Last Post of the Year

Quite some stuff has happened over the past few days, but since I was in the middle of my travelogue, and I didn’t want to interrupt it, I decided to postpone it and instead, blog about it cumulatively afterwards, such as today.

For starters, I am taking this opportunity to give myself a pat in the back for maintaining my GPA the way I wanted it. I wasn’t sure of my grades for this semester, due to the fact that it was the first time I was taking a higher-level math class (remember my Advanced Statistics 1 class?) and I didn’t know whether I can get an A in it.

But, it seems that I still have straight A’s in my transcript. Sweet.

Second, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Ouch. This then threw the whole country into chaos. I better hold off into my travel plans to Islamabad, Peshawar, and Karachi, until the country calms down. I would want to visit the Shalimar Gardens and Mohenjo-Daro, but maybe not in the near future.

Third, I finished reading my novel, and now have started another one, entitled Mambo Peligroso. This is very engaging, so far. This novel is about the lives of different men and women, all immigrants to the United States from Latin countries, and how the dancefloor ties them up together. I am never a dancer (although I took social dance lessons for gym class back in undergrad), but the way the novel was written, it felt like I could see and experience the bodies moving on the dancefloor. It was so picturesque and vivid. I like novels that are like this, although the previous novel I was reading was too much. The previous one was switching back and forth from reality to dream sequences, that sometimes it was hard to tell which was which, but I guess that was the point of the novel.

Fourth, I am currently entrenched into world music, or should I say, still entrenched into this art form. I guess, ever since I started teaching the class I teach in the department, I was made aware of the extremely diverse music available outside of the Western realm. And when I was in the Smithsonian Asian art museums, I bought quite some CDs from different parts of the world. I bought a CD of a Mali artist; I bought a CD of compilations of the music of Iran; a CD of compilations of the music of Central Asia; and finally, a CD of compilations of arabesque. The last one I specially like, since I just love the way Middle Eastern tunes and rhythms mix with electronica. Listening to hip-hop from the Maghreb region is just amazing.

Fifth, I played travel agent again, this time to my best customer, the patriarch and the matriarch. They are thinking of a vacation in the spring of next year, and they have some conditions. They want one week of vacation time. They also want somewhere near, not really an 8-hour flight away. They also don’t want to bring their coats in May. And they don’t want to travel within the destination, instead, they just want to stay put in one location for the whole duration of the trip.

So, I was discussing their options. I gave them a number of cities that can sustain their interest for one week. I guess the no-coat requirement nailed it to the destination that they are currently thinking: Istanbul, Turkey. Due to the circumstances of my customers, I believe that they can gain entry without a visa for one month. And Istanbul has plenty of things to see that would suffice for a week of exploration.

In the meantime, I here am jealous, because that is one of my dream destinations as well, and I am not going. Oh well, I cannot complain, I already have my next disappearing act arranged.

Speaking of my disappearing act, I have now booked all the necessary things that needs to be booked. If one looks at the list, it can be mind-boggling. Good thing I did not opt to go to this destination early this year, and instead I went to Quito, Ecuador. That was my first solo trip, and I figured it would be too complicated as a first solo trip. So Ecuador was my practice session. And since I got out scratch-free, I am putting it one notch up.

So, I have made three different flight bookings: 1) Buffalo-US international gateway; 2) US international gateway – gateway of destination country via a third country (where I have a 9-hour lay-over, providing me a chance to get out of the airport and see the city even for a little while); and 3) gateway of destination country – domestic city in destination country. Three airlines, all in all. And guess what? Ignoring daylight savings time, all of these are in one timezone!

I also made railway reservations. I am doing some extensive internal travel for this trip. And in order to reach the cherry on the top, I needed to ride one of the highest railways in the world. So I made a booking for a round-trip ticket from one town to the other town.

Finally, I have made four different hotel reservations. I will be staying in four different locations all in all, and some are even non-contiguous. I will be staying in Town A for the first two days and the eighth day; in Town B for the next two days, in Town C for the fifth day and the seventh day; and in Town D for the sixth day. Eight days of sleeping in foreign beds. But if one counts the days when I am not staying in hotels (but instead, sleeping in mid-air, holing up in the airport, staying with a friend overnight to catch an early-morning flight, etc), then the total amount of days in my trip would be 12.

