Throughout the trip, we met some pretty cool strangers along the way.
Tonea from Tesla
Haroon from the National Portrait Gallery
Kevin from the Renwick Gallery
Gabby from Lush Cosmetics
Tonea from Tesla
Tonea was one of the first strangers we met on our trip to DC. The minute we walked into Tesla, she greeted us with such a bright smile and was so nice in answering all of our questions. However, we didn't just stop at talking about cars (which she really sold us on by the way). Tonea started talking to us about how she got to Tesla. She moved to Washington DC when she was 18 and originally worked at a FedEx lifting boxes everyday, which she HATED. She told us that she just applied to Tesla, and they day she got the call she got the Tesla job she quit her job at FedEx. Now, Tonea says she loves her job and aspires to work at the Tesla headquarters in California one day. She also gave us her business card and offered to take us on a test drive in any Tesla car, but they don't give test drives on weekends so we had to schedule it for a weekday. Tonea really inspired us that we can get any job we want to if we work hard, and that we shouldn't settle for doing something that doesn't make us happy.
Haroon from the National Portrait Gallery
Haroon the security guard was an unexpected meeting! He first made a comment about the Terps losing the Temple football game, and the conversation just took off from there! Haroon told us he was a US National originally from Ghana, and will always consider himself a Ghanian. We asked him about why he works at the Portrait Gallery, and he said that the hours are better so that he can care for his granddaughter because his daughter goes to medical school in Tennessee. He also told us about how some painting get rotated out of the museum because they are on loan from the owners, while others the Smithsonian owns. The conversation we had with Haroon was so unexpected, and long, but we learned a lot from him. Haroon essentially had nothing when he came to the US from Ghana, and now he is a grandfather and his daughter is on her way to become a doctor. Haroon's life story shoes us that no matter what you come from, if you hustle and persevere anything is possible.
Kevin from the Renwick Gallery
I was just standing on the "Capitol Theater", looking at the popcorn machine when Kevin pokes out and asks m if I notice anything peculiar about the popcorn. I responded no, and he told me to look closer. Turns out the artist made every little popcorn kernel by hand, but more importantly Kevin and I had started a conversation. Turns out, Kevin does not work at the Renwick but he has gone to Burning Man multiple times. He said that his closest friends today, the people he considers his "family", he met at Renwick. He also told me that he is originally from the Bay Area and came to Maryland because he heard that the artist of the Burning Man exhibit was doing a symposium the day before, which he attended. He took me around to some of the exhibits and told me about how he saw the same exhibits in the Renwick at the actual festival. He even said that one of the videos playing on one of the screens was submitted by one of his friends at Burning Man. Also, he told me about how the sand at Burning Man had a certain mineral in it that would burn the bottom of your feet if you stood on it too long without food. He knew all about his because the last few times hes gone he has worked as a medic, so he has seen all kinds of things. Overall, the information I got from Kevin is not something I could get from reading the exhibits or reading about Burning Man. I got a real first hand account of the exhibit that made me appreciate that much more.