I have had a wonderful weekend! Jenny just left a few hours ago and I was reluctant to let her go. Although I know a lot of people here and I do things on my spare time, it still feels a bit lonely now and then, being away from friends and family. So having Jenny-O here over the weekend was lovely!
Jenny-O and I go back a few years. We got to know each other when we were both working at Pharmadule in Stockholm, before I moved to Rome. If I remember it correctly, we got to know each other through a somewhat failed attempt to start going to the gym together. Anyway, she is one of these persons that I do not know very well but that I always enjoy seeing and I always can talk easily with. We only worked together for a few months and have not lived in the same city since, but every time we meet (which is usually not more than maximum once a year), we can just pick up from where we left off. So even though we do not see each other very often, we still try to keep in touch and meet up whenever we can. I have a couple of friends like that and I really try to keep in touch with them because I value them highly.
After having breakfast Saturday morning at my usual breakfast place, Firehook, Jenny and I spent the rest of the day just walking around DC; looked at the White House and the monuments, and visited various parts of North West. In the evening, we first went for a drink in a local bar close to my place before going to a small cocktail party at a colleague’s of mine. After a bit of mingling, we finally met up with my colleague M and his friend at a Salsa place up by Columbia. I have basically not danced salsa since I lived in Guatemala and I had forgotten how fun it is. I was a bit rusty though, but the place was packed with people and there was not much room for extravagant moves anyway, so I did alright. (Got compliments from a guy from Brazil who asked if I had spent some time in Latin America since I could not have learned to dance this well anywhere else. Thought I was awesome – almost Latino – until it turned out that he had learned to dance salsa when he came to the US a few years ago. So not much more of a Latino dancer that I! And so much for trying to impress with my cool salsa moves….) But it was fun, fun, fun, and I encourage everyone who has not yet tried to dance salsa to do so!
Today was more quiet and we basically just had breakfast at Love Cake on U Street, and then walked around the neighbourhood a bit before ending up with another coffee at some out-door tables by Dupont Circle.
I am now trying to motivate myself to read some articles on the agricultural sector in Albania for a small background note that I am writing. Am a bit addicted to Entourage atm and am very tempted to just crawl down under a blanket and watch a few episodes instead. Which is of course not how you prioritize if you want to do a career in a highly competitive organization. Well maybe just one episode would not be that bad…?
Breakfast at Firehook
Tourists by the White House
The reflecting pool and the Washington Monument – less crowded
than last weekend
The Lincoln Memorial
The view from the Lincoln Memorial
The Kennedy Center
Sunday afternoon coffee in the sun
