criplomats

Ford Theatre with Ann

My BFF Ann flew in Thursday afternoon for the weekend, and we’ve had a blast. I took Friday off from work, and we goofed off all day, then met John for a nice dinner at The Hamilton, followed by seeing “Jefferson’s Garden” at Ford’s Theatre. The play was good, and it was so interesting (or spooky) to be in the theatre where President Lincoln was assassinated.

With Einstein

Saturday afternoon we walked down to the Mall to see a few memorials: Lincoln, MLK, and FDR. It was a beautiful day and the monuments were gorgeous. I had not see MLK before, and was particularly struck by it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

FDR Memorial

We ended the day by meeting John for a delicious dinner at Georgia Brown where I ate way too much (biscuits, cornbread, Mac-n-cheese, crab stuffed shrimp – yum!)

Earlier in the week, I met Tammy and Amy at the Renwick to see the murder dioramas, followed by happy hour at Off the Record. We had so much fun looking at the murder scenes and finding clues. They’re both so funny and smart.

With Tammy at the Renwick

John had one day of government shutdown last Monday, but I was exempt (due to how my job is funded). Of course, it was all over by the following day. I hope we don’t have a repeat of this in a couple of weeks!

Lincoln Memorial

Tidal Basin with Jefferson Memorial in background

Canal living, Paramaribo

I left town at the crack o’ dawn Monday morning to go to Suriname. It’s not easy to get there…D.C. to Miami to Trinidad to there. I left the apartment at 4AM on the holiday and arrived at the hotel in Suriname at 1AM the next morning. My boss Ian went with me on this trip and we had a great time together. He’s funny and smart, and we laughed a lot – plus I learned a lot, as well.

I flew back to D.C. on Saturday, and arrived in the late afternoon (after the government shutdown). John took me out for a nice dinner at District Commons. This morning we walked over to Georgetown for a morning movie – “Phantom Thread.” It was wonderful – one of the few movies I’ve seen where I immediately wanted to watch it again.

I spent the rest of the day making soup and relaxing. The temps hit 60 degrees today – it felt like spring outside!

Click here to see my photos from Suriname!

Walking to plane, Suriname.

Washington Circle, on my way to work

D.C. thawed out a bit this week, and even got up in the 60s on Friday! We’re supposed to be back in the teens tomorrow, so it is still winter!

Thomas, John, and Adrian

John’s work friends Thomas and Adrian came over on Tuesday night – we cooked burgers and generally had a good time. They are such nice guys!

I had coffee this week with Mamie from Islamabad. She was a big supporter of the C’Attaches there, and I was happy to see her as she passed through town. She works with the Army Corps of Engineers on her way to help rehab a dam for a foreign partner. What a smart and nice woman.

John and I went to see one of his idols Friday night, Sam Harris. He was interviewing Andrew Sullivan and David Frum – interesting! We went out to dinner beforehand at a Brazilian steakhouse that we enjoyed.

Happy birthday this week to the best mother-in-law, Ginger! I hope you had a great day. Also this week would have been my father’s 94th birthday.

Flavia helping John with War College studying

Flavie enjoying the sun

John and I rang in the new year by staying out till dawn dancing – oh wait, no we didn’t! I had a 4:00 AM taxi call on New Year’s Day, so I’m sorry to say we were in bed early and did not paint the town red, haha! Our friend Brian was in town from Guayaquil, and he came over to visit in the afternoon – I loved getting to catch up with him – what a nice guy!

I headed off to Belmopan, Belize, on New Year’s Day. The airports were easy to navigate, thank goodness, and my flights were without incident. I arrived in Belize City, and the host from my B&B drove me the 1.5 hours from the airport to the capital, Belmopan. Belmopan is under-developed, to say the least. There is one (count ‘em, one) traffic light in the town, no hotels, and no grocery stores to speak of. I stayed at a very unassuming B&B where you very much felt like you were a welcomed guest in someone’s home. I walked to the Embassy each morning, and enjoyed working with the staff there.

Laundry, Belize

Police station, Belize

Belmopan – coconuts and restroom

My A-100 classmate Paul and his husband Bruno had me over for dinner on Wednesday night. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and Paul was generous with his fabulous South African wine he served (he was previously posted there) – and Bruno cooked a wonderful meal.

Thursday night, the consular chief Yomaris took me to dinner at a nice outdoor restaurant with a lovely view of the city. She is just a doll, and I loved working with her all week.

I got home a little after midnight on Friday night. Saturday evening John and I met Christie (our friend from Hendrix) for dinner at our favorite restaurant, RT’s in Alexandria. From there, John and I went to a poker party at Marcus and Simone’s house where I discovered that I like to play poker! Happy birthday, Marcus! I especially enjoyed visiting with Sarah and Aaron, too – as always!

This evening we went to dinner in Georgetown with our good friend Jimmi at a little Mexican restaurant. I always enjoy visiting with her and hearing about her latest adventures!

Click to see all of my photos from Belize.

One morning this week, it was 12 degrees on my walk to work, and the rest of the week wasn’t much better. It felt like daggars hitting your face – ouch!

John and I braved the weather this morning and walked to Georgetown for a 9:30 AM showing of “The Post.” Wow – it was wonderful! And we watch “Dunkirk” tonight – two great movies to end 2017.

We had a wonderful Christmas Day with old friends from Hendrix. We went to Neil and Emma Wilson’s house for the best meal I had in 2017. Neil is a chef (darn the luck!) and he and Emma were the best hosts! Christie – another Hendrix alumni – was there, along with another smart and charming couple, Julia and Richard. Thank you, Neil and Emma!!!

At the Wilsons

Christie invited us to a pre-New Year’s Eve party on Saturday night, and we had a lovely time there with her, her dad, and her friends from work and church. Her neighbor was also there, gold star father Mr. Khan, who is an author and attorney – best known for his not-so-friendly back-and-forth with the President. We found him to be smart, humble, polite, and interesting, and it was quite the honor to meet and visit with him.

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off from work. On Tuesday I bundled up and went to the Freer-Sackler Museum on the Mall to see an Egyptian feline exhibit. Afterward, I went to Main State to meet John, Aaron, and Sarah – we went to a delicious Geogian restaurant, Supra, where we had a great meal and enjoyed visiting.

Thursday night we were invited to Juan and Gloria’s house in Virginia. We worked together our first tour in Juarez. They are just delightful, and we really enjoyed catching up with them and seeing their kids all grown up – they were so small when we were in Juarez!

With the Andreus

Friday night John took me to see “Les Miserables” at the National Theatre – it was an excellent production and we’re still singing songs from it!

This was a great week to close out 2017! Can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!