Egypt. But I also see a modern city with some buildings resembling those in Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires, in Latin America.
The weather here is unpredictable. On March 20, I was welcomed with chilly weather. Now, it is improving but I’ve learned that I need to pay attention to the weather channel. In my country, Ecuador, we don’t have to worry about the weather. It’s very simple, we just have summer and winter. Here, I will have to remember to check the weather before going out.
In our first journalism class with Randall Smith, the chairman of the Alfred Friendly Press Partners, he talked about Ryszard Kapuściński, one of the most important journalists in the last century. I remembered that the first editor I worked with in Ecuador also used to talk about Kapuściński. I can see that while buildings and weather might be different, the journalism language and the references are the same as in my country. Accuracy is the keyword.
As I begin to experience a new culture, I can say that we are not as different as we sometimes think.
