Iowa State Capitol- Second Day

The second day began pretty early. We were to start our day at 8:30. So we got up a little early to get ready in our professional uniforms. Kevin had already left for his horrendously long shift of 12 hours at 6:30. Abbie was taking care of lil man Nicholas, who was already awake. We handed in our gifts to her and she thanked us for them. We thanked her for the hospitality she and Kevin had extended to us. In a while, Derek showed up and we were whisked to the State Capitol after bidding goodbye to Abbie, as she assured us she'd try her best to get to Culture Week.

The day at the Capitol was once again pretty exciting. The same security procedures and the discussion based Committee meeting. The only difference was that we were both with Representative Nate Willems today. He was the one who arranged for this whole thing to happen. We hadn't gotten to talk to him the day before properly due to time conflicts. But on this day, we decided to talk. We talked over the course of breakfast and he mentioned his bachelor's days in Georgetown and how competitive it was there.

Once again, we were back in the committee meetings. Focus was primarily on the pre-school funding cuts being proposed and further cuts on social programs. It would mean disaster for the people in the poorer families to make ends meet with the cuts. Many school districts were also to lose money because of this.

Although we wanted more time, it was not possible. We also had a deep desire to go to the top of the capitol and look outside. With the help of a certain Senator and Nate's Clerk Linda (very very nice lady!), we went to the top and looked outside. It was amazing to see Des Moines from up there. What made the journey more memorable was that it wasn't possible for everyone to get up there. Visitors need to have a member of the house take responsibility to be up there.

At around 12:30, we decided to leave as Derek was waiting. After handing out gifts to Reps. Willems, Steckman, and Olson, we bid them goodbye and promised to stay in touch. Derek was waiting for us outside, to whisk us away from this amazing place.

The whole journey was amazing. What struck us the most was the very kind and open nature of the individuals we worked with. They were encouraging us to learn more about their system and get to know ours in return. They had no sense of pride of their position. More or less they broke down the power distance between the people and the government. With people like them helping make laws , we felt Iowa was in safe hands....for now.

Iowa State Capitol- First Day

We couldn't believe it! We would be working with people in Iowa's seat of power. Derek picked us up at around 8 am so that we could get to the State Capitol early. From the outside, the building looked magnificent. We couldn't wait and thus, decided to go in. The security check point was similar to that of airports and the people were super friendly. Once we entered, all we saw were men and women in professional dresses running around. It was the busiest week of the year- Funnel Week, when the legislators would throw out any bills that weren't worthy enough.

Then we moved on to find our professional host for the morning- Representative Sharon Steckman from Mason City. We did not know where the House of Representatives was located; so we ended up moving around for a while before we found it. The entrance was full of individuals who were professionally dressed up. We went to the gate keeper and asked him for Rep. Steckman, who asked us to fill up forms. Then came Rep. Steckman after a moment's wait. She was very delighted and handed us our guest passes for the two days we were to be there for. She then talked about herself and the business of the week and got us arranged to have a tour of the building to get to know it better.

We were introduced to a nice lady who would be our tour guide for the morning. She started off by welcoming us and told us that the journey would be very interesting. She began by explaining that the Capitol had been lifted to add another storey to it. It was unbelievable but true. Further, she added that Iowa City was the former capital of Iowa before Des Moines took the crown. Another interesting fact was that the first building for the capitol was built by the natives of Des Moines, and it resembled the Old Main more than its present form. The tour guide guided us through the balcony area of the two houses and pointed out to the chandeliers. She added that the capitol had 29 different types of marbles in it and 12 types of wood. Also, the gold roof was made up of gold foil which took 2 years to put and a third of it would be lost to the wind. Overall, the guide was amazing as we came across many interesting facts about Iowa, including it being the first state to allow female lawyers. Cool indeed.

