DC – Page 27 – Postcards from GW

Eid al Adha: Sacrifice

AdminOctober 24, 2013

Eid al Adha, loosely translated as the "festival of sacrifice", is the second of two main religious "holidays" for Muslims. This day has multiple levels of meaningfulness. For us, this day honors the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him, to sacrifice his young first born son, Ismail (Ishmael), as an act of submission to Allah's command, as well as Ismail's willingness to be sacrificed by his father. Allah stopped Ibrahim and gave him a sheep to sacrifice instead. Muslims who can afford to will sacrifice a sheep and the meat would be distributed in 3 equal portions: 1 portion for the family of the person who performed the sacrifice, 1 portion for friends/relatives and 1 portion for the poor.

Muslims would go for Eid prayers in the morning at a mosque or a designated area. We will also recite the Takbir - loosely equivalent to "praises". Halfway across the world, those on Hajj - or pilgrimage - would be doing the same, finishing a crescendo of the main bulk of Hajj physically and mentally demanding, but spiritually rejuvenating rituals they have been performing over the course of a week, rendering those whose pilgrimage was accepted as sincere, sinless, like a newborn baby.

I too joined in the celebrations that morning at the Islamic Center in Washington D.C., with mixed feelings. Sombre and full of repent over the weakness of my 23 year old soul. Yet, the day was purposeful as those who managed to fast the day (or days) before were promised great "rewards".

I walked to the Islamic Center with my roommate Reza. The mosque is along New Hampshire Ave, next to the Turkish Embassy.

The mosque is just beautifully decorated and the smell of musk and sweet Arab incense and the East-African architecture made me feel like I was in Fez, Morocco. Okay, maybe because there were many East Africans here. I struggled in conversations with what little Arabic I knew but the experience reminded me of my small pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Everyone sat together, I was next to some Indonesian politicians; a secretary struggled to get his photo - I hope I was in the same frame. After a few short conversations with foreign service officers from different countries and a joke about how my Arabic sounded like I read from a children's story book, Reza and I went out to eat an African rice dish given out for free to mosque visitors, Muslims as well as non-Muslims. We then walked down to Dupont Circle for some cake.

Eid al Adha is a day that holds deep meaning for Muslims who seek a relationship with their creator. Below is a video of the Takbir we recited:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/rm_EKdIh7UI]

Malay-Muslim

AdminOctober 1, 2013

By falseconscious

It’s not classy to take pot shots at one’s own country now that one is thousands of miles away. However, I feel, the following has been and will be a significant part of my exchange experience.

My identity, being a Malay and Muslim, does not really stand out here in the diversity of students in GWU. Yet, somehow, I feel who I am matters in the sense of the nuances that it brings to my perspective of life in DC.

Academic Performance

I am reminded again here, like in my freshman year, of the desire to do well. It has something to do with being new to the environment, having to revisit my identity and express it.

I must first give some form of context for you to follow. Firstly, being Malay in Singapore is socially interpreted as being Muslim to the same extent that Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese are just perceived as a monolithic “Asian”. Secondly, the academic “underperformance” of Malays as and our “general socio-economic well being” behind the other major ethnic groups are among the most discussed social issues in Singapore. A local equivalent – although really much different – is probably a mixture of the African-American and Native American social issues the American society may be concerned with.

So – and some of you may already guess my tone while trying to be politically correct here – that it stands as an “achievement” that a Malay is here in GWU and doing well in school.

What more if he scores full marks for an essay, topped his class, and claimed a free cupcake from Sprinkles.

For most students here, doing well in college is just a product of effort and an expression of academic desire and is part and parcel of college life. Some people get As. Just a fact of college life.

For me though, having been through an education experience that included various extents of racial ideas and emotions, doing well is proving a point.

Sometimes “doing well” is disproving the idea that my culture and religion is in any way inferior to the nauseating overtures of Confucianism stuffed down our throats in an attempt to somehow demonstrate Asian values. Also – and this is rare and some of you may find it strange that such ideas still persist – “doing well” shows that I am biologically and genetically equal with my fellow Chinese Singaporeans. Not to mention that a good “academic performance” in seeking knowledge, is not merely “Asian” in the state-defined Confucian sense, but is also part of my identity as well.

