Saturday was an around the world trip without leaving D.C. I visited embassies as part of the Passport D.C. program. Once a year, they have a Saturday with embassy open houses (and a second weekend with European Union embassy open houses).
This year, I made it to different places than last year, which was great.
Bolivia: This was the first stop so the real performances hadn't started yet, but they had lots of women in amazing costumes with big headdresses.
Iraq: The security checkpoint to get in was very thorough. Once inside, they had a lot about the history of the area. Also, I got my name written in Arabic calligraphy (for free). Plus, they had free food and music (with dancing) outside.
Nepal: This had a marketplace of sorts inside, where I was taken back to my time in Dharamsala, India — lots of Buddhist statues and even one fairly similar to what I bought during my trip. More free food (though this was pretty darn spicy)!
Brazil: A beautiful embassy building! No food, but they did have some good music performances going on.
Korea: This was in the Korean Cultural Center so I never really saw the embassy itself. It had lots of art exhibits, videos — and some candy.
Venezuela: More beautiful women, and I love how they pronounce Venezuela (correctly, I'm sure, but it just sounds so much better than when I try to say it). They had some sugar cane/lemon drink and something similar to a mozzarella stick (but more baked than fried).
Haiti: Great live dance performances — and rum punch!
Trinidad and Tobago: They focused on their Carnival celebration, with amazing video of it. And they had many costumes there to see, try one or get a photo with, including some huge headdresses. Outside, they had a steel drum band playing music you could hear down the block. (Oh, and more rum punch.)
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