Tonight is my last night in Washington DC. Tomorrow I get back on the Mega Bus and drive 4.5 more hours to New York. Things are rolling along now and, though I look forward to my next week in New York and Boston, I'm ready to leave the US and start hearing some funny languages and see some territory that I've never seen before.
I got into DC on Thursday night, caught up with Amanda and Scott, my friends and hosts here. I've known Amanda since Middle School and Scott ever since they started dating in college. Since they moved up to DC from Texas a couple years ago, I haven't gotten to hang out with them as much. They also have a little boy now and I, as honorary uncle, have enjoyed getting to know him a little better. For example, this trip, I learned that Azure utilizes his belly in many unusual ways by sticking it way out in front of him, he can accentuate his midriff while dancing and sticking out his belly seems to be his preferred strategy for catching balls. He also seems to enjoy just ramming things with his belly. It's not exactly an appendage adept at fine motor skills, but I guess it works if you're one.
On Friday, I basically walked a 12 mile square around DC, hitting the Naval Ship Yards, Anacostia River, Foggy Bottom and then back to Capitol Hill, where Amanda and Scott live. I avoided most of the major attractions and stuck mostly to the back streets. I hate how pretentious that sounds, but DC really can turn into Disney Land in some areas. For any city I go to, I want to see how it operates on a day-to-day basis, not necessarily how it presents itself to outsiders. The former is much more interesting to me and, I feel, allows a more authentic look at a place. Plus, it's fun to find things that you weren't expecting to find - like one of the President's Marine One helicopters flying over the Anacostia River, or the fish market further downstream. Following maps, you always know what's going to come next.
Later that night, I took the train up to Baltimore to meet up with a friend of Bryn's from Oklahoma. We went to the opening night of Guys and Girls Gone Wild, a Baltimore swing and jazz dance weekend. They had a live band (Sac au Lait) and a vintage bathing suit badminton competition. Seriously. Photographic evidence is below.
So now I can mark Baltimore on the map of places where I've swung out. Also, fittingly, I met a girl who had just FINISHED a circumnavigation by water. Hers took 7 years compared to my 9 months, but I like that people like that are out there. Hopefully they'll have lots of tips for me later on down the road.
I negotiated my first transportation snafu Saturday morning when Amtrak, beset by inexplicable delays, failed to get me on my train on time, even though I spent $29 on a ticket to go about 50 miles from Baltimore to DC. Geez. I found three others trying to get to DC and we split a cab down there. Total cost: $100, which means it was only $25 per person, proving that, in some cases, taking a cab is actually cheaper than Amtrak. Unbelievable.
Aside from my expert problem-solving skills on display in that specific case, overall, I haven't felt particularly sharp these past couple of weeks. I am realizing that, before I left, I had had about four years to perfect my life in Austin. I could operate on auto-pilot there, taking for granted the little things like getting from place-to-place, eating, socializing, working, etc. But now, auto-pilot has to get turned off. Now, all those things that I took for granted in Austin I have to expend more energy just to make them happen (much less make them happen efficiently) since I'm in new, less familiar territory.
I can tell that my brain is a little slower, duller and less witty in situations here. I remember this feeling from past travels and experiences living abroad. It's just something that I have to deal with and let my brain get into better shape. Ultimately, of course, this is what I want. I want to shake my brain up a bit (figuratively) to get it thinking about new things and working on different problems. I want to remain cognitively flexible and a trip like this will certainly do that.
I expect Vintage Bathing Suit Badminton to be all the rage when I get back to the US. Make it happen, guys.
I got into DC on Thursday night, caught up with Amanda and Scott, my friends and hosts here. I've known Amanda since Middle School and Scott ever since they started dating in college. Since they moved up to DC from Texas a couple years ago, I haven't gotten to hang out with them as much. They also have a little boy now and I, as honorary uncle, have enjoyed getting to know him a little better. For example, this trip, I learned that Azure utilizes his belly in many unusual ways by sticking it way out in front of him, he can accentuate his midriff while dancing and sticking out his belly seems to be his preferred strategy for catching balls. He also seems to enjoy just ramming things with his belly. It's not exactly an appendage adept at fine motor skills, but I guess it works if you're one.
On Friday, I basically walked a 12 mile square around DC, hitting the Naval Ship Yards, Anacostia River, Foggy Bottom and then back to Capitol Hill, where Amanda and Scott live. I avoided most of the major attractions and stuck mostly to the back streets. I hate how pretentious that sounds, but DC really can turn into Disney Land in some areas. For any city I go to, I want to see how it operates on a day-to-day basis, not necessarily how it presents itself to outsiders. The former is much more interesting to me and, I feel, allows a more authentic look at a place. Plus, it's fun to find things that you weren't expecting to find - like one of the President's Marine One helicopters flying over the Anacostia River, or the fish market further downstream. Following maps, you always know what's going to come next.
Later that night, I took the train up to Baltimore to meet up with a friend of Bryn's from Oklahoma. We went to the opening night of Guys and Girls Gone Wild, a Baltimore swing and jazz dance weekend. They had a live band (Sac au Lait) and a vintage bathing suit badminton competition. Seriously. Photographic evidence is below.
So now I can mark Baltimore on the map of places where I've swung out. Also, fittingly, I met a girl who had just FINISHED a circumnavigation by water. Hers took 7 years compared to my 9 months, but I like that people like that are out there. Hopefully they'll have lots of tips for me later on down the road.
I negotiated my first transportation snafu Saturday morning when Amtrak, beset by inexplicable delays, failed to get me on my train on time, even though I spent $29 on a ticket to go about 50 miles from Baltimore to DC. Geez. I found three others trying to get to DC and we split a cab down there. Total cost: $100, which means it was only $25 per person, proving that, in some cases, taking a cab is actually cheaper than Amtrak. Unbelievable.
Aside from my expert problem-solving skills on display in that specific case, overall, I haven't felt particularly sharp these past couple of weeks. I am realizing that, before I left, I had had about four years to perfect my life in Austin. I could operate on auto-pilot there, taking for granted the little things like getting from place-to-place, eating, socializing, working, etc. But now, auto-pilot has to get turned off. Now, all those things that I took for granted in Austin I have to expend more energy just to make them happen (much less make them happen efficiently) since I'm in new, less familiar territory.
I can tell that my brain is a little slower, duller and less witty in situations here. I remember this feeling from past travels and experiences living abroad. It's just something that I have to deal with and let my brain get into better shape. Ultimately, of course, this is what I want. I want to shake my brain up a bit (figuratively) to get it thinking about new things and working on different problems. I want to remain cognitively flexible and a trip like this will certainly do that.
I expect Vintage Bathing Suit Badminton to be all the rage when I get back to the US. Make it happen, guys.
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