“Race” is a messy and complicated issue that would hardly fit on this blog post even if I talked about it in all my posts.

Just to keep things simple for now: even though my grades don’t count and I just need to get a pass, getting an A in GWU meant something to me, no matter how small the assignment or test, because it has always meant something to me throughout my life as a Malay and a Muslim. I am not overly competitive. It just means that aside from being grateful, I have a small emotional dynamic to the psychological process of grading that would lead me to say something like:

“I am happy to be a Malay-Muslim doing well in my short time in GWU”.

Religious and Secular

My imagination of life for a Muslim here would be one that is much more difficult than life in Singapore. After more than a month here, a simple comparison tells a different story.

Food is something I take for granted in Singapore. Two words: abundance and cheap.

Therefore, I can safely put aside that variable, despite my Halal dietary requirements, because any Singaporean would argue that the food here is more expensive, or that certain ingredients are hard to find.

Enjoying a hearty but relatively “cheaper” meal in Mehran’s, a Halal Indian food outlet in the area.

The expression of the “religious” and “secular” presents itself as the independent variable.

As in Singapore, there are mosques here in DC, which are accessible by private and public transportation. There are even similar niche religious-activities I would usually go for.

What is different though is where religion expresses itself in public areas, especially schools, which would usually be reserved as “secular” in Singapore. A heated and sensitive issue is the wearing of hijabs for those in uniforms such as students or nurses.

Sitting amongst locals and foreigners in an Islamic center sharing stories after a session of the remembrance of “God” and the prophet (peace be upon him). I wore this in the Metro all the way to Shady Grove where this event was held in an attempt at participant observation. Hardly an eyebrow was raised throughout the journey.

The issue of footbaths in American colleges: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/world/americas/07iht-muslims.4.7022566.html?_r=0

A weaving of religious into the secular goes for all religions here. There are churches among buildings here in the Campus.

The most commonly heard “reprimanding”-statement used by politicians and community leaders alike in Singapore when we ask for more “space” for us to practice, is that if space is given to one, space must be given to all; something along the lines of: “if we allow you to pray in school, then we must also built temples for the Buddhists and churches for the Christians”.

A footbath here is a huge blessing, let alone an entire room. In Singapore, prayer areas for Muslims are unofficial and technically illegal (sometimes it is a hidden staircase) and ablution (that’s washing parts of our body before we pray) is a messy process.

Being a Muslim undergraduate in Singapore is an enriching and lively experience. The experience here in GWU is similar, if not better in many ways.

Defense

Again, it’s not classy to take “pot shots”, and I did not intend to at all throughout this post. I am merely highlighting some of the key differences in student life.

Despite my own qualms with education in Singapore, I am somewhat proud to be its product.

In proud defense, my home university is ranked 29^th in the world by “Times Higher Education”, 22^nd in “World Reputation” by the same evaluator, 24^th by QS World University Rankings, 17^th in the world for the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, 2^nd in Asia.

For god’s sakes we’re not in China, we speak English and certainly, we’re among the best schools in the world – and I have a free cupcake from Sprinkles for my A-graded essay to prove it.

Take me out to the ballgame!

AdminSeptember 23, 2013

By falseconscious

Baseball is not a popular sport in Singapore but we know what it is because of Hollywood movies that range from cheesy ones with dogs that can catch to the movie that I watched on my plane ride to DC: "42".

"42" tells the story of Jackie Robinson who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. I may be biased because my life experience has made me a little tender towards any stories that tell a story of discrimination, but I would recommend it to those who haven't watched it or those, who like me, would have avoided watching baseball movies if not for the fact that I was terribly bored on my 20+ hour journey. Aside from the emotional story, that movie also got me interested in baseball and its rules particularly because the legendary player in the movie played quite interestingly.

So, when the opportunity came for me to watch a game with fellow exchange students, organized by the Office for Study Abroad, I was totally up for it. The Office also kindly arranged for an after-school session of learning how to play baseball so that "noobs" like us could actually understand what would be happening on game day.

Playing "Wiffle", with baseball rules.

