But here are a few things that happened since last we talked:
- I was apprised of my first assignment with the Foreign Service at our Flag Day ceremony on 3/12: Buenos Aires 2010, baby!
- Estee came out from NYC to be my proud mama at the Swearing-In ceremony at Main State on 3/19. We had Korean for lunch with drinks, drinks after the ceremony at the reception on the waterfront in Georgetown, and then a bottle of wine with dinner at Marcel's. I don't think Estee has ever been so stuffed full of food and alcohol in her life!
- My friend and colleague Sean hosted a Swearing-In cocktail party on 3/20. Many of the things that happened that evening are best left forgotten, but a good time was had by all. Party started at 7PM and I walked in my front door around 5:30AM.
- The last full week of March was really tough for me, but I got through it with the help of some of my friends, both new and old. A special shout-out goes to Marilyn, Katie, Jan, and Stephanie: group hug!
- There has been far too much drinking over the last two months so I am attempting a detox. I have failed spectacularly at least twice in the last two weeks, but I am working on it. Especially since the amount of money I have spent buying other people drinks could have bought me that new television by now.
- I have started the process of transitioning to Buenos Aires by meeting with my country desk team at Main State so I could be informed of the biggest issues on which I will be working as the new Economics Officer at post. Let's just say that Argentina will provide it's share of challenges.
- On Tuesday, 3/30, I spent the 2nd night of Passover with friends in Falls Church, VA. As tradition warrants, whenever I am in DC for the holiday, I am at Jeff & Liz's seder. They recently purchased a new home in VA so it was the first seder at the new place! There was excellent food, excellent company, random Sherer story-telling, and plenty of singing (my ox animal noises sounded like a dying cat, but I think that's part of the fun).
- I attended my first Shakespeare Theatre Group event on 3/31, with a viewing of Henry V at Harmon Hall. It is one of the few Shakespeare plays I have never read and I think the cast did an excellent job of bringing it to life without making it dull. Unfortunately, I also started a round of oral typhoid meds while there so I started feeling a little high during the first act. Ah, typhoid!
- This past Friday was so beautiful that Sean and I decided an outside happy hour was mandatory. We rounded up Marilyn for evening drinks on Marvin's rooftop deck and were pleasantly surprised to find that Marvin's was celebrating Marvin Gaye's birthday with a live band. It was exactly what we wanted and needed. So fun! Then my landlord called to tell me that the street construction crew hit a water main for our building so I shouldn't expect water until midnight. Clearly that meant I had to stay out until midnight. More FS troops were rounded up for dinner and drinks at DC Noodles at around 10PM. I left at midnight, because...
- Saturday was spent at the Cherry Blossom Festival! AT SUNRISE. Marilyn, Stephanie and I decided the best time of day to experience the cherry blossoms is sunrise, so up at 5:30AM it was. We walked down to and around the tidal basin, taking in the cherry blossoms, the spring flowers, the FDR Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Washington Monument, the PUPPIES!, the amateur photographers with their wieldy tripods and camera equipment, the Einstein statue, the Lincoln Memorial, and, finally, the California Grill for a much deserved breakfast. We were back home by 9:30AM - Stephanie tells me we walked almost 10 miles. Whew!
