we've made it to washington, d.c.! orientation doesn't start until tomorrow, but andrew & i arrived early so we could check out the city. what'd we see?

* the capital
* the supreme court (did you know there's a basketball court on the floor above the courtroom?)
* the white house
* the monuments & memorials (washington, vietnam, lincoln, jefferson, etc.)
* some guy tormenting baby ducklings by the reflecting pool

does anyone know stories on why the city is laid out as it is? we're sure there are interesting theories but haven't dug for them yet. for example, is there significance to the number of columns on the lincoln monument? why does the washington monument block the lincoln statue's view of the capitol? why is the washington monument so big, thereby making the capitol look teensy?

we've met 3 other peace corps people already. they were fairly obvious, as they were the ones wearing huge backpacks in the lobby and lugging around approximately 50-60 lbs. on top of that. we got to go through that earlier in the day, explaining along the way that no, we didn't just overpack for a weekend in d.c. but it's quite possible -- likely, actually -- that we've overpacked for 2 years in armenia.

anyway, from tomorrow until monday afternoon, we'll be going through orientation, which the peace corps calls staging. then it's off to yerevan, armenia (by way of vienna, austria) by wednesday. we then travel north for training for the next 3 months.

for now, it's time for bed. i'm exhausted and andrew's already asleep. we're definitely going to need the rest.

-m

Current Mood: excited