And yesterday was when I finally made the reservation for the last of the four hotels. I was talking to the agent over the phone, when I realized that she was from the Philippines, working in a call center. I could tell by her accent.

Anyways, that would be all for now. I guess it really shows that the travel bug has had me big time. I just finished doing a travelogue of a trip, and now I am planning for another one. In my defense, this next destination is a rather tricky one; it needs serious advance planning. It’s not like one can just think of going there for the weekend. I guess that means once I do this stint, I’ll have plenty of bragging rights for the time being.

I guess some people have an idea where it is, but I am not disclosing it, yet. But if you remember my previous template in my blog, then that was a very big hint. Yes, I’m talking about the one with the rotating birds.



(Brooklyn Bridge from afar, from my Pier 17 Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 6

For my final sight-seeing day (even though I am not leaving until the day after, this day is my final day of frolicking all across the city, since the day after, I had a flight in the mid-afternoon and I just spent the morning packing, and I had lunch with my Russian contact), I decided to do the walk one more time. I once did it from Arlington to the US Holocaust Museum, and I guess I am doing it again for today.

So for this one, I started somewhere close to my lodgings. I started at Georgetown University. This is an old and compact university, unlike the one I am used to. They have plenty of ancient and photogenic buildings, such as Healy Hall. I don’t know what offices are in this building, but here is a picture.



I then exited the campus from the south, and headed to Prospect St. Now, remember the movie The Exorcist? Remember the famous stairs? Here it is, in its reality. It is a steep staircase linking Prospect St. with M St. I haven’t seen the horror movie myself, but climbing up and down these stairs at night certainly is horrifying, since it is in a dimly-lit part of town.



Then I crossed the Potomac River and went to the nearest metro station, to which I boarded heading to Lafayette Square. Finally, it’s about time I head to where the White House is.

So, upon getting off the nearest metro station, I worked my way to the White House. But before that, I decided I take a detour and visit the Renwick Gallery. This is a small (compared to the other Smithsonians, that is) gallery. It seems like it is a former mansion that now serves as a gallery. Anyway, it is said that this gallery houses crafts, but they are more arts, rather than crafts. It has beautiful exhibits, but I was more enchanted with the mansion itself. Here is a photograph of the second floor foyer area.



One curious exhibit though was Game Fish. This is a wall sculpture by someone whose name currently escapes my mind, but it is in the shape of a swordfish, but it is composed by so many different objects, ranging from forks to toothbrushes. So I thought it was amusing. Here is a photo.



Another exhibit was a table full of glass that look like they are in the middle of being broken, melted, corroded, whatever verb of destruction you can think of. Here is a photo.



After spending a good time in the gallery, I decided to walk out. And there it was, in front of me, la casa blanca, in its full glory.



After shooting some frames, I walked to the other side of the building, and finally, I approached the Washington Monument. I was initially planning to climb it, but upon seeing the lines, I decided to just chuck it. Hey, I can survive without a view from the top.

After that, I went over to the World War II Memorial, which is right smack in the middle of the National Mall. It was supposed to be a nice moving memorial, and my camera should be capturing the images, but the amount of people just made it impossible to create a sombre image of the location. Here is a trial, I am not too satisfied with the result.



Then, I headed west, and I found the Vietnam War Memorial. First of course, I found the inter-racial statues. Here is a shot.



Then, I saw the wall. Of course, there wasn’t someone with my last name, even though I checked the books. I saw the names written in the black stone, and some had cards lying next to them, Christmas wreaths, and other memorabilia.

After that, I had lunch. Then, I headed off to my final walk. I decided to go to Dupont Circle metro station and do the Embassy Row. So, there I was, starting with Colombia, I took out my camera and took photos of the tons of mansions that now serve as the different embassies of various countries around the world for the United States.

This is the Embassy of Colombia.



This is the Embassy of Croatia.



Finally, I reached the Islamic Center. This is a building, complete with a mosque and a tower, and there were green writings on the wall, that seemed to float. I spent a few minutes admiring the structure, and a guy called me saying Excuse me, my friend! and gave me a CD, apparently containing books about Islam. Here is a shot of the building.



So that concludes my latest disappearing act. I have another one lined up, but that isn’t until 5 months from now. So stay tuned as LIW travels the world!

Wow, that final sentence really sounded like a cheap commercial.



