Crystal City

I returned to my old stomping grounds tonight.  After class I took the shuttle to Rosslyn and then rode the Metro to Crystal City.  The last time I took a picture of the temperature, I think it was over 100 degrees.  I appreciated the cooler weather today.

I met K.Q. for dinner at the Thai restaurant by her office.  I highly recommend the Pad Tofu.  Most excellent.  It had been a while since we had seen each other.  She wasn't at our 20th MHC reunion, so that makes it at least 9 years since our last meeting.  She thought I was pregnant and when we were talking and I didn't remember that.  Turns out, I wasn't figuring the math correctly.  Upon further calculations, I think I was just pregnant with Selim -- and it would have been May 2004.  I think showed up for one meal at our 15th Reunion, and that is all.  Anyway, it was very fun to catch up and reminisce.  I can't believe that I am old enough to be anticipating my 25th college reunion next year, what gives?  Weird.

On my way back to the hotel, I made another stop at the Pentagon City Mall.  I tried on dresses.  And more dresses.  I walked around carrying one black and white polka dot dress for a bit.  The more I browsed, the more I realized that I did not need to spend $118 for a dress that I didn't love.  I put it back on the rack and left.

If the skies had been less thunder cloud looking, I would have gotten off at Arlington Cemetery and walked to the hotel.  But with my luck, I would have gotten half way in between and then the rain would have started.  In 2011 the shuttle went past it and every day I said my silent prayer for all those who have served and continue to do so.  I realized this morning as I rode the bus to class that I missed going passed the green grass and the acres of perfectly aligned markers and the Iwo Jima Memorial.  I miss that moment of conscious thought and prayer that the old route afforded me.  This weekend is Memorial Weekend and may be that is why it has been on my mind today.

Lastly, I'm glad that I was able to make it back to the Rosslyn Metro before dark.  I'm not so keen on walking around an area after dark, that I don't know very well.

Close by the hotel, I have passed by this sculpture / public art piece every day.   I haven't worn my glasses, so I wasn't sure what it was, exactly.  Tonight I decided to take a closer look.  It is a very sweet family by Boaz Vaadia made out of stone.  It appeals to me and for some reason.  The heads remind me of the shape of the sculpture/ tower/ architecture of Angkor Wat that I have seen in pictures.

OK, I need to start packing up.  I need to check out before I leave for class tomorrow morning.   I will be very happy to see my husband tomorrow night and Selim the day after.

Ugh, the Rangers just beat the Bruins in OT.  Yuck.  The Bruins could have closed out the series tonight.  They were up 3 games to 0.  Sigh.  Game 5 on Saturday.

Main State and Georgetown

I didn't sleep very well last night.  I woke up from my first nightmare at 11:47 and the rest of the night didn't get any better.  Selim is in second grade and all I could think about is that could have been my child in one of those elementary schools.  Heart sick.

Class went well today.  Some of the concepts I think of as intuitive, but it was nice to hear them spelled out in a more academic way.  Some of it was validation for what I feel that I do already.  And some of the other things opened my eyes to my own shortfalls.  It was helpful.  I'm sitting at a good table.  It is a good mix of newbies and veterans, Civil and Foreign Service, men and women, younger and older.  Everybody has a healthy sense of humor which I really appreciate.  In the small world category, I ran into another person as we entered the cafeteria that I served with in both 2011 and 2012 in London.  Wild.

This is going to be pretty short tonight because I have homework.  I managed some of the reading while I waited for dinner, but I didn't get all of the assignment completed.

After class today, I took the shuttle that ran to Main State.  Even though I spent 6 weeks in 2011 at FSI I never went to the Main State building.  I went to the health services in one of the annex buildings, but never the big at C Street.  I had this moment of panic when I went through the door that I wouldn't be allowed in.  But I knew the security procedure and didn't have any trouble.  I'm glad I asked directions to the gift shop ahead of time, because there aren't any signs.  I made it with a few minutes to browse before they closed for the night.  I wanted a pin for my lanyard and gifts for my guys.  I bought each of them a T-shirt.

There is so much security around the building that I was too intimidated to pull out my camera while in front of the building.  By the time I was walked around the side and then behind, I did pull it out for one shot.

