10 Little Things About DC I Don't Want To Forget

1. The vendor outside my office. This man was always so nice to me when I bought my $2.50 hot dogs/chips/drink or my after-work treat. One time I forgot I didn't have cash, but he let me take food anyway - he said he trusted I'd pay him later.

2. Walking past the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank every day. And thinking it's a good thing all those security guards stand around the buildings, or else they would for sure be threatened.

3. White Grape Crystal Light. We went through 300 pitchers of that stuff. Not exaggerating.

4. All the randomly selected magazine pages stuck to our walls, including Ashlee Simpson's face and a dog lying in purple flowers.

5. Seeing the top of the Lincoln Memorial when crossing the street to get to Ivory Tower.

6. The metro's doors always nearly crushing me as the lady says, "Step back, doors closing. Please move to the center of the car."

7. The nice Asian people who run the little market downstairs. And how the little market downstairs has every thing one could ever possibly need.

8. Ellie's whistling and Christine's blaring music. Anything from African tunes, to top 40 hits and even a little o' country.

9. The saxophone player who sometimes plays Star Spangled Banner in the morning.

10. How often I heard French, as well a few other dozen languages, all around me.

11. My roommate's several accents. Especially the "Keira Knightley" one.

12. How no matter who you meet here, they ask you all about yourself, and they always have an interesting story to return.

13. That everyone dresses really well, and they often seem uptight, but most of the time they are really interesting and down to earth.

14. The constant torture of humidity, and how it makes you truly enjoy a cool day.

15. The way it made me appreciate my home in Iowa City.