(People and a boat, from my Pier 17 Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 5

I guess there is just too many Smithsonian museums and galleries in Washington DC that I have to visit some more of the art galleries in town. I’ve already started my visit by visiting the National Gallery of Art for my first day (although they aren’t part of the Smithsonian), and for my fifth day, I visited four more museums and galleries of the Smithsonian complex in the National Mall.

First in my stop was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. This is a building that looks like an alien spacecraft parked on the National Mall. I guess it is appropriately designed, because its contents are modern art.

I loved the collection of this museum. I was spending hours admiring the weird stuff it has in it. The reason I love this is because most of the time, I do not understand modern art, although I like the concept. But sometimes I do not know what goes on in these artists’ heads that they were able to devise these structures and objects.

But for this museum, I seemed to understand what the motive was.

One particular thing I liked was a video that was thirty minutes long. It was called "Der Lauf der Dinge", or in English, "The Way Things Go". It starts with a garbage bag twirling in mid-air, and this triggers a domino effect on daily objects arranged in a warehouse. Then, things trigger another, and it continues on for a full thirty minutes. It was hilarious watching the whole thing, which I did.

There was also a light installation, made up of white light, a circular crystal beam, and a blank wall. It created optical illusions that were so amazing I photographed a number of them. This is one of my shots.



Outside was the sculpture garden. I photographed most of the sculptures but the thing I liked the most was a work of art by Arnaldo Pomodoro, entitled Sphere No. 6. I saw one of his other spheres in the United Nations Complex. I also photographed that one, which is larger than this one. You can see my photograph of the U.N. sphere here. The following on the other hand is the sphere located in the sculpture garden.



There are plenty of other things that were curiously amazing, but narrating them in a blog wouldn’t do justice to them. One should simply go out there and see them for themselves. But one thing that I want to talk about was a video art by Jill Miller. This was a very hilarious video, whose description you can see in her website here.

Anyway, I found myself hungry after touring the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. So, since I was near southeast DC, I decided to walk down 7th Street and head over to the fish wharf. The fish wharf is the most amazing seafood joint in Washington. It is just a collection of shops next to the Potomac River, and of course, their fishing boats coming from the Atlantic. You order over there and you can be pretty sure that the lifeform you are about to consume was just enjoying the last moments of its life underwater a few hours ago.

So, there I headed, and I ordered an oyster sandwich and a cup of clam chowder. I haven’t had oysters for the longest time, and it was sumptuously delicious. But the clam chowder was the best. Not like other chowders which extend it radically by over-adding potatoes. This was not the case.

Anyway, after my superb lunch, I went back to the National Mall and decided to work on the three small (compared to the other buildings) galleries. These were the Museum of African Art, the Freer Gallery of Asian Art, and the Sackler Gallery. All three are connected through an underground passage.

I started with the African museum and I was simply amazed of the Tuareg people and their cultures. It made me want to go to Mali and actually experience them (well, Mali is already in my destination list, it’s just that it isn’t in the top ones). I also photographed plenty of African artifacts, including masks, fertility dolls, among others. The following is a picture of one of them.



The Asian galleries on the other hand contained paintings and scrolls from China and Japan. I haven’t seen Oriental artifacts in a long time, after I departed Osaka, so this was quasi-familiar territory for me.

The following is a picture of a multi-armed South Asian god.



The following on the other hand is a photo of a Japanese temple guardian, made of wood.



So that was my fifth day. I still have one day to go. Watch out for the conclusion of my trip in my next post.



(Shopping streets, from my Pier 17 Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 4

Day 4 was my excursion day. I made the mistake of eating breakfast in Georgetown University, therefore I was distracted by the computer kiosks and spent quite some time attending to my e-mails. When I got to notice the time, I didn’t realize it was already mid-morning.

So, I got up, and took the ride in the metro from Dupont Circle Station to Huntington Station. Then I boarded the Fairfax Connector Bus 101 to Mount Vernon. Yes, that was my destination for the day. George Washington’s house.

The thing that slowed me down for this one was the fact that Bus 101 only runs every hour after 10:00 AM. And so I caught the bus, and 30 minutes later, I was at the gate of George Washington’s estate. It was a huge place, and there were plenty of opportunities to take photographs. Let me give you a shot of the panoramic view.



