Down in D.C.

The days of this trip really do meld together. Yesterday morning we got up pretty early and drove down to the Capitol from Baltimore, arriving at about 10:40am at Josephine's house. It was exciting just driving through D.C. and passing by all of the embassies and schools. We got our things situated and then cycled to the Lincoln Memorial. We locked up our bicycles and walked around the area, making sure to visit the Vietnam memorial, the Washington Monument (which was closed for structural testing because of the earthquake on August 23), the Jefferson and George Mason memorials, the FDR memorial, and the new Martin Luther King Jr memorial. It was a long day, but it was definitely really interesting. The Vietnam memorial is haunting, both because of its set up and also because the three of us couldn't help thinking about the large numbers of Vietnamese people who died for every United Statesien soldier. In my mind was also the environmental impacts and the use of Agent Orange. Another thing I couldn't keep separate was my memory of meeting a student at Soochow University who was there studying Chinese, and she was from Vietnam. She was really nice, and such a tiny person. I sometimes felt a little sad and undeserving of her friendship, knowing what had happened in the past, about the horrors that took place in her country, even if it was before she was born. I'd like to be able to travel anywhere in the world without having to feel this distance that is somehow always there in some form, that sets us apart because of the roles we have played in the world. Does anyone else ever think this way?
Anyway, sorry for the diversion.
Last night we met up with Josephine and got Ethiopian food, which was incredible. Today I got to sit in on a class with Josephine, let by her professor Judith Shapiro. I was really excited for this because I had read and used Shapiro's book for a project at Binghamton. The class was a discussion of environmental justice and human rights, and I learned a good amount from it about electronic waste disposal and about battles that native Americans are still facing fighting.
After the class I cycled to the Smithsonian museums, pausing at a few statues and monuments along the way. I met up with Ashley and David at the Race exhibit at the Natural History museum. After we finished that we saw the Hope diamond and the Butterfly tent, then left the museums and biked over to the Kennedy Center to see a Jazz concert at the Millennium Hall. And we kept going. Right after it was over we biked all the way to the northeast quadrant to see an indie rock concert with Josephine.
Tomorrow... the Holocaust museum? And a potluck. Probably the Renwick Gallery as well.
All in all, despite feeling exhausted, I really love this city and so far there's an infinite amount of things to do and really interesting people all around. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to living in NYC, even Queens, after having experienced DC. But that might have to do with the help we've gotten from Josephine, who is really outgoing and always on the look-out for free or cheap food and stuff to do, and interesting things to see, so she has set us up. But in NYC you can't live close enough to the most interesting places for it to be worthwhile, not unless you're rich, whereas in DC everything is within easy biking distance, and it's lively and worldly and pretty much everything I love. However accurate our perception, (for Ashley, David and I have all got the same feeling), it doesn't matter now since we're only here for the honeymoon phase, haha, and then we'll be pushing southward along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Good night,
Alicia