Later, Bibek was introduced to Representative Tyler Olson of the Cedar Rapids area. The two went around for a while to get to know each other a little more and a bit of shadowing. Liza stuck with Rep. Steckman. Everyone met for lunch and the hosts made sure the lunch was on them. Very polite!! As we had lunch, we spoke about the government systems of our respective countries and how it was that they worked. After lunch, we moved to the upper story of the Capitol. We then moved to the main House of Representatives which had seats for the Representatives and looked very cool with the chandeliers and the wooden chairs. Everyone looked busy with their clerks and as the House was in session, we were introduced in front of everyone which made us nervous yet it was quite fascinating. From here we learned that most decisions were made in the back, inside small committee and caucus meetings. We were to attend a Senate Appropriation Committee, which discussed on the allocation of budget. Focus was on the young and calls for balanced budget were being made. Since we were shadowing Democratic Representatives, the Reps. focused on education for all, including keeping the support for pre-schools intact. These meetings were interesting, as announcements were made at the beginning of the meeting followed by extended discussions between individuals from both parties. Votes were casted by saying "aye" or "nay."

We then moved on to a Caucus meeting, which surprisingly, we weren't barred from. Even the clerks were not allowed in these meeting but we felt proud to be there. Caucuses are behind closed door meetings of House Democrats or Senate Democrats for confidential subject matter.
The minority Leader of the House then called on to congratulate the Labor Committee as they debated for 15 hours non-stop. Furthermore, the committee members of specific committees answered any questions regarding their field of expertise.

We then jumped to other committee meetings, which included Democrats and Republicans. It seemed like most of the work here was based on discussions and dialogue!

At 5, we were done and we returned to our personal host's site, thanks to Derek. Once there, we had dinner as we were starving. Abbie cooked some really nice chicken with apple sauce and we talked over dinner about food as well. Nicholas was also enjoying his food.

After dinner, we decided to talk once again. Nicholas was also enjoying our company. We also took a few pictures together and then decided to go play some Xbox, as Nicholas was asleep. With the new system that responded to body movements, it was quite an adventure to play the new addition to the Xbox. Kevin and Bibek were playing away while Liza and Abbie joined in later. We also took pictures and decided to call it quits for the day after that .

02/27/2011- Des Moines- Here we come!

So, the day has finally arrived for the Des Moines group to part for the capital city of the state of Iowa! Although it wasn't the first time we were going to Des Moines, there was a different sense of excitement. Getting to work with some of the politicians and policy makers in Iowa was truly going to be an insightful experience.

Derek and ourselves left Waverly at around 11:30 am on Sunday, 27th of February. The day prior was when we did most of our packing and we were contemplating on what to take and what not to (also keeping in mind if we'd forgotten anything). Derek was there to pick us up as neither of us (Liza or Bibek) has a driver's license. So he was to be our personal chauffeur (you know we love you Derek).

The journey was 2 and a half hours to Des Moines. As neither of us had lunch, Liza wanted to get some food. We decided to stop at McDonalds on the way. There's a funny story here. As the two of us went inside to get some food, Derek remained in the car as he didn't want to eat anything. When we returned, Derek noticed some red and thick stuff on his shirt. It turns out, Bibek has accidentally picked up some ketchup in McDonald's and succeeded to make Derek's million dollar shirt look a bit...dirty. He told us that he'd clean it up in the hotel room for the reception later in the day.

We then met the other participants of the Orange Connection at St. John's Lutheran Church in downtown Des Moines. We were the first to arrive, followed by the others. When everyone got there, we were split into group of mostly 2-3 people. Our goal: to take pictures in front of all the monuments listed in the handout. The team Bibek was in had quite a ride, as the other participants knew exactly where to go. It wasn't much of a problem to get everything done. Liza' group on the other hand struggled and was the last one to show up at the Alumni Reception.

The Alumni Reception was held at Kevin and Abbie Smith's lovely home. 2000 Wartburg graduates, the Smiths were more than happy to host the event. To add to this, they were our personal hosts too! The event went by smoothly, with alumni who talked about their Wartburg education and then moving on to explain what they did. We met the editor of the Des Moines Register along with a gentleman who owned his own insurance company. Overall, it was a good event but many couldn't show up.

Later that night, we spent time with Kevin and Abbie talking about our countries and our experiences at Wartburg. They talked about their life with the new addition of Nicholas who was trying to get to know us more. Their dogs Gadget and Gizmo seemed to love us already, trying to sit on our laps. We had to start work at 9 the next day and thought it would be great to sleep after the Oscar's were over.