Mount Vernon is managed by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The docents were very knowledgeable about George Washington’s life. I did a tour of the mansion, and although it was not allowed to take photos inside the mansion, it was a very educational tour. I saw the bed where George Washington died, I saw the bed where his wife died, and I saw the different bedrooms of the house as well. They also gave away recipes for the cake that George Washington’s wife supposedly made.

After the tour, we were free to wander around the premises. I liked the fact that the mansion was overlooking the Potomac River, and the backyard had splendid views. Here is a shot of the back patio.



I also visited George Washington’s sheep, stable, and carriage houses. I also visited the first grave, which was deemed too simple, so they moved the couple to the second grave, which now houses a guard and everything. There was also a memorial to all the slaves that he owned.

This is a picture of the first gravesite.



This is a picture of the slave memorial.



And this is a picture of the great riverside view from his estate.



After that, I went back to the city, by riding the one-per-hour bus again. I decided to visit the National Air and Space Museum this time. And it was so fun!

It felt like I was 5 years old again, wandering around different flying machines. I saw the Spirit of St. Louis, the airplane used by Charles Lindbergh to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the plane that was used to fly the first non-stop transatlantic flight, from New York to Paris. That flight lasted 33 hours, compared to a mere 8 hours for current flights by modern aircraft.

Anyway, I saw that. I also saw different other flying machines. I saw the Skylab, I saw plenty of different missiles, and I saw the interior of a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-200. And I was also able to walk inside the cabin of an American Airlines DC-7.

This is a photo of some pointed and flying objects.



And this is the American Airlines DC-7.



So that was my fourth day. I still have two days to go.



(Street performer, from my Pier 17 Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 3

On to the third day. For my third day, I started a little bit late. Or rather, I started normally, but then I got distracted and so I wasn’t able to move on. I’ll explain later.

I decided to go to Union Station as a starting point. This is a grand beaux-arts building, and upon ascending from the metro station underground, I could definitely see why. The lines, the columns, the ceiling, everything was just so amazing. I took plentiful of shots here, and here is one.



So Union Station is a train station for Amtrak. But it has plenty of shops and stores as well. So there I was, walking inside, when I saw a bookstore. My impulse was to go inside, and go inside I did. And when I saw the travel book section, there I lost track of time. I was browsing the different Lonely Planet books for different destinations, including Andalusia, Mozambique, China, and plenty of other titles. I just cannot stop myself from browing them.

Anyway, so when I finally got to notice the time, I decided it was time to move on, and so I did. I walked heading to the US Capitol. I took photos of the office buildings along the way.

When I reached the Capitol Grounds, I stumbled along the Grotto. This is an 1879 hexagon structure with black-iron gates and an interior well. It was a little charming picturesque thing lying northwest of the Capitol. Here is a shot.



Then, I went to the visitors center for the Capitol, and got myself a free pass for a 12:15 entry. While waiting for the time, I went across to the pool and photographed the Ulysses Grant Memorial, which is the bronze collection of statues in front of the Capitol. Here is a shot.



Then I went back to the line. While in line, I chatted with a Japanese family, who I thought was visiting from Japan, but apparently was living in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. We ended up being together in the tour, and they flew in to Washington DC the same day as I did, which was last Monday. They also had the snowstorm the day before, and we all were enjoying the mild weather in Washington DC.

So we finally got in the Capitol. We first went inside the interior dome, and I took shots of it. But it the too big to fit in my frame, I personally do not think that I produced good shots in that room.

After that, we went to the Statuary Hall. This is where they keep the statues hailing from the different states whenever they are not displayed in the Interior Dome. Here is one shot of this room.



Finally, we went to the crypt. A white star marks the spot on the floor where all of the streets of DC radiates from. Thus, if one walks around that spot, then one effectively has been to all four quadrants of the city.

After that, the tour ends. So I went outside and went to the next building. The United States Supreme Court. I went in, had my backpack searched, and took photos. The building is grandiose, as expected, and I took plenty of shots of the grand lobby. They were offering court lectures but the next one wasn’t until 45 minutes after my arrival, so I decided to opt out of it. I also went to the exhibition hall underneath, and also, I took some shots of the spiral staircase. This is one of them.



Finally, when I saw everything that I needed to see in that building, I exited it and moved to the building next door. The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. The whole library is housed in three different buildings, and I only visited one of them. This is a beautiful building, and the interior is even more. The thing I liked in particular was the illusion that was produced by the pillars and the way they were lighted. It seemed that they were floating instead of holding the ceiling up. And the paintings in the ceiling was just unbelievably amazing. Here is a shot.



