My Fair Verona

I think everyone should spend some time in Washington, particularly in the fall. I’ve been here in the spring (it rains a lot) and in the summer (it rains a lot), but I really think I like the city in the fall the best (it rains a lot). The rain may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we’ve had the remains of four different hurricanes come through town over the last month and a half so it’s very much a part of living here. Washington is somewhat of a microcosm of the United States, concentrated and amplified. Everything that is intrinsically American exists here in potent quantities. Love it or hate it, this is America.

Washington is a melting pot from all over the world. I live less than three blocks from a dozen different embassies. Walking out of my building I hear Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Japanese, and who-knows-how-many other languages that I can’t even identify. All races and ethnicities mix so that I can’t quite say what “normal” is anymore. Frankly, I’m not even sure if such a vague notion exists here. We’re all very different but we can all say we belong here.

Washington exemplifies the American capitalist hyper-consumer ideology. My first few days here I took a stroll across the river into Georgetown to see the shops and restaurants. I stopped in a store to take a break from the smothering August afternoon heat and I took a look around the shop. I liked the cashmere sweaters and the dress shirts, but $300 seemed a bit much for a sweater and $150 is probably out of my price range for a shirt. I have purchased suits for less. The whole area screams consumerism and large chain stores like Gap and Ralph Lauren and Barnes & Noble elbow local shops for room and street front space. The sidewalks are crowded with students, tourists, and a man playing a saxophone on the street corner with the case open for change. This is America, with all its gaudy, gritty glory.

Nowhere is the security paranoia stronger than it is in D.C. While walking the streets you can see one or more police car at any given moment. I pass through a metal detector and two separate security checkpoints just to get into the building where I work. Overly large flowerpots and other not-quite-subtle decorations serve as barricades around every large building, streets are blocked off, and security guards are posted outside of every entrance of every building on Capitol Hill. Here in Washington we proclaim ourselves free while making sure a pair of nail clippers doesn’t enter the building.

The city itself is American, with buildings sprawling and packed together at the same time. I love the buildings I see on my way around town, although I confess a predisposition towards neoclassicism. The Capitol, Union Station, the view of the Jefferson Monument as I cross the Potomac on the Metro. Marble and granite sit side-by-side with glass and metal. Something is always under construction as new buildings go up, up, up (but not too far up because there is a height restriction). The Mall and wide parks spread these edifices apart, giving the city needed breathing room. I appreciate the good fall weather most when I’m practicing the art of strolling through the shady parks and plazas of my fair Verona.

I really do think everyone should come to experience Washington. But not right now. This fall it’s mine.