How Time Flies!

I can't believe February is nearly over! This month has just flown by. And it seems that this year is quickly passing too. Hard to believe that I've been in DC for almost 6 months now. Starting in March we will be having next year's prospective volunteers coming for their interviews. It kind of feels like the beginning of the end...well, maybe that's a little extreme. But I really like DC and there's still so much going on here. Last week I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Corcoran with my housemate Katelyn. It was so neat to see some of those famous works of art in living colour. And I was also impressed with some of his other work. He really did have a diverse range of work. Very cool. I also got to do a little baby sitting this past weekend at the Lutheran church we've been attending. The parent's group met after church and my housemate Lauren and I got to be the lucky sitters. Little kids are so wonderful, and we really lucked out as there were no poopy diapers or crying eyes. Tons of energy though. Hmm, what else. I've been busy keeping up on the olympics here. I must say that the NBC coverage isn't quite the same but they did air the women's hockey gold medal game, so I can't complain too much. This past Monday was President's Day, aka no work day. So I took a nice little bike ride down through Rock Creek Park. DC is really an incredibly beautiful city. There is so much green space. I went on a ~20 mile bike through the city but for most of the time you would never have known you were in the city at all. Lots of beautiful bike trails here.

So weird story. We were sitting around tonight watching tv when the doorbell rang. Our neighbour from across the street, whom we have never met, was at the door with a bucket full of oysters. I think he was maybe offering to give us some but either he was drunk or very socially inept because it was really difficult to figure out what he was intending. He was telling us about the oysters, how he got them, if we knew how to open them, then saying "stupid idea" multiple times. Very awkward and strange. So he just took his oysters home. Weird.

Well it's Sunday night and that means Grey's Anatomy will soon be on and I must be off. Until next time...

Church Cancelled!!

Unbelievable but true. Who's ever heard of cancelling church? Welcome to DC. We got dumped on last night, for the first time since December. And it's so beautiful. Everything is white. Now if only I had my cross-country skis here I'd be 100% content. I had a nice week here. Thursday night Katelyn and I went with a couple from the church to see Rosa Passos (a Brazilian singer) perform. This couple had been in the Peace Corps and spent quite a few years living in Brazil and actually knew this woman's sister from the time they spent there. She was really wonderful. Unfortunately she spoke very little English. Unfortunate because I'm sure she was very funny and interesting. She actually spoke very little during the performance but she really didn't need to. Such a beautiful voice, just her and her guitar. Going back, on Wednesday we watched "What the Bleep do we Know" for community night. I'm not quite sure how to describe it other than interesting. It explored the relations between quantum physics and spirituality. A little too new agey for my liking but it sparked some good thoughts (ie. what is reality, how much control do we have over our external world, addiction to our emotions, etc.). Definitely a movie one needs to see more than once to get everything that's being said.

Looking forward, my agency is moving this Friday back to our previous location. Fortunately it's not too far, only a few blocks away, but this whole packing and moving thing is a little crazy. I'll be glad when it's over. And I'll finally have my own space and my own computer! Which will be very good.

But I think it's time to go and enjoy this snow. By which I mean, shovel the driveway. Boy, I sure do miss my brother ;)

Thankfulness

I found out this week that I should have applied for a Social Security Number when I first arrived but somehow I didn't realise that. I got paid and that's what's important of course so I never thought much of it. Apparently I now have to file income taxes, for which I will need an SSN#. So yesterday afternoon I took a trip over to the social security office in Wheaton. What an experience! When I arrived I got my number (A84) and since it was standing room only, found a spot by the wall to hang. After waiting a few minutes they finally called the next number - A34! Needless to say, I spent a little while at the SS office yesterday afternoon. Fortunately I had a book to help pass the time. It was a neat experience though. When I first arrived I was one of two white people in the entire office. I heard at least 4 or 5 different languages being spoken. And I was really impressed with how patient both the employees and the clients were. It could have been total chaos and you could tell that people were tired of waiting, but everyone was so civil and respectful. There were a couple of families who came in and didn't speak english but others who were waiting helped translate. For one man who spoke only Spanish (which isn't uncommon here) and another family who looked like they were North African (I have no idea what language they spoke but there was a woman waiting in the office who was able to translate). It was really cool to see these people working together and helping each other out when you know they must be so tired and annoyed. After more than a 2 hour wait my number was finally called. I went up and very nicely, the woman told me that in addition to my visa and my passport, I also needed a supporting letter from my sponsoring agency (which I did not have). Not at all surprised, I'm now waiting for this letter so I can head back to Social Security to wait once again. Frustrating, but it was really humbling to walk in the shoes of my clients. They face this daily when trying to access services to meet their needs. It really is incredible what people have to go through in order to survive.