So that concludes my third day. Up next, I will tell about my excursion to Mount Vernon, and also the time where I felt like I was five years old again.



(Fulton Market, from my Pier 17 Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 2

The second day of my stay was a Tuesday. Thus, after getting breakfast in Georgetown, I headed off to the Commonwealth of Virginia. I crossed the Potomac River and went to Arlington National Cemetery. Good thing that there is a metro stop for this one, it was easily accessible.

On a side note, I love the way the Washington DC metropolitan area has been planned and designed. Things are accessible even if one doesn’t have personal transportation. It is like New York City, I guess, but the city doesn’t tower over you like New York City does.

Anyway, so I rode the Blue Line and got off at the station near the cemetery. From there, I walked towards the entrance and saw the Women’s Memorial. This memorial has an exhibit area in the inside of the marble palazzo, and it displays the "achievements" of the women in the different battles that the USA has engaged in. It was an okay exhibit, I wasn’t impressed, but then, that was just me, I was more interested in the architecture of the building, rather than the content of the building itself. This is a picture of it.



I climbed the top of the building, and then took photographs of the panoramic view that it provides, overlooking the National Mall. The street that connects the cemetery to the National Mall points straight to the Lincoln Memorial, something that I will be heading to later.

Anyway, I decided to go to the outer fringe of the cemetery first, and find the Iwo Jima Memorial. So I walked and traversed the cemetery to its northern edge, and witnessed a funeral happening. I did not take any photos, since I didn’t want to disrespect anybody, but there were people in uniform, forming a line, while the funeral was taking place.

Then, I reached the Iwo Jima Memorial. This is a statue composed of several bronze soldiers trying to plant the US flag on the island of Iwo Jima in Japan. I was wondering why it needed six soldiers to plant a single pole. Is it that heavy? Anyway, I guess it is. In the following picture, I used a different angle, instead of traditionally capturing the subject in simple fashion.



After taking sufficient photos of the memorial, I backtracked and passed the Netherlands Carillion. This was a gift of the people of the Netherlands to the United States. It is a modern-looking carillion, and it rings every hour. It is guarded by two dog-like cats, or cat-like dogs, I couldn’t really tell.

Then I went back to the center of the cemetery. The funeral was still going on. I then headed to the graveyard of William Howard Taft, a former President of the United States, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he also was a former governor of the Philippines when the country was under US rule, back in the early 1900’s. He had a simple grave here in Arlington.

Then I headed to the Arlington House. This is a mansion that sits right in the middle of the cemetery. It used to be that a certain personality named Robert Lee owned the estate. He then went over to the Confederate Army during the US Civil War. The Union soldiers then buried the dead around his house, and after the war, he couldn’t live in his estate anymore, due to the buried dead. So he sold his estate to the government and it became Arlington National Cemetery. But his house is still standing. Too bad that when I visited, the house was being renovated, and the furniture were removed. The only thing remaining there are pictures of what the individual rooms are supposed to look like. So I only took pictures of the outside.

In front of the Arlington House is the graveyard of Pierre L’Enfant. He was the urban planner of Washington DC, designing it in four quadrants, like now.

Then, I proceeded to a number of monuments. The first one was the memorial dedicated to the people who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger. Near to that was the mast of the USS Maine. If people remember this, the USS Maine was the US Navy ship that exploded in the turn of the century 1900’s and triggered the Cuban-American War. Depending on which textbook you look, you may doubt as to who caused the explosion. But this is where the expression Remember the Maine! comes from. This is a picture of it.



I also saw the place where Ignace Jan Paderewski, the Polish composer, was temporarily buried, until his remains were transferred back to Poland.

Then I proceeded to the amphitheater. This is a circular marble structure and it was very nice to photograph. And directly in front of it sits the Tomb of the Unknowns. A lone soldier walks by it all day.

After that, I headed to the Kennedy gravesites. There is an eternal flame that burns next to the graves, although the gravesite isn’t architecturally spectacular.

Then, my business with Arlington National Cemetery was over. I then proceeded back to the National Mall. I walked back and crossed the Potomac River. Upon crossing, the Lincoln Memorial was directly in front of me. So that was my next destination.