Game day itself was an experience. It was different from watching baseball on the television or in the movies. From where I was, I couldn't really see the dust being kicked off the ground. The huge mega screen showing replays from various angles, the crowd's cheers and the music was what helped me guess what was going on. The Nationals led initially, but were very inefficient in that they had twice as many people on the base than they had number of runs. (My attempt at reporting what happened during the game may not be interesting).

I am very much used to the faster paced soccer games (that's football by the way) but I enjoyed sitting in the cold and guessing "balls" from "strikes". There was much less activity (it may be that it was not a particularly interesting baseball game) and I prefer playing it myself than just watching, but the slow pace meant that any good hit that propelled the ball up in the air guaranteed a little excitement, a small urge to witness a home run and I would edge a little bit off my seat. If it wasn't a magical hit, I would just sigh and sit back down, continue eating my fries, mutter how I could swing the bat better and make small talk about how cold it was sitting all the way up. If it was a good hit, especially a home run, even if it was an error by those on the field, I would, for a few seconds, become a baseball fan.

Escape!

AdminSeptember 9, 2013

By falseconscious

ESCAPE

Let’s be realistic here. It would be weird if I woke up every morning totally in love with doing my readings. On second thought, I am weird and I do love my readings – some of it. I am different from the other exchange students and Americans in many ways. I don’t drink and, let’s just say, I would not score participation marks in any activity that involves it. So that pretty much forces me to find other ways of escaping the “stress” of keeping up with all the bright minds in GWU. Laundry and grocery shopping don’t count.

Georgetown

Does it count as taking a break if we wake up early and walk more than a mile? Yes it does, especially when we get free cupcakes. Every Friday or Saturday, while everyone else sleeps in bed my roommate and I would take long morning walks to D.C. Cupcakes in Georgetown for a free cupcake. They only have 100 each giveaway!

Walking to DC Cupcakes. “Bo” went with us that Saturday.

Here it is!

So many cupcakes!

Our free cupcakes of the day!

The best part about our walks back is sitting down by the Potomac and enjoying our free treats.

New York City

Over the weekend we figured we really needed to experience something else and New York is only a really affordable 5-hour bus ride away. My roommate and I out really early in the morning and arrived with much time to spare before lunch. Here, street food is halal and much cheaper and the tall buildings, fast cars and people provide a different atmosphere.

The city is far from calming, but just what we needed to freshen up for the weeks ahead. We took time to visit a few places to restock our supplies, find clothes to prepare for cooler weather expected in the weeks to come and buy souvenirs early so we won’t be distracted when there’s assignments to do and exams to study for.

We got a shock when we arrived because the city is much bigger than D.C. and everything was moving in a much faster pace. By dinner though, we kind of missed the calm tempo of Foggy Bottom.

Here’s a video of our little escapade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_fBXrrDis&feature=youtu.be

The Goodbyes

AdminMay 20, 2013

By claudiadev

So. My last blog post I’ve taken a little time to get this up – it’s been a whirlwind week since I left DC on Monday and headed to NYC. I’m with my family now. It’s definitely a change after 5 months living on campus!

From NYC I’ll be heading solo to Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego before flying home. I’m getting my travel all done now, after the semester is over, my marks are back and the stress is long-gone. It’s amazing how easily you forget how stressful finals can be. Every six months I get the surprise of my life trying to cope with the anxiety about final papers and exams. But enough about the easily forgotten finals!

To say goodbye to DC, GW and my exchange experience I thought I’d list the things I’ll miss:

My Roommates and neighbor – were awesome. There’s no other word for it. They know how much I’ve appreciated their support and friendship, and hope I’ve been able to as best I can return that support and friendship. We won’t be living together any longer, and they’ve all just graduated this weekend to move into a new chapter of their lives – but I won’t be giving up on these friendships any time soon!

My exchange friends – I can’t remember who said it, but ‘no man is an island’ (John Donne maybe?). Friends are the people that make life what it is. Creating new bonds with people (who, unlike family, aren’t obligated by blood and marriage to love you and put up with your quirks!) is a pretty darn wonderful thing! A week after leaving I still can’t quite grasp the fact that I won’t be able to just randomly bump into these new friends walking to class every morning and text a friends for an impulsive late night coffee or snack run. My friends and I at home all live much further from each other, and our university, work and life schedules are much harder to coordinate. Which brings me to…

Living on Campus – is something I didn’t realized I’d love so much. Convenience is one of my favorite things. When the library, food, coffee and company are all within a 5 minute walk it’s a pretty darn wonderful thing. Especially given the campus itself is in such a great location and a 15-minute walk takes me to Georgetown or Dupont or the Tidal Basin.

