first days in DC

i left the montréal hostel around 8:00 a.m. on september 18th so i could get to the train station in time for my 9:30 train. jonathan met me there to say goodbye and to give me a cd he had made for me on "timelessness and time," a theme i had requested (based on a line from an edward estlin poem) when he had asked if he could make a themed cd for me.

the train was scheduled to leave montréal at 9:30 a.m., stop in NYC at 8:00 p.m., leave NYC around 10:00 p.m., and arrive in DC at 1:30 a.m. the next day. i was dreading spending 11 hours straight sitting on a cramped train, but the ride from montréal to NYC was probably my best train experience so far. most of the ride went through the adirondack park reserve along lake champlain, which i think i can safely call the most beautiful part of my entire train experience. it would be a nice place to live, i think. at any rate, if you are ever wanting to go for a little train ride, i would suggest this one. it is inexpensive ($68 from montréal to NYC!), and the seats were super roomy and comfortable. i switched back and forth between napping on my two seats and working on my cree books on my laptop (there was a plug-in next to my seat, thank goodness) while watching the scenery.

i got into DC at about 1:30 a.m. on saturday the 19th, and was exhausted. i got a cab to take me the 4 blocks from union station to my new residence, because i was just too tired to walk with my huge backpack on my back and my little backpack on my front.

i slept well, and spent my first weekend in DC visiting the national postal museum and buying stamps there; wandering around a few streets north of the mall (and being relieved to find an american apparel - with shockingly friendly and unpretentious staff (edmonton's AA staff: take note!)); checking out the café at my museum and eating duckling (for the first time - and it has immediately become my favourite meat. it's like red + white meat, together. unreal.) and wild rice johnny cakes with blackberry compote (which, unfortunately, have all been replaced with the new autumn menu); taking the metro to go buy laundry detergent; napping; skyping with cassidy; and trying to find somewhere to buy a coffee mug on a sunday so i wouldn't have to use the styrofoam cups provided at my residence. the only place nearby that was open & selling mugs was the my obama shop in union station, and a fox though he is, i just couldn't bring myself to buy a mug with his mug on it. (the next day, i ended up finding a starbucks (even though i hate the place, i knew they would what i wanted & i didn't want to spend more time looking around) and got a brown mug & brown water bottle. thanks, starbucks. i learned a few days later that there's a starbucks that i could have gone to at union station, which has cute washington cherry blossom mugs that the other didn't have. oh well.)

post script: as you can probably tell by now, i really only have one pose for pictures, and it has been featured in 3 of the last 4 posts. this is partially because i am highly unphotogenic and this is the only pose i can bear to see myself in, partially because i hate taking photos and having photos taken of me, and partially because i am a terrible photographer and have no one else around to take my picture. from now on i am just going to take photos of my surroundings and just photoshop myself in, because my "look" hasn't changed at all since 9th grade (except for the brief - and cute! ...in my opinion - style i fondly refer to as my "lesbian cut," circa late 2002-2005).