| | |  Americas & Beyond 
Q+A: First Lady Michelle Obama to Visit Mexico
 Deborah Charles - Reuters
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April 13, 2010
| | First lady Michelle Obama flexes her arms in response to a joke about her habit of wearing sleeveless dresses during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington May 9, 2009. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) | |
Washington – Michelle Obama travels to Mexico from April 13-15 on her first solo international trip as first lady.
The self-proclaimed "mom in chief" says her principal responsibility at the White House is to make sure her daughters Malia, 11 and Sasha, 8, are well taken care of and have settled in to their new city and schools.
Here are some questions and answers about the first lady and what she has been doing at the White House:
WHAT ARE HER PET CAUSES?
Since her husband Barack Obama took office in January 2009, Michelle Obama has had a relatively low profile role as first lady. She has focused on children's health and nutrition, gaining much attention by planting the White House Kitchen Garden - an organic vegetable garden on part of the South Lawn of the White House.
As part of an effort to battle childhood obesity, she also launched the "Let's Move" campaign to get people exercising.
Obama has also focused on supporting military families and encouraging Americans to perform national service.
HOW HAS SHE CHANGED THE WHITE HOUSE?
After the inauguration, Obama said she felt a "responsibility to make it feel like the People's House." As part of an effort to cement that idea, the Obamas decided to surprise visitors on White House tours after the inauguration.
This year on the one-year anniversary of the inauguration, Michelle Obama and family dog Bo did the same thing.
The Obamas have opened up another room - the China Room - to tours, and visitors are also occasionally invited out to the South Lawn to watch the arrival or departure of Marine One, the presidential helicopter. Some visitors are also given tours of the Executive Residence.
On St. Patrick's Day, the fountain in front of the White House is dyed green - a nod to the Obama's hometown of Chicago, which dyes its river green on the Irish holiday.
Obama has invited groups of school children to various events at the White House. Some local high school girls were invited to a formal dinner with her and cooking students were invited to talk to the head chef and first lady as they prepared for the Obama's first state dinner last November.
Obama also holds different themed music events, like bringing in jazz musicians to play with students from a local performing arts high school.
When she moved in, Obama said she planned to make the first family's residence more family friendly, with comfortable couches where the children can hang out or use the cushions to make forts. But she also insisted that her daughters make their own beds, set the table and be treated as normal kids.
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