Reflection, Expression, Transmission, Transition: Week 1 in the Capital

I just got my suitcase! After a week and a half on the phone with baggage officials at Continental Airlines, three change of addresses (Paris to New York to Washington DC), one incorrect bag being delivered to me, some shopping in moments of desperation (I had no underwear!), and losing almost all hope of being reunited with my belongings, I have today been, to say the least, pleasantly surprised. Well, the suitcase is broken and I still have an account to settle with Continental, but those things can wait till this sudden surge of positivism gets me through writing this all-important first blog.

Friends, acquaintances, adversaries, enemies, even stalkers (now I’m just flattering myself!), welcome to DC Diaries! We all made this journey to the nation’s capital looking for something. Personally I’m here because after spending six months in Europe “studying” abroad, I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting through 15 credit hours of class each week and working in an on campus office. I was looking for a transitional experience, something novel that would be different from both the study abroad experience as well as the rut of conventional college. This is where I find myself today – early to bed (midnight, 1 a.m. latest), early to rise (6:30, 7 a.m. latest), suited, booted, and seated behind a desk in a Congresswoman’s office on The Hill from 9-5. It’s been three days since this routine started and I’m already starting to doubt my capability to perform at a desk job. My system demands movement – eyes and ears (fine, I confess I can’t really move my ears, but I know someone who can!), legs and feet, even do the unique Indian headshake (a non-committal side to side wobble that could be interpreted as a yes, a no, a maybe, an I don’t know...!) So tomorrow I shall consider it my right to periodically get up, walk around the office, through the corridors of the building, and perhaps even catch some fresh air outside. I wonder if anyone ever thinks to walk through the beautiful gardens surrounding the U.S. Capitol – they’re there to be enjoyed and I plan on doing just that (Sun God willing).

This isn’t my first time in DC – I was here just over two years ago for a conference but never really got to do the sightseeing bit. I still haven’t and now that I’m here for a while, I know I won’t get to it till the very end. I’ll panic just when I’m about to return to New York without having visited the Lincoln Memorial or the National Gallery of Art and then there’ll be some whirlwind monument visiting. I have, however, observed some things with my city scanning, closet urban planning eyes. As a city, there is something inherently inorganic about Washington DC. It is a place that was identified by political leaders and developed by architects and planners to be the capital of the United States of America. Yes, it is indeed situated on the banks of a river and that may cause some of us to confuse its origins with those of the other great capitals of the world – Rome, Delhi, Paris, London, even New York City, but the creation of Washington DC is all too recent and well documented for any such ambiguity to exist. However, that certainly doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to do here, or that it lacks culture, character, or class (Dubai anyone?!). My trip to Georgetown over the weekend revealed some breathtaking houses, interesting shopping, a thriving university campus, and a wide variety of excellent culinary options.

(The jewel in Georgetown's crown...and my potential Grad school!)

(THE Exorcist Stairs--comfortably tucked behind a gas station.)

You will notice that this blog will very quickly turn into a food forum and I shall bring you my DC resto recommendations, suited to all kinds of tastes and tantrums. That stems, of course, from a personal obsession with food that seems to find its way into everything I do. I will try my best to keep it from becoming psychobabble, though oftentimes it is what we say in a thoughtless moment that is most interesting and amusing to others.

Basically, I’m hungry for comments – curses, disses, praise, criticism, appreciation, applause, expressions of boredom, disgust, or just plain frustration – any form of attention really. Need I say/ask more?

Eat to live. WRONG! Live to eat ;)