Feeling Very "Secure"

DC is a beautiful city - gorgeous architecture, historic sites everywhere, the weather has been wonderful and it feels so much like an international city that the kids occasionally ask things like "do they use metric here?" because they forget they're still in the US!  One of the things we all noticed immediately and is slowly becoming a "normal" part of our lives is the high security everywhere.  We live literally across the street from where the Obama girls go to school and we are now used to seeing Secret Service at every corner in the mornings and afternoons and occasionally having to slow for motorcades dashing by.  Beyond that, both kids have security at their schools.  Xavier's school is monitored by a guard at the main door who diligently watches the perimeter on screens and dashed out to question me when I was taking pictures outside one day.  Meanwhile Sophie's school goes many steps further and has metal detectors at the doors, security guards in every classroom AND the bathrooms!  It's a really beautiful, well-run school but there are many kids from embassies and high net worth families that go there and all we can guess is that they are just really careful to ensure there aren't any incidents.  Sophie says it makes her feel really safe, so I guess that's good.  And, I'm getting used to showing my ID and having to have someone sign me in to any office building I enter.  I also take the subway to work and there are often police officers and K-9 units patrolling.  At a concert at Kennedy Center last night, officers with a K-9 unit swept through several times as just a matter of course.

So, we are feeling quite secure here and it's another element of life in DC that we're getting used to.