Hopping about the month of March

March has been one crazy nomadic month. I left at the beginning of the month on a one-way ticket to Washington, DC. With meetings set up in DC and New York, I traveled back and forth between the two cities for three weeks, spending quality time with friends and job hunting. I spent the last week of the month in Chicago TCB (taking care of business) at the South African consulate and visiting friends.

I met with a member of TransAfrica Forum in DC. Their offices are minutes from the White House. This was my debut visit to the White House and I was by myself, so no obligatory "me in front of the White House" pic. Am I still American?
My best friend Whitney (below), works for Senator Mark Pryor (D) of Arkansas. Early one morning she called me urging me to throw on clothes as quickly as possible to bear witness to a congressional hearing where Bill Clinton and Bill Gates testified to the foreign relations committee, of which John Kerry heads and was also present. They were testifying to expand global health initiatives, particularly in Africa. The photo above is said hearing. It was pretty cool. Gates and Clinton told some dry jokes that got a laugh from the room. On a side note, I'm glad I rushed to get there because the whole thing flew by in THREE HOURS. Needless to say, I could have had time to at least brush my teeth.

Above are Helene and Sinat. Lovely friends from my days at Urban Outfitters in Chicago. Sinat lives in Brooklyn and Helene was in New York also interviewing for jobs. Currently, she's a senior at the University of Iowa.
Speaking of jobs. This is my friend Ashley at her workplace in Brooklyn (she's in photography and publishing). She's been a huge support in my transitionatory process - many props and thanks and hugs to her. BTW (by the way), she also has a lovely blog of her own. You can find her at http://www.asingley.blogspot.com
Me on the Brooklyn Bridge
The above is one of four members of the NYPD bag pipping band that burst the eardrums of bar patrons on St. Patrick's Day.
Back in DC posing in front of the South African embassy where anti-Apartheid protesters set up camp for most of the 1980s.
Speaking of protesters. On Capitol Hill the Sunday of the healthcare reform vote, it went unpublicized that hundreds of thousands of people for immigration reform marched through the city closing down traffic. The 200 or so "Tea Partiers" paled in comparison to this crowd, but because of the relevancy of the vote that day, these guys got little mention. BTW, Whitney and I took a stroll through the Tea Party people to see what they are about and their distorted rationale left me baffled.

I'm back on the homestead now waiting patiently for the green light on my next move. At this point, it could be New York or Johannesburg, South Africa. If neither come through, then it's on to phase two...