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!