CHRISTMAS IN DC

Given that almost all of our worldly possessions, including all of our Christmas decorations, are in a storage facility somewhere in Maryland, our apartment was a bit drab this holiday season.  We strung up some lights and bought a poinsettia, but it seemed a bit sparse for a true Christmas celebration.  Our car is already en route to Belize, so our options for a Christmas getaway were a bit limited as well.  So Andrew and I spent a few days at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown DC to celebrate Christmas in style – and to take advantage of all of the Christmas decorations that someone else put up.

The Mayflower was built in the 1920s and was fully decked out in holiday flair. 

In front of the Christmas tree at the Mayflower.

More Christmas trees in the lobby.

The hotel is a 10-minute walk from the White House, so we enjoyed a central location from which to see all the holiday sights on display in DC, including the Christmas trees in front of the White House and the Capitol.  

The "national tree" in front of the White House.  There is a tree there, but it's draped in a net of blazing lights so you can't even see it.  Lame.

I much preferred this tree in front of the Capitol.

We also visited the decorations on display at the U.S. Botanic Garden, which included yet another huge Christmas tree, as well as miniature recreations of many of the national monuments all made from wood and other plant products.

The Capitol on display in the U.S. Botanic Garden.

And the Lincoln Memorial... complete with reflecting pool and Washington Monument at the other end,

We also took in a blues show at the Howard Theater.  It’s a wonderful old theater, and the music sounded fantastic.

Motown and blues at the Howard Theater.

We celebrated Christmas day with a morning walk down to the Washington monument.  The day was clear – and cold, and since it was Christmas morning, the crowds were light. 

Looking toward the Capitol from the Washington Monument on Christmas morning.

And looking down the reflecting pool toward the Lincoln Memorial.

Afterwards, we had a traditional Christmas lunch – and bottomless champagne – at the Henley Park Hotel, another old school tradition, in downtown DC.  Now THAT’S what I call a Christmas celebration!

After our Christmas lunch (and, ahem, a few glasses of champagne), Andrew spotted a gift under the tree at the Henley Park Hotel that he thought might be his.

Now it’s on to the new year and the new adventures that await.  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday celebration in whatever part of the world you are, and wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2017!

HAPPY (LATE) THANKSGIVING!

How did Thanksgiving already happen?  And how are we now well on our way to Christmas???  I’ll blame the fact that my daily routine these days seems like the premise of the movie Groundhog Day.  For months now, I get up at the same time, I go to “FSI” (the Foreign Service Institute) on the same shuttle bus, I spend 5 hours in the same classroom (making the same mistakes), I spend another few hours in the same language lab (trying to stop making those mistakes), I come home, do homework, eat, sleep, repeat.  The days – and weeks – start blending into each other, and before you know it…  BOOM!  Leaves are turning!  The heat and humidity that have been part of my reality here since day 1 have gone away and I’ve had to dig out my sweaters and coats.  It’s a welcome change, even if I didn’t see it coming until it was already here.

Sweaters and coats properly donned, Andrew and I took advantage of the weekends to break the Groundhog Day cycle and take in the autumn sights.  We’ve enjoyed some great strolls through various neighborhoods and parks in DC to check out the fall foliage, and we also took a trip to Philadelphia over the long Veterans Day weekend to get a little change of scenery.  We had a great time playing tourist and taking in the history of that city.

Autumn in Rock Creek Park in DC.

On the trail.

The Liberty Bell - yep, it's cracked.

Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were adopted.

Late breakfast at the Continental in Philadelphia - a cool place with hanging swing seats and a great vibe.  If George Jetson opened a restaurant, this is what it would look like.

We also had a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration here in DC with my parents and our friends Paul & Kim and Brock & Colleen, who all ventured here from Portland.  Fortunately, there’s a great hotel right across the street from our apartment building… and there’s a Whole Foods right up the street that was our sous chef since I wasn’t up to the challenge of making a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 with the sparse kitchenware of a furnished corporate apartment.  (To illustrate, we have place settings for four, so our fine Thanksgiving china included some plastic plates and borrowed utensils from a neighbor who had gone out of town for the holiday.)  Plasticware aside, we had a great time visiting and catching up, and did a fare bit of playing tourist around the DC sites too.

A family reunion!  Me and my parents at the Capitol with my mom's great-grandpappy, William Jennings Bryan.

The Capitol dome.

A lovely sunset after our tour of the Capitol.

Next up… a Spanish test the week after next, so I’m in full study mode.  (Writing and posting this blog is a much-welcomed study break.)  If I hit the mark on this one, we’ll ship out to Belize at the end of this month.  If not, we’ll likely stay in DC until February when I’ll get another shot at it.  Either way, looking forward to celebrating Christmas here since I will either 1) be on my way to Belize for the New Year or 2) not have to think about another Spanish test until February. 

