This isn't just my first time in Washington D.C., it's my first time flying. At first, I thought flying would be scary, but it was actually pretty exciting. The takeoffs were a little rough, but after getting up there, I was actually looking down at the clouds! I not only flew on one plane, I flew on two planes. My flight from Nashville to Chicago went just fine, but I just barely missed my connection from to Chicago to Washington D.C. which meant that I had to take a later flight from Chicago.

Eventually, I made it to Washington D.C. and the first event that I got to attend was a rally for healthcare at Freedom Plaza. There were a lot of great speakers and performance artists expressing themselves in front of a crowd of hundreds with the U.S. Capitol building visible in the background.

One of the highlights of the rally was a speech by Rep. John Conyers (D-NY). Conyers is a long-time supporter of a single-payer health care system in the U.S. But today, Conyers didn't mention single-payer at all. His focus was on passing President Obama's plan, which focuses on choice and the public option plan. Conyers made some touching comments about how important it is to pass health care reform in 2009 and it surprised a few people sitting next to us that Conyers was so supportive of the public option plan and the President's agenda. Conyers is often referred to as "The Godfather of Universal Health Care", and to hear him speak tonight, it's no wonder.

Got lost on the way to take Trina back to her hotel and ended up catching a ride with a tourist from Sweden. She asked us what we were doing here, and after we told her she got so excited. She said that she had grown up where everyone had health care, and was so shocked by our system here. She had married a man from the United States, and was now living here. She told us so many horror stories she had heard since she has lived here. One of her friends had a rash and had to go to the hospital. She said that she was quite surprised to see the doctor run so many tests on her friend before giving her a simple ointment. She wouldn't even accept the money we tried to give her for the ride. She said "no way will I take money from people that are here to get health care for all passed". The last thing I told her was that I was going to give it all I could, and I meant that from the bottom of my heart.

Tomorrow is the big day - lobby visits with our representatives in Congress. Looking forward to hearing what they have to say about the health care crisis and what they plan on doing about it.

Michele works for Metro Social Services in the Homemaker Services division, where she is responsible for providing in-home services for dozens of Nashville's poor, disabled, and elderly population.