I continued walking up the hill past the Foggy Bottom Metro stop to pick up the Circulator at the corner of 22nd and Pennsylvania Ave.  I don't know what the problem was today, but I waited for 40 minutes for the bus to come.  Usually the wait is no longer than 15 minutes.  I didn't know enough about the regular buses to hop on the 36 or 38A and know that I would have ended up in the same place.  The Circulator costs just a dollar and you can ride it all the way over to Georgetown.  Which, in reality, isn't very far away.  But it feels like it when you are walking and it is hot out.

I forgot that the yellow line bus runs all the way up to the Turkish restaurant, Cafe Divan at 1834 Wisconsin Ave and then a bit past before it turns around.  Stupidly, I got off the bus at M street ~1200 Wisconsin (where the blue and yellow lines intersect) and then had to walk up the hill until I reached my destination.  I was sweating by time I got to there, and it was worth it.

I sat outside.  While I waited for my food, I tried to review homework with Selim over the phone.  That proved too difficult as the noise from traffic interfered and we didn't have the best signal.  I promised to call when I got back to the hotel.  The food was just as good as I remembered.  I ordered two appetizers and called it a meal -- the mixed meze platter for one with dolma, hommus, feta cheese, lentil kofte and sigara borek, and a separate order of falafel.  My order included a basket of warm, focaccia type bread.  Yum!

I didn't lick my plate.

But I managed to polish off most of it.  I did my best with the dolma.  I'm not a huge fan of the grape leaf.  I find it a tad slimy.  I wish I had asked them to substitute another lentil kofte for the dolma.  I've tried to make it at home, and it has never come out very well.  I need a better recipe...like theirs.

I knew I wanted to relax a bit over a cup of tea.

I asked my waitress for a dessert recommendation and she suggested the rice pudding.  This rice pudding is unlike Indian rice pudding or American style for that matter.  It is made from rice flour, instead of rice grains.  It is baked and cut into rectangles, sprinkled with cinnamon.  It is much lighter and almost jello pudding like in its consistency.  I ate the whole serving, even though I was full.  Oink, oink.

Speaking of pigs, right by the restaurant was this random pig thing.  I have no idea why it is there or its purpose.  But there you have it.

Alrighty, I have to get to my homework.  And then, maybe I can have a better sleep tonight.  I'll put on the basketball game instead of tornado coverage.  That should help.  So, Memphis or San Antonio, who you got?

FSI Day 1

As I sit on my bed in the hotel, I am transfixed with the pictures of the tornado devastation in Oklahoma.  As a mother, I can't imagine waiting for news of my child after the school was leveled. The horror, sorrow, uncertainty, terror, that they must be feeling is unfathomable to me.  God willing, Inshallah, I will never have to know.  My heart goes out to those still in the path, who wait in fear, for what is to come.  So it feels a bit silly writing about my excursion to the Nordstrom Rack and the satisfaction of good packing while I have one eye on the TV screen looking at pictures of those who have just lost all that is important.  I am aware of the incongruous nature of this posting.  With that disclaimer...

The first day of class went well.  There are four of us from my office and one who used to be in NH in this course.  The five of us started out sitting together, safety in numbers, I guess.  But in the afternoon we were rearranged by our instructors.  We are going to stay in the same grouping for the rest of the week.  One fun thing is that I met one of the guys at the table in London last summer when we were both there on TDY.  It was nice to reconnect.

I didn't take many pictures today.  After class I went to the mall at Pentagon City and hit up Nordstrom's Rack.  I lost track of time in that store.  For a while I carried around the cutest pair of Betsy Johnson, cornflower blue, patent-leather ballet flats.  I was enamored.  However, I came to my senses before check out and put them back.  They were cute, in the kind of way only $50 impractical shoes can be.  I tried on a pair of black strappy, pencil thin, high heal sandals.  As elegant as they were, I'm not sure that I could walk more than a few steps without twisting my ankle.  Those too, I put back, even though they were appealing to my sense of adventure.  I ended up spending more money than I had planned because I forgot sleepwear.  Duh.

And I found some cute hair accessories -- a barrette and a clip, and a pair of earrings.  They weren't on the list of what I went in for.

On the whole, I think I packed pretty well for this trip.  My suitcase weighed 9 pounds under the weight limit.  And in my bag I had a bunch of snack food -- good gorp and freshly baked biscotti.  For my clothes, I chose a pink, navy, and black color scheme.  So far, I'm happy with what I brought (even if I did bring 5 pairs of shoes).  I've done the shoe thing right so far because my feet are blister free.

