Peter, Aline, and Chad, Oh My!

Peter, Aline, and Chad came to DC to participate in a Model Arab League competition.  For those of you unfamiliar with Model Arab League, it's like the Model United Nations.  A competitor serves as a representative for the leaders of a country that has been assigned them.  They engage is a sort of verbal ju jitsu as they go head to head with their rival countries.

Being that Peter, Aline, and Chad were in town, they wanted to break bread with me.  Being that Union Station is convenient to me, we ate there.  We didn't get too creative with our dining choice.  Company was more important.  Peter and Aline joined me in eating at my favorite Indian booth in the food court.  Throw everything you've ever thought about yuck food court food out the window!  It's scrump-diddily-umotious.  The samosas are fried, bready, potatoey, herby, goodness.  They make me happy for me.

I prodded Aline to talk a bit about Saudi Arabia.  She spent most of her "growing up" there as it presented wonderful opportunities for her family.  Opportunities in Saudia Arabia you say, and I say "yes."  I was curious because a foriegn service officer I've had the pleasure to meet at the State Department spent five years of her career living in Saudi Arabia.  She described it as the worst five years of her life.  Her favorite station as a foreign service officer was Syria for those reading who are interested.  Aline had a different opinion, and lets be glad for that.

We sat around yammering until we were asked to leave the food court since the food court was closing.  After being encouraged to leave, we took a stroll around Capitol Hill where I live.  We walked by the Supreme Court, Folger Shakespeare Library, Hart Building, and one of the Library of Congress's branches.  The cherry blossoms are at their fullest and it was really beautiful to stroll along them with the moon shining and highlighting the white of the blossoms.  I also gave them a tour of Thomspon-Markward Hall.  They were impressed by its history and, well, its floorplan.  Their interest got me to thinking that it might make for a good post.  Just as a teaser, Eleanor Roosevelt cut the red ribbon at a ceremony here celebrating the opening of a new wing.

It was a treat to see friends from Salt Lake.  It's a little lonely here without my goodtime friends.  Thanks for making it a point to see me, Peter, Aline, and Chad.