Happy late Thanksgiving to all!

GREETINGS FROM QUITO, ECUADOR (SORT OF)!

Admittedly, the greeting is a bit delayed since I'm now back in DC, but greetings none the less!  I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in an immersion program in Quito last month as part of my Spanish training, and it was fantastic!  

First of all, it was a much-welcomed change of scenery.  DC is great and all, but after having the same routine since the end of March, I was ready to change it up a bit.  

Some of the much-welcomed new sights in Quito.

Second, I got to celebrate by birthday in Ecuador!  A very nice birthday gift to myself, I must say.  

Celebrating my birthday with my host family - and the spectacular birthday cake they made for me!

And lastly, Quito was lovely!  It's located in a valley way up in the Andes at about 10,000 feet.  Trust me, I felt every inch of that altitude as I climbed three flights of stairs to my classroom every day.  The city is surrounded by volcanoes that provided some amazing scenery.  One afternoon, I took a gondola partway up the nearest volcano, Pichincha, and had a birdseye view of the city as well as some other neighboring volcanoes, including Cotopaxi (19,400') which is active and even let out a puff of steam while we were watching.  

The view from the top of the gondola.

That's Cotopaxi in the back on the left, pre-puff of smoke.

The city itself is very busy.  Outside of the historic, preserved old city (a UNESCO world heritage site), there is a ton of traffic and lots of new high-rise buildings under construction everywhere.  

Guards outside the presidential building (above) at the historic town square (below).

The Basilica - one of the many amazing old churches in the historic city center.

If you look closely, the "gargoyles" are turtles and other animals! 

Views of the historic city from the top of the Basilica tower.

High rises - and a food cart pod! - outside of the historic city center.

But there is also a huge park in the center of the city - Parque La Carolina - that provides open space and no shortage of outdoor activities (paddle boats, a skateboard park, a BMX dirt bike track, a par course, a botanical garden, miles of paved bike paths, tennis courts... and a dog park complete with agility course) to get out of the hustle and bustle.  

Some of the activities in Parque Carolina. 

Skateboard park, complete with cool graffiti.

One of the coolest dog parks ever!

I also got out of the frenzy by spending the weekend in Mindo - a little town in the cloud forest about two hours northwest of Quito.  I stayed at a local resort on about 800 acres that offered guided hikes each day, and I saw some amazing hummingbirds and other tropical birds.  (Bird nerd warning: Many photos below.)

So many hummingbirds!

Blue and black tanager!

Mountain toucan!

The scenery wasn't too shabby either.

There was also a huge UN-sponsored conference going on in Quito while I was there that included a "festival of lights" for several nights in the historic center.  It was an incredible production in which many of the ancient churches were illuminated with amazing images and light displays.  Hard to describe, and I didn't take my camera that evening to capture the event, but you can see a great 2-minute video clip showing some of the scenes if you click here.

Oh, and I also studied Spanish.  A lot.  It was a quick trip, so not enough time to get to the Galapagos... but someday...  In the meantime, I'm back in DC and back to the usual routine through December.  We're currently scheduled to head to Belize a few days after Christmas, but if I've learned anything from my time here so far, it's that things could change.  So stay tuned for the next installment!

FALL IS IN THE AIR?

Labor Day is behind us and I guess that means autumn is coming… but you wouldn’t know it.  It is still HOT here.  And I’m still a couple weeks shy of the halfway point in my Spanish training, so there’s nothing different about my daily routine.  But the days are noticeably shorter – it gets light later and the sun sets sooner, so I can tell a big change is coming.  I will miss the long hours of sunlight, but I will not miss the heat and humidity.  So bring on the fall!

We spent Labor Day at Mount Vernon.  It had been a trip we’d been planning to do at some point, but had been waiting until the throngs of summer tourists had departed.  Labor Day was a great day to go!  It wasn’t too busy and we had great weather for it.  It’s only about half an hour from our place in Arlington, so it was a great destination for a day trip.  The grounds are beautiful and the buildings are well preserved (or recreated, in a few instances).  Here are some pics from our outing:

The main house and the great lawn

Casa de Jorge Washington

The veranda at the main house

View of the Potomac from the veranda

The (rebuilt) greenhouse and gardens

They also had some "heritage" livestock on the grounds

Andrew made a new friend.  Why the long face?

Next up, Andrew heads back to Portland for a week later this month, and then maybe we’ll get a little trip or two in during one of the holiday weekends we have coming up.  But for the most part, our current routine will continue unchanged – I’ll be learning Spanish and Andrew will be working from the apartment.  The only thing that will be changing anytime soon is the color of the leaves outside.  Happy fall everyone!