A couple of non sequiturs here: I don't think I put up pictures of my planting on Mother's day.  I filled my tray with tomato and cucumber seeds.

Just a week later,  a few of the cucumber seeds had sprouted!

As well as many of the carrots.  We will be doing some major thinning when I get home.

I am trusting that my guys are keeping the garden watered and taking my seedlings in at night so they don't get too cold.  In another two weeks or so, we should be able to get those plants in the ground!

Lastly, Selim got a haircut on Saturday!  He is sweaty in this picture, but trust me, he looks very handsome with his summer, shorter 'do.

Sunday afternoon in DC

It has been almost two years since I was in this city, hard to believe.  But today as I walked around, it felt more familiar than I expected.  The flight down was uneventful, the best kind.  We arrived at the gate early and the luggage followed quickly.  The cab to the hotel took minutes.  Once in the room, I rearranged my purse and headed out.

I took the Metro from Rosslyn to the Smithsonian.  I wasn't sure which stop was the best one to walk to the new MLK Memorial.  Foggy Bottom might have been closer.  Had I gotten off at 23rd and I Street, I would have missed my walk around the Tidal Basin.  In 2011, I did not walk the whole circumference.  I saw the Jefferson Memorial from afar, but I did not make it onto the steps or under the rotunda.  When you get off at the Smithsonian, you come out at 12th Street and Independence.  I walked past the Department of Agriculture and then down along side the Holocaust Museum.  I have not been inside and I'm not sure that I am strong enough to go in there.  I should.  But I'm not ready.

I could have walked across of the Tidal Basin and skipped the long walk around.  Since I hadn't made the trek before, and I wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere else, I decided to take the long way around.  I am so glad I did.  I love the Jefferson Memorial.

I love the columns,

the view,

the coolness on a hot afternoon (hard to capture digitally), the contrast of curvy rotunda and the grid formation of the columns,

and the statue.

 I exited the Memorial and continued walking around the water.  Not too far into my stroll, I realized that a ton of people had stopped and were taking pictures of something to my right, near the basin.  Turns out, baby geese (goslings?) were out with their parents.  Too cute.  Am I going to pass up fuzzy babies, mais non!

I stopped on the bridge that links the Potomac with the Basin.  Love the reflection of the Memorial on the water.

I tried to frame the dome in the architecture of the bridge.  I wasn't totally successful as it is hard to kneel down in concrete when wearing a long dress, but I did my best.  Overall, the concept was a good one.

I was happy to get to the shady side as I walked on the western edge, going north to the MLK Memorial.  I took pictures as the white stone came into view and the wildlife was naughty.

I didn't know what to expect.  I didn't walk all the way around the space, reading the quotations etched in the perimeter as my I was starting to flag.  The figure of Martin Luther King emerging from the stone is very powerful.  The massive "mountains" seemed a bit unrefined compared to the other memorials around the Mall.  But I am so happy that it is there, looking across the water to the Jefferson Memorial and close to Lincoln.

Even though I went to the Lincoln Memorial a few times in 2011, I decided to revisit because the reflecting pool had water in it and I wanted to see what that looked like from the steps.  And it was on the way to the Metro.  There were so many people on the steps and inside by the statue, that I didn't linger.  I did, however, call Selim from my new phone and we "face timed" so he could see the Washington Monument in the distance and he got an up close look at Lincoln.  Technology is so wild!

Starting to feel my feet, I didn't try to see anything else.  I walked up 23rd street to I.  Before going down into the Metro, I noticed the Whole Foods store a block away.  I went in and bought dinner -- fizzy water, salad, avocado rolls, fresh pineapple chunks, and a few cookies.  I knew better than to go crazy in the market and bring back to the hotel all sorts of stuff that I would never eat.  The subway ride back was just one stop.  In no time, I was back in the room, ready to devour my feast.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I could not eat it all.  Luckily, I have a refrigerator in my room.

As I did in NYC last month, I mapped my walk today: 3.2 miles.  Not bad after an early morning wake up call to finish chores, followed by a bus ride and plane flight.  Now off to bed so that I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed -- and ready to learn tomorrow.