Washington, DC (10-13 January 2007)

By the time I arrived in DC I was completely dead. Having said a teary farewell to Ange in JFK I headed back to the hotel to send some emails and finish off final packing. Because my second bag had yet to arrive (owing to the monumental cock-up at Charlotte), I had to fill my suitcase and hand luggage to the max to fit it all in. This meant that at the airport I had to pay a US$20 charge as my bag was over 50lbs (59lbs to be exact). Ah well, if that’s the only charge I pay the whole trip, that’s fine!

I overestimated the amount of time required to check in and pass security so I ended up with an hour spare at JFK airport to surf the net and relax.

I arrived into Dulles at 5pm and Jen (a friend of Claudia’s from Cambridge that I met when I visited Claudia) picked me up. For the next 10 days I’ll be staying at her place in Fairfax, VA. It’s a fair way out of DC, but it’s close to the Metro, and I’m eternally grateful to Jen for letting me stay for such a long time!

Within about 10 minutes we were chatting like old friends, sharing stories about traveling and the like. Ah, good times!

I spent the next two days bumming around the house. I think the furthest I ventured was the grocery store nearby, and even that was under semi-duress! I think I really needed it, because I was fine sleeping 12+ hours, which even I’m not so used to! I sorted through all my luggage and decided on what to keep and what to discard, and I answered all my emails. I even began blogging again – after a long long time!

Ciao for now!