AIPAC Journals - Day 1

     As I rose very early Saturday morning and bustled about packing for AIPAC, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. The intense and grueling college course final was behind me, and now I could focus on my dream of attending AIPAC becoming reality just beyond the end of my packing!

   Although I left a little later than I originally planned, I had allotted plenty of time for travel and was confident that I would arrive in time for to register for the conference, check into my hotel, and attend the evening activities. My confidence slipped greatly, however, when upon the suggestion of my family, I called ahead to see at which hotel AIPAC had booked me to stay. Both hotels informed me that I was not on a list of their guests. Unfortunately, after numerous calls and quite a bit of time on the phone, I was informed that I would have to wait until I arrived in Washington, DC at registration site to resolve my hotel issues.

   I arrived in my hotel and hastily registered. Thankfully, I was informed immediately at which hotel I would be staying, but unfortunately my hotel room would not be available until the list of new bookings was processed.

   For much of the rest of the evening, I simply waited and checked in with the front desk. Then I waited some more and checked again. Before leaving for the DC Convention Center to attend the Campus Coffee House event, I checked my bags with the hotel, because my room was still not available.

   After a walk to the Subway outside the Convention Center (because the food stations at the AIPAC Village were not open yet), I sat down in the AIPAC Village to relax, eat dinner, and enjoy the amazing and beautiful village with its pavilions, porches with porch furniture resting on AstroTurf. After snapping some pictures of the attendees at a student government dinner I did not attend (I am not a student government president), I headed to the coffee hour and providentially met up with other fellow AIPAC attendees who had no one at the conference they knew. In my case, I had some CUFI on Campus brothers who were attending the student government dinner, and I enjoyed meeting up with several of them following the coffee hour.

   While waiting for the coffee hour to begin, I had received a call from the hotel informing me that my room was secured and ready. Following the coffee hour, the CUFI on Campus brothers whom I had met up with kindly offered to walk me back safely to my hotel. I was so grateful for their chivalry and companionship, and they demonstrated by their action yet again why my CUFI on Campus family is one of the most important blessings in my life.

   I had unpacked and settled in for the night when my roommate, P., arrived. I was soon to discover that I was paired with the perfect roommate for me. She was friendly, talkative, accommodating, and a pleasure to be around. We hit it off right away and enjoyed spending time together for the remainder of the conference.

   With a busy, long, and somewhat stressful day, I settled in for the night with great anticipation for the official start of the AIPAC Policy Conference.