Fire in the RRB, popping balloons, and more fun in DC

It was an eventful week here in DC. Tuesday morning I woke up to the news that there was a fire in the Ronald Reagan Building, which is where most of the USAID offices are. A fire that started in the food court had spread in the ventilation system, so we couldn't get into the building until about noon. I spent the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday in a training course. There were a couple of fun activities in the training, including a game in which we had to pop balloons...I had some issues with my balloon popping ability, resulting in the photo below:

We could clearly count 13+ marks from my pen on the balloon where I attempted to pop it before I switched balloons with my neighbor, who created the lovely artwork.

Wednesday night I made cookies and brownies, which I shared with my DLI colleagues in my bureau on Thursday. Thursday was also the day that I realized that change is going to be a constant part of my life now when one of my cube-mates packed up his stuff to start language school in Arlington next week. It's only been a little over two months and already some of my classmates are off to language training, and a few are even beginning preparations to leave for their first posts. I'm wondering how I'll feel in 10 months or so when most of my classmates are (likely) gone and I'm still here in DC...it makes me motivated to work on my French as much as possible before I start class in April and I'm hoping I'll still be motivated enough to dedicate a lot of time outside of class to practicing. We'll see how I feel then.

I also got news on Thursday night that someone slashed all 4 tires on the Vue, which we had just listed for sale. Chris took care of the police report and getting the tires replaced on Friday, but it's frustrating that things like that happen. Luckily, Chris moved out of the city to South County and is now living with my sister, where hopefully there won't be any more problems like that.

It's a long weekend and I'm hoping to get out to explore the city a bit (if the weather stays nice)! I'll let you know how I decide to occupy my time...

Surreal weekend

This weekend was great for lots of reasons - most of all, because Chris was here. Even the most mundane things, like changing light bulbs or cleaning the kitchen, are much more fun when there’s someone else around to do them with. Chris got here on Friday night and we had some Thai food delivered to the apartment (first time since I moved to DC that I’ve called out for dinner) and we watched Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, and The Office. Saturday we made some bacon and eggs for breakfast, then went downtown to see a movie (Cedar Rapids – I’d recommend it) and do some shopping before our big dinner at Komi.

So, Komi has been ranked the #1 restaurant in DC by the Washingtonian magazine for the past 3 years. Reservations are available exactly one month out, starting at noon sharp, for the dozen or so tables in the restaurant. Apparently, Chris called at noon and couldn’t even get through. We ended up with a 9:30pm reservation for dinner (luckily, someone earlier cancelled, so we ended up getting in at 8:45 instead). Anyway, so there is no menu at Komi…you sit down and are asked if there are any foods you don’t want to (or can’t) eat, and then the waiters just bring plate after plate of food (15 plates to be exact on the day we were there). They have a no photography policy, so no pictures, but here’s the run-down of what we ate, as far as we could remember:

1 – amuse bouche of some delicious pastry with house-made cheese and salmon roe
2 – crudo plate of whitetail tuna with chives, ? with toasted caper berry, and hamachi with wasabi
3 – scallops two ways – one thinly sliced with blood orange and one diced with coconut and cilantro
4 - lobster on pear & celery puree with diced pear, slivers of tumeric and Japanese mint
5 – spanakopita – liquid center of spinach, cheesy deliciousness in a yummy toasted pastry shell
6 – egg yolk raviolo with sturgeon caviar and chives
7 - foie gras with cranberry puree and ginger vinagrette
8 - half-smoke with relish and old bay chitterling
9 - dates stuffed with marscapone cheese sprinkled with parmesan and fleur de sel
10 - pasta with lamb ragu and arugula with shaved black truffle
11 - sliced Wagu beef with housemade pita and a variety of condiments (tzaziki, eggplant, pickled cabbage, hot sauce and herb salt)
12 - tiny little biscuit with slice of honeycrisp apple and quince with a delicious cream and thin-shelled chocolates filled with cardamom caramel
13 - 'lemon meringue pie' - lemon sorbet with shortbread biscuits and thyme
14 – peanut butter, salted caramel chocolate bar with crisp rice bottom with coconut foam and banana puree
15 - salty lime lollipop


Sunday we had a great brunch at Ted's Bulletin - a 30's diner famous for their shakes and homemade pop-tarts. Then we walked up to Eastern Market to browse before walking home. All in all, a great weekend. When I woke up Monday morning, it felt like it had all been a dream...