DC

FROM BARBARA

ok its been a few days, but mainly because we havent had two seconds to breathe since DC. after landing in DC, i jumped on a supershuttle with what seemed was the modern day cleaver family. There were 5 of them (mom, dad, two girls and a boy). They were flying in from san diego and were so poilite and nice to each other it was scary. One of the sisters, my age, offered to give me her priests name in san francisco in case i needed a church to go to. they really didnt understand why i was travelling alone and im convinced they would have adopted me if i seemed interested. I didnt realize that dulles airport was one hour from dc. our driver was great and drove me past all the monuments since it was FREEZING. Ill definitely use supershuttle again when i have time to spare. much cheaper than a cab and you meet some pretty cool people.

i got dropped off at union station and after walking around for a while, i decided I wanted to go to the Smithsonian. i surprisingly figured out the metro system to the correct station. Walked out and eaves dropped on a conversation one of the street vendors was giving a family. Turns out there are 6 museums within the smithsonian. Woah. Way too overwhelmed and hungry at this point, i just kept walking and took pretty pictures of the monuments in the snow. DC is great as it has signs poiting you everywhere you want to go, so i followed signs to the whitehouse, but i needed food right away. i found an "american tavern" which sounded perfect for a meal in americas capital. walked in through the long hallway and found myself in a room full of men in suits smoking cigars. it was too late to leave at this point. i was committed, so walked to the end of the room at the bar and ordered a lovely glass of pinot noir. Im wearing jeans, ski cap, jacket, huge purse and massive backpack full of books, magazines, a laptop and an extra fleece. its beyond rediculous how much i stick out but its too funny to leave. i overhear conversations about taxation, bills, money, everything i know nothing about. i take out my US Weekly and enjoy my southwestern salad grinning from ear to ear while people kept staring. i clearly did not belong. :)
After lunch, i walk a few blocks and found the whitehouse. Its much smaller than I would have imagined, but beautiful. i took the obligatory pictures and then left to meet mom. my cab driver was from ethiopia and invited me to new years to spend it with his family. i was quite tempted. i havent been to africa yet!

once at the airport, i get into the security line and find myself standing behind a bone marrow doner who is carrying his donation with him, so there is quite the delay. crazy to think he actually has the bone marrow with him in the cooler. so cool and what a xmas present for whoever needed it. he was off to london.

i went straight to the red carpet room to get my obligatory free airport drink and snack, one of the great perks of travelling for work. Got mom to meet me there and off we went! the flight was on time and everyone spoke french. smiles all around. the second my head hit my inflatable pillow, i was out cold. finally some decent sleep. i was a little upset when mom woke me up when the flight attendants came by but quickly cheered up when it was for a glass of wine.
only 8 more hours until snowy geneva! i still cant beleive how smoothly everything has gone so far!

disclaimer im at my aunts house in france and the keyboard is completely different. i cant find the apostrophe key or the caps key, so apologies on the typos and weird writing. its all part of the adventure though!

xoxo!


SOME DC PIX....