i was pretty sick on july 4th … but i went out anyway, because i am me. medded myself up with good ole sudafed and there i went out. how beautiful is that? better living through better chemistry.
what is this asian dude doing?!
i did the parade, which was sorta interesting. there were hella people. dc during fourth of july is absolutely ridiculous. but i was struck by two things during the parade… firstly that there was such a falun dafa contingent, and of course, seeing my friend quynh marching with the vietnamese american contingent.
falun dafa army
viet-am contingent
artistic rendition of my friend quynh
tourist of doom
afterwards, i headed over to the hare krishna festival of india. it was pretty dope, lots of folks came through, free food, got myself a henna hand tattoo. and i was once again by the kindness of the hare krishna boys, who helped to find my phone when it dropped outta my pocket. considering how i’m living, my cellphone is crucial. if i lost my phone i would be completely screwed. they went out of their way to help me out, and i hella appreciated it. honestly, i just hope and pray i meet as many cool and kinda and good hearted folks as i did among the hare krishna boys.
hare krishna stage
henna of love
quynh and me
hare rama hare rama
afterwards, i headed over to the natl gallery. again. i love that place.
dc pizza... good enough only for the birds
i finished up the night by hanging out with liz and her friends, at the most baller picnic i have ever been to. like holy jeebus. we went to the national cathedral, which is one of the most GORGEOUS buildings i have ever been to in my life. it took my breath away and made me want to believe in god again, it was so gorgeous. liz and her friends were some of the most awesome folks i’ve ever met, kind, open and with this very relaxed, chill vibe that made me feel right at home.
oh david.
it's too big!... that's what she said.
look ma! a cathedral!
she might look sweet but...
the whole group
and goddamn, what a spread!
helllllla foood
after the fireworks, with attendant elderly bitching about folks not sitting down… we went back to liz’s apartment to play games and play with sparklers. a great time was had by all. liz had a baller apartment. and after that hansi and minjung took me to dc 9… which is by far the most hipster club i have ever seen outside of williamsburg. i felt right at home. it was a great, great time and i am so happy that liz invited me and her friends were so awesome. and now they’re my friends too!
cranium hijinks
everyone look like they're having fun!
sparklers
and i once again was struck by the goodness of people, because all the people i met, david, esther, minjung, hans and even the mafia champion deborah were all such good, giving people who were so down with taking me in as one of them.
so the 5th was a bust so i’m not going to discuss it very much. i managed to get lunch with liz, which is always amazing. it was good seeing her one last time ‘fore i left because i knew i was leaving DC with a life long friend.
and then 16 hour bus ride, only broken by meeting a really dope homegirl named sarah who was going to knoxville from DC to do work. we talked about activism and organizing and it was good to meet another young progressive who was doing work. it almost made me want to start doing work again.
but burnout is a bitch.
i am presently in nashville and will update more as time goes on. i have a bunch of other stuff i am ‘sposed to talk about and will eventually… but first, a nap. also, i’ll have photos of lunch with liz, what i look like with full gear and of sarah soon as i can get facebook uploader to work.
i’ll update a mite before heading out to experience nashville tonight. peace yall.
Tags: food and drink, ramblings, washington dc
we were glad to have you! safe travels! and update often! i enjoyed reading it. =D
Nice posts. It was great meeting you Vinh. Love all the pix, and it’s so great you’re making new friends wherever you go. Take care. Hope to see you on the East Coast again!