Tourist for a Weekend

So this weekend I was blessed with the presence of my friend, Gloria.

She was my first visitor since relocating to the DC area and considering my busy schedule, and the magnitude of option, I have not been able to explore much of the myself. So we did some of it together.

SATURDAY
I had French class in the AM in Adam's Morgan so Gloria hung out in Dupont until I was done. Then we had some Lebanese food for lunch... a first, but certainly not a last. I have no idea what it was called but it was eggplant, chickpeas, mint, yogurt, green onions and pomegranate seeds... there was more but I can't remember. The unique mixture of flavors grew on me.

We then made our way (as did everyone else) to Georgetown to stop in at the Mall for a quick trip to Urban Outfitters. There was some sort of festival going on so there were so many people it was hard to breathe. Not the best choice. We accomplished our goal and got out as quickly as possible.

Next, we made our way to Ebeneezer's for the 5pm service. Heather Zempel, the discipleship pastor continued the Elephant in the Church series. She did an awesome job talking about suffering, check out the podcast! Gloria was able to meet some of my DC peeps.

Jen was nice enough to give us a ride to La Tasca where we partook in some Spanish Tapa's and Sangria. I got the traditional, gloria got the Sangria Blanco which had cinnamon in it. It was yummy and so was mine. We got a Spanish salad, some sauteed spinach with raisins and pine nuts and some veggie pealla. an entirely pleasant experience.

We ended our night at Harmon Hall for Romeo and Juliet by the Shakespeare Theatre. It was performed entirely by men, like it originally would have been. We had front row seats to the madness. Sword fights, dancing, poison... quite the soap opera. It was a wonderful performance, they managed to make it quite funny and the 2.5 hours flew by!


SUNDAY
After giving Glo a quick tour of the AU campus we went to Eastern Market. It was my first trip but it will NOT be my last. A crazy cool flea market of sorts with antiques, cool jewelry, art, music, and food. We had amazing crepes with apples, walnut, coconut and caramel. And, the icing on the cake? There is a Port City Java near by! How cool is that? After we informed the staff that we hail from the home planet, we were NOT given free coffee. It was a nice try though.

Anyway, then we got some Ethiopian food on U street. Dukem was packed with Ethiopians... always a good sign. Spicy red lentils, split peas... yummy as I remembered.

We finally hit the stereotypical tourist destinations on the National Mall. We made it through the Native American and the African Art museums. Not the most popular ones, so less crowds. Gloria actually found an exhibit that included reference to her mom's family, the Locklears in the Native American museum. I was bummed there was only 2 things in the African Art Museum from Sudan. They must take art seriously in Nigeria because the place was overrun with it.

Then it was back to Ebz's for the Robbie Seay Band who was in town. The concert was a really nice end to the weekend. Chris, Robbie's brother was a long for the ride and had some cool things to say about consumerism and such. I think he could have a second career as a comedian.

Top off the day? Some FRIED ICE CREAM at Guapos. What Can I say? I know how to party.

I am exhausted, yet rejuvenated by my brief 'vacation' from the real world. It is a really busy week, but I guess that is just a sign that I am starting to settle in here.I do not have a single picture from this weekend or I would insert them here. A significant failure on my part which I will try to rectify in future adventures.