DC – Never again will I live so close to the monuments. If I was ever feeling a little stressed I could just wander down to the mall and instantly feel better. The fresh air and people watching potential will be sorely missed! Because no building can be higher than the statue above the Capitol, Washington never feels impossibly tall or overwhelming. The American accents you hear on the streets are from all over the country and there’s something about DC, about it being the capital, so full of energy, power and super-important-decisions-I-don’t-even-want-to-know-about, which I just love.

Goodbye George Washington University! Goodbye DC!

With many thanks to Jacki and Shawna and the whole Study abroad office for their help and support.

Claudia

It Is Hot and Beautiful in DC

AdminApril 16, 2013

By zelenkal

I do want to be careful and prevent myself from making statements about the weather here in Washington. After my last post that concerned the weather, I claimed that spring has finally sprung in DC. However, I woke the day after submitting the post and the first thing I saw from the window was snow. Now, just a few short weeks later, it is summer. Temperatures last week have been in excess of 90 degrees and it has caused me to notice many differences between the Czech Republic and the United States. First of all: we are not used to this heat. In the last few weeks back home, it has been less than 45 degrees and rainy every day. Something that isn't very nice, but also isn't atypical of Central Europe. Secondly: air conditioning. Here, it seems to be everywhere. In Prague, one can find it advertised in the windows of restaurants like it is a luxury, and it is almost nonexistent in homes, student housing, or public buildings. I can deal with the heat, but quite frankly, I'm not accustomed to this luxury and the dry air pumped out of the air conditioning units has been causing a bit of a sore throat. Of course I was not the only one, who encountered some difficulties – all the librarians must have been sweating buckets. As a result of the extreme and unexpectedly high temperature, all the students got a relieve from studying when Gelman Library closed down.

In other big news from Washington, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Taking advantage of a beautiful Friday afternoon without classes, my friend and I toured the familiar grounds around the tidal basin. Although, I had visited the monuments and gone on jogs through the area a number of times, it was like discovering something entirely new. We do not have trees like this, especially in this abundance, in Prague and the sight of hundreds all around the city was boarding on alien. The gorgeous weather and the addition of the sometimes pink and sometimes white flowers covering the trees amplified the beauty of the colossal monuments. The way the flowers had overtaken the trees that I had previously only seen bare and the way they flowed into the basin was incredible. Being able to see the Washington Monument framed by the pink, snowball-like clusters of flowers only made me long more than ever to be able to go to the top and see how pink the world was from a bird's eye view.

Thursday was a little bit windy so there were petals all over the ground, and this fairy-tale-like atmosphere with people on paddle boats on Tidal Basin changed the whole feeling in the city. The walks and the runs I have had since the trees blossomed have been amazing and it always helps you getting rid of the stress from all the papers and tests at school. It is just so easy to fall in love with Washington this time of the year.

Spring Has Come to DC

AdminMarch 25, 2013

By zelenkal

Spring Break sure did bid goodbye to winter. The Cherry Blossom Festival has already started and everybody got out of the places they would occupy during the winter. I myself have started with my “spring program.” Some of the trees have finally revealed their beauty so highly appealing to the eyes. I finally made my trip to the Arlington National Cemetery. Seeing all the attractive places DC has to offer at the background of seemingly endless rows of graves is an unforgettable experience.

After visiting the cemetery, my day go even better with the chance to see a remarkable performance, this time with a little bit of nostalgia. GW performance of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was truly impressive, with its amazing actors, whom you would not recognize when they revealed their own gestures during the applause, great music added to the experience we had there. The dark atmosphere just got ahold of us even during the walk afterwards.

