Hangin' out

I'm still just hanging around DC, relaxing before I start work. I've had a chance to get out and do a little sightseeing around the city.

I went to the National Museum of the American Indian (I guess that's PC now), a new addition to the Smithsonian. It's pretty big and impressive, I didn't get to cover it all. One floor is dedicated to exhibits on life in different tribes today. It's sad to see so many cultures almost gone, but also inspiring to see those who carry them on through native language schools, combining old and new technology to make a living, gathering from different parts of the world, etc. It reminds me of the challenge immigrant communities face, keeping some of the old world, while the new one presses in from all sides. But it would be a little harder if the old world didn't exist anymore.

The next day we took a mega walking tour of all the monuments. It left me feeling very patriotic. Hmmm...I wonder if I would've felt the same if I'd gone right after the American Indian museum. Still, I'm interested in the people who made such an impact on history, like Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson, even if I don't agree with everything they did. Then we rode out to Georgetown, shopped around, and had dinner at Amma's, a great vegetarian South Indian restaurant. We spent the evening out on the waterfront, and met up with one Rachel's friends from college. Hooray for being a tourist!

Besides that, I've been reading lots of novels, remembering why I don't let myself do this during the semester (I stay up really late). After reading about slavery in the interesting but strange The Known World (Edward P. Jones), I decided to go for lighter teenage fare. I started The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, which reminds me of the books I read as a pre-teen. Then I explored the darker side of teen angst in The Pact, by Jodi Picoult, about love, suicide/murder, friendship, and truth. I just bought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so I think I'll go back to light stuff for the day or 2 it takes to read it.

I actually have started to do some work, since my internship is a research project. Nice to have a little purpose, especially in the comfort of my own home.

The Evaluation

The 2 people who still read my blog may have noticed I stopped blogging lately. I had to re-evaluate whether it was worthwhile to post my thoughts and updates when 1) they're not that fascinating, and 2) even with my squeaky clean life, it's unwise to make everything public. After a few randomized double blind studies, surveys, and focus groups, I concluded that blogging is still an efficient and effective way to share some information with people who happen to be interested.

So here I am in our nation's capital. If you've been here, you know what it's like. My specific location is a basement apartment I can only describe as "cute". It seems to be newly remodeled, so it's like a mini version of a real house or apartment. Since my roommate and I brought a Corolla full of stuff for the 2 of us, we're glad it came with some furniture. True, we're sleeping on air mattresses, but we have free direct tv and new (quiet!) kitchen appliances. Life is good. Our landlords, who live upstairs are a nice couple with toddler, a dog and a cat. It's nice to be around a family for a change...I mean living around a family. I'm not discounting my own family, who I just visited.

Yesterday was a nice day, so we (my roommate and I) explored Old Town, Alexandria. I think this is why I get the feeling of being in a foreign country every once in awhile. Places like this are very non-Midwestern. Compact brick buildings with a hodgepodge of family owned businesses. Public transportation, foot transportation, bike transportation. Buildings that are actually old...almost 300 years is pretty good for the US. We walked down to the Potomac. I admit it, I'm a sucker for water and a little atmosphere. Some good Thai food (which we had) doesn't hurt, either. And I bought fun books! All in all, a good day.

The rest has been settling in mostly, with small victories like figuring out how direct tv works, and discovering a wireless network I can connect to at home. Which reminds me, this blog is brought to you by...unsecured wireless networks.