Day 1205 - Dad and Ruth's Big Washington DC Adventure!

Today, Ruth and I went down to Washington, DC. The official reason was to get everyone's visas for Ghana, which we did.

The consular desk is in its own separate little office, but after we got the visas I asked the very nice security guard if I could take Ruth in to see the embassy a bit. He was clearly leaving his post and wanting us to hurry up, though he was nice about it, so we just took a peek around and saw the few pieces they had on display, saw the banners, etc. Ruth really liked some of the wooden statues they had.

I asked her if I could take a picture of her in front of the embassy, and she insisted that I take one of "her and the lamp" first:

From 21st Century Digital Kid

I couldn't decide which one of these shots of our budding world traveler I liked better, so you get them both.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

From 21st Century Digital Kid

On the way out, she had to use the potty, which led to our first Starbucks experience of the day. We bought a chocolate milk of which she drank: one sip.

Outside, there are these large spheres as sculptures. She told me which one each planet was as we ran around them. Despite the color issues, she was quite clear that this one was Mars.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

Then, we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Ruth liked the dinosaur bones well enough, but she was a bit more interested in the dioramas (and snacking).

From 21st Century Digital Kid

I know this one is rotated wrong. It's a T-Rex!

From 21st Century Digital Kid

And here she is at her favorite part, the dung beetle exhibit!

From 21st Century Digital Kid

Then, she wanted to see the Capitol building, just like in Grace!

From 21st Century Digital Kid

To get this shot, I said, "go stand in front of the Capitol!" and she took off like a shot, until I told her to stop when she got to a good spot and smile.

And, of course, she found a carousel.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

After the ride, she kissed her horse and stroked its head for being a good ride for her. It was really cute.

She really wanted to go have lunch in Chinatown, so we went. I'd heard good things from a colleague about China Boy. Ruth insisted that she wanted "noodles, but I don't like crunchy kind, I want mushy noodles." So we got our Chow Fun and pork, and were not disappointed.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

The place is a wonderful hole in the wall where they apparently make their own noodles (but you occasionally have to yell to the back for service). There were only two tables, and so we settled in with a couple of psychologists, the pants of whom Ruth charmed off. Then she wanted to ask me what the word for a bunch of things in French was (no, I don't know why). Then she wanted to know what the words for things in Chinese were, and I had to tell her to wait to ask Grampy. There was also a Chinese couple in to get their pickup, and she wanted to know if they were from China. When I suggested she just ask, she said, "no, I'm just thinking about it."

Oh, and she talked a bunch about how she's going to go to China with Grampy some day.

Then we had a cookie at Starbucks, and she told me that she was tired and wanted to go home and have a story and go to sleep. She told Melissa she'd tell her about her adventure "in the morning."

It was about 5PM. But hey, no nap.

The Inaguration

Neither M nor I are crowd people, and even if we were, navigating DC yesterday with Ruth would have been a difficult, if not impossible, project. So, instead, we went to the Waverly library to watch Obama's inauguration on the big screen there (and also, we thought it would be neat for her - and us - to see it with some other people, rather than holed up in our basement). We caught the tail end of story time (she's a bit young, but she loves hanging out with slightly older kids), and then watched the swearing-in and speech before bringing her over to daycare for the afternoon (sorry, no pics this time).

I thought Obama's speech was quite good. He didn't say everything that, in my magical world, he would have, but I thought it was about as good as could be reasonably expected from someone who was actually able to win the presidency. Some highlights, from my perspective...

- From the angle they were showing Joe Biden, it looked like he could have smacked John Boehner in the face with his elbow. "Accidentally," of course.

- Obama gave a shout-out to nonbelievers.

- Putting science back in policy (ask M about the last 8 years at the FDA).

- Health care!

- I was surprised that he indicted laissez-faire ideology so bluntly. Pragmatism about the benefits of the government and the benefits of the market in different policy spheres is precisely what we need. Now let's see whether he can deliver.

- "We will stretch out our hand if you will open your fist." A cheesy line, but exactly the right sentiment.

- Finally, someone who invokes "responsibility" properly! For years, we've got only the "look out for your own damn self" side of the coin. Obama quite eloquently drove home the positive side, where it's about giving back to your community, and not just because it's an unfortunate duty, but because it's a way to fulfillment in one's own life. For too long, political rhetoric in the US has been dominated by a sharp distinction between self-interest and other-interest. And, combined with his pragmatism about government (above), I have some hope that he can avoid the danger on the other side of conflating other-interest with the government (rather than seeing the government as a tool for promoting communal interests, one among many).

- And no torture, with no beating around the bush. Alas, also no "recriminations." I think we could use some of those.

That's at least what stands out for me. The only groaner, for me, was the bit about how we will definitely outlast our terrorist enemies. I wanted to be the guy with a pocket protector who would pop up in the back and say, "Actually, historical data shows quite the opposite, sir!" But hey, let's see what happens there, too.

Given my work, I've been following elections and transition processes, etc. in places like Ghana (where it went fine - a peaceful transfer of power to an opposition party, despite some tense moments), Kenya (not so much... but looking better), South Africa (we'll see), and Zimbabwe (yeah... no). And, for all of our faults, listening to NPR now and hearing them interview folks in areas where people voted overwhelmingly for McCain, reminds me that we take for granted the seriously important thing that peaceful transfers of power are the norm in the US. I know there are some relatively unhappy reasons for that - e.g., that we've got pretty entrenched elites and a relatively apathetic population. And sometimes it can lead to things that are arguably unfortunate (I know folks who wish there was more outcry over Bush's "win" in 2000). But would you really have preferred a civil war to Bush? That would have been a likely outcome in a lot of places. And to see a government that was much more committed to executive power than is the norm in the US, much more secretive, and with broad support in the military hand over power to a new government whose support was - remember - really only a little higher than its own (Obama got about 52%)... we should be careful to recognize the importance, and global rarity of that phenomenon.

Anyway, trite as it may seem, I'm feeling a little bit more hopeful about the future of the country Ruth's likely to grow up in than I was a year ago.