When I was younger, Washington, DC, was a place where I went to on school field trips once a year. It was also a quick day trip with my parents and relatives in the spring during the cherry blossom festival. In other words, it was boring. Now that I’m older, I have a newfound appreciation for our nation’s capital. Perhaps I should provide the backstory to this blog: Before I graduated from my master’s program, I was aiming to get a job abroad, especially in Europe. If that didn’t work out, my backup plan was to move to DC if I could not find a job that I absolutely love in the NY tri-state area. I thought I would have a better shot at getting in with the international and diplomatic community in DC. It also helped that I had most of my relatives nearby in Baltimore. Sadly, I wasn’t successful at getting a job abroad, so it was on to plan B. At first, I thought Washington was not a new city for me since I have been there multiple times growing up in Baltimore. Luckily, I was wrong.

To me, Washington is a culmination of American history. The first layer of European influence is very distinct and recognizable in the city planning, the statues, and fountains. The layer above that is the people. DC is a melting pot of white Anglo-Saxons, African-Americans, Ethiopians, Caribbeans, Chinese, Koreans, etc. The top layer is made of all the politics–the government and its agencies, the lobbyists, civil society… The people in suits running around Capitol Hill and working for different causes. The city has changed somewhat over the past decade, but gentrification cannot disguise the poverty and criminal activity just literally steps away from our capital building. In a way, the city is an epitome of our country–people are generally so involved in their own lives, they are blind to others who are living in the fringe of society. That was one of the major reasons why I wanted to work outside of the states; I was tired of the apathy.

I find myself falling progressively in love with the city every day as I explore the different neighborhoods–and my belief that people just don’t care is slowly crumbling. Before I arrived in DC, the only areas of DC I was familiar with was Capitol Hill, the memorial sites, and Dupont Circle. Other than that, DC was just made of four neat quadrants. Then someone asked me about “Foggy Bottom” and “Adams Morgan.” Before I got to DC, I was confused by those names and thought they were fictional and utter nonsense. Now I know they really are magical places.

The house that I share with four others is located  just a couple of blocks from the U Street Corridor where there is a plethora of Ethiopian restaurants, wine bars, and jazz clubs. I especially love the history and comeback stories that surround the neighborhood. So far, I have only had the chance to explore my neighborhood, Columbia Heights, Tenleytown (where I had serendipitously discovered a belly dance studio), Logan Circle, and Adams Morgan. Each neighborhood has its own flavor and every sight evokes a different memory from my travels. A row of houses on P Street might remind me of London. A line of government buildings might remind me of Brussels. All the traffic circles remind me of France and Spain. The nostalgia is endless.

Today, I set out to try an Eastern European/Balkan restaurant called Slaviya in Adams Morgan with my friend, Jakub. We traveled from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to Woodley Park by metro, then made the 20-minute trek to 2424 18th Street, NW, which required crossing a bridge, walking through a couple of residential blocks, and through an alleyway called Mintwood Place. When we emerged from the drab alleyway, the sight that greeted us sto

pped us in our tracks. We had it made it to 18th Street and we had to stop to take in all the shops, restaurants, and colors. I was quickly reminded of the East Village in New York and Camden in London. Jakub simply said, “This is like Europe.”

As I pass by countless cafés, crêperies, chocolatiers, and boutiques on my strolls through the city, I’m feeling less disappointed about not being in France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands because I’m falling deeper in love with Washington, DC–I have bits and pieces of Europe here. More importantly, I catch innumerable signs of compassion, diversity, and multiculturalism in the rainbow flags that decorate the churches and local storefronts, the variety of food options, the political posters rallying for a free Tibet and support from the democratic west for the Arab Spring…   ‎