Exercising My Citizenship: A Day in DC

The coolest part of today--the part that made me the happiest--was definitely my Library of Congress experience. I went into the library as any ignorant tourist would. I don't really know what I was expecting. Books probably had something to do with it though. However, to my dismay, the Library of Congress, as available to the general public, is just another museum. Ugh. I so was not in the mood to read a bunch of dumbed-down placards and look at national artifacts. I told a man at the information desk that I was a little disappointed I didn't have access to the stacks. This guy was great! He told me the secret(which is probably not that secret) way to get a Library of Congress 'Reader' card. I had to go to the building next door, say I was a researcher, and they would give me a card. So I did! Getting the card made my day. Though I didn't have much time, I went back to the main building and into the reading room, the room that all the other tourists just peer into. I sat down with some books on Middle Eastern history for fifteen minutes or so, then returned them to the librarian who glared at me. She so knew what I was up to. But I had done it! I touched actual Library of Congress books. And if I feel like going back in the next two years, I'm still good to go.

Without Ben, there's no way I would have ventured into Chinatown for a meal. But he knew the right place to go. Good food, good deal. I even got two fortunes in my fortune cookie! They were identical, of course, but I was still excited. And I wholeheartedly agree with the fortune. (Or proverb, whatever it is)

Here's Ben and I in front(well, kind of to the side) of the Family Research Council where he does big important things all day. See, even on 'casual Friday', he's dressed up for a meeting.

The thing I like about America is the malls.

(see Mall below) :)

Really though...my favorite thing about DC is all of the public green spaces. There is so much grass and water, so many parks and walkways. I love sitting on benches people watching or reading my book, and I know of no better place to do that than in D.C.

I also love big man-made things. I love the Eiffel Tower, I love the Arch in St. Louis, and the Washington Monument comes pretty close to the first two. It's fun just to sit right underneath it and think about the hugeness of it.

I also got to go the National Gallery of Art, where I especially enjoyed looking at the Flemish and German collections. I went to the bookshop and looked at stationary, and I had never seen so many beautiful notecards. I resisted, though. They were ten times the price of what I usually pay. I went to the Natural History Museum, which was packed, but had a cool exhibit on what you can discover from a person's skeleton. And I walked a lot.

Nona and Omar took me out to dinner at a swanky riverside restaurant. Their son Basil and their nephew Walib were also there...I'm not sure how I'm related to those two. But the food was great, conversation was stimulating, and I think I have gained a broader perspective of Washington DC.

I was telling Ben that I could live here and not have a job, just so I could hang out on the Mall or in a park all day and go to Museums every now and then and just enjoy watching all the professional people go to their important jobs and the tourists walk around tiredly...because tourists are fun to watch, too.