The location and general summary of Saturday and Sunday: balcony, food, conversation, Medha relentlessly taking pictures. Apartment on the 21st floor and awesome weather made for an excellent brunch setting… until the attack of the bees, of course.
As I learned on Thursday, the current location of the USIP (at least, the locale of the panel discussion) was a bit tricky to find, in a poignantly ironic sort of way--I’d prefer that an institution apparently housing US peace be larger and obvious, wouldn’t you? Good thing they’re working on that. In any case, the discussion was interesting, though not exactly ground breaking; from my experience, such discussions reach the same stalemate every time--thus the problem. The gathering, however, was an entertainingly mixed one, including everyone from Jehan Sadat (widow of Anwar Sadat) and the Egyptian ambassador to media personnel to students and civilian blue hairs. Safe to say I was the youngest there.
Friday’s notable event also hosted a wonderfully varied group, though in a drastically different way: bhangra party at the Bossa Lounge! Yes, bhangra. Are you familiar with it? Think of the most stereotypical Indian dancing imaginable; be sure to include bouncing, dramatically large steps and shoulder shrugging, and constant extending and raising of arms. I was pathetically excited to receive an invite to such a thing, as it promised to be a colorful experience, and I was not let down. Really, you have to experience it to believe it. Quite the international gathering, though few Punjabis in sight--meaning few actually knew what we were doing, which of course made it all the better. We barely managed to catch the last Metro back (Metro runs until 3am on weekends), so you can imagine that it was a lively but tiring night… for further details, you’ll have to ask me off the record. ;)
Some friends and I had made two plans for the rest of the weekend: dinner of Ethiopian on Saturday, renting paddle boats on Sunday… neither of which we did. Instead, it was a weekend of going with the flow--“eventful in a relaxed way.” After some joking about the fact that there was a restaurant by the name of “Uncle Julio’s” near my apartment, we ultimately ate our words (by all means, guffaw at the terrible pun) when we discovered that it’s actually the home of some impressive Mexican cuisine. Once we’d packed up leftover enchiladas and guacamole, we stopped at the nearby Tivoli Gourmet & Pastry for mousse, tiramisu, and wine (for those of age…), and headed back to my apartment to relax, chat, and enjoy.
Tony, Medha, Ian, and I may not have made it out to Ethiopian or paddle boating, but when we learned that Uncle Julio’s had an outside patio, well, there was no getting around it. Foot in mouth for the unspoken understanding that a restaurant dubbed “Uncle Julio’s” would be absurd.
Little did we know the brunch on the balcony would turn out to be a wonderfully drawn out affair. Clean up and a morning run to the market next door, and we set upon creating our Easter brunch. Proud to report that, ultimately, we had quite the spread: fruit, matzah (and nutella and peanut butter), and hummus, brie, and crackers stayed with us on the balcony, while the buffet inside boasted French toast, sausage, scrambled eggs, beans, an intriguing take on hashbrowns, milk, juice, and chai. Not surprisingly, we found ourselves sitting around until 2-ish, snacking, talking, and enjoying the sun.
Kevin, roommate of Ian and Tony, joined us for our impressive brunch spread (really, we were quite proud of the results… for good reason, if I may say so). For the record: the beverage on the bottom right there was not a part of the buffet; innocent bystander…. ahem.
Though others came and went, I ultimately didn’t get back to my apartment in Virginia until after 9, a full 24 hours after my having left it… a bit of a shame that I didn’t fully take advantage of having the apartment to myself, but ultimately there were better things to do. Instead of paddle boating, Tony and I took a drive to check out a nearby Korean/International Market (does anyone know what a durian is??) and to scope the area, back for dinner and more chatting on the balcony, and a general continuation of the weekend’s token word: chill. Indeed, it was a “chill” couple of days.
Speaker at the Dept. of the Interior on Monday for TWC programming, back to the grindstone on Tuesday, and the week is off yet again. Happily, I was also off--that is, from my internship, of course. The glorious part of having little to nothing to do at the moment. On Wednesday, lucky duck that I am, I escaped the office around 10:30 (quite the record, as I got in around 9:15), headed back to the apartment to change and grab some lunch, and left once again, book in hand, destined for the WWI Memorial. Throughout the afternoon, the place was amazingly serene and peaceful, considering the fact that it’s spot in the middle of some of the most popular tourist destinations in DC. My only real interruption was a temporary invasion of eighth graders, the leading tour guide of which said at one point “No one ever comes here…. Well, except for one person (apologetic gesture towards me), who is unfortunate enough to be here when we are here.”… cue masses of stares in my direction.
Leaning on a pillar (moving with the shade), book in hand, water bottle at side… yep, it was a relaxing afternoon, minus the hoodlum interruption.
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