Martin is away in Central Asia these weeks and DC feels a bit empty… Instead, I am trying to hang out with my small circle of friends in order to not turn into a complete hermit and so for a reason that I fail to remember, Mikael and I decided to go out to Pentagon City today. For those of you who are not familiar with DC, Pentagon City is an area close to Pentagon with among other things a large shopping mall. I did actually need some new things to wear for work (I tend too wear things until they break, and at one point, Mikael told me – and rightly so – that I looked like a bum) and a new wallet (which is broken to the extent that everyone, including registry staff, comments on it), and Mikael was attracted by the Apple Store and an opportunity to check out watches. Whereas Mikael actually managed to buy a watch, I of course did not find anything (except for a piano, which I did not buy). Instead, we had a disgusting meal at the food court and then most of the Sunday was gone. Since shopping isn’t exactly one of my favorite activities, it is immensely frustrating to make the effort to go shopping and then fail the mission because it means that it was just a complete waste of time! I did take a picture of Mikael in the food court to at least be able to show you what an American mall looks like, but he deleted it, so I can’t even do that. So to summarize: half this day was four hours of my life that I will never get back.

When I got back to my neighborhood, I sat out at Dupont Circle for a while, studying for the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) that I need to take in a few month, before applying to PhD programs. But I admit, this was not the most interesting Sunday of my life! I think it is about to peak now when I will have a cup of tea and some French cheese, and watch Desperate Housewives. I guess that as an adult, one has to realize that life can’t be fun all the time…