If you know anything about the DC area, you would know that the area in which we live, Anacostia, doesn't have the greatest history. Racial tension, crime, and what have you have been problems, but, in the last 10 years, things have been looking up. We hadn't had any evidence of these friendlier improvements until recently.
Thursday evening, as Virginia and I were struggling to get the massive amounts of broken down cardboard from our living room to the curbside, up walked a smiling gentleman in a grey suit. Earl, our neighbor of the brick house on the corner (in my opinion the prettiest house on Pleasant Street), is from Trinidad. I love his accent, and he loves our house - calling it the Governor's house because of the larger white pillars on our front porch. Earl has lived in Anacostia for at least 12 years, so he has seen the bad days, and assures us that we picked a lovely street to live on. He invited us to a big party in June that has apparently gained much acclaim in the area and abroad (he told us he has been invited to a big Caribbean cruise where he will cater food and provide the music). In June, on a particular night, Earl hosts a party just for native Anacostians where he has steel drum music, everyone wears white, and he provides lots of Caribbean-style food. I'm pretty excited, as it will be my first "block party" I've ever been to.
When I was in Boy Scouts, one of the many roles I had was to be the troop (and really anyone else's) bugler. There was a merit badge for bugling where you had to memorize 40 tunes and play them for a Scout Master, and, to my surprise, as sun set on Friday, I heard Retreat being played on a trumpet. Retreat is the song that is played any time a flag is being lowered - and with the beautiful sunset out our window, the song stirred up feelings of nostalgia and patriotism I haven't felt in quite some time.
On Saturday we continued to check off places from our To See in DC bucket list, with a tour of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We brought a packed lunch with us so we could complete our tour of the Museum of Natural History (as we were rushed last week with my family), but I couldn't remember if we were allowed to bring food inside. We successfully hid our lunch behind a construction barrier near one of the entrances - it was still there when we came back - but we found out shortly after entering the museum that you can indeed keep packed lunches with you, as long as they are securely packed. Still, we felt pretty cool that no one found our stash.
A hilarious thing I almost forgot to mention: while we were in the Gem and Mineral section of the Natural History Museum, were heard a kid in front of us scream "DAD I FOUND LAPIS." Apparently he thought the blue gemstone to our left was lapis lazuli - an item found in the gam Minecraft.
Well that's all I have for you so far. I went to visit Congressman Duncan today for advice for my job hunt, as we have a history together (he came to my Eagle Ceremony, and I've interviewed him before for school) - the meeting was uneventful, but I wasn't super surprised. I went mostly just to pay my respects now that I'm a "DC native." I have an interview with a Congressman for a temporary job this Thursday though. I'll keep you posted.
Until next time!
-J
"Cvgfnsxgbn" - Levi says he's been looking for Alley for his installment of the blog post, but can't find him. He suspects the puppy/kitty is eluding his chase yet again.
Inspiring quote from a friend: "If ever you look up at the Capitol building lit up at night, and you aren't reminded why you moved to DC, filled with an overwhelming sense of patriotism, and encouraged in your mission, maybe you've stayed here too long."
Despite taking an hour to cover about 17 minutes of driving, our goodwill trip paid off. I think DC looks pretty good on us.
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