Oh my wow!

DC is so cool. Really. I had forgotten just how amazing it is here. I haven't even scraped the surface of great places to see, and I've already been wowed.
The Lincoln Memorial was of course one of the first places I had to visit. I unpacked all my things and ran a mile down 23rd to see the monument before it got dark. It was amazing. And freezing cold. But mostly amazing. The two walls surrounding Lincoln's statue had the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's second inaugural speech carved into them in big letters- what an inspiration!
I had to walk home after that. Unfortunately I hadn't realized just how bitterly cold the wind is here. A hoody was definitely not enough to keep my body temperature at a healthy level. And not wearing gloves and a hat? Bad idea.
Later that night I went with some other students to a little hole-in-the-wall kabob restaurant called Moby Dick. I got a gyro sandwich; SO good. And then we walked home and I froze. My roommate and I were so tired that we went to sleep around 10:30, which was 9:30 MN time. My mattress is basically a slab of rock, so of course I slept beautifully and did not wake up with a kink in my neck that still hurts right now.
Church was cool. The ward seems cool--a little old, but hey. We had to ride the Metro to get there, which was fun. Definitely better than walking and freezing your face off. After church a big group of us went on down to the smithsonian's natural life museum or whatever you call it- the one with all the animals in it. Super cool. And it's free!
Anyway, tomorrow we have a big orientation class which should be a good time-waster, then Tuesday we start working. Peace and love to all my home slices out there!