I can't really remember what I have and haven't told you about, so I hope I don't miss anything.
Last week sometime I was giving a tour of the capitol as usual, except when we emerged from the basement, there were lots of TV cameras and reporters outside the Foreign Affairs Committee room, which was out of the ordinary. Then the Capitol Police stopped us when we got to the Appropriations Committee room and wouldn't let us pass for about 5 minutes. While we were waiting, guess who walked by. The Prime Minister of Vietnam. Someone in my group asked which one he was, and all I could say was the one in the middle. I am sure that I told him the truth, but I have no idea what the PM looks like, I just know they tend to have their advisers and security people surrounding them.
Fast forward to later in the week because on Friday we went to the Washington Nationals baseball game. I have pictures on my camera but haven't had time to download them yet. The stadium is brand new and really nice. they have LED light boards everywhere, and not only do they have their mascot Screech (he is an Eagle, but looks ghetto gangster) they also have Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Jefferson (Think Mt. Rushmore) It was kind of funny. The Nats played the Orioles. The Nats won, even though the O's should have. It was a lot of fun. I have to say that the Nats stadium is really comfortable, but lacks the charm and personality of Camden Yards, and therefore I deem Camden Yards a must go to stadium, while the Nationals is only so-so. Now food wise, the Nats stadium is better, they serve Hebrew National hot dogs (Seriously, if you don't know what I am talking about, buy some!)
Oh yeah, on Friday afternoon we wandered down to the National Mall and went to the Folklife festival. We had buhtanese food, saw how to make Texas wine, and looked as spaceship parts. We also got to see Buddhist monks perform dance rituals. The coolest part was going through the Buddhist temple constructed on the Mall. Lest you think it was some reproduction temple you would be wrong. It was actually given to the American people by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. Inside they had monks praying, and had offered food to their gods. I chuckled inside when I saw they offered one Godiva chocolate, but I guess you offer the finest. On our way out we were given a special thread that is woven during prayer services. If you tie it around your neck before leaving the temple it keeps negative energy away from you. Ours didn't work.
Saturday was a pretty fun day. In the morning we treked to the Columbia Heights area where we go to church because they were having Caribbean Carnival. We went the parade a half hour late, thinking that since we were at the halfway point of the 60 minute parade we would make perfect timing. It turned out we were 90 minutes early. Caribbeans are not known for their punctuality. We opted not to go to the festival itself because it was 10 dollars a person, and we were both hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry. Besides to pay 20 dollars to get into a craft fair seemed stupid. We made the right choice. at the festival there was a stabbing and some fights.
Saturday night we went to Wolf Trap. It is the only National Park for the Performing Arts. It is a really cool ampitheatre that offers both covered chair seats, and lawn seats. We went to see Rent. It was amazing. I found out about it at the begining of last week, but we didn't decided to get tickets until the end of the week and were lucky enough to get some. We got chair seats because we knew there was a good chance of rain, and shows go on rain or shine, and we had a great view. It didn't rain, but there was a lot of lightening around us and we were glad to have the seats we did.
We also saw a really old sci fi movie this weekend. It was really funny. The monster looked like an action figure, the script was horrible, the acting even worse, and the title of the blog is actually the last line of the movie, said after the monster, captured from Venus, dies.
This week at work has been pretty slow. Which is nice because things have been difficult since HR 6331 didn't get cloture last week. This was one of the bills that deals with Medicare, which for those of you who have been following, has been the big issue I have been working on. I have been doing research on smoking and health care premiums, as well as tax benefits for HSA qualified HPHPs. It has actually been really interesting.
Today I went on a tour of the Voice of America broadcasting studio. VOA is the government sponsored broadcasting network that started by spreading propganda into Germany after WWII and they are still doing it today in areas that are not democratized. Although, China, Iran, and Zimbabwe are causing the network problems because they are jamming the signal.
Tonight Kerri and I went to the twighlight tattoo at Fort McNair. It was interesting. The first performance was by the Army pop band Down Range, then we had a performance by the old regiment thingy (where they dress weird and play fifes), and then the drill team came out and tossed their bayonets around. That was actually the coolest part. And then there was a huge tribute to all the wars America has fought. And I realized something, We are actually a very pompous country. It was 10 minutes of look how great our country is, we have spent 200 years rescuing the world. I got tired of it, but then a really cool helicopter hovered over us. I was waiting for army men to repel out of it, but they didn't.
So this weekend is the 4th. We have no definent plans yet. I know we are attending the 2 hour parade in the morning, and the concert and fireworks at night. We'll see how we fill in the day. We have just about exhausted all the museums on the Mall, so who knows how we will spend our time.
Since I probably won't get to write till after the 4th. Happy 4th, and don't die at the "Annual Carlile Heat Stroke Awareness Golf Game." We'll post pictures soon.
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