Arrival in D. C.

Sitting in my sister's apartment, things have calmed down a bit. Ruth and I are the only ones here because her roommate is gone for some amount of time. She is in bed because she doesn't have to stay up until 2am studying or working or something. I'm not really partial to either environment and it was certainly entertaining to watch Katie study for her sign language quiz. But this rather abrupt change of pace is a welcome respite, not just from Penn, but from college in general.

I feel obligated to point out that my life is not usually this eventful. I am usually in Williamstown studying, practicing my violin, eating in dining halls, lounging around the student center, and going to meetings. But maybe once I start writing about those things they will end up being interesting after all. I think they're interesting, but that's because it's my life (gratuitous reference to my favorite song from 6th grade.)

Today, I succeeded in being generally aware of my surroundings, a skill that, historically, has not been a sure thing for me. I was walking towards the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, not certain of its location. Then I came up to a little shack-like building with a staircase leading to the underground that was clearly labeled "30th Street Station." I thought, excellent! I'm here...and with time to spare!

And now is the part when I was aware of my surroundings. I noticed an enormous and stately building just across the street. The building took up an entire block. I thought, I'm taking a train to Washington, D. C. from here...maybe it is leaving from that giant building which just might be a train terminal. So I resisted the blindly logical pull of the building that was actually labeled "30th Street Station" and crossed the street. And there was my train! It was a great success.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. I'll either go to a Supreme Court case or one of the Smithsonian museums. Both of these things are located near to where my sister works at the Capitol. And I'll go and pester the passport office which is conveniently located near to my sister's apartment. I'm not sure when I'll leave. Washington is a very fun place to walk around. I usually do a lot of walking around when I'm here because my sister is usually at work. Last time I spent most of the day in the mall looking at all of the memorials. At the tail end I went to the Museum of Natural History but I was so exhausted I only stayed for 20 minutes. It was also warmer then, so maybe this time I'll do more indoor things.

It was funny to see everyone in Philadelphia complain about the bitter cold when it was 40 degrees and a little windy. If only they knew!