The Lincoln Memorial is a great marble building that attracts the eyes of architectural buffs and photographers to take pictures of it in different angles. I took plenty of pictures here, from the steps, to the marble columns, to the big statue of Abraham Lincoln himself, sitting inside the memorial. If you remember the movie Legally Blonde, this was where Reese Witherspoon sought advise from the marble President. Here is one of my takes.



After taking sufficient pictures (yes, I took plenty, 962 all in all for my whole trip), I proceeded eastward. I then saw the Korean War Memorial. This is a memorial that is composed of a number of statues of soldiers in raincoats. They definitely were not happy. I took photos of several of them, and here is one.



I then proceeded to the Tidal Basin, encircling it, walking under the cherry trees that are now leafless. I then stumbled to the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial. This was a nice memorial, not like others. It wasn’t built to be grandiose or anything, but instead, it was built with a feel of a museum. It consisted of four different sections, corresponding to his four terms in office. There are plenty of waterfalls and statues around the whole installation. Here is one of my shots of the plentiful statues inside.



When I got to the other side of the Tidal Basin, I was the quaint little memorial for George Mason. This was supposed to be a flower garden, but then, it was winter, so there wasn’t anything growing. And the statue of George Mason was there, sitting on the bench.

Then, I proceeded to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. This was another round marble building, similar to the Lincoln Memorial, but it has a dome in it instead. It was not very accessible, since it was on the Tidal Basin, not in the Mall proper. Thus, there were fewer people here, and I was able to take quieter pictures here, devoid of bystanders. This is one of my shots.



Finally, I walked over to the United States National Holocaust Museum. To visit this museum was very emotionally charging. One sees the cruelty of the Nazi regime to the Jews. It documents the progress of the Nazi effort to make Europe judenrein, or "jew-free". I saw the Jewish ghetto, the portraits of the sad people that composed them, and the shoes collected from them. I also saw the hair shaved from their heads. And I saw their final destination, the gas chamber. I saw men being subject to genetic experiments, vivisections, and other medical experiments that today’s standards would hardly approve of. In the end, I was clouded by a sombre feeling which made me wonder why humans could do this to their fellow humans.

So there, that was a long second day. Come to think of it, I guess I walked so many steps this day, that if I would plot my path in a map, it would have clocked some few miles. But then, I was a tourist, and one doesn’t notice this when one is enjoying oneself.



(Tombstones in color, from my Trinity Church Series)

Conquering the Capital: Day 1

I am back. And I am here to write my trip report.

So I left on Monday, December 17, 2007. I had the early morning US Airways flight out of Buffalo, that departed at 6:15 AM. I thus needed to be in the airport two hours before that.

Now here’s the problem. The day before (Sunday), there was a snowstorm in Buffalo. I shoveled my driveway three times, and upon waking up on Monday, I shoveled it once more. So, I was so worried that my flight would be delayed, or even, canceled. I actually braved the snow and went over to South Campus in order to set up mobile flight alerts so that I would know the status of my flight.

But, apparently, nothing has changed. So I had my alarm clock at 3:00 AM, and the night before, I requested for a taxi to pick me up and take me to the airport at 4:00 AM, and since I already packed, I was good to go.

The roads were awful. Snow everywhere, and the snowplows haven’t done their job yet. Anyway, 15 minutes later, I found myself in the airport, and I have checked-in successfully, using a self-service kiosk. I thus clutched my boarding pass, and went through security. Then, indeed, there it was, my plane. It was unbelievable. It was still snowing outside, yet we boarded, swiftly, and after de-icing, we took off.

An hour later, I found myself in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

I immediately saw my Russian contact (yeah, he is Russian) outside the terminal, and he took me to his apartment. We rode the metro, which was very sleek and modern, and later on, I was able to unpack my stuff.

Then, I started venturing out the city. My Russian contact’s house is near Georgetown University, where he attends, and so I took the Georgetown University Shuttle that ferries people to Dupont Circle metro station. Upon getting to the station, I went to the National Mall, and chose the National Gallery of Art to visit.

I was there for a couple of hours. I loved the sculpture, the paintings, and the building as a whole. I took so many photos of artwork, which is because they don't bar people from taking photographs. Here is a picture of one of the rooms.



