Journal Entry #4

Today, was another busy day of running errands. I don’t know why, but I am super busy trying to do all the things that I need to do, even when I am on vacation. We went down to the Argentina consulate this afternoon to try and apply for a visa. Of course I did not have everything that I needed, and had to go take passport pictures to hand in with the visa application. After returning to the consulate, this task still was still unable to be completed, for they need an official letter of acceptance from the university before the application can be processed. Oh the joys of bureaucracy, the "simplicities" of life! Why can’t these things be as easy as they sound? Also, the Universidad Catolica must contact immigration, which must then contact the consulate. So many loose ends to tie up, and I am running out of time. From there we went by the ISEP (the study abroad program that I went through) building to drop off the acceptance letters for the study abroad program, because Ann Wessing called and informed me that I had forgotten to do this. However, we were unable to do this as well because Ann had not signed the papers. Once again, another thing I was unable to complete, and it still cannot be erased from my always growing, never shrinking to-do list.
The day was actually quite pleasant though. Due to my directionally dysfunctional mother’s driving capabilities, we decided that it would be much easier to walk around and take the Metro to run these errands. In large cities, it is often easier to rely on the ancient art form of walking than it is to drive, due to parking, wrong turns, and traffic. While walking, I gazed around at my surroundings. The buildings are all very nice looking, with wide varieties of architecture, ranging from ancient to modern, eastern to western, and everything, and I do mean everything in between. DC is the cream of the crop when it comes to being diverse as it is the capital of the USA, the melting pot of the world. The city’s wide variety of influences make it a very pleasant city. Everywhere you go there are people of all race and ethnic and religious backgrounds, speaking a plethora of languages. The unique cultures of the various regions of the world are displayed in the fashions of the people. This along with the rich history that is displayed on the many monuments and statues, DC is a fabulous place to visit. I can’t help but consider the possibility of attending grad school at Georgetown.
We actually got a chance to eat at that Matchbox joint to which my mom tried to bring us the other night. The atmosphere of the restaurant is really cool, and probably the cause of its success, however it was a little on the chilly side (bring a sweater). It was a narrow design, but three stories tall. The entrance level had a modern looking bar displaying fancy bottles of wine and booze. The coolest part was the brick stove, in which open flames were cooking what they are famous for, their delicious looking pizzas. My mom raves about them, Unfortunatly I work at the Pizza Slut and was in no mood to try the ‘za. In the back, pictures of the construction of the stove line the wall, making the customer feel like part of the creation process, an interesting marketing scheme. Upstairs the tables for two are small and close together, giving it a somewhat intimate feel. In the center of the tables were matchboxes. I don’t know if they were all the same, but our table featured matchboxes that were seafood oriented. I thought this interesting, as the restaurant is known for its pizza, and I think I had the only seafood item on the menu, a delicious crab-cake sandwich. The food was very nontraditional, unlike what one might find at an Applebee’s. The salads were all unique, only offering specialty dressings, and the normal sandwich fare all had somewhat odd sounding toppings. For instance, my mom ordered a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, accompanied by dried cherries, giving it delightfully sweet and sour contrast. Seemed like a good place to take a date. I did not taste it, but the pepperoni pizza appeared fabulous, and left my mouth watering. Prices seemed reasonable, although definitely not for the budget traveler. Meals from $7-30
Went for a jog along embassy row today and back through another beautiful neighborhood. It is very interesting to me that when one stands inside of an embassy, they are technically no longer in the US; they are standing on foreign soil! So I guess I went to Argentina today. And it was not that hard to imagine myself there, everyone was speaking castellano! While we were jogging, we saw a man protesting in front of the Vatican building, standing with a sign that states "the catholic church hides pedophiles". Apparently, he has been standing there in the same spot almost every day for years. Some people have way too much free time on their hands.
That’s all for now, time to catch some shuteye.