Last week I realized I've only got so much time here and I need to value my time more. As much as the classes are important, I do not want to regret seeing more of the library than of Washington. The weather actually helped me out in my attempt to stop the time and allowed for me to be able to study outside of the library for once. I had a wonderful weekend outside complete with a picnic at the National Mall. I could tell the spring has driven most of the DC residents out of their homes, we could see so many grown-ups running around with kites, forgetting about their kids. Spring has not shown itself in its full power yet, but it has already made excited fools out of a lot of people.

DC residents and tourists loving the spring weather on the National Mall.

I also realized, that there only a couple of last weeks left for our every day readings. This semester I have come across such a huge variety of texts that I can already say that the semester has been successful. I have experienced American college at its finest. There were better times and worse times, luckily, the latter have not shown much. There is only a month of classes left and it is making me sad. I am sure it will be a huge relief since there is always a lot to do for each and every class, yet it makes me think of the time I will attend the lesson for the last time, of the time I will drag every single piece of luggage out of the Amsterdam Hall, and head over to the airport, leave Washington for good. Spring, we waited for you, we prayed for you, and we have been enjoying you, even though you remind us of the near future that will put an end to our American experience. In the meantime, I am hoping to enjoy the time when my travels reaches its peak in New York next week. Let's hope for a less sentimental Springtime there.

The Search For Coffee

AdminMarch 25, 2013

By claudiadev

I come from a city that prides itself on the quality of coffee. Melbourne had an influx of Italian immigrants during the 20^th century, and along with their food they brought their coffee machines. In a city with generally glorious weather, outdoor cafes, and laneways a culture of coffee and coffee snobbery has developed. As a result I was a little concerned about the quality of my daily (or twice, sometimes thrice) coffee here in DC.

So here are my recommendations for coffee at GW and nearby. As an aside, I only ever order espresso machine coffee, so I have nothing whatsoever to recommend in terms of filter or percolated coffee.

Baked and Wired, Georgetown (1052 Thomas Jefferson St NW)

I love walking down to Watergate and then along the river and up the street to Baked and Wired. This cupcakery is near the Georgetown Canal, it has really comfortable couches (if you can get a seat) and on weekends sometimes has a line out the door. The cupcakes are the main attraction, and they are absolutely to die for – my favorite in Georgetown (a place over-run with cupcakes) – I recommend the Vegan Chocolate with Peanut Butter frosting or the Carrot Cake cupcake. But another excellent feature of Baked and Wired is their tea and coffee. They do excellent lattes; as good as I get at home, and a really great dirty chai, a cross between a latte and a chai tea. I love how they size their drinks too – you have a choice between big and small, no silly faux-Italian names here.

Filter Coffeehouse, Foggy Bottom (1916 I Street, NW) & Dupont Circle (1726 20th St NW)

My roommate took me here. She had been on exchange at the University of Melbourne, and knew this place made Flat Whites, a variety of coffee you struggle to find outside of Australia, and my favorite. Hands down, Filter is the coffee place most like home. Walking in is like walking into any hipster coffee place at home – a little pretentious, but so very worth it when that delicious cup of coffee gets put in your hand. A flat white is a little like a latte, but with no foam and half steamed milk, half espresso. Their original location is in Dupont, but there is one much closer to campus too. Neither location has wifi.

Bourbon Coffee, Foggy Bottom (2101 L St NW)

Bourbon coffee is a firm favorite of mine. They have wifi, comfortable seating, and a whole selection of milk options. I avoid dairy, and go for Almond milk over the soy, but there’s also the rice milk option. They do a good iced coffee and a really great latte. Bourbon also has some really interesting flavored coffees, including one called Pralines and Cream, which I really must try before the semester ends.

Starbucks (at Gelman Library)

If all else fails, and you want to grab a coffee before class, head to Starbucks. I order soy lattes, because the slight sweetness of soy offsets the burnt coffee taste. They also do decent iced lattes. The real risk with Starbucks is all the flavored coffees – the sugary syrups give me a sugar high on top of the caffeine hit! The Gelman location is always, without fail busy, but it does have wifi and is conveniently open 24 hours a day during peak midterm and final exam time. If you ever find the line is nearly out the door, go to the Starbucks inside the GW Hospital and if you’re down near the Elliot School, try the Starbucks there.

