criplomats

John at the Smithsonian American Art Gallery 

The first few days of the week were difficult – I was tired from my trip to Hot Springs, plus we changed Spanish professors and it took me several days to get used to the new instructor. But, I think I’m finally getting back in the swing of things.

I signed up for a foreign language exchange program through Georgetown, so I met a gentleman from Spain on Tuesday night to chat. We split our time between English, which he is trying to learn, and Spanish. We plan to meet once a week.

Last night, we went to a fun dinner party at our friends Rob and Della’s apartment here at the Oakwood.

Today, we went to the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum – I especially wanted to go back to see the folk art exhibit and the modern art gallery. Both were wonderful. One of my favorite pieces in the folk art gallery is by Howard Finster. The modern art wing was also wonderful, and of course, I’m always happy when I get to see works by Georgia O’Keefe (below). The photo of John above was taken in the courtyard in front of a waterfall of sorts – it only has about an inch incline, so it’s almost just a big puddle of water. Very cool.

My Spanish class: Dan, Matt, Giovanni (front), Eric and Ashley 

We had our first snow in DC on Wednesday. It didn’t stick very much, but it was very pretty to watch through the window of Spanish class.

Last Sunday, John and I spent the day at the Mexican film festival at the Museum of Natural History. We saw a couple of good films – when it was over, we were some of the first people out of the auditorium – we went upstairs, thinking we’d go out the front door. But, the museum had closed while we were in the movie, so we were alone in the dark with that huge stuffed elephant in the lobby – it was sort of creepy! 

Friday was our last day with our Spanish teacher Giovanni (we rotate teachers every few weeks), so I took Bolivian pastries for breakfast, then we all went out to lunch together at a Peruvian restaurant. We also had a little Christmas celebration in the language school, where we butchered a few carols in Spanish.

I left the house Saturday morning at 5 AM for a whirlwind trip to Hot Springs to help Mom with the new house. The house is great and she seems really happy there. I had a few problems along the way…we couldn’t land in Little Rock due to fog, so we had to land in Memphis. I shared a car to Little Rock with three other people from our flight. The other woman in the car looked familiar to me – turns out it was Mindy, a woman John worked with at Systematics. The last time I saw her was at our house in Costa Rica – pretty funny. There was a younger guy riding with us who was from Mountain Home. When he heard my name, he asked if I was related to Ginger Crippen – his sister took piano lessons from her! Small world.

I finally got to Hot Springs around 3 PM, and immediately started shopping for new things for the house. I finally went to bed around midnight, only to be woken up around 2AM. Mom’s cat was sick and we really thought he was about to die (he’s 16), so we called the vet and were at the emergency animal hospital for a few hours (the cat’s fine now). After a few hours of sleep, I made a second trip to Walmart for more things, and kept working.

As I was waving bye to Mom around 2PM Sunday afternoon, I noticed she couldn’t open her front door – the storm door had locked behind us automatically! We had to call a locksmith to come let her in – once I was sure he was within 5 minutes from her house, I left to make a mad dash for my flight in Little Rock. I made it, thank goodness, and somehow managed an on-time arrival back in DC around 10PM. Needless to say, I was pooped!

Mom’s new house

Last Sunday I went to the National Gallery of Art to see the Edward Hopper exhibit – it was fantastic. I also saw a great photography exhibit that reminded me of Mike Bobo – lots of old, fun photographs. John was a little under the weather, so hopefully I can get him back to see some of the other incredible paintings at the museum. Of course, they also have several works by Georgia O’Keefe, my favorite artist.

Yesterday I went to the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum to see a Mexican film. The film was so-so, but it was a good reason to go to the museum. I didn’t have a lot of time, but did get a chance to take a very quick walk-through of their folk art wing, where they have a Howard Finster (the guy from Georgia who did some of the Talking Heads’ album covers). I’ll definitely go back there to spend more time.

We’ve had a busy weekend, starting with happy hour on Thursday. Friday night we took a friend from class with us to see a magic/comedy show that was very entertaining, and last night, we went to see the Broadway touring production of Avenue Q with several classmates (very funny!). On the way home, we stopped at a going-away party for a friend getting ready to leave for Mexico City, so it ended up being a late night.

With Robert and Della at Thanksgiving

Our classmate Mary and her husband Tony (a great cook) invited several folks from our class to Thanksgiving dinner at their house – we had a wonderful meal and a good time. It was really sweet of Mary and Tony to share their holiday with us! We also played a few rounds of Catchphrase, which is a pretty fun game.

We went to school on Friday; my regular class didn’t meet, but I joined another class for the day. The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key – we went out to lunch Saturday and ran errands, then we watched Grizzly Man (rather odd – not sure I’d recommend it).

Wednesday was a fun day in Spanish class. Our teacher, Giovanni, brought lunch for us: delicious salte̱as from a Bolivian bakery nearby (so good that I found the bakery myself on Saturday Рcould be dangerous!). We also adjusted our schedule so we could leave early, which was great. The weather here that afternoon was crazy Рalmost 70 degrees!

Last Sunday, Mary and Ander went to the Spy Museum and did some other sightseeing, then we went to Harry’s for dinner. It was so wonderful to see them!

Mary and Ander at the Spy Museum (Mary’s talking into her lapel)

Time out for a drink at Clyde’s

We’re so happy to have Mary and Alexander visiting us this weekend! On Friday, Mary flew in from Little Rock and Ander drove up from southern Virginia (where he’s been working on a state senate campaign). Saturday we drove through the Foreign Service campus, went to eat a great brunch at Kramerbooks, then hit the Eastern Market. We also walked past the State Department building in Foggy Bottom, and visited the Einstein statute, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial – lots and lots of walking! We were pooped at the end of the day, but mustered the energy to have a great meal at Huong Viet.

The rest of the week has been pretty low-key – mostly just studying Spanish (John’s still in his HR classes). I found a great Vietnamese restaurant that just serves soup – perfect for the chilly nights we’ve been having here.

Mary and Ander are at the Spy Museum this morning – we’ll hook up with them later in the day.