South for the weekend

My flight back to the City for a long weekend was a fairly pleasant one. The flight from University Town into Dulles was on a turboprop, and I got mildly motion sick. Dulles was larger than I imagined it to be, but was otherwise aptly named--it was one of the dull-est airports I've been to. It was basically just two long lines of terminals. The terminals I traveled through, terminals A&B, were in good condition, and it seemed to me that terminal B was new. The food selection was poor, and overpriced. Terminal A, where I waited for my connection flight, was crowded and warm. I sat down on the end of a row of seats, and there was a man, in orange yoga pants, barefoot, on the floor doing various stretches. I tried not to look at him.

What I was impressed with, though, was the number of languages I heard spoken just in my short walk between gates. And, I saw some very smartly dressed people, too: one that stands out in my mind was a lady dressed in an all white outfit--shirt, pants, jacket--the only touch of color being red leather flowers on the top of her white high-heeled shoes.

On the flight into the City, I sat next to a chatty engineer returning from Moscow. He had been working in Russia for the past two years, and he had just bought a house in one of the Suburbs. His wife was Russian, she had arrived in the 'burbs a couple of months ago to get things ready, and she was hopefully, going to be approved to be a US citizen this weekend. How exciting!

Being back in the City let me enjoy some of the foods I've missed--authentic Chinese, masaman beef from a Thai restaurant, bubble tea. Time won't allow me to go to the state fair, but I would have liked to have gone. This is probably a good thing--the last time I went to the fair, I made myself sick by going on a fried food eating spree. I heard that the big thing this year is fried butter. I think it was meant as a joke, but I'm not sure.

It's been a nice trip, and I've had fun hanging out with some great friends. It had been raining here in the City, but the past few days have been very pleasant, sunny but only in the low 70's. The apartment I'm staying in is at the edge of the complex, next to a wooded area. I stepped outside for some fresh air and sun, and I could hear the brook bubbling merrily in the woods. I felt like a very lucky person.

Only other bit of news: I'll be returning to the University with (daring, for me, anyway) deep burgundy polished nails.