Viraj's Blog

I finally got my camera! Here's what I did this weekend:

I ventured back to the National Gallery of Art on Saturday (above) to vist the Afghanistan exhibit (below) that I had skipped out on because of the crowd last week. It was really cool- not only to see the actual exhibit (lots of Greek and Indian influences thanks to Alexander the Great) but also to hear people remark on how diverse the history of Afghanistan truly is- I like listening to the process of people having their horizons broadened. The exhibit was done pretty well- they had a lot of pieces of art from a wide timespan, stretching from the times of Alexander the Great to the early 21st century. Lots of pretty things :)

The exhibit exists because the National Museum in Kabul was bombed really heavily and, to protect their remaining artifacts while they are rebuilding/waiting for peace to return, they are shipping their stuff around the world to different museums as travelling exhibits. I'm sure it'll be coming to Chicago soon...I'd like to go back.


That night, I met up with Harry, Vinayak, and Vidya for dinner (Aria Trattoria, Italian) and then...
My food was alright- I had the one veg thing on the menu- asparagus risotto. Then, we walked next door to see a sketch comedy show called the Capitol Steps! The show was close to an hour and a half, and made fun of..well...politics. Their stuff changes almost every week to reflect the news developments, which sucks because it was kind of expensive (but very funny). If you ever come out to DC you should try to catch a show!
After the show, Vinayak and Vidya went home, and Harry and I walked around for a bit. We ended up at the World War 2 Memorial (below) and eventually the Lincoln Memorial. Very pretty and very peaceful :)
I'm a dumbass and forgot my camera, but on Sunday Tina, Brian, and I went to see the free Regina Spektor concert on the National Mall. Read about the concert here. It was part of the National Jewish Festival, and right next to it (literally, a half block over) was the Filipino Festival...lots of good food, but we were running late so I didn't get anything.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend...I'm in my third week in DC right now and I'm typing this from work. Today I'm going to watch a lecture about the East Asian View of US Foreign Policy and tomorrow I'm going to a lecture about the conflict in Kashmir...excitement! And maybe they'll provoke some thoughtful posts :p

Peace out, homeslices.