After that, I didn’t realize that it was already lunchtime, and so I just had lunch in the café in the museum. Then, I went to the Sculpture Garden and took pictures of the weird objects of art scattered around the place. This is a picture of one of them.



Then, I went to the National Archives. If you have seen the movie National Treasure (the first one), then this was the room where they took the document that they needed. I saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and there was one more but I forgot.

So, that was my first day, and for my next post, I will talk about my second day of my conquest of the US capital.



(Tombstones in black, from my Trinity Church Series)

Floating Ladies

So, here I am in the Leavey Center in Georgetown University, and I was just checking my mail here in one of the public computers, when I overheard the conversation of three graduates. Three women, who are now apparently assistants of several faculty here, are just talking about their work with them.

Then, a guy approaches, and talks with them. Apparently, the guy is a researcher or an adjunct of some sort, and they talk something about World Bank and all that. Now, what annoys me are the ladies. They seem to be floating on top of the clouds, with all Valley Girl talk. One girl was saying how she accompanied her boss, a certain Dr. Evans to his travels to Liverpool and London, and then her next trip would be to Tanzania.

Then the two other girls say in synch, "That is sooooooooooooooo cool!"

Then I turn my head back and look at where they are, it seems their smiles are pasted on their faces, like Batman's arch-rival.

I just felt that they were so fake. If I would imitate their talk, I'd say "Totally!"



(Memories, from my Trinity Church Series)

Brief Re-surface

I'm supposed to be disappeared at the moment, which means that I do not guarantee regular blogging moments, but apparently, I can. And since I still have a couple of drafts uploaded with pictures already, I can blog and not interrupt my picture series.

So, here I am borrowing a computer in Georgetown University and just saying Hi! to my readers, and along with that, saying that my feet are aching since I unbelievably walked the distance from Arlington National Cemetery to the United States Holocaust Museum, by way of the Tidal Basin.

So, I better go now, since my feet are aching. I better get a good night's sleep so I can recharge my feet and be ready to go again tomorrow.



(The belltower among the trees, from my Trinity Church Series)

Disappearing Act

Now you see me...

Now you don't.

And the snow couldn't do anything about it.



(Cloaked man with an ark, from my Trinity Church Series)

Buffalonian Yeti

The snowstorm is here. It started last night, but wasn't so bad, yet.

I woke up at around 7:00. There was a meeting that I was scheduled to attend (this is every Sunday), and so I woke up and went out, donning my winter outfit, and shoveled the driveway. The snow wasn't that bad yet, perhaps 2 or 3 inches. So it took me thirty minutes to clear the driveway and make a path to the sidewalk. It was not snowing heavily by then, and the snow had a frozen crust to it, so when I shoveled it, it made a cracking sound when I break the surface.

So I made a pile of snow in my backyard, where nobody walks, and also on the next-door neighbor's backyard lawn.

That was Snow Shoveling No. 1.

Then I went ahead and prepared breakfast, as usual. I made tea, fried an egg, and consumed four slices of bread, together with cream cheese and peach preserves.

Then I went to the shower.

When I got out, I check my phone, and I have two messages. Apparently, the meeting is canceled, and so two people called me to notify me. The weather was the culprit.

So I then sat down, and saw my laundry basket, to which I decided to do. So I went down and picked them up, and tossed them in the washer. I also turned the iron on, and went ahead and ironed the other basket that was there.

Then, my laundry was done, and after folding and ironing it, I looked out the window and saw that it was snowing, heavily. My recently shoveled driveway is full of snow again.

So, I decided to cook some rice, and after plugging it in the socket, I donned my winter gear again, and shoveled the driveway once more.

So, I increased my snow pile, and did the whole routine again. Because if I don't do it, then it will just pile up. Then people will just step on it, and it will harden and turn into ice, and people will then slip on it, and accidents may happen because of it.

That was Snow Shoveling No. 2.

I then had lunch after shoveling. And when I checked the window, it was good to see that the snow was getting weaker.

And now, I decided to brave the weather and go to the library, which was about five minutes away by foot. The visibility is ok, it's not snowing that hard, yet, as I was walking here complete with my winter boots and everything, scenes from winter movies flashed before my eyes: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Day After Tomorrow, Alive and Happy Feet. In fact, for a second I thought I saw the abominable snowman.

Or maybe that was just my imagination. After all, almost everything here is white.



(Resting in peace, from my Trinity Church Series)