An Aspiring Native, Day 1

Well, I am writing to you from our new house in Anacostia, Washington DC.  What a ride it has been getting here.  We got up around 6am on Friday morning and hit the road with our car, the family van, and a Budget moving truck crammed full of our belongings.  The drive was a crazy one - the temperature when we left was around 32 degrees, a few hours later it had risen to around 52, and by the time we arrived it was back down around freezing again.  It took us nearly 12 hours of driving to get here (my dad is a truck driving master though, so nothing was damaged and everyone arrived safely), and once we arrived it took us several more hours to get everything piled in the house.

We spent our Saturday sightseeing with the family, as Jennifer has never been to DC, and Mom hasn't been for quite some time (Dad and the kids having come for youth summer camp).  Our first stop was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, being one of my favorites.  Due to lack of time we did a quick tour, but Virginia and I have plans to go back soon and take our time with it.  It's still mind-boggling to me that we live so close and can get in for free whenever we want!

From there we started the long trek to the Washington Monument, and then continued even further down to the Lincoln Memorial (I most enjoy the view from the steps).  Completing our giant circuit, we headed back to the van and made a food-stop at District Taco (our housemates Jacob and Alyssa took us there on our last visit and we loved it...think a better version of Chipotle with more food than you can handle), and then a quick stop by the Peregrine Espresso shop.  Upon a little further research (and the Google query "best coffee shops in DC"), I found out that we had stumbled upon one of the best shops the city has to offer: and it's locally owned!

Sunday saw everyone minus me, Virginia, and Jacob (my brother, not to be confused with my new roommate) heading to Capitol Hill Baptist Church.  Virginia was sick that day, but it is the church we intend to attend regularly starting this week.  I'll be sure to update you once we visit.  We said our goodbyes later that afternoon in the parking lot of a Walmart (the parents had to pick Jacob back up, as he had spend both nights with us in our new house.  As a side note, Costco was a mad house when we went...there were more people crammed in the aisles than I thought humanly possible, and the check out line went well over halfway through the store.  Talk about an adventure...), and my family headed back to dear old Tennessee, leaving Virginia and I to open a new chapter of our life.  It wasn't easy to say goodbye to my family (even though they may think otherwise sometimes), because they have been my closest friends since I graduated last May.  And now here we are, in our nation's capitol, hoping to change our little slice of the world in some way or another, not knowing anyone or having any friends waiting to meet us.  It's quite a change!

Yes, we are terrified.  But a new friend of mine told me that if you aren't terrified to begin with, you aren't doing it right.  So...let's just assume we're doing it right.

Currently I am emailing connections for possible job openings, looking online for job openings, writing to you, and compiling a list of places that we would like to see.  Our goal is to use the weekends to explore as much as possible - museums, restaurants, coffeeshops, pubs, whatever.  Speaking of which, if you have any suggestions for places let me know; I would be super interested.

So here I am, an Aspiring Native of Washington DC.  Any tips, hints, or suggestions are welcome.  I'll write to you again soon!

-J

Brand new things this week:
1) A police helicopter shining a search light in your bedroom window.
2) Moving to a new state.
3) Grocery lines half the length of the store.

P.S. lcllcvklixcjvpf;cx - Alley says he misses you.