My partner Andrew and I were group 5, and we were the first to leave the house. They said leave at nine, so we left at nine. After an interesting episode with the Smartcards and farecards, we were on our way around the metro. Our first stop on the hunt was to go to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. Fortunately for us, everything that was on our hunt was easily located near a metro station, so we did not have to take the bus. We arrived at the Smithsonian on time with our schedule at ten, only to find that the museum didn't open until 11:30. I spotted the International Spy Museum across the street, and had thought we'd found a detour for an hour and a half when we were allowed in, until we found out the admission fee was $18 per adult. That wasn't happening. So we walked back to the Metro, got back on and headed toward the Zoo.
Andrew insisted that we take the bus the half-mile to the Zoo from the station, but I started walking, and there was no bus in sight, so he was obligated to walk with me. The trip to the zoo was informing, as I now know the zoo opens at 6:00 in the morning so that people can come run there. I also enjoyed seeing the pandas, and taking pictures of several of the animals. (Unfortunately for me, somewhere in between the connection of the computer with my camera, all the pictures were lost from DC so far. :( So sad.) Around eleven thirty, we decided to head to our next stop, and went back to the Metro. We had to transfer trains, which I learned is not as intimidating as it seems, you just have to be aware of the signs, and know exactly which direction you are going in.
We arrived at the Eastern Market station around twelve. But once we walked over to the oldest market in the city, it was inevitable, via the signs, that they were closed on Mondays! So our stomachs still whining about the lack of nutrients (I was showing it a lot more in the heaviness of my eyelids), we walked back toward the metro, and stopped at Marvelous Market instead. It was a relief to find a market that looked locally run, with fresh food at decent prices, and an attitude of healthiness. It made me really happy. I had a Nicoise Salad (anyone seen White Chicks?), a cup of water, and a salty oatmeal cookie--with actual coarse salt on top--like a hot pretzel--and it was righteous.
We got back on the metro again, and headed toward the portrait gallery once more. This time when we arrived, it was open. The security guards made Andrew carry his bookbag in front of him, though I'm not sure what that inhibits (or anything at all). I practiced illegal photographing, throughout, although a lot of the pictures I took like of the painted piano, didn't save on my phone. Grr. One of the awesomest things shown was the Aluminum foil paradise.. it was so sweet. I enjoyed looking at the paintings, and the horn chair.. despite the fact that my body was exhausted from all the exploring, reading, and learning.
Our last stop involved going to the National Museum of Building and Design, and looking at exhibits on symbolism and neighborhoods. It was interesting, but being so tired it was hard to know what was important to know or not. We met up as a group to reflect on the day. A bunch of people got lost, or went the wrong ways in their hunts, and several had some weirdos say strange things to them. A guy was convinced that Corrie and Jasmine were rascist when they bought Smartcards, and said that he thought they were going to go shoot people. Another guy told Fetsum that he liked the way he walked. This is how I realized that we had a pretty uneventful day, although it was a blessing.
We all rode back to the house and as an assignment, half the house told stories about themselves (the rest of us are tomorrow). My favorite was Fetsum's story. He did SALT in Indonesia, and had back problems, and his host father recommended this guy to give him a back rub for cheap, and the back rub was really awkward, in the living room of the house. The guy not only rubbed his butt, but also slapped it when he was done.
I talked to Emily about my transportation situation. So far so good. We are still not quite sure what I'm going to be doing, but we are getting somewhere, and as long as I am financially able to handle this, it's going to be a good semester. That's the thing I'm sure I'm most nervous about.
Corrie and I made the first meal of the house--Cuban Black Beans with Rice, and a Salad. We had good conversation while we cooked, and I realized something about myself. I'm a little uptight, and like to do things right the first time. I'm pretty sure that I don't like failure. But I can't accept a compliment very well. Makes for almost frantic attitude when things start to go wrong. Which they didn't. Things went very well (although I forgot to add the honey, but who knows if the honey would have made it better anyway?). I did not burn the rice (it was only slightly browned on the bottom, like the perfect toasted marshmallow kind of color). The salad was good, and the black beans themselves were quite tasty. Everyone agreed on getting Netflix as a house, and we all labeled out cups with masking tape, as to reduce washing them.
After supper, which was a lot less awkward than the meal with Doug, Emily, and Kim, Sanj got into this excited "Let's make Cookies" Marathon kind of attitude. Corrie, Fetsum, and Bryan all went to Target, and got some important ingredients, and then when they got back, we started making oatmeal chocolate chip "Engle" cookies.
It went really well, we had started rolling them in balls and everything, when Corrie, then Christa tried to preheat the oven, but couldn't turn it on. It had one of those digital temperature setters, and the timer and clock were working earlier when supper was being made, so it was frustrating, trying to figure out what was wrong. Lindsay called her dad and pushed some buttons that only made the timer go berserk and then stop altogether. Sanj pulled the oven away from the wall (though afraid of breaking it, ha), but everything was plugged in, and we couldn't figure out what to do.
It was thought there was an oven downstairs, but there wasn't. So we resorted to alternative ways to cook the cookies, because some people couldn't wait. Jess tried to microwave one, and it turned out fine, except it cooked in the middle of the cookie, and the outside was still gooey. Then Corrie decided to wrap dough in tin foil and fry it on a pan. It worked--the cookie was browned on both sides, but something (I'm not sure what) got incredibly burnt, and set off two smoke detectors, and we had to hurry and turn them off before the sprinklers turned on (although I'm not sure how long it would take for them to turn on). The grilled cookies turned out well, but the rest of the dough had to be put in the freezer because we couldn't bake it. We were so excited about giving cookies to our neighbors as well...
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