Oh the Places You'll Go

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!


Day 1
In an effort to retain my passport (hopefully-if they haven't lost it) and information on my visa, I have traveled to Washington, DC. We made it into town about 2pm and after a few seconds of readjusting to public transportation maps (The Metro) we headed on the Blue Line towards the Consulate (which is about an hour from our hotel-with all the Metro stops and switches). I think we looked a bit out of place because he spotted us. We weren't looking at a map or doing the other things that tourists usually do-we were just sitting there. He walked in with a boom box-"old skool" style (no kidding) and said "Ya'll mind if I play some tunes for the ride?" to which we looked at each other and Mare responded, "Sure". We didn't know we would be listening to "dying fetus, obituary, and scorpian". After a few moments, we realized he would say what everyone else was thinking with no refrain. After a few minutes he realized there had been no proper introduction to which he said, "I'm John" that escaladed until we realized he was talking to us. We, however, did not respond with our names. He did not give us time before he said, "I have ADHD and I'm always happy." He proceeded to tell us about his extra curricular activities, inviting us to the skate park (to which he said, "That's okay if you don't, I've got plenty of people that will be there.") By this time I was shaking in my seat and trying not to breath. I could feel that laugh coming on-the one that is uncontrollable and loud-you all know that laugh. BUT-I kept it in. Until-we realized that we could not hear the conductor telling us which line we were on and what stop we were approaching. Before I completely thought that thought through, I heard, "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, SPEAK UP ....." and I LOST IT. I just put my head down and he commented on how hard I was shaking. We had several other conversations with John and he included himself in about four other conversations with others before he jumped off at the skate park to join his "lots" of other people. The rest of our rides were not as eventful. Most of the people slept, read the paper, and minded their own business. We realized how much we missed our friend and his annoying/interesting lifestyle. One comment that really stuck with us was, "I am always happy. I could be ticked off and talking to someone and be grinning the whole time." How many times am I happy when on the inside I am really upset? I am ashamed to say that sometimes being upset affects my whole life-even people who are not directly involved with that particular situation. I pray about this often and lay at the feet of Jesus when situations like this arise.

We were unsuccessful at getting to the Consulate in time today. Transportation was hard and we ran into a lot of traffic that slowed us down on the way. We walked about 5 miles out of our way to the Consulate. We were about 45 minutes late and knew that there would be no getting in the door. We went anyway and sat on the steps(the picture!) of 3009 Whitehaven Street NW. This is the place that I have been calling for 5 months. It became all so real to me as I took off my flip flops and began to wonder what could happen tomorrow. After a few minutes, we realized that we could not sit there all night and the Brazilians might not like that. So, after much talk about the things we could see in DC-we ran off to find a bus. We chose an Ethiopian Cuisine restaurant which Mare said it was very true to actual Ethiopian food! The meat was in long strings? You ate with this like....bread stuff that you tear off, pick up the food, and then dip? Different. Very different.
Then, we decided to go Federal Triangle to see the Monuments in the dark. They were absolutely beautiful. I appreciate the fact that I live in America and have leisurely freedom to say the least.

Day 2

The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

We woke up REALLY early in order to make our hour and a half long trek to the Consulate. Upon getting out of bed-I nearly fell into the floor. That is what wearing flip flops in DC does for you. My calves and feet simply could not work the way they should. We threw on some clothes and headed for Whitehaven Street NW
After the 45 minute Metro ride and hooving it about 10 blocks, we made it to the Consulate!!! (read "85" for the rest of this )

After the Consulate-we hopped a bus up to the National Cathedral as I called Brazil to let them know the results. Mr. Bose and I talked about what would happen next and not really understanding what was going on at the Consulate. We talked about some options and agreed to talk again once I had some more questions answered.
The National Cathedral is full of art, history, and beautiful architecture. The arches, stained glass windows, and mosaics are so intricately designed-it is hard to tear your eyes away from them. We had to carry on!! We had three days of sight seeing to do in just one! We ran off (well, actually we hobbled) to see the Holocaust Museum. I don't know if this piece of history can become a reality until you see this place. The smells, sounds, poems, photographs, artifacts, and exhibits bring this monstrosity to life. Sometimes you need to see, hear, and smell hard things.

The wild grasses rustle over Babi Yar.
The trees look ominous,like judges.
Here all things scream silently,
and, baring my head, slowly I feel myself
turning gray. And I myself am one massive,
soundless scream above the thousand thousand buried here.
-Yevgeny Yevtushenko (excerpt from Babi Yar)

We are the shoes, we are the last witnesses.We are shoes from grandchildren and grandfathersFrom Prague, Paris and Amsterdam, And because we are only made of fabric and leatherAnd not of blood and flesh, Each one of us avoided the hellfire
– Moshe Szulsztein, Yiddish Poet

My number is 174517; we have been baptized, we will carry the tattoo on our left arm until we die."
-Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz

We stopped on the Mall to recount what we saw, catch up on some reading, and watch some guys frisk others into playing whiffle ball with them while a friend video taped? Strange. Then, we headed up to "the Hill" to quickly see the Library of Congress and make our way to the Capitol Hill Baptist Church for Wednesday night service. This sign is what we found outside the church. We did not get to hear Mark Dever speak, but he has an outstanding Assistant Pastor who opened the Word and lead a discussion about Matthew 5:25-26. These verses talk about if you are going to court with an adversary, you should settle before you get there. This was quite interesting as the lawyers and other "legally" involved people from the Hill gave their insights and views on this passage. At the end of the hour, he gave us something to think about. He basically said, God is our adversary-we need to settle with Him before Judgement Day. I hadn't thought of these passages like that before.....

We had dinner with a friend and talked about his work on the Hill. He spoke of many neat opportunities and experiences! It was good to see a bit of familiarity within that big city!
We wanted to make use of every single moment-so we rushed off to sit on the Lincoln Memorial! The experience is breathtaking, serene, and the breeze seems to wrap itself around you. This is a great place to talk to God, think, and epitomize different things in your life. God has been speaking to me about several things in my life and through this experience confirmed some changes in my thoughts and actions.
So-you think the night is over? It isn't-we quickly got back to the Metro where we caught one of the last trains back to Franconia/Springfield. Life is just generally funnier when you are exhausted, in pain, and people watching. As we approached our final destination-we started counting the stops. The only problem is-is that we counted the "routine maintenance" stop and accidentally got off on the wrong one. It only took us five minutes to realize what we had done-to which we can do nothing but laugh. So-we wait fifteen extra minutes and catch the last train. This train carried a different group of dancers (ha ha) who thought it was funny to dance up and down the isles as the train was moving. I barely kept myself together. These are the Metro rides I LOVE. It's no fun when everyone minds their own business and follows all the rules!

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.



So-in essence-I got to experience a little bit of everything along with the Consulate. The news was somewhat not what I was expecting. That's how God wanted it to be. So-I'm off to Great Places while I wait for His glorious and perfect timing in this situation. I am confident in His Sovereignty and ready to climb whatever mountain may come!!



you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
-Dr. Seuss Oh the Places You'll Go (all in green)