So here is my (Colby) first individual post to get things started. I've been in Washington DC for three days now, getting set up in my apartment last weekend, and starting work at the Smithsonian Institution on Monday. I'm actually living in Hyattsville, MD, which is a stop on the Metro line northwest of the city. Hyattsville is touted as "A Good Place to Live" on the side of the public garbage cans, and was incorporated in 1856. Today it is basically a collection of strip malls with lots of hair salons, immigrant markets, Western Union stores, and fast food. My apartment, the Top of the Park, is located north of a large public park about a mile from the Metro station.The neighborhood is a collection of nice streets with small but well-kept houses, as well as a number of brick apartment buildings in various stages of decay. Overall, it seems like a decent neighborhood, with much more ethnic/racial diversity than is present in Seattle, even though Seattle likes to boast its "international" flavor, which basically just boils down to white and Asian.
My daily commute from Hyattsville takes me down the Green line Metro to the Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter stop where I get off and walk down to the National Mall, and pick up a shuttle bus that takes me to the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute out in Suitland, MD. Door-to-door it is an hour-and-a-half trip each way. Such is the plight of a lowly employee of the Federal Government. This will be my life for the next 10 weeks.
