The Other Washington

Yes, I am alive! I’ve just been swamped with school work, the impending departure of The Boy, and temptations of summer weather! It is a hard life I live, you know! Finals this week, vacation in the desert next, but then I’ll be working a 9 to 5 job in the summertime, hopefully more conductive to regular posting. Till then, here is the skinny on my trip to DC, way back when…

The conference was great. All the participants (20 grad students from around the US) were amazing, I felt like I was the least accomplished. We spent a jam packed week meeting so many high level people within the transportation political arena. I learned so much, and even used the week as inspiration for a new course development proposal that I turned in with my advisor last week.

The week wasn’t all about work though. On Wednesday night, L came by my hotel and we had dinner nearby, which consisted of more talking than eating. It was great to finally meet her and I loved how the conversation flowed so freely. She commented how she has never been to the “other” Washington, my Washington so hopefully she’ll be able to make a trip out to Seattle soon!

After 5 crazy busy days, I have to admit I wasn’t really looking forward to spending the weekend with my college roommates as planned. I really just wanted to get home. But it ended up being a fabulously relaxing and fun weekend. Friday we went to a bar on Capitol Hill which was a totally new world to me. My friend’s boyfriend and all his friends swapped business cards and dropped congressmen’s names left and right all night. It was fascinating to watch. Great entertainment, cheap beer, and pizza to top it all off – wonderful night.

Saturday we slept in and I had brunch with my high school boyfriend. It was only so-so - he was hungover, and lots of the conversation was strained. It has been 10 years since high school, so it guess that it is to be expected that it might be a bit awkward. I spent the afternoon in Annapolis with my friends, just walking around and then devouring greasy fish and chips along the waterfront (yeah, we were all a bit hungover too). We went back to their house, sat on the porch drinking mojitos, then hit a mexican bar within walking distance for margaritas and nachos before hitting the sack.

Sunday we slept in again. We were going to make a big breakfast, but seeing how it was really lunch time, we opted for grilled cheese and tomato soup. Yum! That might be my all time favorite meal which I never make for myself. We strolled around Old Town for the rest of the afternoon, before I headed to the airport.

Wonderful trip, but it is so nice to be home!!

(Just random pictures from the week)