going native

Though I don't know if D.C. will ever feel like home -- especially if I keep having my ritual morning adventures on the Metro (a.k.a. getting on the yellow instead of the blue, going out the 17th St. exit instead of 18th St. to get to work, etc.) -- but I do know I'll never cease to be amazed at this place.

Example: Yesterday Roommate and I headed to the Kennedy Center to see one of her colleagues perform on the Millennium Stage. It was a cool way to get introduced to the Kennedy Center. Mom and Dad will be pleased to know I'm planning return trips for the National Symphony Orchestra. If, for nothing else, than to see this guy:


There are so many amazing things to do here which are, most importantly, *free* that I'm not really sure why anyone would pay for entertainment. However, a few things seem to be worth dropping some dough. Some classmates headed to HR-57, a very cool nonprofit jazz center/club Saturday night. We didn't make it there as dinner at Jaleo, a fabulous tapas joint in Chinatown (go figure), ran long. But we did make it over to Cafe Saint-Ex on 14th St. for a gin and tonic before calling it a night. Dinner involved a group of 12 almost exclusively Californians (minus one person's date. Ahem.) Ali organized it as a very sweet welcome to town for me. It's a tossup which was better: The deep fried date-bacon-dumpling thingies or the white wine sangria. Oh, and we also celebrated Dr. Freddy's birthday, as he kept politely reminding everybody (including the waitress) of the day's significance. We sang to him when a petit-sized dessert arrived before him with a single candle. Good times.

In an effort to keep you on your toes, let's jump back to yesterday. After the Kennedy Center outing, Roommate and I decided to do a little exploring. First we landed here:


But the current occupants didn't invite us in for a beer or a snack, so we ditched that plan and headed up to Adams-Morgan, a very hip neighborhood just north of Dupont Circle. We stopped in a Middle Eastern cafe for some hookah, hummus, moutabel and falafel. It was delicious.

This week's mission: Find a Middle Eastern grocer.

Oh, and I start classes tomorrow. Yikes. Stay tuned.