Hail to the...Tamara

After a cancelled flight, some re-routing and waiting on standby, I made it to Washington D.C. on Sunday evening. I was able to quickly flag down a cab and make my way to my hotel on the outskirts of the city, passing through some less than desirable areas of town with what I can only assume was a freshly paroled cabbie.
The biggest thrill of the cab ride (aside from a number of near death experiences) was driving by the Washington monument. It was just there. This historic monument, just looming over the freeway with folks driving by most likely not even giving it much thought. I, of course, took a picture with my phone. My cab driver was not pleased.

The Washington monument at night from inside my cab

I arrived at another identical looking Marriot Farfield with identical sheets and identical "witty" Do Not Disturb signs (e.g. "Give me a moment, or thirty!") and most importantly, a distinct lack of (knock on wood) bed bugs.

After getting a good night's sleep (courtesy of the White Noise application on my iPhone) and loading up on the continental breakfast (literally. I had a bagel with cream cheese, cereal and a muffin. AND I brought up a number of treats that I stashed for later) I called for my cab...For the third time. I called last night and they refused to take reservations that far in advance. Then I called this morning an hour before I wanted to leave and that again, was too early. The third time I called 30 minutes before I needed them. 45 minutes later I was able to take the hotel shuttle to Union station where I was then able to flag down a cab (I later learned the cabs around here are extraordinary in their ability to be rude, be horrible at driving, and be nowhere around when you need them). Regardless, I got to the interview on time.

View of the Capitol from the Inpatient Unit courtesy of my phone!

The Washington, D.C.VA  is fairly centrally located and from the inpatient unit you can actually see the Capitol Building. The VA was good with some nice rotations and has more animals in the hospital than most homes. Seriously. There's a therapy dog. And birds.  The interns, however, have to all use the same office and it's a constant fight for space in which to conduct therapy. Other than that, it was a very nice VA. The questions that were asked of me were a bit out of the ordinary and I'm afraid I may have gotten a little too "Cat Crazy" (as Alex likes to call it) when they asked me to tell them a story about myself.
For some reason the ONLY story I could think of in that moment was when I found Dexter. This is, almost perfectly verbatim, what I said:
"So... I was going to the Hy-Vee to get Cheesecloth. Hy-Vee is a grocery store. In Iowa. So, I was getting cheesecloth. I wasn't making cheese. I like cheese, but I was making this coconut dish we'd learned how to make in Fiji. That's where we went on our honeymoon. I only wore two pairs of pants for 2 weeks. My husband's an archaeologist. So cheesecloth. I got out of the car and saw this little kitten. Then the kitten was gone and I heard it crying. I went inside and came back out. The kitten had stopped crying. So I left. Then I remembered I'd forgotten the cheesecloth. So I went back and the kitten was crying again. I called my husband and he came. We found the owners of the car and opened the hood and there was the cat. Here's a picture I carry in my wallet."  
BUT, the training director (yeah, the training director) loved it and said that I was a tenacious young woman with a good heart.

After the interview I was absolutely exhausted and had every intention of going back to the hotel to take a nap. On the way back however, I saw this.

Feeling a surge of patriotism, I decided I'd make the most of the city and had the cab driver drop me off  near the Smithsonian Institute Campus.

I walked through this little park...

Strolled down Constitution Ave.

..then popped into the Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History (just like from Night at the Museum!) While it was a wonderful museum and I saw some amazing exhibits, I kept being reminded of my dear friends and family. It was then that I realized that as fun and exciting as traveling around the country is, I was struck by just how much having those you care about with you adds to the experience. There was a great elephant display (Alex LOVES elephants) a huge giraffe (If Joleen could be any animal, she would be a giraffe), various plaques and descriptions I knew my mother would be reading in great detail, a sculpture that looked like female genitalia I was certain Dave and Barry would insist on taking a picture of, amethyst my mother-in-law would die for, jewels that reminded me of Rebecca's engagement ring, and a nice cozy cafe I pictured Dad resting at and drinking a bottle of water after saying "walk this way" and tripping himself. With thoughts of those I enjoy most, I tried to make the most of the museum, even taking time to go into the butterfly sanctuary and sit down among the butterflies (which reminded me of Alex's brother and his wife who got married in a butterfly museum!)

I then swung by the Hope Diamond and other jewels to drool for a bit...

After a wonderfully smuggled meal of a bagel, breakfast sandwich and milk, it's off to bed before my 6am flight in the morning back to Iowa City for interview #8, then back out to Maryland that same evening the night before interview #9 at the Baltimore VA.
Missing my husband, missing my family and friends, and missing my kitties.