je parle anglais!

Bonjour! Ca va? Je suis bien!

That's about as far as it goes... So I started French this weekend. After five years of Spanish you would think my language skills would be more diverse, but it seems those classes were in vain because I can not put a coherent sentence together outside of my mother tongue. Now this will just not do for an ambitious world traveler as myself. Therefore I am navigating the waters of foreign language education yet once again... this time with serious motivation, and hopefully increased success.

It's a small class which is nice. We meet once a week for about 3 hours. Being a person dedicated to promptness, and understanding of the weight of first impressions, I left my house (only three miles from the school) with 45 minutes to spare. I planned to arrive 30 minutes early, acquire my book and orient myself.

Now here is the thing about DC, the metro system may be extraordinarily easy to navigate... but the roads are more complicated than you can imagine. I had clear directions that followed a familiar path... so no reason to fret. At least I thought so...

I was driving down Massachusetts avenue like I have dozens of times, and ran across a road block. Police were diverting traffic for some reason. I felt a slight twinge of panic, but I followed traffic to the right and reached in my bag to get my phone, to do what I always do when I am lost. Call my mom and ask her to google map me.

Slight panic turns into frustration when I realize that my phone is nowhere to be found. For this first time in months, I have neglected to put my phone in my purse!

It will be ok... I will follow traffic around the road block and get back on Mass Ave as soon as I can. Each attempt meet failure as we (meaning myself and the cars around me) realize that Mass Ave is apparently closed for some way.

No remember what I said... the roads in DC don't make the slightest bit of sense. There is no grid... the roads run on diagonals to traffic circles. Therefore it is virtually impossible to guess your way around.

I had a choice to make... return home to get my phone guaranteeing I will be late for my first class... or keep following traffic and pray for a miracle. Contrary to my nature, I decided to stick it out. I have become pretty familiar with the area and I calculated minimal risk in getting too lost or too far off the mark.

Well, I would have been accurate...

I got to Adam's Morgan where my class was to be held and I saw a street that was on my map and turned on it in order to get in the right direction. I was only a few blocks away... unfortunately that road acts as an access point to the Rock Creek Parkway and is not a thoroughfare.

As I worked my way around the park, helplessly driving in the wrong direction I glanced at the clock. 10:00am... class was starting without me.

I exited the parkway on a familiar street. I was in Georgetown and apparently so was everyone else. Frustration gave way to despair. A few tears were shed.

I knew I had to head North (I was at the South end of the park now) so I followed it around it's west side. I still can't believe I found my way with little problem after that. It was a genuine miracle. Anyone who knows me know that being late, much less for the FIRST of anything, is pretty much... the end of the world. Or, at least, it feels like it at the time. I was only about 40 minutes behind, and it turns out my teacher got stuck in the same situation and was a little late herself.

At least I made it! And without help. I feel accomplished. Although, next time I think I am going to take public transportation.

(You have just read my justification for purchasing a blackberry when it comes time to replace my phone...GPS! My mom needs a break.)