There’s also Dunkin Donuts, in the basement of Ivory Tower, which I go to because I live in the same building. But I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you’re feeling particularly lazy and I only ever get the iced lattes (and bagels…)

My name is Claudia, and I love coffee.

21 and Under

AdminMarch 25, 2013

By amrawi

21 and Under

“Dude your going to be 20 when you’re DC”, “You will be so bored! You will have nothing to do”, were some of the phrases my friends back home where telling me when they found out I was going on exchange to DC! 20 and I’m loving DC; I have decided to devise a list of fun things that other under 21 people can do.

1) Comet Ping Pong: Haven’t been there yet, simply because every time I go its packed! You may think it’s your ordinary pizza place, but once you step inside you realize that your “ordinary” pizza comes to you on top of a ping pong table! You get to customize your own thin-crust pizza while enjoying a game of ping-pong or foosball.

2)U Street Music Hall: This late night venue hosts many great performances that allows, us under 21 people to attend! It‘s a great atmosphere with amazing music. Lots of performances are held here.

3) UltraBar: Now for those of you who are really eager to go clubbing in DC, by far the best under 21 club is ultra bar. You should definitely dress to impress for this four-level club located in Chinatown. With each floor boasting a different type of genre you are bound to hear something you like.

4) Café Japone: If you love to sing out to your favorite tunes but don’t want to have to do that in front of everyone; at Café Japone you can rent a room with your friends and sing out loud to your favorite tunes while eating some delicious Japanese food! Definitely worth a visit!

5) National Zoo: no matter how old you are, everyone sure enjoys a visit to the zoo! Come to the National zoo and get to see the giant pandas and great apes! It definitely is a fun day out when the sun is out and you have nothing to do in the morning!

Above is just 5 places under 21 people can go, but as I make my way throughout the semester I will definitely be sure to update the list!

A Trip Down U-Street

AdminFebruary 11, 2013

By amrawi

What’s the present value of 12,500? What are the different forms of public communications? Can you say “how much” in French? Yup my week has been pretty much work, work, and work. With midterm exams coming up and papers to submit, there really was no time for to me do any adventures. However with seven days a week I was able to squeeze in some yummy delicious food down at U-Street.

You know how Italians are famous for their pizzas? And the Spanish are famous for their Paella? Well the people of DC are famous for Ben’s Chili Bowl! (Some people refer to the hot dogs served there, as their local DC dish). With a study break and a big appetite I was ready to lay may hands on one of those famous “half-smoked hot dogs “. However I was disappointed when I found out that the half-smoked is half beef/half pork. Since I don’t eat pork, I had to opt for their specialty dish and instead have the Beef hot dog.

Now I must say it was pretty good, but not as good as I had expected. I mean when you hear of a place that Obamas go for hot dogs, your expectation would probably be as high as mine. It was decent but like Sem, an exchange student from Australia stated, “the chili hot dogs at 7-Eleven are a lot better”, I must agree! The chili sauce on the hot dog was good and overall it was enjoyable, but I have had better honestly.

With another much needed study break, as a group we decided again to go to U- Street, but this time to an authentic Ethiopian restaurant called “Durkum”. It’s not everyday that you get to huddle around with your friends and dig your hands into some tasty African food. While there might be no utensils to use, the bread they give is used as a spoon to pick up your food with. I must say the food was okay, but the experience was awesome! I expected the food to be spicy, but it wasn’t at all. It took us quite a bit though to figure out what we wanted to order because we didn’t understand the menu, so in the end the waiter just ordered for us.

While we hit up American food and Ethiopian food, we decided to leave Chinese food for Sunday February 10^th. This day marks the lunar Chinese year. With a dense Asian population in DC, you bet that Chinatown would throw an extensive Chinese parade to celebrate the lunar new year. With excitement and a new camera, I decided to go to the parade. It was great seeing the dragon waved around and the snake, but what was the point of having Turkish airline hostesses walking down the parade? Why were their kids in card boxes walking through the parade? It was quite actually quite disappointing because I as ready for a Chinese immersion, but overall it was great getting a chance to be part of the celebration and having the opportunity to see Chinatown.

Quite a stressful week I can’t wait till its over! Boston, Massachusetts you're next on my bucket list!