Washington coming to an end

Yes, in eight days I will be gone. This is my last day of work. For the rest of the time, I will be going out, and writing my paper. An enjoyable time ahead.
I've taken a bunch of photos from work and from going out that I will try to post soon.

Since my last post, I've done a little bit. Last Thursday, I presented my paper to about fourty people. Most of them were students from the centre, but there was one discussant who was a former advisor to pakistani prime ministers, and a former ambassador to sri lanka. I was told that my presentation was animated. Apparenly, I grabbed the audience and didn't let go until the end. I can attest that no one seemed asleep, which was nice. I made a few jokes here and there, and got some nice comments from the discussant. After that, the following two nights were big party nights. I didn't get much sleep and had a pretty good time, from which thankfully I don't have any pictures.
On Sunday, I went sea kayaking on a river. It's called sea kayaking only because it is not whitewater kayaking. I was paddling along banks of luxuriant vegetation (surprising so close to DC), behing one of my co-workers/boss and his wife. It was a very relaxing afternoon in the country.
On Monday, a public holiday, I went to my first baseball game. Baseball is all about statistics, measures of how well players play. It is nowhere near as exciting as cricket, but it does attract big crowds. I am looking forward to the advent of 20-20 cricket: juding from its success around the world, it will increase the support base of cricket to people who have no idea what the sport looks like. Who doesn't like a bit of imaginative ball-bashing? I won't answer that question.
Monday was memorial day, and for the whole weekend TV was dedicated to waving the flag in honour of 'our lost heros'. Story after story recalled the valour of this man or this woman in their fight against terror. It was sickening. There was no mention of how many Iraqis Americans have killed, but then again, no one here wants to know that number. All that matters is the amount of precious American blood shed to protect/spread freedom. What the ignorant will buy!

Well, I have an hour and a half left here, so I'd better pack.