meinen Reisen MY TRAVELS mijn reizen mes voyages meus cursos mis viajes minhas viagens mo taisteal mine rejser mina resor i miei viaggi

Today, I met the Chair of our DEC at a Congressman’s Office. I can tell you more about the visit at a later time.

The only other Congressman I saw was Steve King. I almost..almost.. talked to him, but he was with an aide heading into an elevator and we didn’t really know where we were going.

Afterwards, I went out to to the U.S. National Arboretum. I saw the Bonsai collection, a few azaleas (though their time has passed), and the Capitol columns. The Arboretum is a a tough place to find. I had to use the metro and then, I Ubered the rest of the way. The columns kinda look like Greece. I guess they should as they are Corinthian columns that once were part of the Capitol until 1958. Now, the Arboretum stores them there. I also walked through a fern area.

I didn’t stay too long and I made it to the airport pretty early. Prior to arriving at the airport, I found out that my 7:00 p.m. flight had been delayed. I arrived at the airport around 3 p.m. I saw that the Orlando JetBlue flight prior to mine was delayed too until 3:30 p.m. I made it through security, went to that gate, and asked the agent if I could take that flight instead. He said that it would be no problem. I asked if I could run and get some food, but I said I didn’t need to if I would miss the flight. He let me. I got falafel, french fries, and a drink and ran back as everyone was boarding. Once on board, I realized the agent had upgraded me to an extra space seat which was a nice surprise. Anyways, I made it home around 6 p.m. instead of closer to 10 p.m.

In case you didn’t see this, it is neat: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/05/22/eagle-snatches-fox-holding-rabbit-in-mouth-in-dramatic-images.html

The last few weeks have included hosting a few delegations and eating some food.

Then, I went back to Burlington as they honored Dad at graduation.

Bev and I watched the Royal Wedding yesterday. Then, I got my hair highlighted and cut.

I have a national DEC meeting tomorrow, so I came up early to D.C. today.

• I went to the zoo to see the three pandas and newborn gorilla, Moke (1 month old)
• I went to the American Indian museum to eat lunch. I bought the buffalo chili fry bread taco
• I went to the U.S. Botanic Garden
• I went to the art museum/ portrait gallery to see Moran’s Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Former President and First Lady portraits (both new)
• I went to Chinatown
• I went to Union Station (which I didn’t realize is a mix between an upscale mall and an Amtrak station)

I now just want to go back to Orlando tomorrow. My flight is on Tuesday night. It is a place that has some amazing museums, but it drains you too.

I took my long lens, but it didn’t really help too much. I got a few good picture. The pandas and gorillas were all inside, so the glass and reflection made it hard.

The lens did help get a good picture of a red panda and a few others (I like Moke’s head sleeping).

Sorry for the lack of posts.

In this picture posting, you will find:

• Lisa’s birthday celebration at work
• Me learning to cook
• Meeting Bev at Nile Ethiopian Restaurant which was an experience
• The Asian American Pacific Heritage Day Celebration
• Saying good-bye to my intern from Belarus
• Visiting Hollywood Studios and a high score at Toy Story Mania
• Meeting Mireya at Geyser Grill at Fort Wilderness for dinner
• Me enrolling in a 3D Modeling and Interactive Media Certificate program at Seminole State College
• My new backpack with a hatchback camera holder
• Me welcoming a Turkish delegation
• Celebrating a day of rain (we haven’t had rain in months)
• Me watching the new firework’s show at Magic Kingdom
• The last picture is my homework for tomorrow’s night class

Andrea arrived on Friday. I had a meeting about 3 miles from the airport, so it worked out well.

But Andrea’s luggage didn’t make her flight, so we had to file a missing luggage document.

Afterwards, we went to a Puerto Rican restaurant and had some mofongo. We stopped by the outlets before heading to the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. We shared a few food items from the various kiosks. Then, we went to Magic Kingdom as Andrea had scheduled some FastPasses for Big Thunder and Splash.

We decided to eat at Sweet Tomatoes and ended the night at the other outlets before coming back to my apartment.

Yesterday, we went to Hollywood Studios and rode a few of our favorite rides.

Afterwards, we went out to Plant City where they had 4-H U-pick. There were a few U-picks around. It was 50 cents a quart. The strawberries were the best I have had in a long time. There were so many. It didn’t take long to fill the containers.

Afterwards, we went to a nearby farm where they had a natural Farmer’s Market and many little animals. The baby goat was only 3 months old.

Then, we went to Parkesdale Market where we had strawberry shortcake and a strawberry milkshake.

We arrived back to my apartment around 4:30 p.m. and the luggage still hadn’t arrived. We decided to go to 4 Rivers BBQ. 4 Rivers was ok. Work caters it some, but it was nice to see the restaurant. I would go back though.

Last night, we went to the Shakespeare Theater and saw, “Shakespeare in Love.” It was pretty funny. The actors were really good. About 15 minutes into the play, my phone rang silently and I let the Frontier guy into my apartment complex. Andrea’s luggage was waiting for us when we arrived home and everything was inside.

Yesterday, I went up to D.C. for a training on EXIM products and services. I woke up around 3:15 a.m. and made it to the airport around 4:15 a.m. Security took a good 30 minutes.

I made it to D.C. around 10 minutes to 8 a.m. and I took the metro to the EXIM offices. I was one of the first people there. It worked out quite well.

The training was interesting. A few people I am working with on a symposium in May came to talk to me at lunch.

I got done around 3:30 p.m. and went to walk around. I was probably one block from the White House, but the White House was pretty much blocked off. I walked all away around to the Washington Monument and back up to the White House gift shop. I wanted to see if they sold a commemorative Easter egg roll egg, but they did not and the stores that did were closed.

I still had time to walk to the Art Gallery. I made it there around 4:37 p.m. I walked quickly to see the Impressionists. Then, I walked to the metro. I was wearing green pants and a blue raincoat and people could tell I was a tourist as everyone else was in black. I was in a see of black and a homeless man asked me for money…just me.

Anyways, I had a nice meal (beef shawarma and hummus) once through security at a Lebanese restaurant. There were about 40 to 50 “Knights for Israel” on my flight back. They had attended a lobbying event.

I made it back around 10 p.m. and then, went to set up for an event on exporting to Asia this morning. (That event lasted until Noon, then I cleaned up the room, had a meeting at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. and a Consul (we only have 3 in Orlando) stopped by for a visit at 3 p.m., so I tired.)

Good-bye