tell me how this story ends

OK, so on the surface it may look like I suck at updating, but do bear in mind that I've been off in Washington, DC since last Tuesday, and when I got back on Sunday I had to read Harry Potter, and and and yeah. But now I have things to talk about, so... YAY!

Washington D.C. is a wonderful place. I was completely floored by it, despite the fact that the temperature often rose into the 90s, and torrential rains occasionally soaked my sneakers. Amazing museums with free admission, a CLEAN and easily navigable subway system, fantastic cuisine from all over the world, interesting stores, foreign embassies on every corner... and of course, the fact that it's the seat of our nation's government impressed me to no end. Georgetown University is incredible. It's definitely moved up my list of places to go to school; it has a beautiful campus, top notch academics, a Jesuit background, and the internship options= fantastic. After Georgetown, we visited American University, which was something of a letdown.. but I think it'll probably be a good safe school.

We visited the Air and Space Museum (absolutely amazing.. and it's FREE!), the International Spy Museum (not only entertaining, but very informative.. I learned a lot about terrorism in America), the monuments on the Mall (I really liked the Vietnam and Korean War memorials), and the Holocaust Museum, which was beautiful and heartbreaking (I could barely look at the exhibits without crying.) Everything we saw was absolutely worth the time and effort.. and most of the museums had government funding, so pretty much everything was free! Yay. And as for the food... wow. Thai, Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Malaysian are just a few of the things we tried. Ethiopian cuisine is by far the most interesting.. your food is served on a large, grey, semi-rubbery pancake, and you use pieces of other pancakes as utensils to eat the food. No annoying silverware! I had what was probably the best meal of my life at Bombay Club, which has fantastic Indian food.

People in DC are interesting. I overheard many interesting cell phone conversations (my favorite:"You won?? Really?? Oh wait, was it just a toaster?" - I swear I am not making that up), saw many Ipod users, and, unfortunately, smelled many smokers. Everyone was very nice, though, and DID I MENTION THE SUBWAY SYSTEM IS CLEAN?? Also, we got to see my Aunt Marcia (not really my aunt, but my mom's childhood friend), who is one of the most amazing and amusing people ever. I'm very excited by the fact that if I go to Georgetown, I'll get to see her more often. Time to add that to the pro/con list!

We returned on Sunday, which turned out to be an excellent day for me, due to the combination of getting the new Harry Potter book, getting the Arcade Fire debut CD, andddddd watching Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, which is now one of my favorite movies, I think. I'm seriously considering having a party to celebrate Hitchcock's birthday, since that would be amusing beyond belief. All the refreshments would be blue, of course, and anyone that stepped into the shower would hear that weird shrieking sound from Psycho. And beware of the birds!

Oh, and I really liked Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; it's probably my favorite now! I have a new appreciation for J.K. Rowling's writing now and I think Harry Potter has the making of an epic series. Seriously. If you've finished the book, I would LOVE to talk with you about it.

Last night we went to the Garrison's house for dinner, which was fantastically amusing. Caitlyn Garrison is one of the funniest and nicest people ever. We all had a great time debating what qualifies as a dishonorable discharge from the Boy Scouts, making strawberry lemonade, playing three-way chess, and watching Mork and Mindy. Good times, good times.

Holy shit, less than a month until school. But come August 18, I shall be ready to face senior year, I hope. Why? Because I have a new backpack and it's ORANGE, that's why! I'll have to post a picture. It's actually very awesome.

Buenas noches, amigos.

Adrienne