Day two of my DC trip:
I slept like a baby, there was so much construction noises and traffic noises but I still managed to sleep like I don't sleep back home. Maybe it is the sounds of the big city that make me feel comfortable and put me to sleep. Who knows.

I had lunch with Nick before my conference started. He came by my hotel and we went to a sea food restaurant around the corner. He is a great guy, he has this quality about him that makes you trust him and tell him things you normally wouldn't tell other people. We talked about work, people at work, his job, the project etc. He got me thinking about what I need to do with my career/school/personal life. But I think I am more confused now.....I don't know if I should consider the job I was offered....or if I should just go back to school....
and the thing I am more confused about is about his sexuality. He has some of the classic signs of a closet homo...when he talks about people he talks about them as in they....we...us...he never specifies if they are male or female. He lives in an area that is largely gay, and I like him. He needs to be gay ;)
One more thing he said that made me think about how my life is back home. We were talking about the big city noises and the life and he said he liked it b/c it made him feel like he wasn't alone. Maybe that is why I like the city noises....I know there is someone just outside waiting to be discovered. Back home I have to turn on the radio or the Thai to hear any noise.

The conference went really well, I learned a lot and I realized how much I don't know about high tech items. That is one of my personal goals this year, besides taking the GMAT and the LSAT, I need to learn more about high tech controls and requirements.

I took a tour of all of the major monuments tonight and it was awesome. We went to the FDR Memorial and there were some really cool pillars with faces on them. I took a whole bunch of pictures of them and hopefully I will be able to enlarge them and frame them. We also sent to the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam memorial (I found a few Reyna's on the wall), the Jefferson Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Korean Memorial. All of them were crowded and there were kids EVERYWHERE!!!! But it was beautiful, they were all light up and hopefully I will be able to show my pictures to everyone. I really hope they come out, I was trying to use my experimental techniques from my photography classes a few years ago and I have forgotten most of them.

Oh, and update on the food. But first a little background on why I do the things I do:When I go on a trip, especially by myself, I like to walk and explore the city. I love taking trips by myself, it is such a great time to explore the city, explore your self, and learn things about what you are capable of doing. One of the things I learn every time I go on a trip by myself is how friendly I can be. I always think of myself as a shy person but when I am in a different city I make friends wherever I go. I made friends at the conference and at the hotel bar, the hotel bar is always the best place to make friends. Another thing I learned about myself is how much I love the big city life. Walking around in a fast paced environment with everyone walking fast....seeing them walk fast makes me walk fast...not b/c I have somewhere to go but b/c I get so caught up in the moment that I just have to walk. So I walked, and I walked (we are back to the food story) and I found a restaurant that specialized in empanadas, actually, that is all they really had. Well, that and jugos Jumex and soup. I had the vegetarian empanada and the vegan soup....I have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian again but that is another story....and the food was very reasonably priced. I spent under $7 for my dinner and it was so good. I had been craving empanadas for a while and that fixed my craving.

I am going to try to go back before I leave. The restaurant is off of Conneticut Ave and it is called "Julia's Empanadas". They also have 3 other locations in the DC area. The service wasn't great, the guy seemed to be in a bad mood but after trying the food it made me forget about that.