Last Days of DC..

Unfortunately my friend Jioni, who I sayed with in DC had to go to NY for work, so that meant I was in DC for several days on my own. Luckily I'm getting used to this travelling on my own thing, and I had some people to meet up with, so I managed to make the most of the remainder of my time in DC.

Went to the new Spy Museum and the Museum of the American Indian, caught up with my friend Natasha, her husband Dan and their 2 kids, Sam and Kylie. Natasha and I have know each other since 5th grade when she came to Australia for a year with her family when her Dad was on Sabatical from Kent State University. She's actually Australian, but has lived in the States all her life except for that one year, and numerous visits. We'd lost touch for a while, but she's still the same person as ever, and it was great to see her and the family. (Siobhan - she send you her love)

Sunday May 29 was a perfect DC day - I went to Eastern Market, and did some shopping, ate some famous crab cakes, met a graphic artist who has done an amazing Jazz series, of which I bought 2 postcards, and met an Indonesian guy who was selling handicrafts, so got to hang out and speak a little Indonesian which made me feel right at home. I then wandered around Capitol Hill which has some gorgeous houses, and hung out in the park near Jioni's place, checking out the statues of Lincoln (funded entirely by funds from emancipated former slaves) and the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune.

Monday was Memorial Day, a public holiday to celebrate veterans, and a day for everyone to enjoy a bbq (seems like public holidays have similar qualities all over the world). I hung out with my cousin Michael and his wife Carmen, and we went to Great Falls, which is part of a huge National Park near DC, and then went to a block party in their street, where we had the afore mentioned bbq.

While chatting to the neighbours, I noticed one of the guys nearby was wearing an All Blacks jersey. So I asked the obvious "you're not a New Zealander, are you?" question. Turns out he actually "worked for the government" (a euphemism here for working in intelligence, complicated by the fact that many people do indeed actually work for the government). He works on Donald Rumsfeld's staff in the Pentagon, and is a specialist in South East Asia. He was actually in East Timor helping with the reconstruction after the gaining of independence from Indonesia. He'd also previously been stationed in Singapore, and had a New Zealand counterpart who gave him the jersey.

It was fascinating to talk to him, and also his sister, who had also been very involved in the reconstruction in East Timor, and knew the Gusmaos. She had a contact in Cambodia, and was going to email me the details, so I could meet up with them in Phnom Penh. So meeting them was really interesting. I said if they needed a dual US/Australian citizen who could speak Spanish and Indonesian, they should give me a call - but so far there've been no offers of work coming my way..

Michael, Carmen and I then went to Georgetown, where Hillary has a house when she's being a Senator and not hanging with Bill at his Harlem office in NY. It's also a beautiful area, with very expensive shops and houses that you can peek in the windows of from the street and imagine you're a millionaire and could even afford to live in one.

I had been speaking to my parents, and happened to mention that it looked like I was going to be on my own for a while in DC, and so my Dad convinced me to call his very old friend Allan who had also "worked for the government". I was a little unsure - because I wouldn't get my parents to call up my friends in countries they went to visit, but I'm glad I called, because I went to lunch with Allan and his wife Patricia, and they were lovely. He and dad had known each other from primary school, and also went to the same high school and briefly university, before Allan went off and got involved in government work. He'd actually been posted in Miami during the Cuban missle crisis, and spent some years in Germany as well.

So my last few days in DC were very busy with cultural and social activity. Also went to a really good Cuban restaurant on my last night, where I had mojitos, ropa vieja, plantain, frijoles negros and yucca.. mmmm.. huge serving which I couldn't finish, so I brought leftovers back to the apartment and left them in the freezer. Would have loved to have them for breakfast the next day, but just knew that would have been a bad idea..

DC was a really beautiful city - I'd expected much more of an urban feel, and some parts definitely had a little more of that, but it had some cute little neighbourhoods, and all the old buildings in the centre were impressive - probably the most impressive was the Supreme Court for its sheer imposing facade, and of course the Capital, which stands out from the skyline from many directions.

more on motor city and NYC tomorrow..