en el distrito

it was one of those dc days.

the morning started with some reading in the center of union station. then off to library of congress. after attempting some academic-y stuff there, i gave up and checked out their exhibit called "exploring the early americas." aside from cringing at the fact that one might discount everything that happened in the hemisphere prior to 1492 by refering to colón's landing and its aftermath as "early," i enjoyed the exhibit. it was heavily maya focused, with a mere display case each for taíno, inca, and aztec. but there were some pretty fantastic old maps. i would have liked more maps of course, but alas. i suppose my disappointment was that they were very spaced out. 1502, 1516, and then we jump to the 1700s.

i headed out of LoC toward the mall, but as i passed the lower senate park, i saw a bunch of folks standing around in bright orange shirts, with signs and a loudspeaker. as i got closer i could see the iconic round blue NOW "keep abortion legal" signs, so i crossed the street to see what was what. i stood at the back for a moment, leaning on a tree, feeling very much like the new anthropologist trying hard to participate/observe, but feeling mostly like a voyeur. shortly after though, i recognized ilianorama in the crowd and went to stand by her. i heard the last speaker, and then the crowd went off to march in solidarity with planned parenthood, and i continued west toward the mall.

i have been telling myself for two years that when i get the winter blues, i really should just head straight for the national botanical garden and revive my warm weather spirits, but today was the first time i actually took myself up on the suggestion. i found a lovely bench in the middle of the jungle room and actually got through about 100 pages. i ended my garden experience by wandering around the desert room and medicinal plant room, then headed toward the metro stopping by the sculpture garden along the way.

this evening i met mattt and company (jbosch, brot, et al) at my favorite place for revolutionary cuisine. i had some pasta (first meal of the day!) and some drinks. we thought about moving to the raven after dinner, but were worried it'd be too crowded, so mattt & i went on a reconnaissance mission. indeed the bird was over crowded as we peeked in through the new (but nonetheless, held together by duck tape) picture window. greg noticed me from behind the bar and gave a wave, but we didn't brave the crowd. we just returned to papa karl's and left shortly after.

on my way home, i rounded the corner and ran into katieq of the woco days. turns out she's getting a phd at american now too. funny how those things happen.

there was nothing terribly out of the ordinary about today other than that i made a point to really live in this city in which i'm located. i ran into old and new friends, took advantage of the wonderful smithsonian institution, and even got some work done (though never enough!). i wish i had days like this more often, however. it felt full and fun and fulfilling. and i've only got 3 weeks left here. i need to make the most of it.