[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

Exploring DC without a car is not difficult at all. The Metro makes everything easy. However, when you’re going about it all alone and wanting to try restaurants in areas you’d never been to, it is a little unnerving. I’m sure DC is safe, but you just don’t know where you should/shouldn’t go if you don’t live in a place.

So I started my second day with a ride to Pentagon City. My first stop was the DEA Museum. It was nothing too fancy, just a few rooms on the ground floor of the building, documenting the history of the war against drugs. Random photos and paraphernalia. I probably spent less than half an hour in there.

From there, I was in search of a delicious meal. A quick poking around on the iPhone found me walking down the road, under a freeway [only a little creepy because it was during the day], and up a hill. Beyond the Air Force Memorial was a fantastic Ethiopian meal waiting. I probably spent more time at the Air Force Memorial taking photos [see below] than at the DEA Museum!

The food was delicious, and there was enough food to feed another person. I ordered the dullet dish, which is chopped red meat, tripe, and liver seasoned with herbed purified butter, spiced chili powder (mitmita). It can be served raw, medium, or well done. It comes on injera with injera on the side. Very tasty! There’s also a little salad on the side, which is fantastic too. Balances all that meat on a platter.

Afterwards, I found myself wandering into DC and around the free museums. The Hirshhorn was fantastic and deserves an entry all to itself! The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which I never ended up actually getting to [Saw a special on the plane about it afterwards, so all is good!], was closed at the time, so I visited the Holocaust Museum down the street. Very graphic, very moving. I would have spent more time in there if I hadn’t wandered in just an hour before closing time.

In the evening, I enjoyed a meal with Leslie and Mike in Crystal City, as well as checked out their old place. They’ve since moved, so I’ll have to stop by again.

I was riding up, down and around on the Metro with little regard for how far things actually were. If it was here in the Bay Area, it would be the equivalent of me constantly taking BART to the East Bay! I refilled my Metro card several times, so it wasn’t cheap, but you do what you have to to get around!

Arriving in DC on an evening flight, there wasn’t much to see/do aside from transporting myself to Matt’s apartment. I figured out which bus to take to Rosslyn for the cheapest and met up with Matt at the corresponding metro station. We then grabbed a quick bite since I hadn’t eaten during the flight. Nothing too exciting, just settling in.

Adventuring began the following day with a visit to the Capitol Building, a stroll through some seedy streets of the area to the American Society of Landscape Architects for a tour of their green roof [first in the nation, probably!], a quick run-through of the National Archive [see below for a few shots], meeting up with an AYCJer at the National Museum of American History [last photo below], and then later enjoying a scenic view atop the belltower at the Old Post Office.

I realize that this update is months too late. Time to catch up!

I seem to have disappeared off the face of the blog. It’s been less than a month, but if I don’t update for a few weeks, I start to feel like I’m forgetting to document everything that’s going on… not that it all has to be documented, but anyway!

The biggest thing is that I have a job! I started on Wednesday of this week, and so far it’s going well. I’m very happy with everything, and at the end of the three month trial period, hopefully I will be converted to a full-time employee. I technically work full-time now, but I’m under the recruiting firm’s payroll, rather than the actual company. They want to see how it works out before committing. The interview process was such an arduous one [I met with them five times!], and their search was essentially to fill the role in the long-term. I guess their last person wasn’t so great, so they’re taking a safer route now.

Before starting work, I spent a week in DC on the #AYCJ pass. I stayed with a friend [Matt] in his corporate housing and spent the days wandering around DC, Arlington, and Alexandria. I was basically all over the place, but I would’ve explored more if I wasn’t there by myself. There are a lot of areas that people advise you not visit, so I would stick to the areas that I was certain about. For the other places, I’ll have to wait for RV to accompany me to DC! Promise I’ll be updating with photos and lists of the places visited soon. They’re just sitting on my camera…

On the Metal Mouth front, I went to the orthodontist for the last time before the surgery! They put the hooks in, so basically when surgery is over, the oral surgeon can just wire me shut on those… I am so not excited about this. My pre-op is coming up next week!

Seems like I haven’t spent very much time at home lately. Two short weeks in between the two Idaho trips, and just a few more weeks to Spain. I just got back from DC. My coworker and I arrived around 6pm, had dinner in Georgetown, and then checked out the monuments at night (Lincoln, Jefferson, Korean War, and FDR). The very next morning, a six-hour training session before running out to see the monuments during the day (WWII, Washington, White House).

I think something is up with my camera. Not sure if you will notice on this photo, but there’s a white circle that I think represents the lens that shows up on a lot of photos when I zoom in too much. What’s up with that? I hope it doesn’t mean bad news for the camera.