Diplomatic Passport Applications

Success! After almost a month of procrastinating, I took advantage of having the morning off to drag my family down to DC to submit our applications for our 'black' passports. I was starting to worry about the timing between getting my passport, applying for our visas and our planned departure, fortunately the woman at the desk assured me that I had plenty of time. Now I begin to eagerly await the e-mail informing me that my passport is ready to pick up! No problem there, though, I'm a pro at eagerly awaiting e-mails after the hiring process!

Around Washington DC: Cherry Blossom Festival

This is the first of what I hope to become a regular series of posts named "Around Town." The general plan is to give a brief synopsis of trips I've taken to see local sights; this series relates to the Foreign Service due to the likelihood that I'm only in the location because of my job. Of course... that's slightly misleading in this case, since I lived in this area before getting this job... but I have to start somewhere!

This weekend contained the exact average peak bloom date for the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC. The blooming always heralds a festival with tons of tourists coming to town to see the hundreds (if not thousands) of trees showing their best colors. My wife, son, and I headed down to participate in the madhouse of people, figuring this would be our last chance to see them for awhile. 

Tidal Basin, opposite the Jefferson Memorial.

As expected, it was super crowded around the tidal basin, with the crowds tapering off as you headed further inland. An unfortunate lack of foresight led to my carrying around my DSLR and tripod... with no working battery, so please forgive the quality of my phone-taken-pictures.

My son photobombing a great picture of random strangers.